Revolution Church

“In Hegel’s hands, Christianity becomes the most revolutionary religion ever conceived.” Todd McGowan writes that in his book ‘Emancipation After Hegel’ – Bouncing back in stark contrast to last week’s discussion, Jay brings us a talk that is more focused on philosophy and theology. This week he is diving into a verse and an idea that we struggle with, and that is the verse in Matthew when Jesus talks about fulfilling the law. Leaning on readings from McGowan, along with interpretations of Hegel, and verses from Jesus and Paul, Jay dives into the concept of love and explores if the fulfilling of the law is referring to loving each other. Loving each other as we love ourselves creates an equality among us. A way to all be equally human. Love is the foundation of this faith – it’s what changes this faith from the others. And Grace is a tough thing that allows us to love in a deeper and different way. But it’s hard work. It’s a complicated idea that splits us into being both ourselves and the other at the same time. We know that Grace is Anarchy…but is love also anarchy?This talk was given on December 19, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

“I guess today what I wanted to do is come to you and say: ‘These are the things I’m thinking about.’” – Today’s talk is a bit different from Jay’s other talks in many ways, more abstract, but as always it is filled with grace and love and honesty. Jay approaches this talk acknowledging that we are all working with different traumas in our lives that lead us each to learning different lessons, so there is an amount of absurdity in the thought that we should all be on the same page. We don’t have to agree with the other perspective, but the idea is that we get a fuller picture of reality when we come together and learn, even in our disagreements. Jay shares some raw and heartfelt thoughts with us, and lays his own sufferings on the table because there is no hierarchy of pain and suffering – we’re all in this together. And being honest and finding ways to help ourselves also helps others. Helping others is what makes us a church/gathering. Jay reminds us that Revolution Gathering does not take place in the hour that he is giving his talk, but in the 6 days and 23 hours in-between talks. Suffering and hardships make us into people we never thought we could be – but if you’re listening to this talk and reading this description then you’ve already survived everything so far! Keep going. There isn’t always a magical Bible verse to help get us through – but that is why we have each other.This talk was given on December 12, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week, guest speaker Joshua Murray dives into the difference between deconstruction and destruction. He discusses how an obsessive behavior he develops in his bouts of depression helped him see how Christianity walks a strangely similar path with horror movies, and how misconceptions and projections seemed to have derailed both equally from their humble beginnings. He discusses the important differences between the red letters in the Bible and the black letters. And he also talks about how we can use deconstruction to help us put actions to the lessons we’ve learned in order to bring about the changes we want to see in ourselves, and how to live those changes.This talk was given on December 5, 2021 in Long Island, New York.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Every year Jay likes to revisit some old talks to see how they stand up with his current growth and knowledge and studies. This week he looks back to one of his earliest talks and reworks it. But as always, a central theme even back then, is that of grace. Jay looks at the Gospel of Mark and examines Jesus’s behavior and how it effected his reputation. How Jesus showing love and grace to people who were seen as ‘scum’ made people view him as a drunkard and scum Himself. Jay talks about how not much has changed in this regard and how this is still a problem we have in society as a whole, not just in the church. Jay implores us to not be like the ones who have hurt us, and warns us that any system that excludes people because of their beliefs or religion, or behavior, or friends is a broken system and a mess. We can’t allow ourselves to fall into the same traps that we see the church falling into. We have to remember that Jesus had a diverse group of thinkers as disciples. People who hated each other but learned about love and grace and who recognized the humanity in each other. Jay warns us of the dangers of magical thinking and to be careful of what we look to to fill ‘the lack’ within.This talk was given on November 28, 2021 in Los Angeles, California.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Due to living life on life’s terms Jay had to pre-record todays talk. After receiving some pushback over posting an archived talk a few weeks back, followed up by some challenging responses to a tongue-in-cheek tweet he posted, Jay addresses the deeper issues behind these interactions. He talks about how phrases we use pretty regularly, like “A Higher Calling” can really do damage if they are used without thought. He discusses how a higher calling should be treated as a reality and not just an expectation of the phrase. Playing off of this idea, Jay dives into how leaders are held to a different standard that is not a human standard. And at the core of all of this discussion is Jay’s belief that Revolution Gathering can lead the way to reformation and make a more human church. To get rid of the hierarchy of a community in order for there to be a reformation. Often, we feel like pastors believe on our behalf if we are struggling – but what if our pastors need us to believe on their behalf when they are struggling? We have to ask ourselves what we really want in a community and a church. Do we want transparency or just comfort? Do we want a motivational clubhouse, or do we want to life in its rawest form?This talk was given on November 21, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jay gives a raw and heartfelt talk, truly emphasizing just how literal Revolution is when they say “Come as you are!” – no false airs, just truth and honesty. Jay has been going through a tough time and he shares that with us, he explains how depression and trauma go hand in hand. He shares how pain is a part of life, so we need to live life on life’s terms, and just how important it is to recognize the humanity in each other. He shares the struggle of trying to love the impossible people and how sometimes it makes us feel broken. Plain and simple. Revolution is a group of broke people sharing our brokenness with each other. Coming as we are. Jay discusses mourning the living and the blessing and curse that it is. Also we hear that famous ‘love scripture’ from Corinthians like we’ve never heard it before.This talk was given on November 14, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Unlocked! Dug out from deep within the Revolution Archives, we unearthed a talk back from 2009, back from the days of Revolution New York – In this talk Jay draws inspiration from a quote he heard in the movie “Doubt” which compares gossip to feathers scattered in the wind and how it is impossible to clean up the effects of it. Jay looks a bit into where our anger comes from when we talk about legalism and the church and discusses that maybe it’s not the people that make us angry, but more the idea behind it all. We take a look at some verses from Matthew to learn what Jesus had to say about legalism and the dangers of imposing impossible standards on people, even if it is done with seemingly good intentions. This talk was given on February 09, 2009 in Brooklyn, New York.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Jay is back! He's returned from Belfast and is ready to talk grace and reformation. In this weeks talk Jay dives into Luther, Galatians and the Gospel of Luke to discuss and unpack what it means to deny ourselves and take up our cross. Are we taking up our cross or are we asking other people to take up our crosses for us? Jay discusses our institutions aren’t the only thing in need of reformation but how we need a reformation in our own mind. How do we love our enemies? How do we communicate with people that don’t love us? As Jay puts it: “Grace can’t be taught enough!” This talk was given on Oct 31, 2021 in Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week guest speaker Joshua Murray gives a talk that started out as three unrelated ideas that he couldn’t shake from his mind: 1.) The importance of sincerity. 2.) The value and intimacy of small groups rather than large gatherings. And 3.) A drive to figure out why learning more about Buddhism has been at the forefront of his mind – Is there any connection between these three ideas? Is there value in a slow burn rather than instant gratification? And what was Jesus up to in those missing years of his life? Did he wander around like in the TV show Kung Fu and walk the Earth collecting wisdom? Is that too far fetched of an idea? And why does Paul seem to understand aspects of Jesus’ teaching more than the people that were actually physically with him? Also, did Josh really find a spiritual connection to the movie Hellraiser? Well, I suppose it is the week before Halloween, so why not? This talk was given on Oct 24, 2021 in Long Island, New York.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week Jay gives his talk from Belfast, Northern Ireland. While spending time there, Jay reflects on experiences he’s gathered while talking with friends about the political history in Ireland and the parallels Jay is seeing in America and in the Church. He discusses the dangerous trap we often fall in when we get too tied up and blinded by our own causes that we scapegoat the other. How this could lead us to being incapable of having conversations, especially if they question our causes. The Church is not a building or a place, but a gathering and collection of people, but being part of a community is always messy. Are we willing to “put our identity to death” if it starts to block the growth of our community? Can we look past our own pain so we can see the pain in each other? Jay uses Jesus’ disciples as an example of how we are called to love our enemies and work with them in order to see past our own issues and ideologies. We see this theme echoed by Paul in his letter to the Galatians. And in a running theme of Revolution, Jay discusses living in the lack and the importance of being able to see opposites views and how they can often come together to move to a Truth that is above truth. This talk was given on Oct 17, 2021 in Belfast, Northern Ireland.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94 Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.