Revolution Church

Here we are, week 2 and the conclusion of Paul Tillich’s talk You Are Accepted. This week Jay finishes his study on this Tillich sermon. As Jay says a few times in this talk ‘let’s not take these words lightly.’ Last week we talked a bit about sin, but this week we’re onto all the good stuff about grace. Do we know what it means to be struck by grace? Does being struck by grace mean we suddenly believe God exists? Or that Jesus is the savior? Or even that the bible contains the truth? Or is getting struck by grace something different that that? Is it better to refuse God and Jesus in the bible, or to accept them without grace? These are heavy thoughts, tricky to wrap our heads around. Because grace is bigger than we understand. As Tillich teaches, moral progress may be a fruit of grace, but it is not grace itself. And sometimes it can actually prevent us from receiving grace. Both Paul Tillich’s original sermon, and Jay’s discussion of it can really help us navigate such a tricky and complex topic. Helping us learn what grace is and accept it. And ourselves. And others. To not create God in the image of other Christians or people from church. To not become all of the things we hate. And maybe, just maybe, these discussions can help us on our fall into grace and what it means to be struck by it.Here is a link to Paul Tillich’s “You Are Accepted”. Revolution is sticking around and there are some great things to come.https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/20810.pdfThis talk was given on March 19, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94

We made it through Galatians! And while we’re always a bit bummed to finish up that study, this year we’re immediately moving onto something just as great. Paul Tillich’s talk You Are Accepted. In this first week of the study, Jay dives into some backstory onto who Tillich is and walks us through some of his credentials. Then we go right on in! There isn’t much to say in this write-up because it’s all in the talk today. It’s all about learning what Tillich has to say on grace, and also try to sort out what ideas we might need to reject in order to better understand it. Because grace isn’t always the easiest thing to explain. In fact, Tillich argues that it is just as hard to describe as sin is. It’s a great talk that really pushes for a diversity of thought and the dangers of Christianity becoming more of a separator rather than a unifier. But, hey, nobody’s perfect, we’re all human and we’re all flawed–we’re working on it though! So, thank goodness for Paul TillichHere is a link to Paul Tillich’s “You Are Accepted”. Revolution is sticking around and there are some great things to come.https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/20810.pdfThis talk was given on March 12, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94

We’re at the end of Galatians, and now we’re sad. But next week the discussion of Grace continues with Paul Tillich’s talk “You Are Accepted.” But before we get to that, let’s finish up Galatians. A lot of this talk is about trying to find a safe space for unsafe conversations. Jay makes reference to two Jon Stewart interviews that he feels encompasses a cross-section of society today. And like many other interviews or news reports, these cross-sections fit right into what Paul is talking about in his letter to the Galatians. It’s interesting how timeless this letter is…but also very frustrating with how little things seemed to have changed since this was written. Galatians really deals with the fact that we’re all human–and all humans are nuanced beings. So why are we not acting that way? Why do we insist on legalism and binary thinking? Paul tells us to restore people with a spirit of gentleness. Why then do we tend to act more like an army that shoots it’s hurt and wounded? We need to find a place where we can share our burdens with each other but at the same time not give these burdens and struggles to others. We need to focus on our own burdens, and love everyone else. Otherwise nothing grows. Worse than that, nothing grows because the ground is so toxic. So how can we navigate this? What is this other way? A third way? A way of nuance and grace. That is what we’re discussing today. And how we need to do our best to never tire of taking the high ground, never tire of showing grace. It’s very very hard. But in walking this path we know we’re doing the right thing. We know we are loving others the best we can.Here is a link to Paul Tillich’s “You Are Accepted”. Revolution is sticking around and there are some great things to come.https://wedgeblade.net/files/archives_assets/20810.pdfThis talk was given on March 5, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94

Galatians series is back! This week we finish up chapter 5! Before the talk starts Jay shares some news about Revolution and where it is going, and some epiphanies he’s discovered. Then we dive right in–Two weeks ago, when we left Paul and his letter, he was discussing the current state of the people he was writing to–they were divided, clashing, and tearing each other apart. They were being consumed by each other. There was no love and there was no peace. Why does this sound familiar? Why does this sound like Paul is writing to us today? Has anything even changed? In this chapter Paul summarizes the whole of the Law, and what it amounts to: Love. Loving each other. Are we so divided now that it’s impossible to have peace and community? People are full of nuance and there really is no blanket way to deal with everyone. We need to accept each other and ourselves radically. We need to learn to live with the lack. We need to radically accept the lack. We need kindness and gentleness. We can’t allow ourselves to fall victim to this hierarchy of suffering where we base our grace on who we like more, and take them more seriously. Seeing them as more human than we do others. Paul addresses all of this and more in these last few verses of chapter 5, and has us asking the question: What is the kingdom of Heaven?This talk was given on February 26, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donate

Whoa nelly, we’ve got a long one today! The talk wasn’t supposed to be that long, but sometimes things just get away from you. And when Josh starts talking about the Bible and God…and Star Wars…and wrestling…and cats…and music, well these things just happen. Today’s talk is about trying to find the magic in the Bible. Especially after years of deconstructing, does that kill the magic of it all? The wonder of it all? Is there a difference between deconstruction and destruction? Today’s talk is also about choosing friends and loved ones even if you have different beliefs. To focus on the importance of each other, rather than then throwing it all away because you start to disagree with each other. The talk also dives into the question of if something can be true even if it’s not literal. Does truth equal literal? Can something be a metaphor but still be completely true? Can something have inconsistencies and contradictions and still be true? If we learn to loosen our grip and allow for humanity, are those contradictions as strong as they once were? What changes? If something happened that proved the Bible to just be a book, a run of the mill book, do the insides of it change? Does the wisdom, poetry, insight…does that just fade away into nothing like it never existed? Is the Bible bigger than just three stories from the first book? As you can see there is a lot to talk about and dive into and wrestle with, so why are you still reading this? Let’s fire this episode up and see what conclusions we can come up with and what magic we can find.This talk was given on February 19, 2023 from Long Island, New York.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94

We’ve made it to Galatians 5!...well sort of. We’ve made it to Galatians 5.1. There are a few very important things in this chapter so we don’t want to rush it. In this chapter, very much the thread of the letter as a whole, Paul is discussing the dangers of legalism and makes a point for the fact that the Law that was set up with Moses was only temporary and that Jesus fulfilled that Law. But even though the Law is fulfilled, legalism always finds a way. It found a way back then, and it still does today. Does being so tied to the Law make Jesus’s death in vain? There is something to be said about this letter, being the earliest Christian writing, to be a rebuke letter about turning back to the Law. About this transgression of thinking that certain people shouldn’t be allowed to call themselves Christians simply because they don’t do what we want them to do. They don’t live how we want them to live. And still today that is the biggest issue we have with Christianity today is people creating rules and regulations based on their own biases. Don’t get me wrong when we say this, we are also talking about ourselves. We too, sad as it is, fall victim to this. Why are we so hesitant to love people we disagree with? Is it because of our own insecurities, or something else? Are our traditions only hurting us because we’re holding them so tightly? Do we hold people to too high of an expectation? Are we being consumed by one another? Has biting and devouring done us all in? Hopefully Paul can continue to help us figure all of this out! This talk was given on February 12, 2023 in Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94