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Jay gets a little serious this week and shares with us his first personal experience with Christianity and how that led him to where we are today and what Revolution is trying to be as a community. Feeling inspired by a punk rock show to stay true to himself, Jay discusses how the Christian legalism he encountered at a young age–the hurt it caused and how it pushed him away from God almost altogether. But eventually that all led him to discovering grace and acceptance and loving radically. How the more he dove into studying and reading, Jay came across the idea that Christianity isn’t the faith of being rigid. Or at least it shouldn’t be. As a society we spend so much time looking for things that separate us, but we have so much in common. And the most important thing we have in common is our humanity. Let’s have a love that reconciles. A love that Jesus said we would be known by. Let us be driven by love and not rules, not separation. Because we’re not different–we’re just people.
This talk was given on April 23, 2023 from Seattle, WA.
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I Have a Utopian Dream
41:25|We’re all tired, and we’re all frustrated—and that shared sentiment can be heard in this talk. Sometimes it all feels like it’s too much. Too much hate. Too much anger. Everything we do seems to come at the expense of someone else, it’s maddening. Today Jay discusses the idea of love and power. Are love and power polar opposites? Can the two ever share a same space? Do churches today speak truth to power? Can we unite in diversity? Because it often feels like the powers that be fear bringing people together. Can we all work together for justice with power that has love in it and embraces diversity? Is this possible or is it just a utopian daydream? God is love. And God without love is no God at all. And power without love is power with no God at all. It’s all starting to be too much. Something has to give! How much more divided can we be, how much more divided can politicians make us? Billionaires make us? It makes us all want to scream. But luckily if it makes us all want to scream, than that means we’re all united in this frustration—and finding any way that we’re all united can be a pretty strong starting point to finding our way to this utopian dream.This talk was given on December 15, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94There are No Saints
42:35|Today’s talk so something pretty cool! After years, Jay gives a talk to a live audience! Jay Bakker Live from ECMCC! It’s really fun to listen to Jay speak and hear feedback and reactions, rather than just reading them in chat. But even though the setting has changed, the talk, and spirit of Revolution stays the same! Today Jay talks about peace. He does a deep dive into the Gospel of Matthew and discusses the Beatitudes. He also talks about how the Kingdom of Heaven is now, not off in the sky in some distant future, but here and now! Especially if you’re feeling poor in spirit, which many, many of us are. Even more so these days. Jay discusses living life on life’s terms, but also how we have to be the narrow road walkers! We have to find a way to fight monsters without becoming one ourselves. Because if we all truly believed what we say we do, wouldn’t society and social media look different? Wouldn’t there be more peace and uplifting? Wouldn’t there be a change in mindset and attitude? How can we become that change? How can we do all of this and still stay on the narrow path? This is a great talk, in front of a great group of people! More in person speaking engagements please!This talk was given on December 8, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94A Chronology of Change
01:03:45|Today’s talk is a bit different, but also very much in line with Revolution. We’ve often heard Jay talk about Martin Luther King Jr, and the influence he had in his life—in that same vein, today we are going to look at Malcom X, another hero of Jay’s. We know that idea might be strange to some, and alarming to others, especially because today Jay is talking specifically Malcom X’s pilgrimage to Mecca. The reason Jay is focusing on this aspect of his life is because some really beautiful things and revelations happened for Malcom X on this voyage. It had a profound effect on him, which later had a profound effect on Jay. This specific example from Malcom X’s life shows the true strength of grace, kindness, and generosity; the seeds they plant and the fruit they produce. Today Jay talks about love without agenda, and how judging, devouring, and dancing on each other’s graves only yields misery and bitterness. And a lot of the time bitterness and giving up are more contagious than love and compassion on. Bitterness spreads like wildfire! Today, through Malcom X’s words and teachings, Jay discusses the Narrow Path, and what it means. Have we had it backwards this whole time? We really think you’ll enjoy this talk. God can use absolutely anyone to teach us anything Malcom X is no exception. This talk says a lot about the capacity for change, and the incredible blessing that it can be.This talk was given on December 1, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94When the Grid Goes Down
56:14|Today’s talk isn’t just about disagreeing well, and arguing well—that’s what it might seem like at first glance, but actually, it’s about navigating the reality that we live in. No matter what anyone feels about conservatives, liberals, LGBTQ, or any person they disagree with, the reality is: They exist. Plain and simple. Whether or not someone agrees or disagrees or recognizes them, or not, it doesn’t change the fact that they exist, and this is our shared reality. We need to find a way to all exist together. And learning to disagree and disagree well, is vital to that. And so is arguing well. Often times we might ask ourselves what’s the difference between disagreeing and arguing, and how to navigate in those moments—and that is what today’s talk is truly about. We live in a time of arguments. And many of the disagreements we find ourselves in the middle of are usually based on misinformation. Misinformation that we blindly take as fact. How can we battle this? We need to remember that we have to love each other. Love our neighbors and our enemies as if there was no difference between them. Even when we don’t like them, we have to love them. Especially when we don’t like them. It may not seem it, but arguing and disagreeing is more important than we realize, because leaving no room for disagreements is what leads to war. Freedom is messy! Humanity is messy! Disagreeing is messy! There is pain and conflict that can’t be avoided. But if pain and conflict, and suffering, is something we all go through—doesn’t that just mean it’s our shared experience? And maybe, if approached correctly, instead of dividing us further, it can actually heal us, and bring us all that much closer together.This talk was given on November 24, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94What's the Frequency, Jay?
01:50:24|Today we have something a bit different, but it’s awesome and we’re excited to share it. Jay sits down with longtime friend Brian Yarbrough and together they discuss some questions people have submitted. Jay discusses his time in New York at the premier of the Tammy Faye Musical, and all of the people he met along the way. The people that influenced him, and that were influenced by his mom. It was a very special day for Jay and he gives us a real inside look. Together, Jay and Brian also discuss favorite music and bands, favorite comic book characters, how Elton John smells like acceptance and love, what Jay is reading these days, and if Jay could have Revolution anywhere in the world where would it be. They also go into depth on how to work with people we disagree with, people we don’t even particularly like, and how to focus on seeing past the binary thinking. Don’t be fooled by the more fun questions, this talk gets real. Like, real, real. It gets heavy at times—but like everything with Revolution, it’s full of grace, and humanity, and heart.This talk was given on November 17, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94Now is the Time
41:59|It’s a crazy time with a lot of emotions after the election. A lot of wide-ranging and diverse emotions from everyone. Ranging from despair and quitting, to invigorated and inspired, to celebrating victory. Here at Revolution, we try to respect the entire spectrum of emotions, ideas, and people. Revolution will always fight for equality, on every level we can. If you are in despair, it’s not over—this is what Revolution trained for. If you are celebrating, please do so, while seeing the humanity and others and understanding why they might not be feeling the same way and help them, with love, understand where you are coming from. No more biting and devouring. Let’s all give of ourselves to each other in hopes that it will bring about a truth that is higher than politics and parties. Are we so devoted to politicians that it blinds us to the humanity of each other? Do we want a revolution but not want to have to endure a revolution? We have to all work together and see each other’s humanity—regardless of political leanings, this is the ONLY way forward. Seeing each other as humans. All of us. Because grace is anarchy. It doesn’t hold to one system or leaning. Grace is for everyone, no footnotes or exceptions. MLK says we will remember the silence of our friends. This is what we’re saying, we can’t be self-focused, we need to be others-focused, because we’re not alone in this. If we want change, we have to learn to take the higher ground. How do we live in such a divided world and still find a way to help mend this division? We don’t know, really, we don’t, but we don’t see any path forward, any hope in mending division if we can’t all come together and see each other’s humanity. See each other as human. This is the only way. We can do this!This talk was given on November 10, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94Has Christ Been Divided?
47:55|The election is here, tomorrow as a matter of fact, so we wanted to get Sunday’s talk out a little ahead of schedule to give people time to listen before everything gets…well, how it’s going to get. This talk isn’t about politics, sort of. It is, and it isn’t. It’s about radical acceptance, about knowing what we can and cannot change and learning to live life on life’s terms. It’s about the smallest things in life meaning the most and helping the most, especially in the darkest times. Are the Beatitudes a small thing that helps us the most? Is it Paul’s letter to the Galatians? Is it each other, and friendship and love? Is it all of the above? It’s uncertain times like this that really emphasize the importance of community. Because when we divide, we stay divided. A lot of us are nervous and on edge, so let’s be kind to others and ourselves. We’ll get through this, one way or another, and we can only do it by helping each other. No matter how this turns out we love you all, and we’ll see you on the other side—in every sense of the phrase. This talk was given on November 3, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94Am I Really a Christian?
47:00|Jay is super under the weather, but he throws on a hoody to keep the chills away so he can deliver us a really interesting and thought-provoking talk on what it means to be a Christian. The talk came about after Jay received criticism and questioning on his beliefs and when he wasn’t able to be cleanly labeled and divided it gave him the idea for this talk. So in a sense this talk is your basic Revolution ‘grace and love’ talk, but it is needed. It’s a topic that always should be revisited because it is that important. Can the Bible become an idol if we’re not careful? What about grace is so scary to us? Why do we feel it needs to be earned and can be lost? Why do we treat a relationship with Jesus as sand falling through our hands? Making it almost impossible to maintain fully. In the end it comes down to this: Grace is a free gift and there is nothing we can do about it…except to just accept it. This talk was given on October 27, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94Beyond Our Particular Desire
44:59|One of the perks of doing a pre-recorded talk is that sometimes you’re midway through a talk and you realize things just aren’t clicking how you’d like, and when that happens in a live talk you just have to try to power through and hope it all works out in the end—but when it’s pre-recorded you can just put a pin in that talk and revisit it later. That’s what happened this week. Jay’s original talk turned out to need a bit more tweaking and work, so he put it back on the shelf and recorded a new talk. In this new talk Jay dives into the topic of scapegoating, what it is and why we do it. He also discusses the idea of The Lack. What is The Lack? What does it mean to embrace The Lack? Is embracing The Lack at the core of Paul’s message to the Galatians? There is a lot going on in the world. A lot of suffering. It’s at times like this society tends to do the most scapegoating, because in a strange way it gives us comfort in uncomfortable times, but at what price? Here at Revolution, we discuss disagreeing well, because maybe confrontation is needed for growth. Maybe confrontation can help us? But we have to do it right, we have to do it in a way where we find common ground and a shared humanity. It’s harder to see each other’s shared humanity through a computer or phone screen but that is where we spend the bulk of our time, so we have to find a way to recognize the humanity in others through a screen. Because arguments aren’t the end of the world, and we shouldn’t fear them…we just have to learn how to both argue and disagree well. This talk was given on October 13, 2024 from Seattle, Washington.www.facebook.com/revolutionchurchmnwww.revolutionchurch.com/donatewww.youtube.com/revolutionbroadcasting@jaybakker@revolution1994@revolution94