Revolution Church
420 episodes - English - Latest episode: 2 days ago - ★★★★★ - 43 ratingsRevolution is a community of grace and provocation, led by Jay Bakker in Seattle, Washington.
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Episodes
A Straight Line of Unity- 2024 Galatians Series: Part 12
April 24, 2024 11:40 - 1 hour - 131 MBGalatians, Galatians, Galatians. We’ve been in Galatians for months now—with even more to come. We love it, but we’re okay with coming to an end soon. The main reason for how long this study has been is because of all the new scholarship Jay has been learning about this letter. Context is not only valuable, but it is needed. But it’s tricky, because do we only like scholarship until it causes us to have to inspect our own faith and beliefs? Paul has always had his fair share of critics. Usua...
Obligated Obedience - 2024 Galatians Series: Part 11
April 17, 2024 12:28 - 51 minutes - 95.1 MBWe finally made it to Galatians 5! This study is never ending this year, but we’re not complaining! Is Galatians the greatest letter on grace? We certainly think so! Something very strange happened in this talk, well not strange maybe, since it’s not strange for people to pop up in chat to troll or argue—so maybe kismet is the better word to use. Why we say that is we had some viewers in chat that were very much all about the law and following the law, especially those found in Leviticus. La...
Already Here But Not Yet - 2024 Galatians Series: Part 10
April 10, 2024 11:13 - 57 minutes - 105 MBWe’re back!...and we’re still in Galatians 4! Can you believe it? Out of any chapter, we’re still here. It’s been quite the journey from a section of the letter that we used to rush through to now being a part of the letter that we are enjoying enough to devote a few weeks to it—We’ll finish it up today so that next week we can start on Chapter 5! In today’s talk Jay spends some time talking about the importance of context when it comes to Biblical scholarship--Knowing when things were writt...
Hard Truths and Gentle Lies - 2024 Galatians Series: Part 9
March 29, 2024 01:15 - 1 hour - 117 MBIt’s Palm Sunday and we’re still on Galatians. Still in Chapter 4, even! This is something new for Revolution because this was a chapter that Jay always rushed through in the past. But even now, with decades of studying Galatians under his belt, Jay is still learning more and more about this letter that Paul wrote. And this year Jay saw this chapter in a whole new light—so it’s worth talking about for a few weeks! That’s why having good scholarship so important, because there is always somet...
Still Under The Law - 2024 Galatians Series: Part 8
March 20, 2024 11:34 - 1 hour - 117 MBJay has been battling a cold, but all the same he’s excited to get back into Galatians! Revolution has always tried to be a place to help those who’ve fallen between the cracks—We’re excited with the work Revolution has done so far, and we’re inspired to continue to try and be Peace Makers. We finally made it to Galatians Chapter 4! It might have taken us the longest to do this year, but it’s our most in-depth study so far. The main take away of this talk and Paul’s whole letter to the Galat...
A New Future
March 13, 2024 11:50 - 1 hour - 120 MBNo Galatians today. Instead, Jay has been inspired to talk about peace and about making peace. We need to be aware of what we put out there. What we are quick to fire off in a comment, a DM, or a text. In arguments and off-the-cuff comments. Because not every victory means we’re winning, is fighting the good fight any good if we’re not changing hearts? How do we move on from things without destroying them as we leave? Why is there so much anger in Christianity? Are we walking the second mile...
Unity Through Diversity - 2024 Galatians Series: Part 7
March 13, 2024 11:45 - 1 hour - 123 MBIt is tricky on whether to treat this as a stand-alone talk, or part of the Galatians series because it can easily be both. And it sort of is. You’ll get what we mean when you listen. This talk focuses mostly on just one verse in Galatians—Galatians 2.38. We feel it’s a good verse for how divided we are now. In this talk Jay discusses how it trying to bring people together takes patience. We have to let go of the feeling to want instant gratification, and brace for a longer haul. Patience an...
Healing Together - 2024 Galatians Series: Part 6
February 28, 2024 12:41 - 1 hour - 111 MBHere we are back in Galatians...sort of. If last week was Part 5 maybe we should call this one 5.1 or 5a because it is a bit of a curve ball. It fits together with the end of Galatians 3 where things get a bit more uncomfortable, but stick with us. It feels important that we talk about peace these days. It feels really really important. Because as Jay puts it in this talk we all seem to be stuck in a state of monologues, preaching to our own personal echo chambers and stating our views and t...
Fortunes of Wrath - 2024 Galatians Series: Part 5
February 21, 2024 12:23 - 1 hour - 131 MBWe’re back in Galatians again for the next in the series. We’re in chapter 3 today! This is the longest we’ve taken to go through this study—and we’re excited about that! Context is important. We like to really dive in, go over it with a fine-tooth comb. We love seeing all the ways that the people Paul was writing to were just like us, having the same struggles with faith, grace, and humanity. But we also see how much we’ve grown and evolved since then. An interesting thing about this chapte...
Dr. Nonconformist
February 14, 2024 12:34 - 1 hour - 134 MBOur Galatians study has been so in-depth this year, and so jam-packed with new scholarship, that we’re taking a break this week. This way the other talks can settle, and Jay can get back to studying. But even though we’re taking a break from Galatians, that doesn’t me that Paul won’t still be present all throughout this talk. Today Jay is actually going to go through some scripture and verses that he just straight up does not like. Verses that that rub him the wrong way, or we at Revolution ...
Nationalism and the Apostles – 2024 Galatians Series: Part 4
February 07, 2024 12:08 - 54 minutes - 99 MBThis is the longest we’ve ever taken to get through the first 2 chapters of Galatians! That’s because Jay has learned so much new scholarship, and it unlocked all sorts of nuance and context and a deeper understanding for all of us. So, let’s get right into it! Today we’ll be talking about some pretty uncomfortable stuff at times, mainly the idea of Nationalism. This was something Paul was dealing with in his time just as we are dealing with it now. Just another example of how Galatians is j...
Wake Up - 2024 Galatians Series: Part 3
January 31, 2024 12:34 - 1 hour - 111 MBHere we are with more Galatians study! We have a lot to go through today. Jay’s continued studying and research really makes this study stand apart from other years, bringing a fresh take to our annual study. Paul gets a bad rap these days, mostly because when held up to the standards of today’s way of thinking he often feels problematic—but was Paul more progressive and ahead of his time than he gets credit for? Is he one of the most misunderstood authors of the New Testament? Is Paul’s hum...
Why We Are Who We Are - 2024 Galatians Series: Part 2
January 24, 2024 12:22 - 53 minutes - 97.1 MBJay is back from Sundance Film Festival where they premiered the new documentary he worked on about his mom Tammy Faye. Jay shares with us some stories about Sundance and the people he met and which celebrities he had some close encounters with. He also takes some time to reflect on some of the friends we lost last year and how this documentary brough up some of that pain. The best way to help with that pain is to dive right into the Book of Galatians! A book of love and grace! This is part ...
Don't Remind Me - 2024 Galatians Series: Part 1
January 10, 2024 03:13 - 52 minutes - 95.8 MBIt’s a new year, so we’re back at it with our annual Galatians study to kick it off! This year Jay brings new study materials and new scholarship — continuing to unlock more and more that this letter has to offer. There is something unsettling that the issues addressed in this letter by Paul are still so relevant to us today. But that makes it just as timely and just as helpful as ever. The Galatians study continues to teach us more and more about grace, while still asking some really import...
Feeding the Monster
January 05, 2024 03:38 - 1 hour - 112 MBApologies for the brief delay on this week’s talk. Josh has been fighting with Covid all week which made editing the video not the easiest feat. But it’s here now and what a way to close out the year. For the last talk of 2023 Jay is going into the book of James! I know, we couldn’t believe it either. But he is and he knocks it out of the park. James is a tricky book, not really because what it says, but a lot of because of how it’s taught and used. Have almost 100% of pastors—including Jay—...
Can We All Just Disagree
December 28, 2023 13:50 - 1 hour - 116 MBIt’s Christmas Eve and Jay has a great one for us today. This talk is a pretty positive one too, go figure! Our talks don’t always have this much of a positive spin on them, so when it does happen, we try to take full advantage of them. And Jay is excited about this one. Today’s talk is about looking at the difference between arguing well and disagreeing well. What does each of those mean. We used to treat them as being pretty similar but maybe they aren’t. Does learning how to disagree well...
Sleeping Pill Mind
December 20, 2023 12:29 - 58 minutes - 80.3 MBRevolution is coming up on its 30th year!! So Jay reflects a little bit on that, and shares some good news as we catch up on what’s been going on with him. Then he dives into the talk, and Jay is back and more inspired!! So, with feeling so inspired after 30 years, Jay’s talk today is about…inspiration! Has Christianity lost its inspiration? What inspires us to do what we do? How do we inspire others to argue well? Can we even inspire others? Do we use more fear than inspiration? Jesus tried...
Frankenstein Mentality
December 06, 2023 02:22 - 1 hour - 98.5 MBToday’s talk isn’t really a sequel the “The Hell Talk” series that started a few weeks back, but it’s pretty darn close. Today Jay talks a lot about Radical Honesty. Radical Honesty is something we need if we want to have Radical Grace—the two go hand in hand. The church as a whole stopped the practice of Selling Indulgences, but Jay sometimes wonders if the church still it does, but it’s just hidden better. Maybe it takes a different form? But is it all the same? Does our theology have us a...
Buddy You Gotta Go On
November 29, 2023 03:16 - 1 hour - 122 MBToday’s talk is about honesty! About what honesty means in Christianity. What honesty is like when you grow up in the church. Do we have a low regard for honesty? Have we compromised the Truth so we can continue to believe what we believe and to stay comfortable? Would we rather have certainty over honesty? That is at the heart of this talk. All of that. But Jay also shares memories and stories of the impact that his friend Carlton Pearson had on his life. And how Carlton helped Jay see the ...
Let it Die
November 22, 2023 23:07 - 1 hour - 126 MBWe have a lot to get into today! Yes, today’s talk brings into question a lot of issues with the late stage of capitalism we find ourselves in now, but there is more to it than just that. Today we’re learning more about contradictions, and we’re learning about growth. We all change and grow, and we should! But let’s not be too quick to forget our old selves, because empathy really comes into play when we remember what we used to be like and how we used to think—and we use that memory and the...
Am I the Archer?
November 08, 2023 03:49 - 1 hour - 122 MBThe world is a pretty horrible place right now, so today’s talk going to be a heavy one. And there is almost no Bible in this talk. Today Jay will be talking about love, more specifically Agape Love. Agape Love is a term that makes some of us cringe, we’ve heard it used and abused. So it’s not the most comfortable topic to dive into. Are Love and Grace siblings? What is Agape Love and how is it different than the love we know? Does Love outweigh scripture? Can we love our enemy and still hav...
The High Cost of It
November 01, 2023 02:52 - 1 hour - 128 MBThe other parts of Jay’s Hell Talk are still being developed and researched, so this week we’re taking a bit of a break from the Hell series and just hear some stuff that has been weighing heavy on Jay recently. No sermon, he’s just sharing his humanity this week. Critics often help feed us, here at Revolution. They fuel us a lot. But the stuff they say still hurts and still sucks. Jay shares some of his experience with that. He reminds us that when we attack people, we hurt people. Plain an...
The Hell Talk, Part 1: It’s All Greek to Me
October 25, 2023 02:46 - 1 hour - 99.1 MBWe got the start of something real interesting going here! A multi-part in-depth study on Hell. Yes, the Hell. But it’s not the study you think. It’s a study where we really dive into the concept, origin, and histories of Hell. Growing up in church, very often asking questions is discouraged. But now we can ask questions, and we should ask questions, and not be afraid to! None of Paul’s writings mention Hell and they were written closer to Jesus’s time than the Gospels were. That offers up s...
Verbally Vulnerable
October 18, 2023 02:45 - 1 hour - 125 MBAlright folks, let’s hit this. Today’s description is going to be short. Why? Because the talk says it all and says it better than I can paraphrase it. Terrible things are happening in the world. We try to encourage people to talk and discuss and even disagree but to do that well. And we get A LOT of pushback for it. We seem to be stuck in a world of binary thinking, where every topic only has two answers or two ways of looking at it. There is no room for complications or nuance. But people ...
Jesus Loves You! But...
October 11, 2023 03:15 - 1 hour - 119 MBIt was too hard to swing service last week, but we’re back! And this week Jay has a great talk about love. About perfect love, which we can never achieve, but if we try, truly try, we’ll all be better for it. It’s impossible to talk about love and not reference Paul’s letter to the Corinthians. Yes, it’s not just for weddings! But the focus today isn’t on the wedding ceremony or love that we feel at the beginning of a relationship—but rather the love we have for family members…that really, r...
Contradictory Revolution
September 27, 2023 02:38 - 49 minutes - 90.4 MBJay is back from a brief trip to L.A. for the celebration of life memorial for Steve Pieters. He shares some stories about the trip and the service and gives us some extra looks into the life of such an extraordinary person! After that Jay jumps into the topic this week – Reformation! The talk connects to his last talk and we revisit Jesus’s words in the book of Matthew and why the simple phrase of “you’ve heard it said…” is such a big deal. Jay tells us, also, what he feels is vital for a r...
DangerNoodle
September 20, 2023 02:47 - 1 hour - 137 MBToday we have a special guest speaker, Zoë! And the talk sure is a good one! Jay is in L.A. this week attending the memorial service for our dear friend Steve Pieters. Zoë was able to step up and help us out! Zoë starts their talk by sharing some memories and stories about Steve and the person he was and the legacy he leaves. Zoë then dives into the topic of Biblical Scholarship—expanding on some of Jay’s most recent talks. What does it mean to look at Biblical Scholarship? What does it mean...
D-Attitudes
September 13, 2023 02:54 - 1 hour - 117 MBSeems like recently Jay’s talks have been inspired by memes…and this week is no different. This week a quote from Gary Oldman sparked some online discussion and that discussion sparked this talk. Today Jay addresses our inability to argue well, and our inability to disagree without hating each other. We always want an asterisk when it comes to grace—who it’s for and who it’s not. But what if the people that don’t see us, the people that don’t agree, what if they are the people we should be t...
Broad Brushes
September 05, 2023 22:13 - 1 hour - 112 MBToday’s talk is a real good one. A bit off the beaten path, maybe—but it’s a discussion worth having. Today Jay really focuses in on statistics. Statistics vs. The Individual. We know maybe “statistics” isn’t the right word, but it’s the best fitting one we could think of. Jay discusses how society, as a whole, seems to want us boiled down to being a number, a statistic. They don’t see anything past that. They want to group us by gender or non-gender, by race, by religion. But we need to go ...
I'm Busted
August 30, 2023 02:55 - 53 minutes - 97.4 MBHere at Revolution we are always trying to do our best to live life on life’s terms, but sometimes it’s just tough. We’re feeling weary these days. But we’re honest about our struggles and how it gets hard to keep the faith, how it gets harder to love our neighbors. We still press on, though. And we hope us sharing our struggles might help others to know they aren’t alone. That, together, we can encourage each other to love one another. Even though it seems bleak, and it seems like we’re all...
Living in the Friction
August 16, 2023 03:48 - 1 hour - 136 MBIt’s another week where we just jump right into it! Today Jay’s talk is inspired by two memes he saw on Instagram. When you’ve gotten to a place where memes inspire your talks, is that a good thing or a bad thing? We’re not sure but we went for it anyway! The memes referenced the ideas of love and legalism in Christianity. The two things that cause most of the problems, if not all of them. Have we gotten to a place where politicians effect our theology more than theologians and scholarship? ...
A Point Worth Looking At
August 09, 2023 20:20 - 53 minutes - 97.9 MBSorry for the delay with this week’s episode, I [Josh] had some pressing family matters that needed to be attended to, and that slowed down me getting this out to everyone, but here we are! And it’s a good one, worth the wait for sure! This week Jay gets right into it! And this week he’s talking about Hegel! Hegel thought that Christianity offered a philosophical insight that other religions did not—mostly due to the idea of a Divine Humiliation. What is Divine Humiliation? What is the diffe...
I Know You Are But What Am I?
August 01, 2023 17:30 - 47 minutes - 86.1 MBHard times recently. Hard times. Each talk for the last few weeks, shortly before the talk is given, something big happens that derails it and leaves us bewildered and confused and tired. We had the passing of Steve, and the anniversary of Tammy Faye’s passing. We have the death of Sinead O’Connor, followed up by the death of Paul Rubens. All of these people have had a huge huge role in both Jay’s life and work. And the merging of the two. It’s no wonder that the first words Jay wrote for th...
Pure Life
July 25, 2023 17:29 - 43 minutes - 80.6 MBThis week’s talk wasn’t really planned, but that’s how things go sometimes. With the loss of Steve and the world getting worse and driving all of us a little insane, if not more than a little, Jay got to thinking about his mom and about her favorite verses. Then add on the 16th anniversary of her passing and there was no way Jay could focus on anything else but her, and boy was it needed. It’s great to see some of the innerworkings of the verses and attitude and mindset that drove her to bec...
The Outsiders
July 18, 2023 17:31 - 52 minutes - 96.2 MBWe lost a good man. Last week we got the news that our dear friend Steve Pieters passed away. Jay wasn’t able to speak that week, so this week he comes with the talk about the life and legacy of Steve. He talks about who Steve was as a person. Who he was as a pastor. Who he was for his community. And who Steve was as a friend. Jay takes us on a bit of a journey through time and we learn about some of the way Jay never felt normal and never felt like himself. How he had struggles embracing hi...
Saint Barts
July 11, 2023 19:15 - 1 hour - 139 MBDid you know that the Gospels all tell the same story as each other, and they aren’t 4 parts of a bigger story? Maybe you did, but a lot of people don’t know that. And that’s what gave Josh the idea for today’s talk of going over the basics of the Bible. It occurred to him just how much he took for granted is common knowledge and what isn’t when it comes to the Bible. So this morning we take some time to really dive in. How many books are there in the Bible, how are they broken down, how are...
WTFJ
July 06, 2023 02:43 - 1 hour - 120 MBApologies for the delay everyone! Holidays get like that sometimes. But here it is, and it’s a good one! Some people might claim we are overstating this, but sincerely this talk feels like it can be Revolutionary. Or at least close to it. Maybe even the start of something. This talk might make some people uncomfortable, but that is not the intention. If it makes you feel uneasy, please just sit with it a bit. Think on it. And if you still are uncomfortable, please please dive into some schol...
More Than a Fraction
June 28, 2023 00:13 - 1 hour - 116 MBThis week we just kick right into the talk, no real monologue or catch-up. Jay picks up where the last talk ended…sort of. An unofficial continuation. Today Jay uses the idea from last week of Kierkegaard’s philosophy of the individual and how if we judge people only on the fraction of their lives and personalities that we see then we are in dangerous territory. Judging brings about more judgement. Judging others opens us up for people to judge us based on the fractions of our personalities....
Faction Fraction
June 23, 2023 01:18 - 1 hour - 128 MBWe have a bit of a delayed talk this week. It was a real busy few days with wrapping up some of the loose ends with the big move, Father’s Day, and Juneteenth—but hey, better late than never! Today’s talk is a bit off the beaten path. Today Jay talks a lot about Kierkegaard and what it means to think and act as individuals, rather than fall into scary groupthink. Jay discusses the strange truths we have, and how often we have an assumption that anyone, or any thought, that is in the majority...
Prisoner of Hope
June 14, 2023 02:57 - 57 minutes - 105 MBJay is all moved and back at it! It was a hell of a move and full of ups and downs…probably mostly downs. But it’s done and it’s good! A sad reality of life is that sometimes life just sucks and sometimes you just have to talk about it. Due to moving around a lot as a kid, moving brings up a lot of past feelings for Jay. Add on today’s current climate and…we’ll it’s been a bit rough recently. Today’s talk has a lot to do with disagreeing well and with arguing well. Grace doesn’t come with an...
Going Back to My Plow
June 06, 2023 19:56 - 1 hour - 129 MBJay is up to his eyeballs with his big move, so rather than having to find a way to come up with a talk, Josh is filling in so Jay has room to breathe for a bit! Today’s talk is inspired by a line from Elton John’s song Goodbye Yellow Brick Road. It’s about going back to a simpler time. An easier time. The strange thing about Christianity, though, is that we’ve gotten to a place where ‘progress’ is actually further behind us. It’s back back. Back to Jesus and Peter and Paul talking about gra...
Root Problems
May 24, 2023 15:38 - 1 hour - 82.5 MBThe world is kind of screwy and we’re gonna head there a bit today. The bulk of Jay’s talk today explores some passages in 1 John. Because, besides all of the confusion and anxiety of life these days with politics and hate and fear and war—Jay is adding moving to a new apartment on top of all of that! And in the end, it seems despite our effort and drive to power through, life still seems pointless more often than not. And because of that apathy sneaks its way in more than we’d ever care for...
When My Armor Streaks
May 17, 2023 03:06 - 1 hour - 120 MBHappy Mother’s Day everyone! Today’s talk is a little weird but that’s okay because Jay’s gotta be Jay. After a brief continuation and further thoughts/developments of last week’s talk, Jay jumps into what our focus is with Revolution—learning to have the tough conversations. Trying to stop ‘othering’ others. We say ‘trying’ because it’s not easy, we all struggle. But sometimes trying goes a lot further than we think. So let’s keep trying. Let’s try to overcome binary thinking. Let’s try to ...
Politically Unwise
May 10, 2023 02:31 - 31 minutes - 57.9 MBLike so many of our talks recently, this one wasn’t the one that was planned. But our original plans got derailed once again by a national tragedy. And that tragedy almost always seems to be another mass shooting in America. We are so sick of it. We’re sick and we’re heartbroken. We’re in danger everywhere we go. Jay’s talk this week is short. And it’s raw. Because enough is enough! These shooters don’t care about our politics, at all. They don’t only kill liberals, or adults, or people of c...
Maybe Depeche Mode Got It Right
May 03, 2023 03:07 - 48 minutes - 89.4 MBTodays talk is a bit heady and philosophy heavy, but it’s a good one! After studying and listening to some Todd McGowan, Jay starts to really break down the idea of separation and what Paul means when he talks about “…for all have sinned.” Often times we’ve heard that as a way to make us feel bad, or to emphasize how much we rely on salvation, but what Jay discusses is: What if what it means is we’re all equal? Similar to what Paul says in Galatians about there being no Jew nor gentile. If s...
First Academy Material
April 26, 2023 02:27 - 1 hour - 116 MBJay 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. H...
Let Him Chew
April 19, 2023 02:50 - 59 minutes - 108 MBWhen it comes to certain topics, such as grace, and having tough conversations, and disagreeing well, we know we can be a bit of a broken record here at Revolution. But then we look at the news, or social media, or society, and we realize we can’t be broken record enough! How has it gotten so bad that we can’t even stand the news we agree with? So, here we are again turning out the hits! Humanity! Grace! Jay has been feeling tired and frustrated lately–trying to live in a world like what we ...
Alright, Already!
April 12, 2023 02:56 - 56 minutes - 103 MBIt’s Easter Sunday and this week’s talk is a little off the beaten path. This week, Josh gives a talk that focuses on not only our ability to slay the giants that loom in front of us–but to also remember how many we dealt with along the way. It’s not always the easiest to find good things to talk about when discussing King David, but there is also a lot we can learn from him. A lot about grace and mercy, forgiveness, and hard conversations. How could a man who has done so much wrong be calle...
That’s Actually Your Job
April 05, 2023 02:31 - 46 minutes - 85 MBThis talk is a bit of an emotional one. Emotional more in the sense of frustration being an emotion. Jay talks about the struggles we encounter when we live (or try our hardest to live) the practice of disagreeing and arguing well. It’s getting harder to stay the course as more shootings happen and politicians do nothing, division grows and it seems like no one is helping–or even cares. Politics seems to be more about theatrics than it is about leadership these days. But we have to try to ke...
You are Accepted by Paul Tillich. Read by Peter Rollins
March 28, 2023 20:02 - 27 minutes - 49.5 MBThis week we have a special treat! After finishing up the study of Paul Tillich's sermon "You Are Accepted" we wanted to do something different. A way to double down on our love for this talk and what it means and the impact it's had on Revolution. So here we are, the original sermon, in full! And to add on to all of this--the sermon is read by philosopher and storyteller (and Jay's best mate) Peter Rollins! Enjoy! Here is a link to Paul Tillich’s “You Are Accepted” https://wedgeblade.net...