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 Tillich

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.pdf

This talk was given on March 12, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

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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.pdf

This talk was given on March 5, 2023 from Seattle, Washington.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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After taking a week off from Galatians to take time and reflect on how the world seems to be going to hell in a handbasket, we’re back! Galatians 4! This chapter is Jay’s least favorite part of this study–but he’s going to do his best to make it make sense for us. Paul expresses some concern in this chapter. Concern that maybe all of his efforts are wasted because everyone is going back to their old ways. The people are split, and split to the extent that they throw everything out…including Jesus. Phew, good thing that sort of stuff isn’t happening these days, right? Paul asks where the goodwill people once felt towards him has gone. He notices that he has become an enemy because of the truth he is sharing. And here we are, like 2000 years later, still having the same issues it seems. So, like Paul, Jay encourages us to look into ourselves and try to find our idols. What have we become slaves to? What dictates our lives? What do we exclude people over? What happened to love? What happened to grace? Why aren’t we compassionate or patient with each other? Hopefully Galatians can keep helping us find our way a bit.

This talk was given on February 05, 2023 in Seattle, Washington.

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We’re taking the week off from our 2023 Galatians study. Why? Because the world is in a bad place. A very bad place. We need to be aware of the suffering going on and we need to be aware of people losing hope. Some people may only get the crumbs from the table, but what about those people that don’t even get any crumbs. This is also a good point for us to take this small break from Galatians and do some self-reflecting. To think on what we’ve learned so far. Revolution is made up of many people, a lot of those who have been hurt by the church, hurt to the extent that we left the church altogether, and sometimes even lost faith altogether. But why do we tune into Revolution on Sundays? It’s because maybe we can identify with the outcasts. With the least of these. But in doing so we have to go further. Put movement to all of it. To go that second mile. Just imagine what we could do if Christianity stopped acting like an exclusive club. What if it didn’t turn into what it hated. If we could all be open to nuance and to just be human beings and to see others as human beings. Just think of what change that could bring!  

This talk was given on January 29, 2023 in Seattle, Washington.

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Week 3! The 2023 Galatians study is going strong! This week Paul tries to get us to see the ‘Good News’ and remove the asterisk that we often put next to the concept of grace, when really we need to embrace the anarchy of grace. The chaos of grace. Paul teaches us this week that God is no respecter of man–and in that sense we are all one! We need to see each other as ourselves. One and the same, get rid of the division. Also this week Jay pulls on a thread that came to him in preparing this weeks talk. A thread about Abraham and the covenant God made with him. Are there principles in Galatians that stem all the way back to then? Was there an alternate reason for Christ’s death? Jay dives into all of this and more. And always he reminds us to love one another, to argue well, to disagree well. And to always remember that when we argue with our enemies to remember to love them, above all things. 

This talk was given on January 22, 2023 in Seattle, Washington.

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Here we are! week 2, chapter 2! Jay is back from Belfast and hitting the ground running with the second installment of this year’s Galatians study. In this talk Jay discusses the second chapter of Galatians and gets into the dangers of ‘the law’ and the danger of factions. Jay discusses how God has no favorites and there is nothing wrong with asking questions. We also learn a bit more about why other disciples and apostles were casting off Paul and not accepting him–and that is because Paul accepted a shamed criminal as the Messiah. And it is because of this belief that Paul asks us to love on a higher level than what comes naturally to us. To do what is not instinctual for us. And as always, especially with this topic, we get into how Grace is Anarchy. It favors no system. It's radical and lawless. Is it the third path?

This talk was given on January 15, 2023 in Seattle, Washington.

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Here it is! Jay’s annual dive into the book of Galatians! We wait all year for it and it’s the best way to begin a new year full of all new possibilities and resolutions. Grace, grace and more grace. This is the first part of this multi-week study. What better place to start off this journey than Belfast? A city that is no stranger to fighting, division, and war! But a city that came together to overcome and move forward and heal. A city that found a way to love and have difficult conversations. A great embodiment of the message Paul gives in this letter. In this first part, Jay dives into the first chapter–Paul’s resume, for lack of a better phrase. We learn a bit about the man he was, how he changed, and why he calls himself an apostle even though contemporaries would beg to differ.

This talk was given on January 8, 2023 in Belfast, Ireland.

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