Over the Christmas period I read The Jesus of Suburbia by Mike Erre. It was an interesting read, and the more I think of it, quite appropriate considering the Soliton Sessions theme of ‘Dangerous Living‘ next month. (Jesus of Suburbia is subtitled ‘Have We Tamed the Son of God to Fit our Lifestyle?’) Here are some of my thoughts from it:

“Daniel waited three weeks for an answer to his prayer because the angel sent to answer Daniel was opposed for that time by demonic forces.” (From Daniel 10:12-13)

Maybe sometimes unanswered prayer isn’t that God is holding off, but that the devil is attacking harder? (Not always I know, as Mike notes, but sometimes we under-spiritualise stuff) Puts a new twist on the verse ‘God is not slow to act as some understand…’

“If somebody asks me, “Hey, how’s your walk with Jesus?” I immediately want to tell them about my prayer life and quiet times, but I don’t want to talk about my driving or how I talk with my wife when I’m angry with her.”

Our whole lives are influenced by who we follow. Jesus is just as interested in my driving and how I react to my little brother as he is in my prayers. Makes me think of the concept of shalom – the presence of wholeness, completeness. Jesus is interested in it all.

The critical issue today is dullness. We have lost our astonishment. The Good News is no longer life changing. It is life enhancing.”
(M. Dawn)

How true this is. Oh that we would see a glimpse of God as he really is. Oh that our hearts would be awakened to the glory of a God who is so beyond our comprehension, so beyond our imagination, so beyond… just beyond. Beyond us.

Mike Erre also made this comment:

“One of the most fundamental mistakes many commentators make in understanding the book of Revelation is forgetting that the book would have made sense to it’s original audience. Its symbols, imagery, and hundreds of Old Testament illustrations would have been readily understood by Revelation’s first-century hearers.”

Can anyone shed some light on this for me, is it true? Would the imagery in Revelation have been so easily understood in their culture?