When Generation X met The Man. Or something...

Heidi Hollis is mostly known for her speculations about a kind of ghostly apparitions known as Shadow People. Hollis believes they are real, paranormal entities. You may have seen her on one of the innumerable paranormal TV shows. As far as I understand, Hollis also believes in demons, aliens, near-death experiences, etc. She believes in God, too, but somewhat strangely not in Jesus. Until recently, that is. “Jesus Is No Joke” recounts Hollis' visions of Jesus, other heavenly or hellish experiences, and the author's musings on the same. Unfortunately, the book is extremely stream-of-consciousness, and written in “everyday language”. It's also somewhat frivolous. I suspect it might be deliberate. Perhaps Hollis is trying to evangelize Generation X? Ironically, however, the easy-going lingo actually makes the book *harder* to follow. I stopped reading it after a while and started skimming instead.

What I noticed is that Hollis' message is a peculiar blend of fairly “main line” theology (God is love, we judge ourselves, those who wish to leave Hell will get a second chance) and more extreme elements. Thus, Hollis claims that the war in Heaven has begun, that aliens are involved, and that Jesus is set on returning soon. Demons are real, so is the Devil. The author has visited the Crystal City mentioned in the apocryphal Book of Enoch. The ideas in the book are apparently based on the author's own visionary experiences, including the “main line” elements. Thus, Hollis knows that the suffering souls in Hell will get a second chance on Judgment Day, since she was allowed to visit Hell. During the visit, her soul was ensconced within a hellish denizen, so the Satanic minions wouldn't recognize her! The frivolous style of the author made me wonder at several points whether she is taking us for a ride? Or is this the Rhema-esque version of the Emerging Church movement?

I'm not entirely sure if I want to know the answer…