One of the bonuses of seeing U2 in Brisbane is that we get to stay with some good friends, Glenn and Kathryn Hohnberg. 

Glenn and I finished Moore College last year and he now works for AFES at Queensland University. Glenn is a passionate evangelist who will never let you be lazy as long as there are people around who don't know Jesus. This year he kicked things off by masterminding a "soft sell' mission called "We killed God. You don't care'. Great stuff. Glenn and Kathryn aren't big U2 fans, but they've kindly agreed to put us up for a few nights, show us around Brisbane and act as our chauffer.

You're coming to be entertained, right?
Well watch out " this show bites!

U2 traverse massive issues and themes including calling for the release of David Hicks and the upholding of human rights, challenging Jews, Christians and Muslims to work out how to live with each other and dealing with extreme poverty in Africa. It's a broad canvas " that at once threatens your apathy and passivity and puts in jeopardy the band's own popularity. 

You see, fans aren't stupid. 

Will the fans support the campaign to increase our government's commitment to dealing with extreme poverty? Or do they think it is woefully idealistic and a waste of time? Do they support the release of David Hicks? Or do they think he is getting what he deserves? Can Muslim and Christian really co-exist? Or is that too simplistic? Do they subscribe to the declaration of human rights? U2 walk a daring line by provoking fans to action. This is not just a visual and audio feast to wash your popcorn and beer down. U2 is back in town and they're "preachin' it'. 

What does a Christian make of all these issues that confront him at a rock gig of all places?

I came away wondering whether or not the issues raised were simply too big. That it became overwhelming. Do the issues overshadow the music? It seems everyone wants a piece of Bono. Renowned for his work on relieving extreme poverty in Africa, he steps off the plane in Queensland and is immediately questioned over his support for the "global warming' campaign.

Where does it end? How much of our broken world can one man embrace? Everyone wants him to be his or her patron saint. And yet, I think U2's full frontal assault on such immense socio-political issues lie at the heart of what makes this concert so interesting. 

It is staggering that you would go to a rock gig and have your mind worked over " that you would see one man trying to throw his arms around the world. What Bono and the band do is to touch a raw nerve, they open the rib cage and squeeze hard. 

Something clearly different from the last few tours is that Bono seems more open about his faith. 

There is rawness. Whether he's letting us in to share in his many "hallelujahs' at the end of Beautiful Day, or encouraging us to recognise "the blessings' that God reigns down on both the righteous and the unrighteous, he is not holding back. He openly and sincerely thanked God for the band's family members all being in good health. The band then launched into an acoustic version of Yahweh. The band may have had a great life but clearly recent times have not been so easy. This was a favourite moment for me. Yahweh has a line that identifies the "ways' of God in our world.

"Yahweh,
Always pain before the child is born'

That is the trajectory or the path of "suffering before glory' that God has woven into his purposes for created order.  For that reason it is the Christ's path. After all didn't our Lord say "it is necessary for the Christ to first suffer'?

Bono the modern day Psalmist.

Psalm 71:19-20: Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God, you who have done great things. Who, O God, is like you? Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up.

The path of the Christ is the road of suffering first then glory. If we are "in him' or "in Christ', then that is our path too until he comes. And so the mature response is "willing submission'.  This hasn't always been U2's first reaction (and certainly not mine).  Earlier songs like Wake Up Dead Man and Peace on Earth were much less inclined to let God of the hook on the subject of suffering. So it was with great delight when I first heard Yahweh. And it was even better when they played it the other night in the context of their own trials.

Mature, almost resolved restfulness in God's sovereignty is what Yahweh captures. A song that Edge claims "just had to be written'. It includes some lines where Bono adapts words from our saviour's mouth in Matt 5:14-16:

"Yahweh,
Yahweh,
Why the dark before the dawn
Still I'm waiting for the dawn
Sun is coming up"
Sun's coming up on the ocean
This love is like a drop in the ocean

Take this city
A city should be shining on a hill
Take this city, if it be your will..
What no man can own
No man can take
Take this heart,
Take this heart
And make it break’

So, is Bono a Christian? 

(Groan) I don't feel the need to answer it but I know some people will be still asking it so stay tuned.  For now, here's my take on opening night in Brisbane.

Brisbane Concert review

My experience of the first show was very different to what I read in the papers the morning after and what some fans had said on the radio and Internet who were close to the action.

Perhaps nothing U2 did would live up to the appetite hungry fans have developed over 8 years and the added strain of the Vertigo tour's earlier postponement.

It didn't help that the stadium (the Brisbane Sports and Athletics Centre) was woefully disorganised when it came to shepherding 60,000 people in and out of the venue. I loved one Brisbane fan's delightfully understated quip: “a little sign or timely announcement might have been good”.  It was a dog's breakfast.  It took us 45 mins to get into the stadium, so I can't tell you anything about the support act, Kanye West.

My wife, Heather wanted a good seat for this one because she would have been half way through her pregnancy had the tour not been rescheduled. So we are sitting in A-reserve, the most expensive seats. Definitely prime viewing but removed enough from the heat of the action to attract a much more sedate kind of fan. I call them the "greatest hits' fans. Mostly remaining in their seats, munching popcorn and sipping beer. I'm definitely out of "sync' with this mob: I'm sitting down when they're all up " its Angel of Harlem " not a favourite.

Now, you have to allow for the fact we were in the stands, not on the pitch. But still, something was definitely missing from U2's chemistry. Some songs just didn't gel. There were glaring technical problems too. 

Bono's microphone repeatedly "clunked'. Giant video screens can be a curse, revealing the band's frustration with technical issues. Even on the very last song, a gorgeous rendition of "Kite', Bono stepped back from the microphone, and paused until some issue was resolved.  Bono's voice also didn't seem up to the songs in the first set. 

However, both his voice and the rest of the sound improved after the first encore. At this point, U2 came back out with a mesmeric performance of Zoo Station and The Fly. 

I couldn't help notice that those songs seemed to cry out to the other songs played, "We deserve to be heard in a stadium, how about you?' Definitely not one of U2's finest nights. 

Heather had a great night. Maybe I'm too picky. Sitting in A-reserve confirmed my instincts; I don't belong in the stands.

Having said all the above, fear not.  U2 will sort these problems out.  It is potentially a very powerful concert"

Stephen Shearsby, children's minister at St Paul's, Menai, is attending each of the seven U2 concerts that the band will be performing in Australia. He will share his experiences of the concerts and the people he meets in a series of blogs in the coming weeks.

Read the news story, Stephen’s previous blog and next blog.