Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
I finished this book on July 14, 2017. I typically don't read the same author back to back, but in this case I made an exception. I had just finished reading Grace Is Greater and the thoughts of mercy, grace and obedience were speaking to me so deeply I felt called to read Not a Fan. This book punched me right in the face, and at the perfect time. I started this book right before I left for a mission trip to Haiti, and to be honest I was having doubt about whether God was calling me to go on the trip or not. I couldn't discern God's calling from the distraction and lies that Satan was trying to attack me with. But through prayer and obedience, God provided clarity. This book helped restore that focus of obedience in my heart, mind and soul. I had to ask myself if I was really following Jesus or if i was a mere fan. I had to examine myself transparently and find out if I was fully surrendered and unequivocally obedient to God's call to follow Him. It's not always easy to ask those tough questions, but it's necessary. That's why this book was so important, and so timely. It helps remove any question and doubt about what it really means to be a completely committed follower of Jesus.
"The biggest threat to the church today is fans who call themselves Christians but aren't actually interested in following Christ. They want to be close enough to Jesus to get all the benefits, but not so close that it requires anything of them."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"There is no way to follow Jesus without him interfering with your life. Following Jesus will cost you something. Following Jesus always costs something."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"Most of us don't mind Jesus making some minor change in our lives but Jesus wants to turn our lives upside down. Fans don't mind him doing a little touch-up work, but Jesus wants complete renovation. Fans come to Jesus thinking tune-up, but Jesus is thinking overhaul. Fans think a little makeup is fine, but Jesus is thinking makeover. Fans think a little decorating is required, but Jesus wants a complete remodel. Fans want Jesus to inspire them, but Jesus wants to interfere with their lives."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"We tend to define belief as the acceptance of something as real or true. But biblical belief is more than just an intellectual acceptance or a heartfelt acknowledgement; it is a commitment to follow. Following by definition requires more than mental assent, it calls for movement."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"Jesus doesn't hold back with Nicodemus. Following Jesus would require a commitment that would cost Nicodemus a great deal. As we look at what it means to follow Jesus, this will become a theme. In fact it's true throughout all of Scripture. Moses couldn't follow God without standing in front of Pharaoh. Noah couldn't follow God without building an ark that would bring ridicule from his neighbors. Daniel couldn't follow God by praying to him alone without being thrown into a lion's den. Following Jesus isn't something you can do at night where no one notices. It's a twenty-four-hour-a-day commitment that will interfere with your life. That's not the small print — that's a guarantee."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"There is no forgiveness without repentance. There is no salvation without surrender. There is no life without death. There is no believing without committing."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"Now don't get me wrong, studying and learning from God's Word is invaluable. Jesus referenced, read, and quoted all kinds of passages from the Old Testament, ample proof that he had studied God's Word with great care and diligence. The problem isn't knowledge. The problem is that you can have knowledge without having intimacy. In fact, knowledge can be a false indicator of intimacy. Clearly where there is intimacy there should be a growing knowledge, but too often there is knowledge without a growing intimacy."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"Jesus makes it clear that he will not share your affection. Following him requires your whole heart."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"Jesus doesn't expect followers to be perfect, but he does call them to be authentic."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"When we learn to truly follow Jesus, we find that obedience to God comes from the inside out. Submission to what God wants for our lives flows naturally out of that relationship. It's not to say that what we do or don't do doesn't matter, but what we do or don't do must come from who we are as followers of Jesus."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"The only way to be filled with the Spirit is to empty myself of me. When I empty me of me, it provides space for the Holy Spirit to fill me. The more he fills me the less room there is for me."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"When the Holy Spirit moves in and takes up residence, then you should increasingly find that there isn't much room for you. And slowly you find that your pride, your impatience, your selfishness, your lust, are taken off the walls and carried out the door. You exhale and breathe out the clutter and darkness of you to make room to be filled with the Spirit."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"If you are depending on your own strength to follow Christ you will soon find yourself drained and defeated. Jesus promised his followers that the Spirit would come on them in power."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"We are saved by God's grace when we believe in Jesus and put our faith in him, but biblical belief is more than something we confess with our mouths; it's something we confess with our lives."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"Your feelings aren't faith until they are expressed."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"I believe what the Bible teaches about salvation. I believe that we are saved by the grace of God through faith in Jesus Christ (Eph. 2:8). I believe it is God alone who is able to keep us from falling (Jude 1:24). I believe that nothing can separate us from the love of God (Rom. 8:38-39). But I also believe the Bible clearly teaches that there will be those who think they are saved but who are not. They will live out their lives with a false assurance of salvation. They will think of themselves as followers, but a day will come when they'll be pronounced as nothing more than fans."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"You won't be able to take the path of following Jesus without walking away from a different path."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"We we sacrificially deny ourselves for Christ's sake it is the clearest evidence of our committed love. A committed love is best demonstrated through sacrifice. When we deny ourselves for another person it communicates true love."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"The Bible would teach that the highest calling for you is to be a slave who denies himself and follows Jesus."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"So out of love we become a slave to Jesus. When you finally surrender all that you have and all that you are you will discover the strangest thing. It's only by becoming a slave to Jesus that we ever truly find freedom."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"When you decide to follow him you are signing over your house, your car, your bank accounts, your career, your marriage, your children, your future, and anything else you once laid claim to. You have no more rights and nothing can be withheld. You deny yourself and sign a quitclaim deed on your life."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"You can't carry a cross without suffering."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"Dying to yourself may mean walking by that empty room in your house and asking God if there is an orphan child in another country that should be sleeping in that bed."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"Jesus wants followers who will say yes to him before they even know the request."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"When you accept the invitation of Jesus to follow him, you are not just saying that he is a top priority in your life; you are making him the only priority in your life. He desperately wants you, but he won't share you. He will settle for nothing less than your undivided attention and complete commitment."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"The reason Jesus is so adamant about followers surrendering everything is because the reality is this: the one thing we are most reluctant to give up is the one thing that has the most potential to become a substitute for him."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"There is a joy and a soul satisfaction that comes when we follow Jesus with our whole hearts, and it can't be found anywhere else."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"But when Jesus invites you to follow him, his invitation comes to you right where you are. He doesn't want you to wait until tomorrow in hopes that you will finally be heading down the right path; he wants you to say yes today and he will lead you out of where you are now."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
"You are adopted (Ephesians 2:19). You are chosen (Colossians 3:12). You are called (Ephesians 4:1). You are a follower (Luke 9:23). That's who you are. No go live it out."
― Kyle Idleman - Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus
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