O is for...

   is for out loud.



I have a bit of a book obsession.  I mean, I really really love bookstores.  In fact, I feel like a kid in a candy shop every time I walk through the doors of Barnes and Noble.  Whenever another one of their stores closes, a little piece of my heart breaks...(I obviously need to toughen up a bit.)  I come upon some pretty good reads now and then, but once in a blue moon a book reaches out and grips me, it speaks to me, and it does some work on me as the reader.  So from one book lover to another, I wholeheartedly suggest you take a chance on not a fan. by Kyle Idleman.

(Kyle Idleman is one of the pastors at Southeast Christian Church and its satellite campuses in the Kentuckiana area.  Whenever I'm visiting back home, I love catching his messages broadcasted at the Indiana location.  He's funny, he's poignant, but most of all he's very honest and down-to-earth.  These same qualities are very apparent in his writing.)


So anyhow, I picked up this book off the shelf at the store last week enticed by a familiar name and a bestseller tag on the shelf below it.  Only a few chapters in, Idleman is cutting right to my heart, making me uncomfortable, and allowing me to think about the way I relate to Jesus.  Away with the surface level and wishy-washy; this one's good stuff as far as I'm concerned.  The basic premise of this book is the reality that believers fall into one of two categories: fans of Christ or true followers.  Idleman makes clear that Jesus never called us to the easy road cheering Him on from the sidelines.  To be His bonafide follower, it means sacrifice, honesty, action, and life lived out loud for Him.

Here I am, challenged to eradicate the areas of my life where I'm a bystander and wimpy cheerleader for my Savior.  I don't want to be a fan.  I want to live a life where I'm not numero uno and that glorifies Him.  I want to apologize when you look at me and see all of the messy and you think that it's a reflection upon Him.  Please don't confuse my flaws and my humanness with my Jesus.  As I strive to live out loud, it's my earnest hope that as a follower I'll continue to be less like me and more like Him.  So what about you?  Fan or follower?