Not a fan.

I recently just finished the book Not a Fan by Kyle Idleman. I highly recommend this book to every follower of Jesus! (Actually, non-Christians may also enjoy it because it blasts American Christians for our hypocrisy). It is incredibly challenging and really, really good. Below is a couple of portions that I really enjoyed.

"The phrase 'cross to bear' has become part of our vernacular. 'Cross to bear' is an idiom that is used when a challenging situation or responsibility has been put on us against our will. For a follower of Christ a cross is not forced upon us, it is taken up. Jesus sets the example. In John 10:18 Jesus says, 'No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.'"   p. 168

"Taking up a cross and dying to self sounds like torture. We think that such a decision would make us miserable. Is that what it means to follow Jesus? We wake up every morning and commit to misery. But when we die to ourselves and completely surrender to him, there is a surprising side effect to dying; we discover true life. In a twist of irony, we find that giving up our lives gives us the life we so desperately wanted all along."   p. 171

I loved these paragraphs because I have totally found this to be true and have marveled at the process. Kyle explains it so well here. I've also said it this way: "The more I deny myself and submit to Jesus, he is faithful to change my heart. As he changes my heart I become more 'me' or who I wanted to be than I was before when I was holding on and not submitting (because I was afraid of losing what I thought was so 'me')."