Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Welcome to NOT A FAN :)


Welcome to Week ONE of our online book club.  Today we begin Kyle Idleman’s book, “Not a Fan: Becoming a Completely Committed Follower of Jesus.”  If you haven’t already, stop now, and read through the prologue of the book (pages 11 through 15).  
This week, we are going to read Chapters 1, 2 & 3 (pages 19-53) of the book.  This is a total of 34 pages, and breaks down to an average of 5 pages per day.  As you read this week, I encourage you to underline and make notes in your book whenever you read something that resonates with you, or convicts you, or confuses you, etc.  Reference to your notes will help you remember what you have read, and will hopefully provoke you to discuss your thoughts with the other members of our book club.  
Fun, right?
Okay so here is how it is going to work:
Every Wednesday, a different contributor from our book club will make a post discussing our weekly reading.  Read these posts, and think about the contributor’s comments and questions.  In response, I want to encourage every participant of our club (that includes you!) to post a responsive comment.  There is no right or wrong way to make a responsive comment.  A comment can be short, or a comment can be long.  A comment can ask a question, or a comment can answer a question.  There is also no limit to the number of comments you can make during the course of a week.  Again, I hope to see every participant make at least one comment each week, but you are welcome (and encouraged!) to make multiple comments if you wish.  
In order to make a comment, you must have a Google Account.  If you do not already have a Google Account, you can obtain a free account here:

        FREE Google Account

Once you have a Google Account, you can make a comment as follows:
  1. Click on the word “comments” at the bottom of the blog post.
  2. Enter the text of your comment in the space provided.
  3. Select “Google Account” where it says “Comment as: Select profile” (You might have to log into your Google Account during this step)
  4. Click “Publish”
Your comment will then be posted to the blog.
Got it?  Okay!  Let’s practice.  
I want everyone participating in our book club to make their first comment now.  Your comment should contain three things:
    1. Your first name
    2. A few fun facts about yourself; and
    3. What brings you to this book club. 
I’ll go first:
    1. Amy 
    2. I am a wife and mother.  I’ve got two dogs (one calm, one crazy).  I love Breyer’s Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream.  This is my first book club.  
    3. I am prayerful that God will use this book club to convict, empower, and encourage all of us to follow Jesus with everything we’ve got.  I don’t want to waste my life (this is our shot!), and I don’t want to see anyone else waste their lives either.  That’s why I’m here.
See how that works?  Okay then, now it’s your turn. Go ahead and make your comment now.  If you want, click this link for some inspirational music to get you in the mood:


Ha!  Okay, so I hope that wasn’t too painful.  If you cannot (for the life of you) figure out how to make a comment, send your comment to me in an e-mail, and I will post it for you.  Please make sure to note “Not a Fan” somewhere in the subject line of your e-mail.  You will find my e-mail address at the top of the Reading Schedule distributed at our Introduction Meeting.  If you do not have the Reading Schedule because you are participating exclusively online, please contact me through Facebook (Amy Baxindine Hill).  
There is only one last thing to settle before I conclude.  Now that you have a Google Account, you can officially join our blog.  By doing this, you can opt to receive updates when new posts and comments are made.  Just go to the top right corner of this blog and click the blue button that says, “Join this site.”
Okay, so, that’s it!  I hope you all are as excited as I am to see how God uses this book and this club to work in us as individuals and collectively as a group.  Again, our reading assignment this week is Chapters 1, 2 & 3.  As you read, underline and make notes in your book.  This will help you remember what you have read, and will hopefully provoke you to discuss your thoughts with the other members of our book club.  
Be sure to check back next Wednesday, when another contributor from our book club will make a post discussing this week’s reading.
In the meantime, anyone care to make a comment about what we read in the prologue?  Or if you attended our Introduction Meeting this morning, what did you take away from what we discussed?  Why wait until next Wednesday?! Let’s get the discussion going!  

24 comments:

Mjmayhugh said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Shea said...

Shea
Chiropractor, love to be active, love nature
Leslie brought me to this group and my love for GOD!

Mjmayhugh said...

Marguerite
I decorate cookies and love to listen to punk rock and musicals.
The prologue was intriguing to me.

Anonymous said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Anonymous said...

Dawn
Love to knit, crochet and do needlepoint.
Amy made the book sound interesting in one of our previous Bible studies. I was glad that this book was going to be used for the book club. I can't wait to see how the Lord uses this study to bring us closer to Him.

Jessica said...

Hi everyone .. Jessica Previte here!
I'm a full time realtor.
Love to be out in God's creation, especially on golf course!
I've never done a book blog (never blogged either) and Amy made this sound fun and exciting. The book seems good too :-) Also looking forward to seeing how God works through this venue.

Ami said...

My name is Ami Terry. I am a stay at home mom. And I live right around the corner from Amy. My mom has also been reading this book and loves it. So, I look forward to reading and growing with you all.

Stephanie said...

Hi I am Stephanie. I am a stay at home mom as well as a Volunteer Firefighter and EMT. I saw Amy's post on FB and thought this would be a great way to enjoy a new book and open myself up to God's word (which I am pretty new at) :)

amybhill said...

welcome shea! so glad you're joining us! let leslie know if you're ever able to come out on a monday night - we'd love to have you join in on our weekly discussion meetings too :) hope you're enjoying the book!

amybhill said...

So happy you're reading along Jess :)

amybhill said...

so cool

Carol Bucciarelli said...

Hi I am Carol. I am a mom with grown children and I also do family and addiction counseling out of my home. I have counseled for almost 25 years in-patient and out-patient and depend strongly on God's direction in the work I do. I have been attending the Women's Bible Study at Bethel Baptist for the past few months and have found that staying in the word with other committed Christians enriches my life on a daily basis.

LauraCamp said...

Hello all! I am a mom of two beautiful girls and the music director at bethel. I love to read and am excited about how my faith will be challenged to grow deeper through this book. Looking forward to the journey!

amybhill said...

From Kathy Cortner:
HI Everyone! I am Kathy Cortner. Amy had asked that we share a few facts about ourselves. I am a mother of 3, grandma of 8 and almost 11! I have a couple of jobs...I am a pastor’s wife and an interior decorator....both very different, but I love both. I am so excited about reading this book. Honestly I am almost done with it. I guarantee, it will be life changing if you apply all you learn to your own life. I plan to reread with the timing laid out by Amy. It is a quick read. Enjoy and let God work.

LA said...

Hey!

I am Lee Anne. I am a wife to 1, a mom to 3, and keep busy with my family and in my community! I am reading this book because I don't want to sit on the sidelines in this life. I want to count for my great GOD!

Kathy Cortner said...

HI Everyone! I am Kathy Cortner. Amy had asked that we share a few facts about ourselves. I am a mother of 3, grandma of 8 and almost 11! I have a couple of jobs...I am a pastor’s wife and an interior decorator....both very different, but I love both. I am so excited about reading this book. Honestly I am almost done with it. I guarantee, it will be life changing if you apply all you learn to your own life. I plan to reread with the timing laid out by Amy. It is a quick read. Enjoy and let God work.

Kristen said...

Nothing like waiting to the last minute but you'd all better get used to that!
I'm Kristen Cortner...married to Brady, who's awesome by the way, mom to two girls (Emersyn - 8; Abby - 6) who keep me thinking every minute of the day...soon to be a mom of three! I'm not a big fan of reading but want to be more of a follower of Christ and that's why I'm reading this book (as well as the fact that I have to read it for two other occasions). Looking forward to learning and being challenged throughout reading this book.

amybhill said...

From Lynne Braatz:

Hi! I am Lynne Braatz. I am married to Jerry and we have three adult children. Each have married exceptionally well and have given us five amazing grandchildren. ~ At his point in our lives, we have refocused our lives to include breeding alpacas.

New to this scene of blogging, I am inspired by Amy and her zeal. Personally, I know I will benefit from this accountability. I know I am a fan for Jesus... I want to be sure I am a follower that will make His name renoun and make Him smile. :)

Becky said...

Hi - I am Becky who will be married to Curtis for ten years this summer...I have three boys (Brady (7), Chase (6), & Logan (5). I love to coupon and am very active in my son's school. I had seen the clip in Sunday and thought the book sounded very interesting. Looking forward to diving in!

Nicole Anderson said...

Hi- I am Nicole, wife to Chad, mom to Tyler(11), Kelly(9) and Riley(5). I work part time but not as a teacher which is the work I would LOVE to be back to. I love to be outside for anything...swimming,canoeing,hiking, biking or sitting under a tree reading a book. I am reading this book because....i was intrigued by the idea of fan vs. follower and hoping to grow to the later more consistently.

Ingrid Tornari said...

Hello everyone, my name is Ingrid :) Married almost 10 years to Mike & have 2 beautiful children. I have tried entering this information on here twice, and it hasn't seemed to "take", so the third time is a charm hopefully! I was told about this book during Life Group and it piqued my curiosity. Thank you Amy, for inviting me!!! Many things have occurred in my life, showing me God's never ending love. I truly want to get to know Him better!! Looking forward to this journey :)

Unknown said...

Hi all,

I'm Pam, a writer/teacher/singer/frequent recipient of God's amazing grace and mommy of one amazing son (Evan, 6 going on 16). A bit of a johnny-come-lately to the blog, but looking forward to the journey just the same. Thanks for making this available Amy! :)

amybhill said...

welcome pamela! :)

amybhill said...

welcome pamela! :)