Authentic Faith

This is taken from the business blog of Seth Godin, however, it has a very practical implication for our Christian faith.

"If it acts like a duck (all the time), it's a duck. Doesn't matter if the duck thinks it's a dog, it's still a duck as far as the rest of us are concerned.

Authenticity, for me, is doing what you promise, not "being who you are".

That's because 'being' is too amorphous and we are notoriously bad at judging that. Internal vision is always blurry. Doing, on the other hand, is an act that can be seen by all.

As the Internet and a connected culture places a higher premium on authenticity (because if you're inconsistent, you're going to get caught) it's easy to confuse authentic behavior with an existential crisis. Are you really good enough, kind enough, generous enough and brave enough to be authentically a hero or leader?

Mother Theresa was an atheist, filled with self doubt. But she was an authentic saint, because she always acted like one.

You could spend your time wondering if what you say you are is really you. Or you could just act like that all the time. That's good enough, thanks. Save the angst for later."

As Christians, are we being authentic in our faith?

Expectant Surprise

A couple nights ago my brother-in-law (Brad) texted me to say that he had a friend of the family that was diagnosed with cancer a while ago. The man was in chemo and radiation when Brad last saw him. Brad asked the man if he could have one of his friends pray with him. The man agreed and the individual prayed for him! The man just recently went back for a doctor's appointment and they ran tests and the cancer is gone! The doctors in the hospital say they cannot find any signs of cancer!

This is an awesome story of healing. A story of what my Jesus is like, of what he wants to do for us.

I often wonder, why are these stories of miraculous healing are so surprising? As a Christian shouldn't this be expected?

We are very thankful to God for His grace, mercy, power, healing. Perhaps, we need to be more expectant in our faith/prayer.