The Ring of Authenticity

I had a couple of interesting experiences this week. I was attending our Alaska Ministry Network's board meeting and the afternoon of the first day Alaska Governor Sean Parnell and his wife, Sandy took about a half an hour of their time to come and visit our board. He was promoting his initiative on ending child abuse in Alaska and asking us to support this effort in all the communities we influence throughout Alaska. While we visited, we heard the Governor speak about his personal faith in God. Now I have heard a lot of "God talk" by politicians before. Very often it is awkward and sometimes down right embarrassing they way they speak of how they view "faith." What is obvious is that they are trying to identify with a voting bloc that could help their efforts for re/election by "speaking the lingo" as if they were familiar with it and attempt to convey the idea they talk that way all the time. As I was listening to Sean and Sandy Parnell it struck me that what they had to say had the ring of authenticity. What they expressed about their faith had the feel of genuine faith that only another believer can discern. They had it, it was real.

The next morning another gentleman was brought into our morning devotions. His first name was Joany which sounds almost like Johnny. He is from Burkina Faso, Africa. He pastors a church there which now numbers around 5000 people. He spoke to us about prayer. Not only were his words compelling, but when he was done sharing his teaching on prayer, he prayed. Oh my, he prayed. You cannot fake prayer. The person who really prays will always be able to expose the one who only postures themselves as one who prays. He prayed a powerful prayer. One had the feeling that it was making a difference right then. It was the real deal.

In a world of facade and appearances, it is exciting when you find the authentic. I pray that others will find my words, my actions and my life full of the ring of authenticity.