The dictionary defines authentic as: Conforming to fact and therefore worthy of trust, reliance, or belief. So what’s an authentic person? An authentic person is someone who has discovered the truths (facts) of who they were created to be and lives them out. It means being the “real thing,” the real person you were created to be. And being real is something we all long for in others and ourselves.
Do you know why you exist and for what purpose you have been created? There is a wonderful purpose for your life and artistic gifts! Discovering and growing in your application of this topic will be life-changing and life-giving! Here are some tools to help...

Books:
The Heart of the Artist by Rory Noland
The Call: Finding and Fulfilling the Central Purpose of Your Life by Os Guiness
The Search For Significance: Seeing Your True Worth Through God's Eyes by Robert McGee
The Pressure's Off: There's a New Way to Live by Larry Crabb
The Purpose Driven® Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren
Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive by John Eldredge
Unexplainable: Pursuing a Life Only God Can Make Possible by Don Cousins
I Choose to Forgive: An Intimate Journey with God by Dianne B. Collard


The Authentic Musician by John Haddix



Daily Prayer: Here is a link to the daily prayer which comes from John Eldredge, author of “Waking the Dead” - a book I highly recommend. This prayer is so powerful if we pray it in faith and surrender to Jesus Christ.


Web:
Bible online: YouVersion
Everystudent - spiritual growth
StartingwithGod



Stories:
In college I was a promising trumpet major. I received a scholarship for being the top freshman trumpet player in the large program at Michigan State University. After my freshman year I went through an embouchure change (front teeth were capped for that purpose) that forever changed my enjoyment in playing and ranking as a player. It was very difficult as this “embouchure experiment” on my teacher’s part and mine, turned into a three-year uphill battle with little improvement—at least from my perspective. I began to realize I was drawing my self-worth from what I was doing and the status I had among my peers. Through this I recognized my need to give up trying to control my life and to define it the way I wanted. I had to come to a place of brokenness if I was going to let God use me. This, I have found, is an ongoing process of letting go over and over again. It’s so easy to draw my self-worth from what I do or what I produce. It’s ingrained in my flesh to go there! But each time I turn from my pride and admit my brokenness and inability to “fix” myself, I find God’s abundant grace waiting for me. To live based on what God says about me in Christ is freeing and the only way to really live.



Care to share your story on this topic? Please contact us!