COUNTER - INTUITIVE (Part1)

I just received an e-mail that greatly encouraged me. A dear friend and mentor, Rowland Forman, is the author of The Leadership Baton, and a founding partner of the Center for Church Based Training. He is one of those guys that just oozes wisdom and grace. For several years now Rowland and his wife Elaine have been coming to California to serve as a consultant at Central Christian Church where he has been spending significant time investing into my life and serving as a sounding board and mentor. "My guys" (the 4 pastors I have had the privilege to mentor over the past couple of years) and I have lovingly nicknamed him 'The Oracle' because of his wise and seemingly never-failing wisdom and advice.
Anyways, Rowland send me an email about faith. Let me quote him directly:

"I’ve been living in Hebrews 11 in the last three weeks and have been blessed by all the examples of authentic faith. It’s as if God has been branding my brain with the words, by faith. Yesterday I was meditating on verse 13: all these people were still living by faith when they died. They did not receive the things promised; they only saw them and welcomed them from a distance. And they admitted that they were aliens and strangers on earth.
Everything in me wants by faith to result in great outcomes. What I am learning is that God is just looking for faith—period! It’s not even faith that things will turn out the amazing way I want them to be (though humanly that’s what I want for the launch of Living Stones Church-Based School of Leadership). It’s faith that according to verse 11 is locked into the promises of the faithful One. I don’t know if I’m making sense, but to me this is profound and countercultural. Let’s keep placing our faith in the Faithful One! Our eyes need to be on our ever faithful God. The outcomes are his. The thing he most desires is quiet confidence in him, no matter what."
Also check out a blog Rowland recommended: Counter Intuitive Faith.