post-it's and prayer...

Small, colorful, adhesive pieces of sheer goodness scatter my office. Some are notes or to-do's, but lately, I have a ton of Post-It notes in my offices with names of people I care about. They serve as reminders.

See, I've never been the greatest prayer warrior. I try to set time aside, but inevitably I get distracted by a phone call to make, an email to return, or a meeting to attend. Hence, prayer is neglected.

But if I have small, colorful, adhesive pieces of sheer goodness to remind me, I will remember!

It started with Kyrene in Australia. Then Annie in Oregon. Then Melinda in Orange County. Then Markus in Germany. Then Dana in DC. I wrote down names of people who needed miracles in their lives onto Post-It notes on my office window. I told them I would pray for them. And now I am committed to it.

The names listed above (and the others decorating my wall) serve as reminders to pray. I believe prayer changes things. I've seen the miraculous. Just ask Kyrene. Just ask Melinda. Just as me.

So join the Post-It Revolution and let me know how I can pray for you. You don't have to spill the dirty-dirty, but keep it general and simple enough to fit on a 3x3 square :)

How can I pray for you?

If you have two minutes, check out my favorite short-film:

ordinary to extraordinary...

David was a mere shepherd boy until the day he was anointed by Samuel. From the top of his head to the tip of his toes he was covered as a providential sign of his calling. From that pivotal point on, his life was rocked. An ordinary shepherd boy began to do extraordinary things. Oh, you know, like killing beast of the fields and slaying giants. Average stuff for a teenage boy called to greatness.

Deborah was part of the tribe of Israel until she was called to be a judge in the land. To painfully point out the obvious, she was a woman. But this ordinary wife was a leader, foreseer, and motivator to the masses. She lead Israel into a successful battle, when women of this time were non-entities of society. No matter the gender bifurcation or elevation, she did was God called her to do: Be extraordinary.

Peter was a fisherman. No, not like Long John Silver, but like one of the Jersey Shore kids. Leathered skin, horrible accents, unwarranted swagger. Fisherman were over-looked by society, but this ordinary fisherman was chosen to be a extraordinary fisher of man. He walked on water, participated in miracles, and gave one of the best apologetic defenses of the gospel even today.

How?

When God calls us, He equips us. Each of the people mentioned relied upon the work of the Holy Spirit to fill them... to do the extraordinary. And guess what? God is still calling people to do the impossible.

John 14:12, I tell you the truth, anyone who has faith in me will do what I have been doing. He will do even greater things than these...

The question is simply, are you willing to stop living an ordinary life?

So, what's your extraordinary life? How can we live spirit-lived lives?

life in full circle and the daughter i'll always be...

Murals painted in vivid color depicting scenes from early life, decorated the warm restaurant of Bougainvilleas. Music wafted in the air and mingled with scents of homemade food coming from the kitchen. The waiter placed the cloth napkin on my lap, then my fathers. A soft cacophony of noises informed all visitors to the upscale restaurant they were in for a good time: dishes clinking, people laughing, and live music playing.

Life had come full circle for my father. The child who would stand outside the restaurant and watch wealthy Americans and European expatriates come and go, was now the man who walked brazenly into the restaurant to buy his child a sumptuous faire of food. We clinked our dishes, laughed together, and sang to the music playing.

Yes, Life had come full circle.

Returning to the land of the free and the home of the brave is met with new revelations of who I am as a daughter.

I'm the daughter who witnessed financial deprevation and broken dreams.

I'm the daughter who witnessed divine acts of God to provide for our family when my father could not.

I'm the daughter who hung on my father's back and passed out food to people in need when we had none for ourselves.

I'm the daughter who still believes her father can fix anything.

I'm the daughter who still crawls onto her father's lap to nap.

I'm the daughter who still whispers my dreams and hopes into the ear of her father.

I'm the daughter who wrote out the Joel 2:25 on a piece of line paper at the age of 7...

Now I'm the daughter who whispers into the ear of her dark-skinned, immigrant father, I will restore to you the years that the locust has eaten, says the Lord.

I love you, Daddy. Thanks for teaching me about your past, so I can know my future.

Friday Video Post: a social gospel...

What Is The Social Gospel from Bianca Juarez on Vimeo.

It was said with distain, Oh, they teach a social gospel. Confused on what he meant, I prodded for more information.

I could see his concern, but instead of rectifying the situation with peers or correcting certain definitions, he choose the let the chasm between the Church* grow. We verbally wrestled through this conversation and I walked away asking if we stop could splintering the church, bifurcating demoninations, and start operating as a cohesive unit.

Yes, there will be theological bents, liturgical preferences, and message methods, but can we at least agree on one thing: The Gospel.

The good news of the gospel is that we have salvation, redemption, and justification for our sins through a man named Jesus. Not through feeding the homeless, not through visiting orphans, not through partering with the city to make our community a better place. If you've followed the blog or know me personally, my heart bleeds for the poor, needy, hurting, and destitude... but in no way will that take place of the gospel.

We need to know the gospel in order to live out the gospel.

So what are your thoughts? What kind of church to you go to? Are you physically living out the gospel or are you going on Sunday and living your own agenda the rest of the week?

*Church is capitalized here because I'm referencing the entire body of Christ, not one specific church.

Cupidity...

Books are like children to me. I hold them in my hand, keep a vigilant eye on them, and take them with me wherever I go. So when people tell me I have to read a book, it makes me feel like their thrusting their misbehaved, raggedy lookin' child on me and asking me to baby-sit. Eerrrrt! Stop, please.

But after Is Coffee A Date vlog, I began some fun banter via Twitter with Michael DiMarco and discovered a whole world of conflicting ideas. (Yes, my life feels like kittylitter in the dog bowl... completely out of place.)

Michael and Haley DiMarco are authors of several books, including their recent book on relationships, Cupidity: 50 stupid things people do for love. I have been swapped with work and speaking engagements so I haven't been reading like I usually like to, but as I packed for Mexico, I grabbed my thin, fair-skinned child and started reading immediately.

This relationship book is 245 pages, but it reads like a diary or a conversation with friends [if your friends are witty and slightly sarcastic]. It was such an easy read, I finished it in two days. What I love most about the book is that it's true. And if you know me, I read books to uncover their faults, so this was interesting.

For example, they spent some time on the different needs of a man and woman from pre-historic times [which included a sketch of a caveman named Grog]. Here's the breakdown in basic terms:

Women:

1. Protector: A man who gives me protection from nature and other cavemen. [Word!]
2. Provider: A man who provides cave, fur, food and base companionship. [Ummhmm!]
3. Enhancer: A man who offers me a chance to nest, hang furs and finger paint. [Amen!]
4. Romancer: A man who listens to me and dances with me under the moonlight. [Preach it!]

Men:

1. Bedmate: A woman who gives me warmth and continues my bloodline.
2. Helpmate: A woman who cooks the kill and feeds the babies.
3. Playmate: A woman who has tickle fights and plays pin-the-tail-on-the-mammoth with me.
4. Soulmate: A woman who shares my thoughts and dreams and works to invent the wheel.

To some, this is information you already know and basic. In fact, the book is so simple it's enlightening. With each turned page, the callous walls of my heart began to soften as I realized how many mistakes I've made in previous relationships.... and, if I'm honest with you, in my current relationship.

Married or single, this book is a quick, easy read that has great readability for both men and women. To order the book, click here.

MY PERSONAL DATA COMPLIATION:

Women: How important is romance to you? Do you pay for dates? Does your date open your car door? Married folk: Are you happy with your sexlife? Is the man the spiritual leader in your house? Do you allow him to be?

Men: How important is silence to you? Do you like to talk about everything? What's the first thing that attracts you to a women? Married folk: Are you happy with your sexlife? Are you the spiritual leader? What's something you'd change about your wife?

As always, you can answer anonymously :)

servant and slave of all...

Isn't there a fundamental difference between a slave and a servant? A slave, as opposed to a servant, is indentured, has no rights, has no choice. At the core of my understanding I thought I knew the difference. Recently it became apparent that I may muttle the definition of both.

A servant for God? Oh, sure, sounds great! A slave for God? Eerrrrtt! Hold up, I didn't sign up for this.

As a self-professed control freak, the sound of slave makes me twitch. But Paul in Ephesians 6:5 speaks about a doulos, a slave of Christ. Doulos was a servant by choice, which we are called to be.

Meet Maria. She is a woman I met in Mexico who is truly a servant. From the moment I met her, she smiled a wordless greeting and motioned with her head that we were welcomed, then continued to complete her business. She's free to come and go but she chooses to serve. She chooses to remain. She chooses to complete the task set before her. Yes, this is her job. But her humble servanthood and volitionary choice to serve is a testament to her loyalty.

Maria never once complained about her job; in fact, she valued and appreciated what she did. Which illustrated Mark 10:43-45 in real-time, ...whoever wants to be great among you must be a servant, and who ever wants to be first must be a slave to all. For even the Son of Man didn't come to be served, but to serve, and give his life a ransom for many.

How can you serve today? Are you serving with your whole heart? Can we be a doulos to all we encounter? Be like Jesus: serve.

knowing who he is, so i'll never forget who i am...

As we walked down roads and up alleyways, I could see the excitement in my father's eyes as he shared stories from his childhood. If cobblestone roads could talk, stories of Revolution renegades and European exiles would emanate from the stones beneath our feet. San Miguel de Allende is a popular artist community full of brightly colored buildings and historic monuments that bring visitors from all over the world, even today.

Memories flooded our conversations as we walked aimlessly through dusty streets. He shared with me the struggles of growing up alone in the city. He shared with me the memories which canonized this magical city. He shared with me who he was, so I'll never forget who I am.

There is something important about knowing your history. Knowing where you come from will determine where you are going.

At dinner last night we soaked in the quiet streets and boisterous crickets as we reminisced about where God has brought both of us. He and I have a passion for mobilizing people to love and serve God. But without our history of hurt, struggle, and pain, I'm not sure we'd be able to speak with conviction on the grace bestowed to us through the salvation of Christ.

In Leviticus the children of Israel are reminded over and over to impart their history of struggle to their children so they would never forget the miraculous deeds done for them. I'm not an Israelite, but today I heard the words of my father and as a child of God, I will never forget the miraculous deeds done for us through the Divine hand of God.

What are your roots? Where are you from? How has your journey determined the way you live your life?

united we stand...

Sometimes as Americans we have a chip on our shoulder when it comes to the way we do church. Oh, don't deny it. It's true. We show off our fancy sanctuaries with the best lighting and sound board. The comfortable chairs with lumbar support. The best worship leaders with the low cut v-necks and fitted denim. Yes, we do church just fine in the good ol' USofA.

Or do we?

I walked into the sanctuary and worshipped with brothers and sisters from Mavuno Church in Uganda as part of Mariner's Global Outreach weekend. As vibrantly colored shirts and dresses swayed alongside their American counterparts, I stood in complete awe of how two cultures came together so succinctly to worship the same God.

Not the God of the United States of America, but of the United Hearts of the World. While we sang loudly and moved unabashedly, God became unilaterally nonpartisan. The God of you and the God of me became the God of we.

Pastor Muriithi shared his heart and vision for the people of Africa. Seated in the beautiful sanctuary with comfortable chairs with lumbar support, I realized that maybe, just maybe, we aren't the only ones with the right way to do church. The soft spoken words oozed like sweet honey from the heart of Muriathii. Our vision, he said, is to turn ordinary people into fearless influencers. I'm an ordinary person who is appropriating this vision, mission, and motto for life.

To steal American verbiage, I can earnestly say united we stand. Together we will not fall.