ALMONDS and CANDY

Posted by Mr. Jim Ayer on January 13, 2013
Posted in: Christian Life. Leave a Comment

As 2012 drew to a close a very good friend of mine Candy called me to tell me her grandmother has passed away.  Candy is from just outside Richmond Virginia and has been in Peru for 4 years serving a Mission for the International Missions Board.   Her faith and dedication to reaching the lost is inspiring and this is why we have become such good friends in such a short period of time.

Candy’s grandmother is a retired Pastor’s wife and they led a church in Michigan for years and Candy considered both of them her spiritual parents.  On December 29, 2012 Candy posted on Facebook “They (her grandparents) are together once again.”  Candy had one problem and it was a challenging one she needed an airline ticket to return to Michigan for the funeral on January 5, 2013.  The ticket cost $1700.00 and Candy simply did not have the money.  She asked me if I could help her and I was not in a position to assist her.

A group of us started to pray for wisdom and a miracle and the next day Candy and I met and we had to go to a local Grocery Store to buy some items and she picked up some Almonds and told me the almonds were a snack for the flight up to the US for the funeral.  At this point, we had only hit road blocks in getting Candy her airline ticket and it did not look good.  However, all of us here were praying and Candy simply had faith it would happen.  After seeing this I started a one day fast and asked God for wisdom and a miracle regarding the airline ticket.

That evening a good friend of mine contacted me and I explained the situation and after discussing options and resources we figured out that between three individuals we could combine some frequent flyer miles to get Candy a ticket the problem was it was now less than a week before the funeral.  If you have ever tried to redeem frequent flyer miles on short notice it is nearly impossible and we only had enough miles when combined to get a ticket at the lowest reward level which made our task even more challenging.

WE SIMPLY KEPT PRAYING and believed our God would come through for Candy.  We also carefully sought our Lord’s wisdom.  Me and my friend literally kept checking on the internet for a ticket on the dates we needed at the lowest reward level.  FINALLY, on December 30th we had a BREAKTHROUGH my friend got a ticket at the lowest reward level and the airline waived all but $75.00 of the fees involved.  CANDY HAD HER TICKET.

A few lessons can be learned from this whole experience. God does reward FAITHFULNESS and PERSISTENCE:

“The trustworthy person will get a rich reward, but a person who wants quick riches will get into trouble.” -  Proverbs 28: 20
“Be persistent in prayer, and keep alert as you pray, giving thanks to God.” – Colossians 4:2

We trusted God to fulfill the need for a ticket.  Look at Candy’s faith in buying those Almonds.  When she bought them there was no ticket in sight but Candy had faith.  Also, we were waiting on God not seeking a quick answer.  This is important because so many times we our answer to prayer QUICKLY.  When we don’t get an answer we give up.  In this situation we never gave up we kept praying and believing there would be a ticket.  We were rewarded for this by getting a ticket on short notice at the lowest possible reward level and with over $400.00 in fees forgiven by the airline.

Candy’s grandparents are now in heaven today but even though they have departed this life they are still teaching us and I can see why Candy loved them so much.  Their passage is heaven’s GAIN  and our loss but even as they have now passed they are still inspiring us.

Mango Civiche

Posted by Mr. Jim Ayer on December 18, 2012
Posted in: Mango Civiche, Recipes. Tagged: , , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

Mango Civiche

Ingredients:

  • 2 medium sized mangoes not very soft, peeled and diced or equivilant amount of Cantelope or Papaya
  • 1 red onion, cut into thin julienne slices
  • 1/3 cup cilantro leaves, chopped
  • Salt and Pepper to Taste
  • 2 fresh yellow peppers, seeded, deveined, and cut into thin julienne
  • 1 chili, seeded, deveined, andcut into thin julienne
  • Juice from 10 Limes
  • Lettuce leaves for serving
  • 3-4 Tablespoons of Oil

Preparation:

  1. Place ¼ chopped mango in a blender along with lime, pepper and blend.
  2. Season with pepper and chopped cilantro. Mix diced mango. Add the onion and mix. Refrigerate.
  3. To serve, place lettuce leaves, previously seasoned with lemon juice and oil, and arrange on the plate above the mango ceviche.
  4. If you are using Papaya or Cantaloupe you will need to add an Artificial Sweetener or Sugar to taste.

Serves 4 People

Twitter Follow Back Policies

Posted by Mr. Jim Ayer on December 18, 2012
Posted in: Twitter. Leave a Comment

After a lot of thought I have decided to publish my Follow back policies on Twitter.  I am interested in good discussion around Health, Cooking, Religion, South America, Small Non-Profits, and inspirational life stories.  I feel Twitter is about exchange of ideas among regular people and their lives.

When looking at an account to follow I consider their time on Twitter and the quality of their Tweets.  If the tweets are good then I follow the account it is really that simple. People who want to have engaging conversations are followed regardless of opinion as long at the content of their tweets is polite and respectful for all of mankind.

I do look at Klout Scores when considering an account for Follow back but that is NOT the sole determining factor.  Here are my determining factors:

1. Are your tweets INFORMATIVE and within my areas of interest?

2. Do you have a COMPLETED biography and IMAGE (Twitter Eggs don’t count)?

3. Are you tweeting REGULARLY?

I welcome Political discussion and engagement but please keep it civil and respectful and within my areas of interest.  As of the writing of this Blog Post there are several followers that DO NOT MEET the criteria set out above especially items number(s) two and three, but I want to give everybody time to read this before UNFOLLOWING your account.  On January 15, 2013 I will start UNFOLLOWING ACCOUNTS that do not meet the criteria above.

I want to thank @RayBeckman for inspiring me to publish a Follow back Policy and @PattyFarmer for her feedback. I ask that if you have any feedback on this policy to please send me a Direct Message so my Blog can focus on the interests of my Twitter Followers and Facebook Friends.

Finally, let me discuss briefly my Follow back Schedule.  I use Tweepi to do my Follow back during the week I do this in the morning so if YOU meet my criteria expect a Follow back within 24 hours during the week.  If you Follow on weekends expect a Follow back on Monday.  If I follow you I allow you 3 days to follow me back before I unfollow  you.

If you have any questions please feel free to post them.

@JimHunterMartin

Chinese Cucumber Salad

Posted by Mr. Jim Ayer on December 17, 2012
Posted in: Chinese Cucumber Salad, Recipes. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

salad

I have been making this Chinese Cucumber Salad for years and my guests always love it.   This is easy to make, affordable, healthy, and simply delicious.  TRY IT!!!

CUCUMBER

  • 1 cucumber (ca 350g/12ounces, unpeeled) and thinly sliced
  • 150 ml hot water
  • 1/2 tablespoon salt

DRESSING

  • 1 teaspoon cooking oil
  • 1 big mild chili pepper, deseeded, sliced into rings (or a small hot chilli finely chopped)
  • 1 tablespoons sugar or sugar substitute
  • 1/2 teaspoon grated fresh ginger
  • 2 tablespoons rice vinegar
  • 1 tablespoon red wine
  • 1/2 tablespoon sesame or olive oil
  • 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
  • 1/2 tablespoon toasted sesame seeds
  • 1 Red Onion Thinly Sliced
  • 1 Bell Pepper (Red)

INSTRUCTONS:

  1. Slice Cucumber and Onion thinly.  Use a teaspoon to remove the seeds.  You can also use a Potato Peeler and remove the skin in alternating 1/4 inch stripes for a unique look.
  2. Soaked sliced cucumbers in the saltwater mixture let stand for one half hour.
  3. In a blender combine all ingredients EXCEPT for the cucumber, onion, red onion, sesame seeds, and red bell pepper
  4. In a skillet toast sesame seeds until golden brown.
  5. Drain water from cucumbers and combine all ingredients add sesame seeds.
  6. Chill for 5 hours in the refrigerator and serve.

I live in South America so it is Summer here finally and this is great for those hot humid Summer days.  If you need to make this quickly you can chill it in your freezer for two hours.  Also you can make the dressing one night ahead and chill for about 12 hours.

When you have finished eating the salad there will be quite a bit of the dressing left you can take that and place it in a blender liquify and add yogurt for a healthy salad dressing.  This recipe makes about 4 small servings.  I tend to serve it as a salad with a meal for four people then you need to take the recipe above and double the ingredients.

Tweeting for Jesus

Posted by Mr. Jim Ayer on December 11, 2012
Posted in: Christian Life. Tagged: , , , , , . Leave a Comment

So many of us in the Evangelical Community use Twitter to “Bible Thump” and I am even guilty about that sometimes I admit.  Twitter offers a media for us to really spread the Gospel there are 500 million people who have Twitter accounts and YES Christians should use it but at times I think we get too inward when we use it.

“Go into all the world and proclaim the gospel to the whole creation” – Mark 16:12

When I tweet I tweet about things that are important to me and YES I want people to hear the good news that Jesus died on a cross for our sins and we need to accept him as Personal Savior.  Satan however causes us to look inward at times and not out to those who do not know him as Savior.   When I speak to my friends who have not accepted Jesus as Savior I hear the same thing over and over.   What are Christians doing to help the poor in our community?  That is a good question because the Bible commands us to help the poor in our communities.

“For there will never cease to be poor in the land. Therefore

I command you,‘You shall open wide your hand to your brother, to

the needy and to the poor, in your land.’” – Deuteronomy 15:11

The United States is still recovering from it’s worse economic crisis since the Great Depression and there are many Americans still hurting financially.  Why not Tweet about efforts within your own community that you are involved in that help those in need?   Many people come online because they are in crisis and are looking for an escape so why not tweet some encouraging quotes aside from the many that are contained in the Bible?

Yes I am proud of my church and my Christian friends and what they do to help the poor in their communities and I do want to recognize them but I always try to mention what they did and keep religion out of it.  Tweet about your passions and let your tweets be a testimony of your faith.

“Live such good lives among the pagans that, though they

accuse you of doing wrong, they may see your good deeds and glorify God on

the day he visits us.” – 1 Peter 2:12

A New Lease on Life – SERVING

Posted by Mr. Jim Ayer on November 28, 2012
Posted in: A New Lease on Life, Serving Others. Tagged: , , , , , , . Leave a Comment

My mother and I had a conversation earlier this year and it brought back some memories.  As a child I suffered from severe allergies which caused me to spend much of my early years in a hospital.  Finally, I was taken to an Allergist for testing and took Allergy Shots and grew out of the allergies.  Testing for allergies in those days involved a nurse putting fluids on your arm and looking for reactions.  Not fun for a little child I was maybe 4 when all of this was going on.   At the end of your testing session the Nurse would let you choose a small toy from a “goodie box.”

What struck me was what my Mom told me I did when offered the opportunity to choose a toy from the “goodie box.”  I walked over and got a pin that had some roses on it and gave it to my Mom and told her, “thank you, for loving me.”  The Doctor and his Nurse were shocked and then told me to go choose something else for myself which I did.  I believe I chose a spinning top and my Mom and I left the doctor’s office.

This small act of kindness meant a lot to my Mom at the time.  As I grew older I saw how abusive my father treated my Mother and to this day this has been my life. My mom told me that small act of kindness showed her somebody cared for her.  I didn´t  know what was going on at the time but today as an adult I am glad I was there for my mom.

Serving others brings joy to me because when you see someone with a need and can help them how to address that need it brings what we all want INDEPENDENCE and DIGNITY.  Hopefully the individual you helped will then see the need to help others in need and because they have been there they can relate and bring their life experience to that person.

I am writing this Blog at a time of year when people feel a need to help the less fortunate in their communities. My hope is all of you reading this will be motivated to do so but what I challenge you to do is to stay involved beyond Christmas because need does not go away after December 25th.

A New Lease on Life – PRAYER

Posted by Mr. Jim Ayer on November 27, 2012
Posted in: Prayer. Tagged: , , , , . Leave a Comment

Today I look at Prayer a lot differently than I did almost five months ago.  Back then it was something that I just did because I was supposed to do it TODAY I LOOK FORWARD to it.  Why?  I have gained a deeper knowledge of what prayer is.

WHAT IS PRAYER? – It is simply a conversation between YOU and GOD.  There is now even scientific EVIDENCE to back up that the brain activity of somebody praying is similar to somebody having a conversation.

Of course when praying we are not just having a conversation with anybody we are speaking with GOD the man who sacrificed his only SON for our SINS.  So I use the following guidelines when having this conversation.  A friend of mine shared an acronym with me that really seems to works.  A.C.T.S.

ADORATION – Everybody including GOD loves to be complimented, GOD in NO different.  He is deserving of our praise and we should offer it.  It pleases God or anybody else when we compliment them.  Saying “your cool” might be alright to a friend on the street and it really doesn’t tell GOD why we think he is wonderful.  Tell God how you feel towards him “Your mercy and love towards me God is fantastic.” or “I know God you will protect me from harm and that is amazing”

CONFESSION – All of us sin and sin separates us from GOD.  Confession is good for us and it makes us humble and clears the way for a deeper relationship with GOD.  He knows our sins already; however, confession shows our awareness of those sins and our willingness to remove any barriers in our relationship with God. Simply, admit to your sin it should be short, direct, and to the point.

THANKSGIVING – What are you thankful for? Let God know, as if you were thanking a friend who is always there for you. “Thank you, God, for forgiving me, and loving me in spite of my sinfulness,” is a simple, yet to the point way to pray this part of our model. There is no need to expound any further unless you’re feeling especially blessed, and wish to list in detail those aspects of your life for which you’re thankful.

SUPPLICATION – Supplication means to plead humbly, and is the final component of our prayer model. We have expressed our adoration, confessed our sins and expressed our thankfulness. Now we are ready to approach God with our request. In my case, a frequent supplication is “please help me be a better person.” When you pray, you may request something specific as well. There’s nothing wrong with asking God for exactly what we want. Matthew 21:22 assures us, “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

ACTS is a good model to use as we prepare to pray. The ACTS acronym helps us remember what we want to say to God. Our ACTS prayers may be very detailed and lengthy. ACTS can also be very simple, and to the point. What is more important than the model or technique we use, though, is that we simply pray.