First Contest Winner!

We are proud to announce that Evelyn Galvan won the first ever AIMER HUB contest!  Thanks to all who played.  We hope next year to have an even bigger competition!

I Can't Convert Anyone!

I find conversion to be a dirty word.

I know it’s in the Bible. I know conversion is a great thing and reason to rejoice. But that’s not what I’m talking about. Let me explain with an example.

A few weeks ago a friend ask me about a mutual acquaintance of ours who was not a believer, but she had been to church a couple of times and was definitely interested in Christianity to some degree. So when my friend brought her up, he asked me simply “so, have you converted her yet?”

That question left a bad tasted in my mouth. It was simple enough and he asked it with genuine interest in her spiritual state, but to my mind, he may as well have asked “did you complete steps 1-12 of the Christian-making process as laid out in your AIM-approved ‘How to Make a Christian in Twelve Easy Steps Workbook?’”

When a person decides to devote their life to Christ and turn away from everything that defined them before that point, it isn’t ever because “I converted them.” That sounds cheap and easy and it shouldn’t be either of those things. Conversion isn’t something I can strive for. It isn’t a goal I can reach in someone else’s life. I can’t earn a conversion badge to go on my conversion vest every time someone decides to give their life to Jesus, no matter how much influence I did or didn’t have in that decision. 

Here’s a phrase you never find in the Bible –

And   _______  converted ­­­­­­________ .  

You never hear an apostle bragging about how they totally converted that Roman official. In fact, you never hear the conversion of a person or people attributed to someone else. 

You do hear things like the story of Lydia…

“… who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul. And after that she was baptized, and her household as well…” Acts 16:14-15a (ESV, emphasis added)

Or the Philippian jailer who…

“…brought [Paul and Silas] out and said ‘Sirs, what must I do to be saved?’ And they said ‘Believe in the Lord Jesus, and you will be saved, you and your household.’” Acts  16:30b-31 (ESV, emphasis added)

Who opened Lydia’s heart? Who must the jailer believe in? The Lord.

Sure, Paul and Silas had some influence in the conversions of these people, but the decision was theirs, as a direct result of God’s actions in their lives (Lydia’s opened heart, and the jailer witnessing the miraculous freeing of Paul and Silas from prison.) Paul didn’t convert anyone, and neither can I. 

I can share the love of Christ with them. I can talk to them about the life that Christ offers to them. I can be a light to them that they cannot ignore.

But under no circumstances can I ever convert someone. 

Jacob Norwood (AIM, Utah 09)

Burnt to Maturity

The prayer that most Christians pray when facing trials is one of escape or “take it away Lord, take it away!” We begin to question ourselves to the core and challenge our motives; sometimes we will even question God or our faith. When we do these things we need to be comforted to the fact that it is normal human behavior to act this way when facing difficult times. I know when I face trials along the way; my faith is rattled to the core at times. It may not last for very long, but the soul will face some “dark nights” along its journey to maturity.

The Biblical text of James 1:12 encourages the one who perseveres under the trials of life of an eternal award that awaits them in the end. I Peter 1:6-9 also encourages and awakens us to the reality that the trial will “burn” or it will bring unwanted pain. Just as the matter of gold is refined repeatedly until it is free of all impurity, so the soul is “burnt” to maturity as the years and trials pass. As total maturity is never reached, so the soul will continue to be refined along the way. The sustainment of the soul in the midst of the fires and furnaces is its anchored trust in Jesus Christ.

Christ has faced and overcome the greatest fire of all. The fire of Calvary, the pain of the cross and the events leading up to that dark day in history. It in the midst of the fires that we see and feel the embrace of the Father. The prayer is not one of escape, but rather one of being burnt in the best way possible for growth and trust to occur. The trials that we face along the way will “burn” us to maturity and we will look back one day and have a deeper trust in Jesus as a result.

Trent Tanaro (Aim Alum, Wyoming 95)