How many times have you taken the time to refuel and recharge your spiritual batteries?

I don’t mean taking time on a daily basis and spending time with God. That is necessary, certainly, but I’m referring to something other than that. Something big.

This week, I am attending the North American Christian Convention. This is my first time to attend this conference, and I am looking forward to what this will bring to my spiritual life.

I am completely committed to the idea of taking a week, at least once a year, and attending some sort of conference or spiritual retreat in order to renew yourself, to refuel your spiritual life.

For the past half a dozen years, I attended Wilderness, a program of Christ In Youth, and went to Colorado each October to reconnect my spiritual life with God. That event was designed primarily for youth ministers, and I enjoyed it while I was in that role, and even for a couple of years afterwards. But this year, I decided to try something different, partly because I am in the lead role at our church now, and need to recharge myself in different ways.

And so, I chose to attend the biggest conference put on by the Christian Churches and Churches of Christ in the United States. The NACC has all the earmarks of being a phenomenal spring board for refueling my spiritual life. I’m looking forward to the week. Plus, I am alone, in a hotel room, in Cincinnati. Last night, I spent several hours going over my Life Plan and spent some significant time in God’s Word, all without distraction. That was incredible.

But why am I so sold on the idea of taking in a conference each year, or even more often if possible? Here are three reasons.

It Allows You To Refuel Your Spiritual Life

This is perhaps the most important reason, and therefore, I placed it at the top of the list. This week, I will have the opportunity to listen to some of the best communicators in the Christian Churches. I will listen to some very godly men present the Word of God, and I will be able to sit and listen. I will be able to soak it up. I will be able to worship fully.

Not that I can’t or don’t do those things at home. But at home, my focus is more on my leadership responsibilities and preaching than it is on renewing my own spiritual life. And so, something like a conference or a retreat is critical for my spiritual growth.

It Allows You To Experience Programs That You Might Otherwise Be Unable To

A conference, by design, is large. At such an event, you have the opportunity to experience many things that you might not be able to experience at your home church.

For example, In each of the main sessions, the NACC begins with a time of worship in song. This is no different than we do at home. But it is very different at the same time. At home, we have a certain style, sing songs that we are mostly familiar with, and our crowd is small in comparison. The NACC gives me the opportunity to sing new songs, and perhaps bring them home to incorporate into our services. There are thousands of people together singing, from all social, regional and ethnic backgrounds. It is truly an amazing experience.

It Allows You To Network And Connect

A conference such as the NACC give me the opportunity to bump into old friends and make new ones. There will be people here that I haven’t seen in years, and it will be good to connect with them again. There will be people here I have never before met. And it will be good to forge some new friendships.

I will have the opportunity to discuss how we do church, how they do church, compare ideas, and probably bring home a few ideas to incorporate into our own services and programs.

I will have the opportunity to renew some old friendships, and catch up on what God has been doing in the lives of people I know, but haven’t seen in a while.

It will be good to connect.

Each of these three things holds merit on their own. But when they come together at a conference or a retreat, one of thousands of attendees, or just fifty, the benefits can be exponential.

And the results in my spiritual growth will help to fill me for the onward work of ministry and life, both in my family and in my church.

Question: What conferences do you attend each year to improve your spiritual health? What is your favorite? You can leave a comment by clicking here.