Christian Conferences....to Go or Not to Go

In the past, I wasn’t a big fan of conferences, Christian or otherwise, probably because I saw them as being a bit like committees; places where people gather to talk and even enthuse about the work that other people are doing. I saw them as a bit of a waste of time as I wanted to get on with the task. 

However, I’ve since learned the value of some conferences as well as the more obvious point that you reap what you sow. Whether or not I enjoy or benefit from attendance at a particular conference is usually down to my own motivations and attitude.

This year, by virtue of circumstances (problems at my church), now that the Summer missions have ended, I’ve got more free time than usual. I decided that attending various Christian conferences was a good use of the time that I may not have going forward. 

As well as recommending some good ones, I thought it might be useful to think about the main reasons to go or not to go. As always the list is not exhaustive and I’m sure there are many others that people can add.

Reasons to go

1. To learn: This has to be top of the list. Whether it’s training for ministry, studying the Bible or practical instruction, Christians should always be learning. At some conferences this year, people were returning for the umpteenth time realising that there was always something new to learn.

2. Fellowship: To spend time with like minded believers. Some find that due to age or infirmity or having to attend a church where others aren’t on the same page, conferences are a breath of fresh air as they can be encouraged by those who understand them. There is also the corporate worship at many conferences including enthusiastic singing which can raise the roof!

3. New ideas, resources and organisations: Conferences are a great place to gain inspiration, catch the vision and consider new ways of thinking to take back to local churches for practical use. They can also be a good place to network with people in the know about specific topics or to meet people representing organisations or mission agencies and to access their resources like books or other materials.

4. Broadening horizons: This may be slightly controversial but conferences tend to draw people from a wider spectrum than our usual church circles. It’s good to be reminded that there are fellow believers out there who don’t always do things like we do. We can become narrow in our thinking and practices if we separate too much from other denominations. Conferences can bridge that gap in a way that allows us to dip our feet in the water without being forced to go for a swim.

5. Rest: For those in ministry especially leadership roles or who have demanding jobs, conferences can provide a well needed break from responsibilities and the stress of everyday life. Hopefully, they will return energised and with greater vision for sharing the Gospel in their normal circles.

Reasons NOT to go

1. Churchless: There seem to be a growing number of Christians who are in this unbiblical position, many of them permanently. They often pop up at conferences and some seem to see this as a way of fulfilling their responsibility to meet with other believers. It’s not the same thing as we all need to be committed and involved in serving in a local church. Conferences should supplement our regular attendance at a local fellowship not replace it.

2. No interest: It may seem obvious but I don’t recommend attending a conference about a topic or subject that you aren’t that interested in. There are thousands of conferences across the world each year so pick and choose those where you will at least be able to apply something that you learn. Don’t just go for the sake of it. Otherwise you are just wasting your time and money as well as the efforts of those hosting the conference.

3. Soapbox: Even as I write this I know there are people booking conferences so they can go and convince unsuspecting attendees that their particular view of the world is right and everyone else’s is wrong. Whether it’s the flat earthers, the covid conspiracy theorists or the KJV only brigade. They can create panic or convince people their church leaders are guilty of promoting heresy. They are best avoided at all costs. Some recent training I attended began with a list of isms that we weren’t allowed to discuss during the week!

4. Self promotion: There’s nothing worse than beginning a conversation with a stranger at an event only to discover they are just there to promote their own organisation or resources that usually have nothing to do with the conference. They may be trying to get you to follow their blog or YouTube channel or to support them in some other way. (The exception to this is if they are part of the conference or have an official stand represented.)

5. Stalking/harassment: I’m not talking here about Christians who hope to meet someone special at a conference, although if that is the only reason for attendance it may not be wise. This is about those who idolise particular worship leaders, preachers or others with celebrity-like status. They follow them everywhere and almost worship the ground they walk on. We shouldn’t copy the world by chasing after individuals in this way and godly leaders won’t encourage this admiration. Many well known individuals have fallen recently and this can wreck the faith of those following them too closely.

List of UK Conferences

1. Fellowship of Evangelistic Workers (FEW)- This 3 day residential conference in January is hosted by the Association of Evangelists and is mainly for those involved in evangelism in some capacity or another. It’s probably my favourite and I always try to get to it.

2. The Open-Air Mission (OAM)- This 1 day conference is usually in October. There are reports from the various evangelists who work for OAM as well as a speaker. This year the conference was held  in 3 regional locations to allow more people to attend. 

3. United Beach Missions Reunion (UBM)- This weekend residential gathering in North Wales is held immediately after the end of the Summer missions in early September. It’s a chance to strengthen friendships made on mission teams, hear some good teaching and have some fun. 

4. Answers UK Mega Conference (AiG)- This huge non residential 3 day conference, hosted by organisations including Answers in Genesis and Creation Research has occurred bi-annually in the UK in October. The speakers are experts in their fields and their experiences on the world stage amongst non-believers are fascinating. If you aren’t a 6 day, young earth Creationist, you will be after attending this conference!

5. Reachout Trust Convention- A smaller residential conference for those interested in reaching out to people trapped in cults like the JW’s, Mormons, New Age or even the occult and other religions. Information and testimonies from former cultists.

6. Living Waters Europe Ambassador’s Academy- A week of training in evangelism in October based in Lincoln. This isn’t residential but it operates similarly to a conference in that there are speakers from the front and a book stall. This year there was a partnership with the Open-Air Mission so that attendees could put what they were learning into practice at lunchtimes. 

7. Oak Hall Word Weekends- This organisation known for its skiing holidays and match making skills, also hosts residential conferences or Bible study weekends in Kent and other conferences at important times of the year.

8. Foundation Matters Missions Weekend- This residential conference has been held bi-annually at Pine Lake in Derby. It gives people the opportunity to learn about various mission opportunities and hear from current and former missionaries.

9. Living the Passion- This residential evangelism conference in October is hosted by a number of organisations including Counties, GLO, Church Growth Trust and Echoes International. 

10. Keswick Convention- This FREE conference in July encompasses 3 weeks of teaching and worship in the beautiful countryside of Cumbria. Accommodation can be tricky to find as thousands of people attend. Serving as a volunteer is a possibility..

Hopefully, you’ve now got some ideas for 2025. I’ve been to all except the final two on my list. It’s also a good idea to try and go to day or residential conferences for the mission agencies supported by your church so you can keep in touch with what’s going on further afield and learn how to better encourage, support and pray for your missionaries.

I pray that Christian conferences will help believers catch the vision and share the Good News of Jesus here in the UK and elsewhere on foreign fields.

What is the Best Shortcut to Spirituality?

I’ve mentioned before that a few months ago I began working as a volunteer for an organisation called Groundwire. We chat online to people all around the world about Christianity and answer their questions. Most of the people that I have chatted with, on being asked, say that they are Christians. They are usually struggling with serious life issues, hence the need to talk to someone anonymously. The interesting thing for me is that although most people claim to be Christians, a lot of them cannot explain the basics of the Christian faith. But I have already commented extensively on this in my previous post about Easy Believism.

 

Today I want to talk about those who say that they are Christians and can explain the basics of what they believe. They know at least intellectually who Jesus is and what He has done for them. They appear to be Christians, having trusted Jesus for salvation from their sins, and they say that they are also following Him as Lord (see prior post.) I have spoken to a lot of people like this in recent weeks. Why, you might wonder, are they frequenting Christian chat rooms and struggling with serious life issues? What are some of the issues they are struggling with? The issues can be wide ranging; financial problems, marriage problems, lust, drugs, alcohol. But there is nothing particularly unusual in this list--these are the things that you might expect believers and non-believers alike to be struggling with. 

The surprising thing is that the vast majority of people that I speak to are not seeking advice about vices, sin or temptations and how to overcome them. They want to know: How can I get closer to God? Why do I feel far from God? Why is God not listening to or answering my prayers? How can I become more holy, more spiritual, more sanctified? Where is God in my crisis? Why is God allowing this to happen to me? Why did God abandon me? Is God even there? Does God care about me? How can I feel God’s presence and know that He is there? Where is God when things go wrong?

A large number of professing Christians have become convinced that they need to have some type of emotional experience or feel some type of supernatural power to know that God is there. They doubt God’s presence because they cannot “feel” Him or because they believe they have felt Him in the past and they no longer do so because something has changed. They long for God’s presence and are desperate for Him to minister to their thirsty souls believing that He has abandoned them.  They have lost confidence in the Bible to guide them and are seeking other methods instead.

You might think that helping people with these types of questions and issues would be very tricky. Clearly, they are already serious about God and are likely doing everything they can to get His attention and to find a way out of their spiritual wilderness. So their problems must be complex and hard to resolve.  But, I’ve often found, after asking a few questions, that my assumptions were incorrect. I usually end up giving the same advice to those people as I would to a child or someone new to the faith. On the whole people who are feeling far from God or wondering where He is are not doing even basic things to cultivate their spiritual life. It makes me wonder whether new believers are even being taught basic spiritual disciplines in their churches. 

Having established that someone at least intellectually understands the Gospel and can explain what Jesus has done for them (only God knows their heart), we can then move into areas of spiritual growth. True Christians will grow in faith and should become more like their Saviour, Jesus. We may grow at different rates but there will be steady progress over time. So, how can we grow closer to God? What should we be doing to ensure we stay on track?

I might ask the person, “Are you reading your Bible and praying each day?” Surprisingly, I often receive “no,” or “sometimes,” or even, “I don’t have time,” in response to this question. Then I ask them, “Are you attending a church or meeting with other believers?” Again the answers range from a blatant “no” to “sometimes” to “I was but then I stopped,” or “I don’t get on with the pastor.” I might then ask, “Do you have Christian friends or relatives that you spend time with?” They might say “not really” or “some.” I don’t usually get as far as asking them if they are sharing their faith with others which would be another question to check for spiritual maturity. I hesitate to encourage them to do that wondering what they will end up sharing with others if they are not feeding themselves spiritually through prayer and Bible reading.

It’s incredible that so many Christians are not doing fundamental things to ensure they stay on track. It’s hardly surprising then that they “feel” far from God (although I usually point out that feelings are unreliable as they vary day to day). This is not about methods of sanctification or of trying to earn our place in heaven by doing certain things as a ritual. It is not about a “Purpose Driven” approach, it is much simpler than that. I’m speaking of the response of a grateful believer who has been saved from eternal punishment for their sins. We know that we are saved by grace through faith. We know that Jesus paid the whole price and that His death and resurrection for our salvation was a free gift. But how can we expect to grow spiritually if we don’t spend time with Him in reading His word and in prayer daily? How will we grow If we don’t gather together with other believers to share fellowship, to confess our sins, to learn, to encourage each other, and to hold each other accountable? 

Most of the people lining up to ask how they can get closer to God or where God is in their crisis are looking for shortcuts to spirituality. But they are not willing to submit to the discipline of a personal devotional time or to the authority of a local church fellowship. They want the benefits of Christianity without the cost of discipleship. But the truth is that there are no short-cuts.

To demonstrate how confused some Christians seem to be, I spoke to someone recently who was diligently fasting about an issue. However, he was not reading his Bible regularly. The issue that he was fasting about--which non-Christian girl to pursue--was something that God has already spoken clearly about in His Word. The man seemed surprised to learn that he shouldn’t be fasting about doing something unbiblical. Maybe if he had been reading his Bible he would’ve realised this himself. The Holy Spirit could have brought relevant passages to his attention. Fasting, tithing, participating in the Lord’s Supper, baptism and other Biblical instructions should of course be considered by Christians, but we need to start with the daily basics.

As Christians, we should all recognise that our personal devotional time is the first thing that the enemy attacks and undermines. He might distract us directly or indirectly so that we end up prioritising something else. He might even use prominent evangelical leaders to tell us that we don’t need to have a personal quiet time (I was present when such a leader received a standing ovation from a several thousand-strong congregation after making such a statement. The fact is he had just given all of those people licence to neglect their walk with God and do something else with the time.)

Gathering with fellow believers will be Satan’s second target especially, if we have fallen into sin. The last thing we want to do then is to spend time with believers whose presence makes us feel guiltier. But the enemy wants to isolate us from the body of Christ and to pick us off one by one, keeping sin in the dark where it can fester. Jesus is the light of the world and brings light into these situations. We need our church family if we are to thrive as Christians. We cannot go it alone.

Those who are walking most closely with God are those who:

1.       Spend regular daily time with Him in prayer and reading the Bible.

2.       Are likely to be actively participating in their churches or Christians gatherings seeking to worship God, to serve, to encourage others and to grow spiritually through corporate fellowship.

3.       Are longing to see others saved, praying for them and reaching out to share the Gospel with them whenever there is opportunity.

It’s thankfully not complicated. There are no mystical methods or easy recipes for holiness and sanctification. Let’s simply get back to basics. It’s the same path for all true believers. There are no shortcuts to spirituality!

Psalm 1 vs 1-3

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law he meditates day and night.”

James 4 vs 8

“Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

Matthew 6 vs 6

“But when you pray, go into your room and shut the door and pray to your Father who is in secret. And your Father who sees in secret will reward you.”

Mark 1 vs 35

“And (Jesus,) rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed.”

Hebrews 10 vs 24-25

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.”

2 Timothy 3 vs 16-17

“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work.”