Encounter retreats are not enough! Some cell churches have become so enamored with Encounters, they’ve lost their way. I was in one cell church that strayed from the cell church vision of making disciples who make disciples by trying to get everyone to go to an Encounter Retreat. They became an Encounter Retreat Church!
As I shared on Monday’s blog, when I attended my first Encounter retreat, God worked powerfully and I confessed strongholds of bitterness and anger, as well as other sins. God transformed my life, and I experienced an incredible new freedom and liberty. Yet, as the months passed, I noticed that I still struggled in some of these areas. I realized that in order to remain free, I needed to approach God on a daily basis, confessing any reoccurring sin. God showed me that I needed the strength of my daily quiet time to walk in continual victory.
Camps and retreats are great. God uses them to speak to us clearly and powerfully. But there’s a danger in living today on a yesterday’s 
one-time experience. We need to walk in daily repentance.
In biblical times, dirt roads were the norm. Since everyone wore sandals, no matter how hard a person tried to keep his feet clean, they would naturally pick up the dirt and dust of the Roman roads. Footwashing wasn’t a religious rite; it was a practical need.
The quiet time is our footwashing. It’s the time to come to God and His Word, asking Him for restoration and renovation. The apostle John said, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.†(1 John 1:9).
The good news is that there is power in the blood of Jesus Christ to cleanse us from all sins. Quiet time provides the perfect opportunity to let God speak to us, restore us, renew us and give us power to overcome the Enemy.
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Joel