CIA Summit Day 2

Today was kind of an off day.


We slept in and then went to the Summit. We listened to several singer/songwriters and heard differing levels of talent and production values.


Then we drove around downtown Nashville to see the sites. Nice to have a bit of time to do so.


Next we headed out to Radnor Lake Natural Area which is close to our hotel. Very neat place. We went hiking for a couple of miles. We saw a cardinal, a couple of Canadian geese, lots of turtles sunning themselves on logs, squirrels, a woodpecker, a duck, a chipmunk and an otter on a log eating a fish ( I think it was a crappie). It was good to get out and stretch our legs in the outdoors for a while and see the beautiful lake even if it was under gray clouds and the wildlife moving around. And it was the first time that I have seen an otter in the outdoors.

Then we headed down to the Mecca of debt free living Financial Peace University home to Dave Ramsey. We took the picture of the sign and the building and went inside to find the place under construction. Bookstore closed and the studio not open for viewing. Kind of anticlimactic.

We also heard today that one of the biggest reasons for failure in the music industry is that musicians carry too much debt.

Back to the hotel to saw some logs and then to the Foundry to just get blown away by a presentation on Business, Occupation and Ministry by Artists in Christian Testimony International. Really good presentation and there was info in there for about twenty posts. Byron Spradlin had some excellent stuff on the artist as a craftsman.

I think the big aha I got was that God may not use your occupation as your calling. It is an occupation and a way to support yourself and your family. And it is a ministry vehicle, a place to do ministry. And business is not bad in Christian circles. More later on all this.

We sat next to a couple of young Christian Rappers from Winston-Salem North Carolina. Had a great talk with them. Names are Nick and Mike. Good guys and fun to talk to. Late night and good to be done for the day. Tomorrow the real conference starts.

And my head will probably be ready to explode by the end of the day...