Day Two.

Today was the first day of simultaneous lectures in multiple areas, but the day started off with two keynote speeches in the main ballroom. First was Geoff Btokin presenting the a lecture on Family Business and the two hundred year plan. Second was Arnold Pent and his lecture ‘The Seven Nuts and Bolts of the Pent Family Entrepreneurial Vision’. Then we took a short break, and everybody split off into different rooms.

My Father stayed in the main ballroom and listened to Wade Myers present ‘Building a Business from Start to Finish’. Pastor Bacon and the Seekamp family attended Don Hart’s lecture, ‘Top Ten Legal Issues Every Entrepreneur Needs to Understand’, while I attended Isaac Botkin’s lesson, ‘The History of Technology.

We then took a break for lunch between noon and one thirty, resuming the training again with Doug Phillips lecture ‘Building Your Team: Biblical Principles for Leading Your Staff’. Other lectures were taking place at the same time, but unfortunately nobody from our group attended those lectures, and I didn’t speak with any of the other attendees about them.

At three o’clock, we all came together in the main ballroom to hear the ‘Top Business Plan’ presentations’. Some of the ideas I heard were very well thought out, and others were written out. There is a difference, but either way I enjoyed the presentations immensely, and loved to hear the ideas that were put on display. At five-thirty, the plan presentation ended, with promises that the winners would be revealed tomorrow.

At seven-thirty, we all gathered for what would have been Jim Sammons lecture ‘Biblical Principles for Business Success’, but Mr. Sammons is by the side of his dying brother right now, and as God would have it, Jim was not able to be hear tonight. We pray for Mr. Sammons that God would bless him during this time of grief, and yet happiness, that Jim’s brother is about to pass into eternity, and meet his Lord. Instead of the scheduled lecture, Doug arranged a panel discussion where the different speakers all had input, and took questions from the audience, as well as presenting various little business ideas.

That pretty much concluded the day, but I’m not just going to leave you there. I’m going to transcribe a great portion of my notes and what I heard from the speakers, for those of you willing to read the information. I will also transcribe what I was able to take down from the business plan presentations.

In Geoffrey Botkin’s lecture, family business and the two hundred year plan, Mr. Botkin managed to condense great portions of about three different lectures into one lesson, but wasn’t able to thoroughly cover all of the material. In fact, he was going so fast, that I wasn’t able to properly note all of his points and quotes, nor was I efficient in writing down the information in such a way that I could remember what context it was spoken in. This makes me feel somewhat foolish, but I’ll do my best to reconstruct main points of his lecture.

Geoffrey Botkin wisely noted that by God’s grace, Entrepreneurialism would be one of the driving forces that will bring reformation to the twenty-first century. He said that a business model will by God’s grace help to reform all areas of life. He continued to point out that businessmen are a respected commodity in the world, and that while Christians are treated like dirt, businessmen are treated as God’s. When a Christian businessman is seen, they are greatly confused. He also noted that we should be careful which books we read with regard to business, because harmful advice could defile a family for generations. As this conference focuses so much on multi-generational visions, the damage that could be done would be devastating to such a vision.

Lastly, one of the points I most remember and appreciated from his lecture, was that Christian men have no business idealizing pop culture in any facet, especially but not limited to, business practices. Men who have a problem with avarice can not be shepherds of God’s people. Thank you, Mr. Botkin, for an excellent lecture.

Next, Arnold Pent III came up and presented his seven nuts and bolts of the Pent family entrepreneurial vision. His seven points were:

1. Read the word of God, and allow him to shape you through it.

God’s word is a lamp unto our feet, and a light unto our path. Ultimately, we should let God’s holy scriptures guide us and keep us on the right path in business ventures.

2. Live in a state of constant prayer.

We must communicate with God frequently, and he will provide us with solutions to complicated and many times impossible obstacles in our path.

3. Failure is often your friend.

He told a bit about how he was fired and had no job, and yet in that failure he learned about opportunities in business, and started up. Without that failure, he would never have had the opportunity to have started a very financially and spiritually successful business venture.

4. Pursue a lifetime of learning.

Be knowledgeable in a broad range of subjects, and very deep in a few of those. Never stop learning.

5. Work, work, work.

We live in a culture of distractions which must be put aside. We have to keep our focus on our duties, and especially in the context of entrepreneurialism, rediscover a puritan work ethic. However, even as hard as we are commanded to work, we must not work on Sunday. That day is the Lord’s, and we reserve it wholly for him.

6. Learn the power of buildup and breakthrough.

Understand momentum, and how it applies especially within the context of a multigenerational vision. While we may not be able to get things in a business rolling big time until late in our lives, our children can carry it onward and further it in their lives, until eventually the business will nearly run itself.

7. Set up stones of remembrance to remind the future generations of what God had done.

Establish a way of remembering all that God did, so that when you pass on, your grandchildren and great-grandchildren will remember, ‘this is the company that God helped my great-grandfather to build! This is the business that God helped my grandfather preserve from wickedness, and to further the cause of Christ!’

I loved Mr. Pent’s lesson, and will remember it for a long time.

Unfortunately, I don’t have time to properly finish this post today, but I will post all of my notes later. In the meantime, I look forward to yet another day of excellent teaching on entrepreneurial matters.

God Bless!

~ John.