F is for Finance

"How to Finance a Hollywood Blockbuster" published earlier this week by Slate Magazine is eye-opening behind-the-scenes look at how Paramount Studios made a profit on the dreadful "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider." It just goes to show that the most creative - and hence, powerful - forces in Hollywood these days are the accountants. Perhaps there should be a new category for CPAs at the Oscars next year...

This may seem odd, but I have always looked in awe to people in finance. In part, it is because I am so inept at it: I don't even bother to balance my checkbook anymore. We often see accountants as mild-mannered calculator-carrying, pocket-protected nerds, but none of the great works of art, architecture and even military campaigns would have come to pass if it weren't for bankers, backers and angels. Form may follow function or vice versa, but both must conform to finance...

One of the first blogs I wrote back in 2001 was about my favorite building in southern California - the Disneyland parking structure:

The family went to Disneyland this past week and we all had a great time, even me. I soaked in the ambiance of the happiest place on earth, hopping on and off rides mindless of their mixed messages - admiring the majestic concrete heights of the faux Matterhorn before descending into hell with Mr. Toad; affirming the brotherhood of humankind on It's a Small World, while enduring the racial stereotypes portrayed in Jungle Cruise - yet the real joy for me was using the new parking lot. Indeed, the facility is a design marvel, but for the techno-geek like myself, it was the best ride in the park and well worth the seven dollar fee. The "Mickey & Friends" parking structure is immense - six-stories high and several football fields across, yet it only took 5 minutes to park and more amazingly it only took a couple minutes to leave as each parking level has its own exit ramp onto Interstate 5. As admirable as the engineering was, I was even more impressed by the backroom finagling of the Disney executives to get the structure built. In 1994, when it looked like the $131 million urban eyesore was not going to be approved by the Anaheim municipal authorities, the House of Mouse spin doctors repackaged the garage as a $223 million "transit facility" with express bus service, rail connections and park-and-ride space for the purpose of alleviating the traffic congestion choking Orange County . This big act of altruism immediately won plaudits from all sectors sucking in enough federal, county and city aid to get the thing built. But, hey; I'm not cynical! I'm grateful. So I bow down to Michael Eisner and the men in mouse grey suits for an awesome parking experience. When it comes down to it, I don't want to be using 30-40 minutes parking my car when that time could be better wasted waiting in line for a $5 bottle of water or $10 cheeseburger or the toilet or... Take care. As He leads, Dick

What applies to Hollywood and town planning holds true in ministry. Pastors and missionaries with vision and drive are a dime a dozen, but show me a compassionate comptroller and I'll show you a ministry that is dynamic and reaching people for Christ. The tricky part about church economics is recognizing the fact that a successful ministry doesn't make a profit. I look back in amazement at the wonderful groundbreaking years of ministry in Europe with Chinese Overseas Christian Mission. We were always in the red, but just so... Even though I often tested the patience of the mission's treasurer with my remedial bookkeepping, he always made sure that I had what I needed for the ministry. Looking back, it was not necessarily that he trusted me personally - "Sure, Dick, you can have airfare to the Bahamas!" - but that he had a deep, intimate knowledge of our mission field and most important of all, an open heart to God's voice in prayer.

This morning a friend called to see if I would be interested in seeking out a local businessman who is known worldwide for funding Asian-American ministry projects in hopes of getting his backing to develop ministry here in North Carolina. I'm a bit reticent: As much as I need a savvy entrepreneur to sort out my dollars and cents, I'd rather that we forge a spirtual relationship in finding God's will for us both. Form follows function follows finance in the world, but faith is the foundation for all who wish to serve in Christ's kingdom...