A Flash of Genius

We settled in this evening to watch a movie called A Flash of Genius.  It's the story of an American college professor who invents the intermittent windshield wiper.  Together with a friend in the automotive industry, he approaches the Ford Motor Company, desiring to manufacture the wiper motors himself and partner with Ford.   Ford backs out, leaving him with nothing.

The movie was worth watching for the life's lessons taught.  It showed a man determined to get what was fair - to get recognition for what he had invented - but at what cost?

Robert Kearns, the inventor, spent a lifetime trying to prove he was right.  He lost his wife, and the battle became his entire life.  

Maureen Kearns said her father's home was filled with legal files. After a point, she said, "his life was simply this battle."

Kearns died in 2005.  

He acted as his own lawyer during much of the long battle with the car companies.  It wasn't just about the money, but he wanted to become a major manufacturer and make the devices himself.  

U.S. District Judge Avern Cohn presided over the trials.

"He was feisty, determined and he established the fact that he made a contribution to the auto industry that was unique," Cohn said. "His zeal got ahead of his judgment."

The film left me saddened.  Oh, it was good that he won his court battle, and that he got some measure of recognition.  But the cost was too high.

Mark 8:36 For what does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?

And what does it profit a man to gain millions of dollars and recognition, yet forfeit his marriage?

What Went Wrong: Banksters!

Fraud is Deceit...I create trust in you, then betray that trust, and get you to give me something of value.  Calculated dishonesty revealed.

"The financial industry brought the economy to its knees, but how did they get away with it? With the nation wondering how to hold the bankers accountable, Bill Moyers sits down with William K. Black, the former senior regulator who cracked down on banks during the savings and loan crisis of the 1980s. Black offers his analysis of what went wrong and his critique of the bailout." 

BILL MOYERS: Welcome to the Journal.

For months now, revelations of the wholesale greed and blatant transgressions of Wall Street have reminded us that "The Best Way to Rob a Bank Is to Own One." In fact, the man you're about to meet wrote a book with just that title. It was based upon his experience as a tough regulator during one of the darkest chapters in our financial history: the savings and loan scandal in the late 1980s.

Take the time to click on the paragraph above to understand how banks have deliberately set out to make bad loans in order to produce great personal wealth in the bankers and CEOs of the banks.  

Be not deceived.  God is not mocked.  Whatever a man sows, that will he also reap.

Idol Factory

From the Irish Calvinist:

 I know my heart is an idol factory that can take and corrupt good things.  I know that I secretly crave affirmation from the world around me.  I know that I want to indulge my flesh.  I know that I want to evaluate people based on my standards.  I know my pride swollen heart really does want to eclipse Christ’s glory even through the Trojan horse of ministry.  I know that I need to spend much more time evaluating my own heart in light of the word of God rather than evaluating others’ in light of my own standards.

Heart Idols are something we all struggle with.  We want to be on the throne, to be appreciated, to be admired.  We want to do well, and we often fall into the trap of comparing ourselves to the next guy.  I  have been homeschooling for many years, and it warms my heart when I see that my son reads better than others his age.  I tend to swell, just a little, with a tiny bit of pride.  

Again I say (agreeing with the Irish Calvinist) I have to preach the gospel to myself.  I have to remind myself that God chose the foolish (me), the weak (me), the low and despised (me!) so that He could show His power through His people. 

1 Corinthians 1:26 For consider your calling, brothers: not many of you were wise according to worldly standards, not many were powerful, not many were of noble birth. 27 But God chose what is foolish in the world to shame the wise;  God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong; 28 God chose what is low and despised in the world, even  things that are not, to  bring to nothing things that are, 29 so  that no human being  might boast in the presence of God. 30 And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God,righteousness and sanctification and redemption, 31 so that, as it is written, “Let the one who boasts, boast in the Lord.”

If I teach well, it's because of Christ.  If my children follow the Lord, it's because of Christ.  If I am healthy and have energy and can go from dawn to dusk, it's because Christ, the Lord, empowers me.  I can do all things through Christ, Who strenghthens me.  Without Him, I can do nothing.  At least, nothing of any value.

Lord, keep this child of Yours from idols.  Help me to guard my heart, to recognize the idols I constantly try to manufacture, and to cast them aside.  Help me to live this moment before YOU, before the face of God.  You are SO GOOD to me.  May I live in the light of that Goodness, and bask in the sense of Your presence.  In Christ, I pray.  Amen.