Random Thoughts 8/8/14

• How many super-hero movies does it take before the genre wears out its welcome?  We're gonna find out.  In the next six years, comic book publishers Marvel and DC have 33 films slated to be released.  This will include both well-known franchises like Superman, Batman, Spider-Man, the X-Men and Avengers, as well as lesser known or seldom seen characters like Ant-Man, Dr. Strange, Wonder Woman, Sinister Six, and more that I had to look up on Wikipedia.
• As a nerd, I'm for more comic-book based movies.  But I can't help but think that the majority of people are just going to get worn out on it.  There's also a plethora of comic-based TV shows such as current shows "Agents of SHIELD" and "Arrow," and upcoming shows like "Gotham," "Agent Carter," "Daredevil," and "The Flash," among others.  Too much?
• So former KU one-and-done player Andrew Wiggins finally got traded from Cleveland to Minnesota, as most people expected.  He'll now be in a better position to be the star but that comes with greater expectations and risk of failure.  It's a shame, too, Cleveland is fairly close to Wiggins' hometown, Toronto.
• So I listened to a sermon today online.  The preacher repeatedly cursed from the pulpit, using the f-word and "a**h***" mostly to be edgy, express anger, or to get a cheap laugh.  So disappointing.  It's ironic though, his sermon hinged on using "judge a tree by its fruit" to condemn homophobia, while his own language was dripping in worldliness and profanity.  I think the sermon made a good attempt to express Christian love but it failed miserably at demonstrating Christian holiness.
• I think what surprised me most, besides the cussing, was how the sermon wasn't completely wrong.  I knew it would be from a liberal theological bent, which would dismiss traditional Biblical interpretations with smugness and arrogance to find room to criticize the church and affirm societal norms.  And I figured the tone would be permissive and emotional, self-deprecating and apologetic.  But because of that, I assumed everything the preacher would say would be wrong.  It kept throwing me off balance that he said a lot of truth between the cuss words.  It's a good reminder that the most dangerous lies are the ones wrapped in truth.  You keep nodding your head in agreement and then little compromises that are almost correct are thrown in while your guard is down.  How dangerous.