Morning Musing: Proverbs 22:6

“Start a youth out on his way; even when he grows old he will not depart from it.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

For a nation that is supposedly reeling from superhero fatigue, filmmakers don’t seem to be getting the message. This summer we have been treated to a number of big budget action movies, several of which have fallen in the superhero genre. And they’ve mostly done well. Thunderbolts* (which I haven’t seen yet) was a moderate success, especially as compared with more recent Marvel releases. Fantastic Four (which I also haven’t yet seen) scored Marvel’s biggest box office opening weekend of the year and seems to have been a hit with both audiences and critics – a rare treat for any superhero movie. But of all the summer box office hits this year, only one of them really hit the mark of super. Let’s talk about Superman.

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Digging in Deeper: Philippians 3:17-20

“Join in imitating me, brothers and sisters, and pay careful attention to those who live according to the example you have in us. For I have often told you, and now say again with tears, that many live as enemies of the cross  of Christ. Their end is destruction; their god is their stomach; their glory  is in their shame; and they are focused on earthly things. Our citizenship is in heaven, and we eagerly wait for a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.” (CSB – Read the chapter)

Films and series about villains don’t typically do very well. There are a handful of exceptions to this, but not many. Sony’s attempting at creating their own Spiderverse (mostly) separate and apart from the MCU is a great example. They took a bunch of villains, removed the hero who gave them substance, and tried to sanitize them by making them complicated antiheroes. And most of them bombed. Badly. The Joker 2 is another good example. By all accounts it was unbelievably awful. A villain-based series from HBO Max, though, seems like it could be an exception. I’m only three episodes in, but the story is pretty good, if frustratingly depressing. Let’s talk about The Penguin.

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Contagious Holiness

Last night I had the pleasure of being invited to speak at the revival service of Pleasant Grove Baptist Church.  Wayne, Trent, and the family there were exceedingly gracious and the good folks of FBCO offered an overwhelming and humbling show of support.  In the message I talked about the major solution to the major problem of the world.  To see what it is and what it means for how we do church keep reading.

 

Contagious Holiness

It is a good day to be a fan of comic book and superhero fare.  Never in the whole history of the silver screen or the small screen have we had as many offerings featuring one comic book storyline or another.  And it’s not just that the volume is high.  The quality is great too.  The comics giants Marvel and DC are in a growing competition for audience loyalty and while Marvel has so far dominated the games, the level of excellence they have achieved has set a high bar that DC is doing their best to clear which in turn simply spurs Marvel on to keep upping their own game.  Well, for a fan of this genre, the net result of this is a ton of great movies and tv shows to enjoy.   Read the rest…