Disobeying Orders

Our culture trains us to always obey orders. Police officers- soldiers- whenever someone objects and tries to explain why you are not protecting justice, what is the response? "Just following orders."

But is there ever a time to disobey orders?

The second (and first, since the last one was really an introduction) episode of The Babylon Effect.



Also, more music from "Act Like Men." One of my biggest takeaways from this project is that melodies are crucial and distinctive- but rhythms can be very unique too. This piece is driven by a morse code distress call rhythm which is very unique. I want to continue finding unique and fitting rhythms- and not just falling back on my old standbys.

Here's the morse code- can you hear it in the piece?

CQD - "Act Like Men" by gabrielhudelson

Act Like Men

This is another film project I'm working on. With the 100th anniversary of the sinking of the Titanic approaching very quickly, the question arises- what can we learn from what happened on that "Night to Remember"?

What have we gained? What have we lost?

"Women and children first."

This statement directly violates the evolutionary and egalitarian worldviews of today.

Evolution says that we have no inherent value, and that the death of the weak leads to the development of the species. If we are all simply products of evolution, matter-in-motion, and the strong survive and the weak die, then "women and children first" is nonsense. Rather, "strongest first." Women and children last. For the sake of the species, you know.

Egalitarianism denies any distinctions between men and women. Anything men can do women can do better. I have yet to hear, however, a feminist be truly consistent and say that the men on the Titanic were being chauvinists. After all, they apparently viewed women as weaker vessels. Why didn't they just let the women take care of themselves?

If these worldviews are allowed enough time to eat into the marrow of our culture, we will gradually, eventually, see their ramifications played out before our eyes. We're seeing it now.

There have been plenty of people, from Hitler to Leopold and Loeb, who have tried to play out the evolutionary worldview, but they are despised for their consistency. We tell them that the strong survive and the weak die- that there is no God, no Judge, no standard- and then we punish them when they live like we told them to.

Recently, our military has finally been given permission to put women in the front lines of combat. Egalitarianism marches on. Let it march on long enough and maybe I won't have to wait on the women and children before I get my chance to get off the sinking ocean-liner. Maybe I can feel good about myself as I listen to the screams of the women and children who go down with the ship. She didn't want me to hold the door for her- why should I hold the seat on the lifeboat for her? Can't they take care of themselves?

No. I can't feel good about it. No matter how boldly these poisonous worldviews march forward, I am a Christian, and as such I see it as my duty as a man to lay down my life for women and children. Whether it's taking a bullet or not taking a life vest or carrying an overburdened purse, I rejoice in the calling that is mine as a man- to not struggle for supremacy in a chaotic melee of natural selection, but rather to use the strength that God has given me for the benefit of those who are weaker than I.

Why?

Primarily, because that's what Scripture says (John 15:13, Neh. 4:14, Eph. 5:25) and models (Jas. 1:27, Ps. 82:3).

Another reason is encapsulated in this quote from the Mysterious Islands documentary: "Evolution is survival of the fittest. In Christianity, the most fit of all, Jesus Christ, died for the unfit. That's you and me. That's the way God thinks- that's the way the Creator thinks."

There it is. Why would I, being bigger and stronger, give up the place that I could secure by right of force on the lifeboat to a smaller and weaker person?

Because that's what Jesus did for me.

Here's a taste of the score for "Act Like Men." Watch the trailer and keep up with the film's progress on the website.

R.M.S. Titanic - "Act Like Men" by gabrielhudelson

7 Lessons from the 2012 SAICFF

I just got back from the 2012 San Antonio Independent Christian Film Academy and Festival. Here are a few of the most prominent lessons that I learned from the teaching, talking, and traveling that I experienced last week.

The most important of which, I might add, are not directly film-related.

1. Honor my father and cherish my relationship with him. Be accountable to him, as well. "If you think you might need to confess it- you do."
2. Use my time living in my father's household wisely. Invest in my siblings and parents. Use these years in such a way that I won't look back after I'm married and say "I sure wish I would've..."
   
3. The more I study theology, the better I will become as an artist.
4. YouTube appeals to the masses- Vimeo appeals to the artistic community. I need both.
5. Brand = Trust. Make a promise and then keep it.
6. Directors should be directors- not speech instructors. As a general rule, say "I need your character to feel this way"- not "say it like this."
7. I love my family. To pieces. It was heartbreaking to leave San Antonio after such an awesome week of great fellowship and networking. But when I got home I realized- wow. It's good to be back. My family is such a blessing and treasure.
   

This was an amazing week from many angles. It was great for me occupationally and spiritually. It was so good, in fact, that I've already registered for the 2013 academy and festival. God continues to provide, and in this case He used a gift from a family member. (By the way, if The LORD is leading you to attend the next one, now's the time to register. The first 150 registrants get a $200 discount.)

To all the wonderful people that I met this year- stay in touch! Hopefully, I'll see you again, in person, next year.

Until then, I'm grateful for the internet. :-)

The Babylon Effect

As a family we're working on some different projects known in conglomerate as The Babylon Effect.

This is the intro for a web series we're working on.

So what is The Babylon Effect?

Well, you'll just have to find out, now, won't you.

Stay tuned!

Brothers Arise!

I've had so many blog post ideas running around in my head, but none of them have come to fruition yet.

In the meantime, here's the trailer to a film I've been working on which will premiere next week at the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival.



Would love to see you there!

Christ Shall Have Dominion / Music: Critical Mass

Dominion. Not only is it an awesome word, but it's a word with a freight-train size load of theological connotations that are- to be simplistic- rather controversial.

And rather awesome.

So let's start at the beginning.

"And God blessed them, and God said unto them, Be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth." (Gen. 1:28, KJV)

Here we see the initial command given to man. Rule the earth. Man tends the earth and brings it into obedience to God.

This is, of course, much harder after the fall- in fact, it can only be accomplished apart from God's Grace.

But that doesn't mean that we should not still strive towards it- and pray for the Grace that it necessitates.

Some will say that we are no longer "under" this initial mandate, since we are now under the New Covenant. To these, my reply is threefold:

1. This is our initial created purpose. It doesn't just go away- it's what we were made to do.
2. Both our Lord Jesus Christ and the apostle Paul refer back to creation order. ("From the beginning, it was not so.") Why do we retain the model for things like one-man-one-woman marriage yet reject the Dominion Mandate?
3. This objection arises from what I believe to be a dangerous misunderstanding of the New Covenant. The New Covenant was the fulfillment of The Law in Christ. The ceremonial and sacrificial laws are done away with in Him. The New Covenant is not a "liberation" from the moral laws of God, nor is it a repudiation- an abolishing- of all the things contained in the Old Testament. This includes the Dominion Mandate.
   

So what does this dominion-taking look like, practically? In a nutshell, it looks like applying all of God's Word to all of life.

Instead of seeing this world as a lost cause, "going to hell in a hand-basket," we should see this world as God's. He owns it. We are His ambassadors come to claim His domain back from those who have usurped Him.

"And Jesus came up and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth." (Matt. 28:18)

Scripture paints a picture, not of a monastic separation from the world, nor of an antinomian revelry in sin, but of an aggressive expansion, an in-this-world-but-not-of-it march forward which calls every area of life- politics, art, culture, education, all of it- to submit to Christ.

Which leads to discussing eschatology- what we think about the end-times. The dominion worldview can seem inherently postmillenial. Postmillenialists believe that there will be no tribulation- the church will obey God more and more and His Kingdom gradually will advance and fill the earth. "All the earth will be filled with the glory of the LORD."

But for someone who believes that the earth will get worse and worse until Jesus comes back, it might seem like dominion is a silly and irrelevant idea.

It's not.

Though it does kinda make better sense from a post-mil standpoint.

My point with this post, however, isn't to start a debate on eschatology. I'd rather leave that for another time. My point here is that this world is God's. His Kingdom will reign. Perhaps that reign will be inaugurated by Divine fiat, where the world gets worse and worse and then BAM. Christ returns and brings justice. Perhaps it will indeed be by the faithfulness of the remnant.

Either way, His Kingdom is inevitable.

Either way, it is for us to obey. To live as if all authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Christ. Because it has.

Christianity isn't another part of our life. It is our life. It's not the thing we put in the "religion" box on Facebook. It's the foundation, the worldview, the root of everything that we do. It must be so.

And it gets bigger. The dominion-minded believer desires to see things like politics and the arts conquered for Christ. This does NOT mean using physical force to overthrow governments, but it does mean striving for the conformation of the institutions of this world to The Word of God.

Yes, I firmly believe that our national legal system should be built on The moral Law of God. What other option do we have as believers?

The retort may come back, "you're advocating saving the nation through politics!"

Not at all. Nations are lost or won one soul at a time. Politics cannot save. But, as has been said- if Christians are faithful, and God is willing, politics will be saved.

So the dominion-minded believer isn't just "waiting at the bus stop" for Jesus' return. He is actively striving to expand the real-life Kingdom of God on this earth.

"Your kingdom come. Your will be done, On earth as it is in heaven." (Matt. 6:10)

That's what I see Scripture exhorting us to. This earth belongs to Christ. Let's act like it.

I hope that this woefully short epistle attempting to define dominion proves helpful and edifying to some. I might have inspired more questions than I answered, but that might be a good thing. Please ask the questions below, though I can't guarantee that I'll be able to answer them. Oftentimes, my answers aren't even necessary- others will pitch in and answer the questions for me, and sometimes better than I could've. I enjoy learning from you all, so thanks again for the discussions.

Speaking of dominion, here's one of my latest dominion-taking endeavors in the area of music. I think it's fitting to the topic at hand, both in title and in genre. Because God's Kingdom, one way or another, will reach Critical Mass.

Critical Mass by gabrielhudelson

"Christ shall have dominion, over land and sea,
Earth’s remotest regions shall His empire be;
They that wilds inhabit shall their worship bring,
Kings shall render tribute, nations serve our King."

You're Not Going to College?!?

In a culture saturated with the presupposition that a college degree is necessary to adulthood (though it is being desaturated, I think), there are some who step back and reconsider if the piece of paper with the alphabet soup is really all that and a box of crackers. In the circles that I swim in, it's common to see the expectation that girls will stay home instead of going off to college. Online alternatives like CollegePlus! are also very popular among homeschoolers.

I guess I go a step further. More on that in a bit.

I have no intention of going to college, at this point, nor of getting any manner of degree (other than a high-school diploma). Which isn't to say that if I got a scholarship to Julliard or Patrick Henry I would just turn it down.

Why? I'm so glad you asked!

Girls

First, though, I'm going to talk about girls going to college (because I've been asked to clarify my stance). In family-integrated, homeschooling circles it's not rare to see people taking a philosophical stance against girls going to college. I agree with these people- specifically because of the Biblical principle of male headship, I would be very reluctant to give my blessing on my daughter/sister going away to college (unless she went with her brother, maybe..?).

I mean, really- why would I send the precious daughter that God has entrusted me with off to a temple of humanism to learn from educated fools (Ps. 14:1) and fellowship with boys stuck in manly bodies who would love to take advantage of her and girls who like it that way?

Yeah, that's a grim picture which I paint of college. And right you are- not all colleges are like this! Just most of 'em. So now that we've ruled out the majority of colleges...

To any girl going to Patrick Henry college or Bob Jones University or another such respectable establishment (and to her father!), I ask- how are you playing out Numbers 30? How are you as a father protecting your daughter? How are you, as a daughter, being held accountable, protected, loved, instructed, familied?


Maybe you are, that's between you and The LORD. But the principles must be dealt with, one way or t'other.

I certainly have no desire for my daughters (LORD willing, one day) to go to college.

I'm not saying that no girl should ever go to college, but that any girl that does go to college needs to deal with the principles that God gives us to live by. I'm sure there are exceptions. But I'm tired of pursuing exceptions. I'd rather seek what it is that God gives us as a normative pattern, and let Him take care of the exceptions.

Guys

Here, though, I go even further. Not only am I "against" girls going to college- I'm "against" guys going to college.

Hear me out.

Let's look at some Biblical principles:

• Family
• Accountability
• Time Stewardship
• Financial Stewardship

Family

Throughout Scripture God works through families. Whether it's blood relatives or relatives by The Blood, we're called to be in fellowship with one another. Christianity is not a religion of loners. From the very beginning, God instituted the family. It's the assumed normative throughout Scripture. (Ps. 68:6, Heb. 10:25)

It's a good thing.

So why would I want to leave my family and my church family to go somewhere else for so long? Is it really worth it?

Accountability

This is closely tied to family. When I'm living together with my family and my local brothers and sisters in Christ, I don't have the luxury of hiding things. Sure, it's possible, but it's hard. It also puts a block in relationships that I treasure. While it is indeed possible (and, I say, necessary!) to set up accountability in a college (or other such) situation, it's not as organic and unavoidable. (Jas. 5:16, Pr. 27:17)

Add to that all the temptations that come with being alone on a college campus among myriads of peers who, with the exception of the exceptional colleges, are more likely to tempt than to help against the temptations, and you have a recipe for trouble.

"Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed that he does not fall." (1 Cor. 10:12)

It is by God's Grace that we stand at all, even protected in our homes. Let us not presume upon God's Grace and throw ourselves in the path of temptation.

Remember the young man in Pr. 7.

Time Stewardship

I would want to spend 4 years of my life in college why exactly? During those 4 years, I could start a business, or study my craft, or any number of things, while in the context of my own family and church. Indeed, I could start my own family. 4 years is a lot of time. Would it really be a good investment to sink it all into college? (Eph. 5:16)

Financial Stewardship

I know there are cheaper options than just the standard (extraordinarily expensive) college fare. I'm not talking about those right now.

Scripturally, debt is slavery. (Pr. 22:7) I cannot see how I could justify going into years worth of debt for a degree. Furthermore, even if I had all that money and could pay out-of-pocket, would that be good stewardship of God's money?

Please note that I'm putting these out not as a list of rules, but as a list of principles. These are my thoughts (which are, to varying degrees, undergirded with Scripture, but my interpretations aren't infallible). I'm not trying to start a fight- these are some of the reasons behind what I believe about college, and I hope some of you find them edifying.

Why?

I can see Biblical allowance for college much better if it is a local college or, especially, something like CollegePlus! which is done (mostly) from home.

Even allowing for something like CollegePlus! or a local community college, though, I would like to know this.

Why would I want to go to college?

Here are some of my reasons why, and then my reasons why they don't convince me.

Networking

Networking is hugely important, especially for someone in my line of business. For my part, though, I'd rather do that on websites like ChristianFilmmakers.org or at gatherings like the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival. In the former case, it's free, it's ongoing, and it's focused on my industry. In the latter case, while it's away from home and costs- it's only for a week, and that's a week of condensed and intense networking. If I'm diligent enough.

Knowledge

First off, "the fear of The LORD is the beginning of knowledge." So if I'm going to a pagan institution which will teach me things rooted in a heathen worldview, I'm going to need to filter all that out.

Secondly, with all the technology we have today, why would I want to pay so much money and spend so much time going to an institution to learn when I could study from home at my own pace on only the subjects most important to me? This allows me to still learn from the wisdom of others- whether it's via books, websites, or even local mentors. It also allows me to learn my craft by doing it- not by studying about it in a classroom setting.

Diploma

It's just a piece of paper. If I can do my job and do it well, then I'm not really worried about whether I have an official stamp of approval.

That isn't to say that a college degree isn't helpful, or, at times, necessary, but rather that it isn't always necessary and is often overrated.

Hats of Awesomeness

It's hard, but I think that I'm willing to sacrifice my chance to get one of these babies for the reasons stated above.

(Again, my point isn't that college is inherently evil or that college is not an option for Christians- my point here is that I really don't see why, as a general rule, it is beneficial enough to justify all the costs.)

One More Time

Again, yes, I'm sure there are exceptions. Again, I'm not worried about exceptions. I'm not looking for them right now. I want to find the principles that God has given which direct normative Christian life. If He leads you or me to pursue a path that falls under the category of "exception," than may we be ever willing to follow!

In either case, however, we must deal with the principles given in The Text.


Well, there you have it. This concludes my doctoral thesis on why I don't think The LORD is calling me to go to college at this point in my life.

I guess I'm forever condemned to being classified with other diploma-free people like Bill Gates, Steven Spielberg, Andrew Jackson, and Henry Ford.

Bummer.