Before I went to Patriot Academy this past summer I listened to a wall builders episode with a man by the name of Rabbi Daniel Lapin. The title of it was called “What is Civilization?”. As listened, Rabbi Lapin opened my perspective about how I viewed art, media, and human behavior. The main point of his talk was that there is only one Civilization. Oh, there are hundreds if not millions of “cultures”, but only one civilization. A culture is the way a people group lives, but that does not make it a civilization. Civilizations are sophisticated, they have complex forms of government, people have the abilities to run factories, and most importantly a civilization will value life. What makes it possible for Europeans to explore and discover new lands, build bridges, run factories, and build and maintain large armies? Whereas people of Madagascar, native Americans, Incas, and Aztecs cannot? Is because of race? NO! it is because their culture lacks something that the Europeans had.
What was that something? It’s the bible. Like it or not, it is Christianity that makes civilization possible. Without the principles from the bible there is no civilization there is savagery. The liberals hate this fact because they know it is Christendom that has brought civilization to the world and not Humanism, not Marxism, and not Darwinism. It is civilization that brings order to a society and if the bible is the core then a nation prospers. The United States “was” the greatest example of a civilization. We founded it on the bible and prospered until now. It is Christianity that gave people the reason to invent things: from the telegram to the telephone. It was a value of life a principle which we find in the bible that motivated men not only here but around the world to make life better for their fellow men. Now a culture can have many advancements that make it more sophisticated, but they do not advance as fast, effective, and with the same achievements that Christian nations do. We need to understand civilization can only exist with the bible, without it we have Hitlers, Stalins, and Husseins.
Where are we as a civilization? We are, and it upsets me to say, becoming domestic savages. Our art and media is not far off from what the Romans who went to watch at the gladiatorial games. We have lost the bible and removed from its rightful place. When a civilization makes that decision they start the process of becoming savages. We worship death with the overly violent and sickening films that are available today. We kill are own children just as the savages of ancient times did at temples. We worship sex and make women objects of sex, we overcome ourselves with lust and destroy our minds. We are becoming domestic savages with the philosophies, thoughts, and actions we promote. Americans today are only at different levels of savagery. It will only be a matter of time. The one thing humanists have so wrong, is that man is inherently wicked. Without the bible to guide him, he will be a savage plain and simple. It is up to you to decide whether you will be a savage or not, without the bible your helpless. You must fight savagery no matter how savage America is. Remember the worst savage of all, is the one that decides not to do anything about it.
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But don't close the tab yet. The film isn't excused from some things that should be discussed, so, on with the details and worthy points, 'ey? I'll start off by commenting on the premise and technical aspects, and I'll mark where I transition into the deeper elements of the screenplay (for those who care about such frivolities as "spoilers").
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I can tell you without a shadow of a doubt thatHugo is the most gorgeous piece of motion picture color styling that I have ever seen. Nearly (I'm using "nearly" just to be safe) every frame is a work of saturation and gamma depth art that can be studied and learned from. The relatively small-scale, yet intricate sets are breathtaking. Ben Kingsley, whom some of you may remember fromSchindler's List and Moses, does not disappoint.
The film, in a nutshell, is about the re-discovery of imagination, especially imagination that may have been buried in hurt and loss over time. This journey, through which the protagonist discovers home and family, is told beautifully.
Now, on to the nitty-gritty. This is where the spoiler-concerned would probably want to stop reading.
Georges Méliès, the pioneer filmmaker whose works are featured in Hugo, and whose true story this film revolves around, was a man of creativity and imagination, to be sure, but the dark and twisted tones in a lot of his works bring up something I believe is key here. This was before the time of the Frankfurt School, before the great aesthetic agendas of our day. The men crafting these early films had no motivation besides their wildest dreams. What drove men like Méliès after that which would eventually become a dabbling in the first horror films?
The simple answer is that imagination comes from inspiration, and inspiration at it's heart is birthed from worldview. What inspired Georges? It's safe to say that his worldview was not one of created order and beauty.
You may be wondering how this is relevant to the Hugo viewing experience. Well, I'm happy to say that, in the interest of keeping the lighthearted spirit of imagination, all of Méliès' film excerpts that made it into Hugo are happily horror-free. I found most of it quite enjoyable, in fact. It was only on occasion that I was able to pick up on the more twisted side of Méliès' creativity.
The reason for this discussion is that, as discerning Christians, when we see a beautiful film about the wonders of imagination, we must ask ourselves if the film's concluding suggestion is honest and true. Is all imagination positive? Is it possible for the darkness of one's worldview to affect those who view one's creative works?
Lastly, does any of the above make Hugo a bad film? No, not at all. I reiterate that it is a delightful story and theme. These are simply things that must be considered with all discernment as it becomes increasingly vital that we test everything against our Biblical worldview. Remember, every film is a sermon; every frame is a message; every so-called "entertainment" experience, an opportunity to instill and teach so that our children will have the foundational worldview they need to face culture on their own.
Love is probably the most over misunderstood yet the most important element in our Christian walk. Every shortcoming and sin can be traced back to the statement: “I failed to love”. Everything we are guilty of comes down to us not loving others like Christ loved the church. Yet on the other side of this great foundational principle we have those who use love for cheap grace and fail to love because they refuse to convict those in sin.
Love is the most powerful force in the universe. Love is stronger than hate. Love overpowers fear. Love breaks bondage of sin. Love shows us Christ as Savior. I Corinthians chapter 13 tells us that without love our lives and deeds are worthless, yet with love we are empowered for greater works then we could ever imagine.
We in today’s Christian music scene we have love as a great player in song topics, but so many Christian artists have numerous false conceptions of love and don’t realize love has many faces to its nature. Love is tough, if were not it, could not overpower darkness. Love is gentle; if it were not, then it could not bring any to Christ. I mentioned earlier that Christians sell out for cheap grace through lack of love. This is so true because countless Christians forget love is tough and do not use love to convict people of sin. Instead they attempt to be nicer then Jesus and end up failing to truly love someone in sin.
So what am I saying? I am saying that we need to love everyone with all the faces of love. Whether it be convicting a person or encouraging a person. We cannot afford to fail to give love out because it is what Jesus commands us to do. Jesus is the only one who loves with all the faces of love and only He can give you the power to love with a perfect love. So shine the many Faces of Love to the entire world so that it will really know us by our love.
We are in the process of finding God's detailed will for this what we have determined "Movement". We are still setting up the format and detailed purpose of this organization, but we are sure of that we want to add others into this movement. Now the reason we are calling this a movement is because we want "you" to be active in it. Yes, that means you! We want you to be able to post videos, have discussions, and Wake Up . Now if you have any skills in film, web design, and ministry, please feel free to offer yourselves. We are looking for other people of this generation to stand up for righteousness and use their talents to do so. Please keep us in your prayers and pray that God will use this as a powerful tool to affect this generation for his kingdom.
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As me and Jon David Bruegel shot Episode II for the vlog, Jon made a remark about Christians "Tweeting" and questioned if we should do it. So by request from one of our subscribers I am giving my humble opinion of social networks in general and should Christians tweet. One of the things we must always realize about social networks is that they are tools that can be used for good or bad. Many Christians see people abuse these social tools and then say that therefore it is inherently evil. What they fail to see is that they are blaming problems on the tool and failing to see where the real problem is. The problem is the people who use the tool. Now Facebook for example, is one of the most used and exploited social networks out there. I personally believe Facebook is a great tool but has puffed itself up and figured it can disregard people's privacy because of the demand for it. But Facebook in and of itself is not bad as with any social network.
So what about Twitter? Twitter is similar to Facebook but is more about sharing quick little status' about yourself in a social stream. Many Christians again, look at the people who post dumb and unimportant "tweets" and say that Twitter is a waste of time and is not good for you. Yet again, they fail to see how you can with Twitter, get the news faster then ever. You can get even movements started and spread fast through re-tweeting and mass followings. Twitter can be a waste of time and like every social network there is the potential to waste time on it. It does not however make it wrong to use it.
One of the examples of Twitter being used for good is Ray Comfort and the 180 movie project. He was able to get 180's anti-abortion message out faster and more widespread then ever before because of Twitter topics, Facebook pages, Youtube, and Google+. The message was so popular that Abortionists became nervous about 180's popularity. Without the use of social networks and Twitter especially, Ray couldn't have had impact he has on our culture on abortion.
Now we come to a crossroad, should we as Christians be on these social networks? That is something between you and God. There is nothing wrong socializing and talking to friends on Twitter or any social network. All I can say is that they are tools that can be used for incredible good and incredible evil. You cannot say that they are bad yet not good either. God's will can definitely be accomplished through Twitter. Just remember that when your on Twitter or any social network you hold a weapon. Treat it as such.
Andrew
This gives you a quick summary of my plan for this Vlog.
Today, I am happy to announce the start of this project. I hope and pray that God's will be done with this project. Please keep me and others who may be involved in this project in your prayers.
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