Transcript – Kirk Cameron’s ‘Saving Christmas’ speech at Liberty University 2014

[Proof-read] Transcript of Kirk Cameron’s speech at Liberty University

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Kirk Cameron, at Liberty University Convocation [meeting of Liberty students to hear a special speaker], on his new upcoming movie ‘Saving Christmas’. Kirk gave this speech on September 26, 2014

>> Youtube description: Published on Sep 30, 2014 — On September 26, 2014, at Convocation, North America’s largest weekly gathering of Christian students, TV and Movie actor Kirk Cameron addressed the students about the war on Christmas. Kirk talks about Christmas and the worlds view on the holiday. He takes a stand for Christmas and looks back on the word and how it relates to the holiday of Christmas and Jesus. Kirk Cameron is the producer of the movie “Unstoppable” and the main star in the movie “Saving Christmas”.

>> Youtube link:

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[Editor’s notes: Hello and welcome. Thankyou for reading this transcript and joining the gracious Biblical discussions on how God shows us in His Word to approach the holidays. I took Youtube’s ‘digital transcription’ of Kirk’s speech and inserted some sparse bracket-ed comments to briefly fill in for the reader of what Kirk is referring to (or only half-said). Those comments will most likely be in brackets just like this, unless I missed one or two. I also double-checked this, correcting the typos, filling in words and names the Youtube computer couldn’t figure out, etc. As far as I know, it should be just a literal transcript of what Kirk said. — I intend to use this transcript as a resource/reference for future conversations and Bible studies talking about the gaps in Kirk’s approach and Liberty’s approach to this topic of celebrating holidays, and I hope others will use this resource/reference as well, to also stir up healthy conversations about a Biblical approach to the holiday seasons. — With that said though, this text here below is just transcript of what Kirk said at Liberty on September 26th, 2014. If you find a typo, please contact me. You can find me on Facebook. ~ Thankyou. And thanks for reading and praying for me and my family, and for praying for our country during the holidays and regularly! ~ a growing servant/life-slave of Jesus, Steven Henry]

Kirk Cameron at Liberty University – September 26, 2014
*someone in the crowd shouts “we’re unstoppable” * ~ *crowd cheers*

*Kirk tries a couple of times to start his speech, but the audience is still cheering and clapping.* *crowd applauding*…

[Kirk begins speaking]

Good morning everybody! Hey! This is awesome. I’m so excited to be here. I’m a dad of six kids and so I come at this from a bit different perspective. I’m so I’m so happy that you’re here. I kinda feel like you’re Uncle Kirk. Ah. I know I’m not really your uncle. But, like you know, you have friends in the family who were like good friends, and you just call them ‘uncle’ even though they’re not really your uncle. But they’re just like their special.  And in my family we’ve got a guy like that we call him ‘Uncle Mark’. And so I kinda feel like your ‘Uncle Kirk’. Because our relationship has kinda gotten his way over the last couple years. I mean I’m not um… I’m not just an invited Speaker. I feel like I’m part of the family. And I couple years ago, we did a movie together called ‘Unstoppable’ and we blew the roof off the box office, beating movies like ‘Gravity’ and ‘Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs’, on the night that we opened in theaters all across the country, and you guys were a huge part of that.

I know some of your freshman year and you’re saying to yourself – I’m sorry. Not really sure who you are. I don’t really call you my uncle. And we have those kind of uncles too, right? Like the uncle that shows up every five years and you start to ask your parents – are we really related to that guy? Who is he? Is he really our uncle? So let me give you a little bit history for you freshmen.

Your parents and I go way back. You see I made him laugh a lot back in the 1980’a in a show called ‘Growing Pains‘. And then I got save, then became a Christian, and I reminded them of the Rapture in ‘Left Behind ‘. And then I tried to help them out with their marriage in ‘Fireproof ‘. And now they send you here to Liberty University and want me to show up to make sure that you’re coming to ‘Convocation’ this morning. So I get to text them back a great report – that you guys are here… Worshiping Jesus together… This is awesome.

I’m so excited. You guys have grown so much since the last time I saw you. Five new buildings is amazing – since last fall. You’ve got the new medical building. You’ve got a softball field. You’ve got the new robotic library. You’ve got a new parking garage, and a new dorm, and others going up. This is amazing. I’m a proud uncle. And you know Liberty University is such a beacon of light – it’s such a source of hope even for me as a dad.

I’ll tell you what happened. Just a week ago, I’m in my office and I’ve got my kids there because we homeschool our kids and my son Luke is taking a worldview class, right? And so Luke is taking some classes, and we said: you know – we need to go watch some convocation messages from Liberty University. So, we pull it up and guess who’s on there? He’s watching Lecrae, who came last year, right? And delivered this message that knocked me flat. I couldn’t believe it. I’m not even a huge rap fan, but I’ve become a giant Lecrae fan because of what he said. And do you – were you here when he gave that message about how Christians tend to have this sacred/secular split in the way that they view the world? Kind of like we’re wearing bifocals and some stuff shows up in the sacred category: stuff like prayer, and Convo [Liberty ‘Convocation’]. And other stuff shows up in a secular category in our mind – stuff like movies stuff like music, stuff like business. Right? And he’s saying – actually that’s not biblical worldview. Because if God made everything, we should see everything through the view of that which is good and sacred. Unless it is taken by an evil heart and directed the wrong way and turned something into evil. Right? It was amazing message. If you didn’t hear that – you should. If you heard it, you should listen to it again.

If we get that thing alone, we can change the world. In fact, I was so fired up about it, I sent Lecrae a text. And I don’t really know Lecrae, so I asked a friend who had his number. I texted him. I said: ‘Lecrae, uh Kirk Cameron here. Proud dad. Friend of Paul Washer. Super white guy who wore a TV sitcom mullet in the 1980s. Journalist who got ‘Left Behind’ at the rapture.– (I didn’t know if he knew who I was.) — My buddy Aaron gave me your number and propaganda will beat me up if I give it to anyone else. You there?‘ And he never texted me back.

But I’m sure he’s just very busy. The guys get a number one album on the Billboard charts. Right? Number one. Our guy – number one on the Billboard charts. How awesome is that? It’s tough to follow a guy like Lecrae and so many other stellar speakers you have here.

But I wanted to call Lecrae also because his message fit perfectly with what you and I are doing right now. Liberty University and my company CamFam Studios is now producing the film. It’s ready to come out in theaters called ‘Saving Christmas‘. And it’s all about this sacred secular split. I can’t wait to share with you what’s going to be happening in eight weeks.

I love Christmas. How about you? Do you love Christmas? *cheers* It’s just my favorite holiday. It’s my favorite time a year. I love hearing Bing Crosby start to say ‘It’s beginning to look a lot like Christmas…‘Right? And I love to I love the smell of pipe smoke. I love the fire. The crackle of the fire. I love the Christmas carols. I love the reference and the holiness of church services around Christmastime. Donations go up all around the world, because there’s this spirit of generosity and compassion. You wanna pull people into this sense inside each one of us. That says something big happened on Christmas morning, a couple thousand years ago, when those angels sang. And in that manger, something huge happen. And because of that, everything’s going be okay. In the end, it’s good. The world’s gonna be made right. I love it. I love everything. I love the Christmas trees. I love the characters. I love the songs. I love the food. I love the season. I love everything.

But if you noticed there’s some people who really want to put a big wet blanket on all this. They want to snuff out a lot of what I love. And what I know you love. Right? You ever feel like Christmas been hijacked? I do. And it always starts right about this time of year. All the stress. All the consumerism. And all of the retail sales. All of the craziness that sorta pushes the baby in the manger to the back seat. Then of course, you’ve got the war on Christmas that always starts right about this time of year. And you feel it on the college campuses. You know football season begins you start having some high-profile football players praying thanking Jesus for victory. Oh, they love to get on you about that, right? Our buddy Tim [Tebow] has experienced a fair share of that. Not ‘Tiny Tim’ from ‘The Christmas Carol‘. Big Tim. Right?

And then, of course, you’ve got the lawsuits that began over people putting nativities [Nativity scenes] in the public square in a park on a hill or something like that. They wanna pull down all the crosses and pull-down the nativity scenes, and they want to say ‘that’s unconstitutional…‘ We see that start to happen. That always ramps up around the winter season. Kids not able to sing their Jesus songs at Christmas-time for talent shows because it’s not Christmas. It’s got to be something more politically correct like ‘winter season’ ‘sparkle season’… something like that. Whatever that means.

And then within the church, and within our own homes, there’s another war going on. And Christmas has been split into the sacred/secular divide – this good and bad within our homes, with regard to our traditions. Right? Like you’ve got some things in your house there that are good and some things bad – they say. Right? So you got this bifocal view going on again. So you tell me, sacred or secular, good or bad.

Kirk: Nativity? —
*crowd says*  — Good.
Kirk: Christmas trees?
*crowd hesitantly says* — Good.
Kirk: Angels and wise men?
*crowd says* — Good
Kirk: Santa Claus?
*crowd says, mixed, then lots of chuckles* — Good… Bad…

[Back to Kirk just speaking again]

Okay. All this is really bumming me out, because I love Christmas. So how do we respond to this war on Christmas? What do we do? How we dive head first into the whole season without any reservation, because it’s about the birth of our Savior. Here’s how you win the war on Christmas. Ready? Celebrate! Spread joy. Lean into the feast. And rejoice. How do you do that? I’m gonna show you. All right, first of all, let’s zero on who’s actually attacking Christmas. Let’s look at the two groups that were talking about. we’ve got those who are over here saying — hey guys wanna sing Christmas carols, you want to have your nativities – that’s fine. Just don’t sing too loud and keep it inside your house. It’s a private faith – it’s not public thing. So don’t let it spill out into the neighborhood and bother the rest of us. Right?

And then you’ve got this other group over here that’s kinda of on the inside that’s saying Ho-Ho-Ho. Wait a minute, guys. Not so quick. Right? This whole thing is a pagan holiday. Christmas trees it’s a pagan worship thingy. Right? Like don’t you know? Wikipedia. Dancing around the trees and gifts and you know – eternal life and it’s a whole like wrong thing. You can’t do that. That’s not what God would want you to do to celebrate the birth of His Son. In fact, I had a conversation about this. Guys up in the tech room, if you hear me right now, I’m rearranging a couple things right now. So just run with me here. I had a conversation with a friend just like this. And so I’m gonna ask the guys to play video number one, right now. Check out this conversation I had with a guy who’s saying this.

[Kirk has the Liberty University team play a clip from his upcoming movie ‘Saving Christmas. So the camera watches it with them.]

>> (guy in white sweater, named ‘Christian White’)
… Christmas trees. News flash. Christmas tree – not in the Bible. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Deuteronomy – did I miss it… I miss Leviticus sometimes. But, I’m pretty sure it’s not in there. And that’s the big thing I’ve got sitting in my house right now. It’s a big Christmas tree. That’s a pagan idol symbol worshiping thingy. You know that right? That’s what they would worship their god with. You know the gods.
>> (Kirk-character, so far un-named) What gods?
— (‘Christian’) The gods.
>> (Kirk-character) Which gods?
— (‘Christian’) Thorsis… Thorsiris… It’s always Norweigan… that’s what they would do. It was the winter… ‘Winter Solstice’. News flash – it’s December. Jesus was not born in December, and we’re celebrating His birthday in December… Hello?
>> (Kirk-character) When was He born?
— (‘Christian’) Probably.. He was… Probably.. Spr… Probably… I don’t know. But He wasn’t born in December. Everyone knows that. So we celebrate that…
>> (Kirk-character) Right… and the trees. It’s like the evergreen represents eternal life, and fertility gods.
>> (‘Christian’) Wikipedia…. yeah.
— (Kirk-character) And people will worship these symbols. And they believe that if they worship these symbols, and they down their offerings and their gifts, they would inherit eternal life.
>> (‘Christian’) … you know this…
— (Kirk-character) that this is… this is all idolatry.
>> (‘Christian’) Yes, it’s idolatry in my house. How do your kids react on every morning on Christmas? What do they do? Tell me… What do they do?
— (Kirk-character) I make my kids wait at the top of the staircase. I don’t let them come down the stairs, until my wife and I get everything ready at the tree. And the anticipation builds. And they run down the stairs when I tell them they can. And they run down to the tree and they just blown away by all the presents, sitting at the base of the tree.
>> (‘Christian’) That’s exactly what the Druids did.
— (Kirk-character) Right…
>> (‘Christian’) Druids. You look this up. This is all history. So, where – I ask again, where are ‘Christmas trees’ in the Bible?
— (Kirk-character) I’m glad you asked.
>> I’ll close my eyes again – here I go. I’m waiting. Okay. What’s the chapter? What’s the verse? You have a weird obscure verse in Numbers? Where… Where am I going?
— (Kirk-character) *just laughs softly*
>> (‘Christian’) Where do I start in the Bible? Christmas trees. I’m waiting. Where do I go?
— (Kirk-character) I’m glad my sister married you. This is awesome.
* ‘Christian’ is now humming a tune with his eyes closed while waiting for ‘Kirk-character’ to tell him where in the Bible and Kirk-character is just looking at him with a mocking smile and chuckling.*
— (Kirk-character) Bro. Bro, look at me.
>> (‘Christian’) Where are we going in the Bible?
— (Kirk-character) Genesis.
*crowd applauds as clip stops*

[Kirk goes back to giving his speech]
And then, then you’ve got the whole Santa Claus problem, right? I mean, parents – you with me? Like the Santa Claus problem – what do we do? Right? I mean who is he anyway, right? I mean how does he fit into Christmas? I know he can’t fit down my chimney. So how does he fit into the whole Jesus story, with the wise man and the real reason for the season? I mean where did he come from? And, then of course, you’ve got the whole question of was he born on December 25th, in the winter. I mean everyone knows right that he wasn’t born in the winter. He was probably born in the fall with the festivals. It’s kind of one of those verses in Jeremiah that seem to point, and you know. Maybe it was the spring. But wasn’t Christmas originally a pagan festival celebrating the Winter Solstice with the Roman Emperor on developing something called ‘Sol Invictus’ [lit. unconquered sun – sun worship], the unconquerable sun. And the church at the time just sort of slapped a Jesus sticker on it to coop that festival in hopes that more people would come to the faith because they were already parted this other thing again.

Again, all this really bummed me out and so I decided that it was time for someone to speak up and settle these things once and for all and save Christmas from the pagan scrooge’s and the religious nit pickers. And so Liberty University – you and I are teaming up. We may be taking some shots for this one. But, I think we can handle it.

I want you to see the official poster for the brand new film we have coming out on November 14th called, ‘Saving Christmas’.

Huh? [trying to stir applause] Uncle Kirk. Now look at this. This is awesome, right? Who can tell me the 1990’s summer action movie that inspired this poster? Any movie buffs out there? Not Die Hard. Last action hero. Here it is. Oh yeah. Arnold Schwarzenegger, baby. Last Action Hero. And now, we got ‘Mike Seaver’ [‘Growing Pains‘, a siccom starring Kirk when he was much younger.] saving Christmas. So here’s the whole concept. You can see credit cards there, and dollar bills. And you’ve got the Christmas tree… All this stuff it seems to be cluttering the Nativity, that’s in my arms, right? Because we want to put Christ back in Christmas. Now I’m gonna help you figure this whole thing out. I want you put your Lecrae bifocals back on. Would you do that for me? Put your Lecrae glasses on. And I want you to think this sacred/secular split – this good/bad split. And I want to teach you something that my buddy James taught me. Listen carefully. This is very, very important.

[with British accent]
One of the most overlooked and deadly evils of modern life today is ‘Chinese food’.

Many people don’t believe that, but any serious and committed Christian with just a moment of reflection will understand very quickly what I’m about to tell you – that Chinese food, in all its forms must be entirely rejected. Many people are not aware of the very serious nature of the Chinese food question, and they participate in this very dangerous activity, unknowingly.

#1 – Chinese food is an expression of Eastern philosophy of monism – one-ism. The ‘all is one’ philosophy of the East… and it’s mysticism. And this food is not only coming from the East – the place, the very heart of the most sophisticated forms of paganism. But, by its very nature and composition, it reflects the Eastern ‘monistic’ philosophy that is so wicked and perverted. Biblical Christianity, on the other hand, declares that God is a Trinity. That is one God in three separate and distinct persons. Yes? One God – with Father, Son, Holy Spirit – distinct and separate, co-equal, co-existent in the One Triune God-head. That is why, if you do your research, you’ll find that chefs in the West are taught when they prepare and present their dishes, to put the food on one plate. But, on the one plate, you have the separate food groups, remaining distinct from one another. Think about it.

Chinese food, in contrast, seeks to undo all of this. And they take the vegetables, the salad, the meat and the sweets, and mix them all together in attempt to destroy diversity and set up a food ‘monad’. A food one-ness. This is obviously evil and perverted – it corrupts the very nature of our God. Plus, combining the sweet and sour flavors together, are done in accordance with the Eastern philosophy of Yin and Yang. Yin and Yang – sweet and sour. What could be more pagan than that?

But there’s more. Because the perverted nature of Chinese food, it is naturally unpalatable for the human tongue. It is naturally repulsive to the human taste-buds, and therefore, vast quantities of MSG (monosodium glutamate) – ‘Mono [pause to get a chuckle reaction] Sodium Glutamate’ is added to make it taste better. And we know now that MSG, as it’s popularly called, is also a poison. It causes hyperactivity in children, and cancer in adults. So, not only is Chinese food pagan, it’s also poisonous.

It’s also idolatrous. Do your research on wikipedia and you’ll that it was likely Nimrod during the time of the ‘Tower of Babel’, who developed the concept of Chinese food to feed to the people in an attempt subvert the true faith. And they believed that as they ate the food, because of the MSG, they would become addicted to it. And, they believed, that over time, that as they ate the sweet and sour pork, they would become committed to the philosophy of ‘Yin and Yang’. It’s intrinsic to the very food itself. And if you don’t believe this, well – let me put it bluntly: You’re Chinese food addiction is showing. You’re clearly just stubbornly refusing to put aside your pagan traditions, or you simple haven’t done your homework and you don’t know your history.

Well, how did this stuff get to the West? All the way from China – all the way over here? And to California? Well, it was the bishop of Rome who introduced this Chinese food into the Christian world. None other than the Pope. Do we ever read about Chinese food in the New Testament? [pauses for laughs again] Of course not. Do we read about it in the Baptist confession of faith? Of course not. So, there you have it. This can only mean that this is nothing other than a plot of Rome to destroy God’s true faith, and the Baptist confession is totally opposed to all Chinese food.

And have you ever noticed how fanatical people are about Chinese food? I mean not only do the people eat this stuff, they’ll pay money for it. Not only that, but they’ll set up and support whole restaurants that are given over wholly to the production of this evil, poisonous, idolatrous, pagan and subversive food. And if you try to get people to quit eating Chinese food – try that. Try to get someone to quit eating Chinese food, and they’ll look at you like you’re the crazy one. I’m sorry, but you cannot slap a Jesus sticker on your chicken chow mein and say it’s all right for a Christian to eat it. Like Luther before me, here I stand. And if others do not like it, then it must be truth over friendship.

[Kirk goes back to talking normal again]
Pretty good huh? No, I mean, I mean the arguments. The arguments are pretty good. Aren’t they? I mean – that could be pretty convincing. Especially with an English accent. Those guys can influence a lot of people. But, it’s not right. It’s all wrong. But, you could replace ‘Christmas’ for the word ‘Chinese food’, in every one of those arguments and that’s exactly what you and I have been given by a bunch of other people, and we’re swallowing it, hook, line and sinker. We’re buying it. We’re buying and saying that all these things are bad.

So, I ask you: [Good or bad?]
Kirk: Chinese food? Go back to the Lecrae test – good or bad?
*crowd says*  — Good.
Kirk: Okay, if you got that one wrong, you need to go back and watch the video. Talk to your worldview professor.
Here’s the next one: Christmas trees? Good or bad?
*crowd says, mixed response… some said good, some said bad*
Kirk: Guys, don’t worry about what the pagans do with trees. They do lots of stuff, that you don’t even want to know about. They’ve always stolen and perverted things like trees and rocks and people and music and noodles and science and art and sex. And then tried to convince us that those things belong to them. That they’ve got a corner on those things. My Bible says that the Earth is the Lord’s and everything it contains. Everything God made is good. Everything God made is sacred, and it all belongs to Him.

Let me help you out with the Christmas trees. All right? Listen. The whole biblical story starting in Genesis in a tree lot. The Garden of Eden was full of trees. Adam and Eve were given the fruit of these trees to eat. And then the story calls our attention to two of these trees in particular – the Tree of Life and the Tree the Knowledge of Good and Evil. And then later, we hear that one of these trees is off limits, because by eating it – man would surely die. And the other was off limits, because by eating it man would live forever… I’m sorry that was not off limits – man would live forever [if he ate of it] But the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and been evil’ was off limits because he would die. But Adam ate from the ‘tree of the knowledge of good and evil’ and was thrown out in the garden, so that he couldn’t eat from the ‘tree of life’.  Mankind would have to wait until that path to that tree was reopened by someone else. But, I’m getting at myself.

Let’s back to this in a moment. I want to talk to you about that evergreen tree – that’s decorated with stylized fruit and lights, that’s making you so nervous. You’re anxious because you can’t find it in the Bible. I’m going to help you. When God created the world, He filled it with trees. He hung fruit on the trees and when it was time to build his house and make it beautiful, God brought trees inside His House [Jewish Temple] the walls of His Temple were frescoed with the images of trees. The lamp stand, a key piece of furniture in His House, His Tabernacle – was an almond tree. And guess what he placed on the branches of the tree in His House? Lights. Beautiful trees decorated with fruit shimmering with lights inside a house – that’s God’s idea, not the Druids. And the early church had plenty of good reasons to celebrate the birth of Jesus on December 25th and it had nothing to do with the ‘Winter Solstice’. Nothing to do with it. By the way, last time I checked – it was God who made the Winter Solstice, when he set the planets on their path around the sun. And actually it’s actually quite fitting that we celebrate the birth of Jesus in the Bleak Midwinter, when the world appears to be sleeping and dying and dark. The darkest and coldest time a year. Right then, at that time, we are proclaiming the turn of history from darkness to light, from coldness to warmth, and from death to life.

So when I see a pagan celebrating the winter solstice, and actually I never have… Have you ever seen one celebrate their…? What? Yeah who gets invited to that party? But if I did, I would high five him and be like –  I know, isn’t it awesome? My father made that. My father made that. And, actual you guys are late to the party, because He was celebrating the winter solstice on day two when He finished hanging the sun moon and stars in the heavens and said it is good. So, enough with what pagans want us to see. Let’s look at what God wants us to see. All right – let’s go back to the story. As I was saying, God stole the fruit from.. I’m sorry – Adam stole the fruit from God’s tree and then Adam ate it. Now when you steal something, you are required to put it back. But how could Adam put it back? He had already eaten it. It had already gone down inside become part of his body. The only way Adam could put the fruit back – this sounds crazy, but he’d have to put himself up on a tree. Now think. What did Jesus do? He was the last Adam. Jesus was able to do Adam could not do. Jesus was God’s blessed fruit – hung on His blessed tree, making us right with God.

And as for the valuable presence around the tree. Guys – expensive presents, right. That’s not bad stewardship. That’s just doing what God does. Guys, God has always been giving His children gifts at the base of trees. Think about it. Abraham was given a gift to his son at the oaks of Mamre. The cedars of Lebanon were given as material for Solomon’s Temple. You and I were given a gift of our salvation at the base of a tree. We could never be more generous in our gift giving that God has been toward us, especially on Christmas.

Okay what about Santa Claus? All right, I had that conversation with this guy too. Please watch this.

>> (‘Christian’) Santa Claus. In the Bible. Unless I missed somewhere in the Bible where God sends His only begotten…
— (Kirk-character) Elf? *light-mocking chuckles*
>> (‘Christian’) Elf. Santa-dude. Like…
— (Kirk-character) Reindeer pulling a sleigh.
>> (‘Christian’) Just tell me right now you’re not gonna pull like…
— (Kirk-character) …Sliding down a chimney.
>> (‘Christian’) Zephaniah 4. Or are like 3rd Corinthians 15. *with Kirk-character just softly laughing* … Like there’s Santa Claus. I didn’t even see it right there. Just tell me right now… Okay we’re good, right. That’s not going to happen. Right?
— (Kirk-character) No. But…
>>(‘Christian’) Now, hold on. Hold on. Hold on. I’m a safe in saying that there is no Santa Claus in the Bible.
— (Kirk-character) No there is no Santa Claus in the Bible. But…
>> (‘Christian’) Okay. Hold on… Hey – Hey – Hey.
— (Kirk-character) No, no, no. Just hold on.
>> (‘Christian’) Hold on. Just, think about it – think about it for one minute. That’s the guy – Santa, that’s obliterated Jesus. Jesus is gone. The reason for the season is Santa Claus. What the kids are saying all across the world, is not – I’m so excited to celebrate the birth of Jesus. No, they’re saying, I’m so excited to get my picture taken with Santa Claus. And, Oh, they’re going to give me presents. S A N T A – rearrange the letters – SATAN. Santa – Satan. Same letters.
— (Kirk-character) Right.
>> (‘Christian’) Right. Coincidence? Yeah. Okay, and who’s completely gotten rid of Jesus? Satan. Santa. ‘Ho-Ho-Ho’ – where’s ‘Ho-Ho-Ho’ in the Bible? ‘Ho-Ho-Ho’ – Bible.
— (Kirk-character) * they sing together* You better watch out, You better not pout, You better not cry, and I’m tell you why, Santa Claus is coming to town.
>> (‘Christian’) That’s precisely… [interrupted by Kirk-character]
— (Kirk-character) He knows when you were sleeping, He knows when you are awake…
>> (‘Christian’) Right. Omniscience.
— (Kirk-character) *still singing* He knows if you’ve been good or bad, so be good for goodness sake. Oh, you better…
>> (‘Christian’) Omniscience. Omnipresence.
— (Kirk-character) See, he rewards the good and punishes the bad.
>> (‘Christian’) Last time I checked, that was God. And, by the way, this is works-based. Last I checked – saved by grace. This is a complete hijacking. This is a hijacking – high-handed hijacking – handedness, jacking… It’s like a car-jacking, but of our religion. And guess what? Santa got in the car, kicked Jesus out, and then was like ‘Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’. And took it. Gone. Christmas is gone. It’s all about Santa. Where in the Bible? Where in the Bible? flip-flip-flip-flip-flip-flip – Red letter, Red letter, Red letter – Where is it? So, hold on. Okay – I can’t wait for this one. Here we go – Here we go. I’m ready – eyes are closed. I’m looking it – I see them – hold on – I see his face. Oh… I see his face.

— (Kirk-character) What do you see? Do you see a little elf?
>> (‘Christian’) yep.
— (Kirk-character) And he’s in a sleigh.
>> (‘Christian’) yep.
— (Kirk-character) And he’s in a little red cap.
>> (‘Christian’) yep.
— (Kirk-character) With a little red outfit on.
>> (‘Christian’) yep.
— (Kirk-character) He’s got a sack over his back.
>> (‘Christian’) yep.
— (Kirk-character) And he’s being pulled by a team of reindeer.
>> (‘Christian’) right. Not in the Bible.
— (Kirk-character) And he’s gonna land on the roof, and he’s going to slide down a chimney, and he’s going to fill stockings, and put presents around the base of the tree.
>> (‘Christian’) Right.
— (Kirk-character) Right?
>> (‘Christian’) right. *deep breath*
— (Kirk-character) Let me tell you about the real Santa Claus.
>> (‘Christian’) Oh, I’m ready.
[clip ends, Kirk goes back to his speech]

The real Santa Claus – his name was Nicholas. And he was the bishop of a church in Myra – a city in modern-day Turkey. And he inherited a large sum of money from his parents who passed away, and he became famous for his generosity toward others,

the poor, and the downcast and giving of gifts toward children. And he was a bishop in the church during the time of the Council of Nicaea. You ever heard of that? You’ve heard of the Nicene Creed. This is a critical council of the church, where key doctrines were established. Not the least of which is the doctrine of the Trinity – that God is three in one. And there was a heretic name Arias at the council. Who is who is  proliferating his lies and his heresy – convincing people with his charismatic speech. And it was Nicholas who opposed him – who is the good shepherd who would protect is sheep. And he [Nicholas] stood up to Arias in the church council, and as the record says opposed him [Arias] both in word and in deed, smiting him on the face. Saint Nicholas punched a guy out at a church council. For real. *crowd applauds, cheers and laughs*

The church council was not very happy with some of his [Nicholas] last than jolly actions, so they defrocked him. He lost his bishop-ness. But he was so loved by the people, because of who he was, and a genuine nature of his faith and character, that they gave it back to him. And then they even ‘sainted’ him – that’s why we call him Saint Nicholas. This was not a time for some pastor to go soft on truth. It was difficult times. The Trinity was on the line. And he was not about to keep quiet for the sake of political correctness. He became legendary in his time and beyond his time. He became larger than life and reached mythic proportions. In France, he was called ‘Pere Noel‘. In Sweden, he was called ‘Thomton’ [spelling on this one?]. In Norway, he was known as ‘yulenisse‘ And in the Netherlands, he was called ‘sinterklaas‘.

If fifteen hundred years from now, you are still being talked about, because something you did to defend the doctrine of the faith, and they’ve got you dressed up in a red suit – a green suit, as a jolly little old man or woman riding around with flying magical reindeer, I would just high-five you and go – Wow you must’ve done something awesome. Look what they’ve created out of you, and what you did, and who you are. Everyone wanted a piece of him. So the guy that many of us think is distracting from the birth of the Christ Child, is really the defender of the faith you when I wanna be. So now that you know who the real Santa Claus is, you want to take a picture with him at the mall this Christmas? I do. Our rich Christmas traditions are so full. They’re so full of fiber. They’re so full of truth. If only we had the eyes to see them.

Guys we need to make some traditions of our own. We need to infuse old symbols with new meaning. Forget what the pagans want us to see. You tell them what they need to see. We can tell them a king is come. The creator has landed on planet Earth and He has established a Kingdom and it rules over all. The war’s over. The foreign dictator has been overthrown and the new king is kind, any he offers terms of peace to his enemies. And he purchased that peace not with other’s blood, but with His own.

And if you’ve been that guy – If you’ve been that girl. You’ve spent the holidays in the past terrorizing your family and friends, scowling at Santa, frustrating people – it’s time to make it right. Because after all, Christmas is about making all things right. So tell your parents to pull out the best linens that they have in the cupboard. Pull out your finest dishes and your crystal – your nicest silverware, the biggest ham, and the most amazing side-dishes as you can possibly imagine. It’s time to feast at Christmas. Not turn off the lights and throw sand and Christmas trees out the door, but lean into the party. Invite your friends, your coworkers, your family. Make the most of Christmas. Fill your table with laughter and stories and songs. Don’t miss one opportunity to share the joy of the season this year.

And listen – don’t buy into the complaint about commercialism this Christmas.

Sure – don’t max out your parents credit cards. Don’t use gifts to buy friends, or raise your grades with the teachers. But remember this is a celebration of the eternal God taking on a material body. So it’s right that our holiday is marked with material things – things we can see with our eyes, and touch with our hands and look upon. Ribbons

and decorations. Hot chocolate. Lights presents. Giant hams. Stuffing. Fudge. Trees.

Christmas cards. And more hot chocolate, piled high with whipped cream.

How can we possibly capture all these Christmas? We can eat until our sides split. We could smile until our cheeks hurt. And laugh until our bellies ache. We could sing until our voices grew hoarse. And we would not have even scratched the surface of this glorious day. This is our city. Our tree. Our story. Our lights. Our presents. Our songs. Our saint nick. It’s our hope. Our future. Our Savior. And once your eyes have been opened, you can’t go back.

Liberty – on November 14th, you and I going to the big screen, all over this country.  To shout this message from the rooftops with Samuel Goldwyn Films & Provident films, Liberty University, and CamFam studios. And it’s my pleasure to present to you

the official trailer going out online, right now. Here you go.

‘Saving Christmas‘

[Trailer for ‘Saving Christmas’ in text form]

>> Narrator – Do you ever feel like Christmas has been hijacked?
— (Kirk-character) Hey, uh where’s Christian? How’s he doing? Is he okay?
— (Kirk’s sister) He’s fine. Really. He’s just – He’s just not into Christmas this year. That’s all.

>> Narrator – By all the commercialism, and those who want to replace ‘Merry Christmas’ with ‘Happy Holidays’ or ‘Seasons Greetings’ – whatever that means.

— (Kirk-character to ‘Christian White’) You okay?
— (‘Christian’) This is not what Christmas is all about.

>> Narrator – Someone will pull down every manger scene and tell us why our favorite Christmas traditions are wrong.

— (‘Christian’) News flash – not in the Bible. That’s a pagan idol symbol, worship thingy… The winter solstice. Jesus was not born in December… That’s exactly what the Druids did… It’s like a carjacking, but like of our religion… and guess what? Santa got in the car, kicked Jesus out, and was like ‘Rollin’ Rollin’ Rollin’ – And took it.

>> Narrator – Isn’t it time, somebody spoke up?

— (Kirk-character) Everything you see inside there. It’s almost – Christmas. It’s all about Jesus… I know you love  Christmas and you want to be all about what it’s all about.

>> Narrator – This Christmas dive head-first into all of the joy, all of the dancing, the celebration, the feasting, the imagination, and traditions – that glorify  the true reason for the season.

*a crash and everyone is surprised – ‘Christian’ just slid into the mountain of ‘gifts’ under the tree* Whew! Work Holy Spirit. Ha. Can I get an amen? *crowd says ‘Amen’* The scales are falling off – glory…

>> Narrator – Join me and my family. And together, let’s put Christ back into Christmas. [end of clip]

>> *Kirk on stage* – Glory. Ah. Glory. Can I get an amen? *applause* You’re dismissed to go back to class. May the Lord bless you and keep you. And make His face to shine upon you. May the Lord lift up His countenance to you and give you peace. God bless you guys. — end of speech.