>> KIRK CAMERON: Good morning everybody. Hey!
This is awesome. I am so excited to be here. I'm a dad of six kids, and so I come at this
from a little bit different perspective. I am so, I am so happy that you're here. I kinda
feel like your Uncle Kirk. Ah, I know I'm not really your uncle, but like you know,
like you have friends in the family who are like good friends, you just call them uncle
even though they're not really your uncle, but they're just like, they're 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 this way over the last couple
years, I mean, I'm, I'm not just an invited speaker I feel like I'm part of the family.
And a 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, the
night that we opened in theaters all across the country. And you guys were a huge part
of that and I know some of you are freshmen and you're saying to yourself "um, sorry,
not really sure who you are, I don't really call you my uncle," and we have those kinds
of uncles too, right? Like, the uncle that shows up just every once every five years
and you start to ask your parents like, “Are we really related to that guy? Who is he?
Is he our uncle?” So let me give you a little bit of history,
for you freshmen. Your parents and I go way back. See, I made them laugh a lot back in
the 1980s in a show called Growing Pains, and then I got saved, I 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, and, 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 with a great report, that you guys are here, worshipping Jesus together.
This is, this is awesome. I'm so excited, you guys have grown so much since the last
time I saw you. Five new buildings, this 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, 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. And 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 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? Kinda like we're wearing bifocals and some stuff shows
up in the sacred category, stuff like prayer and Convo, and then 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 a 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 an 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 and I texted him. I said,
"Lecrae, 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. Are you there?" And he, he never texted me
back. But I'm sure he's just very busy, the guy's got the number one album on the billboard
charts, right? Number one! Our guy, our guy, number one on the billboard charts. How awesome
is that? It's tough to follow a guy like Lecrae and
so many of the 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 a film, it's ready to come out in the theaters
called Saving Christmas. And it's all about this sacred/secular split, and I can't wait
to share with you what's gonna be happening in eight weeks. I love Christmas. How about
you – do you love Christmas? It's just my favorite holiday. It's my favorite time of
year. I love hearing Bing Crosby start to say, "It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas,"
right? And I love the, I love the smell of pipe smoke. I love the fire, the crackle of
the fire. I love the Christmas carols. I love the reverence and the holiness of church services
around Christmastime. Donations go up all around the world, because there's this spirit
of, of generosity and compassion and you want to pull people in in this, this sense inside
of 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 happened and because
of that everything's gonna 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 have you noticed, there's some people who really want to put
a big, wet blanket on all of this? They want to snuff out a lot of what I love and what
I know you love, right? You ever feel like Christmas has been hijacked? I do. And it
always starts right about this time of year. All the stress, all of the consumerism, and
all of the retail sales and all of the, all of the craziness that sorta pushes the baby
in the manger to the backseat. 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 and you start having some, some high profile football players praying,
thanking Jesus for victory. Oh, they love to get on you about that, right? Our buddy
Tim has experienced a fair share of that. Not tiny Tim from Christmas Carol, big Tim,
right? And then of course, you've got the lawsuits that begin over people putting Nativities
in the public square, in a park or on a hill or something like that. And they want to pull
down the crosses and pull down the Nativity scenes and they want to say that 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 Christmastime 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, within our own
homes, there's another war going on. And Christmas has been split into this sacred/secular divide,
this good and bad within our homes, with regard to our traditions, right? Right, like you've
got some things in your house that are good and some things that are bad, they say, right?
So you've got this bifocal view going on again, so you tell me, sacred or secular, good or
bad. Nativity? Good. Christmas trees? Angels and wise men? Good. Santa Claus? 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 do we dive headfirst into the whole season without any
reservation cause 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 in on
who's actually attacking Christmas, all right. Let's look at the two groups that we're talking
about. We've got those who are over here saying, “Hey, guys, you want to sing your Christmas
carols, you want to have your Nativities? That's fine. Just don't sing too long and
keep it inside your house. It's a private faith, it's not a 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 kind of on the inside that's saying, “whoa, whoa, whoa! Hey, wait, wait a minute
guys not so quick. Right? This whole thing is a pagan holiday! Christmas trees – it’s
a pagan, it's a pagan worship thingy. Right? Like up in, like don't you know? Wikipedia.
Dancing around the trees and gifts and, 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, I'm — if you hear me right now, I'm rearranging a couple of
things right now, so just, 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. >> UNNAMED MAN (VIDEO): Christmas trees. Newsflash!
Christmas tree: not in the Bible. Matthew, Mark, Luke, John, Deuteronomy, did I miss
it? I miss some Leviticus sometimes. But I'm pretty sure it's not in there. And that's
the big thing I got sitting in my house right now, is a big Christmas tree. That's a pagan,
that's a pagan idol symbol worshippy thingy. You know that, right? That's what they would
worship the god with, the other gods. >> KIRK CAMERON (VIDEO): What gods? >> UNNAMED MAN (VIDEO): The, the gods. >> CAMERON (VIDEO): Which gods? >> MAN (VIDE): Thor — Thorsis — Thorsirus
— Thor, it's always a Norwegian — it’s — that’s what they would do it was winter
— it was the winter solstice. Newsflash, it's December. Jesus was not born in December
and we're celebrating His birthday in December. Hello? >> CAMERON (VIDEO): When was he born? >> MAN (VIDEO): Probably, He was probably
— probably sp — I don't know, but He wasn't born in December. Everyone knows that. So
we're celebrating that... >> CAMERON (VIDEO): The trees are like, like,
it's about like, the evergreen trees, right... >> MAN (VIDEO): Yes. >> CAMERON (VIDEO): Represents eternal life... >> MAN (VIDEO): Yes. >> CAMERON (VIDEO): And fertility, fertility
gods... >> MAN (VIDEO): Wikipedia. Yeah. >> CAMERON (VDEO): And people would worship
these symbols and they believed that if they worshipped these symbols and they laid down
their offerings and their gifts then they would inherit eternal life... >> MAN (VIDEO): You know, you know this! >> CAMERON (VIDEO): And this is, this is all
idolatry? >> MAN (VIDEO): Yes, it's idolatry in my house.
How do your kids react every morning on Christmas? What do they do? Tell me. What do they do? >> CAMERON (VIDEO): 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. The tree, and the anticipation builds and they run down the stairs when I
tell them they can, and they run out to the tree, and they just are blown away by all
the presents sitting at the base of the tree. >> MAN (VIDEO): That's exactly what the Druids
did. >> CAMERON (VIDEO): Right. >> MAN (VIDEO): Druids. You can look this
up, this is all history. So, where, I ask again, where are Christmas trees in the Bible? >> CAMERON (VIDEO): I'm glad you asked. >> MAN (VIDEO): I'll close my eyes again,
here I go, I'm waiting. Okay, what's the chapter, what's the verse, do you have a weird obscure
verse in Numbers? Where, where, where am I going? Where do I start in the Bible? Christmas
trees I'm waiting. Where do I go? >> CAMERON (VIDEO): Yeah, I'm glad my sister
married you, this is awesome. >> MAN (VIDEO): (hums Jeopardy theme song) >> CAMERON (VIDEO): Bro, bro look at me. >> MAN (VIDEO): Where are we going in the
Bible? >> CAMERON (VIDEO): Genesis. >> CAMERON: And then, then you 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 the chimney so how does he fit into the whole Jesus story
with the wise men 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 25, in the winter?
I mean, everyone knows, right, that He wasn't born in the winter, He was probably born in
the fall, like the festivals, and it's kinda 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 a Roman emperor developing something called Sol Invictus,
the unconquerable sun and the church at the time just kinda slapped a Jesus sticker on
it, to co-op that festival in hopes that more people would come to the faith because they
were already part of this other thing. Again, all of 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 Scrooges and the religious nitpickers. 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 14, called Saving Christmas. Huh? Uncle Kirk! Now, look at this, this is
awesome! Right? Who can tell me the 1990s summer action movie that inspired this poster?
Any movie buffs out there? Not Diehard. Last Action Hero, here it is! Oh, yeah! Arnold
Schwarzenegger, baby! Last Action Hero, and now we've got Mike Seaver saving Christmas.
So here's the whole concept, you've got — you can see credit cards there and dollar bills,
and you've got the Christmas tree and all this stuff that seems to be cluttering the
Nativity that's in my arm, right? Cause we want to put Christ back in Christmas. Now, I'm going to help you figure this whole
thing out. I want you to put your Lecrae bifocals back on, would you do that for me? Put your
Lecrae glasses on, and I want you to think of 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. One of the most overlooked and deadly evils in the modern
world 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 with what I'm
about to tell you, that Chinese food, in all its forms, must be entirely rejected. Many
people do not aware of — are not aware of the very serious nature of the Chinese food
question, and they participate in this very dangerous activity, unknowingly. Number one,
Chinese food is an expression of the 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, and
Holy Spirit, distinct and separate. Coequal, coexistent in the one triune Godhead. 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 in 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 an attempt to destroy diversity and set
up a food monag. A food oneness. 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 that that? But there's more, because of 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...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 find 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 to subvert
the truth faith. And they believed that as they ate the food, because of the MSG, they
would become addicted to it and, they believed, over time 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, your, your Chinese
food addiction is showing, you're clearly just stubbornly refusing to put aside your
pagan traditions, or you simply 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? 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, they'll
actually 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 the
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. 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 it and saying that all these things are bad! So I ask you, Chinese food — let’s go
back to the Lecrae test — good or bad? >> AUDIENCE: Good. >> CAMERON: Good. OK 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? 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 try 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 begins 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
of 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 but the tree of the knowledge of good and 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 of 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 ahead of myself, let's get,
let's get 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 gonna 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. The walls of His temple were frescoed with
the images of trees. The lampstand, 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 25, and it had nothing to do with the winter solstice.
Nothing to do with it. By the way, last time I checked, it was, 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 mid-winter, when
the world appears to be sleeping and dying and dark. The darkest and coldest time of
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? Have you ever seen one celebrating
the winter — yeah, who gets invited to that party? But if I did, I would high-five them
and go I know! Isn't it awesome? My Father made that! My Father made that, and actually,
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're required to put it back. But how could
Adam put it back, he'd already eaten it, it had already gone down inside and become part
of his body. The only way Adam could put the fruit back would, 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 what 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 presents around the
tree, guys, expensive presents around — that’s not bad stewardship, that's just doing what
God does. God has always been giving His children gifts at the base of trees. Think about it,
Abraham was given the gift of his son at the Oaks of Mamre. The cedars of Lebanon were
given as material for Solomon's temple. You and I were given the gifts of our salvation
at the base of a tree. We could never be more generous in our gift-giving than God has been
toward us, especially on Christmas. OK, what about Santa Claus? All right, I had
that conversation with this guy too. Please watch this. >> MAN (VIDEO): Santa Claus... in the Bible.
Unless I missed somewhere in the Bible where God sends His only begotten...
>> CAMERON (VIDEO): Elf? >> MAN (VIDEO): Elf, Santa dude, like....
>> CAMERON (VIDEO): Reindeer pulling his sleigh. >> MAN (VIDEO): Just tell me right now you're
not, you're not gonna pull like... >> CAMERON (VIDEO): Sliding down the chimney....
>> MAN (VIDEO): Zephaniah four, or like third Corinthians 15, like oh there's Santa Claus,
I didn't even see it right there. Just tell me right now, OK we're good right? That's
not gonna happen. OK, so, so hold on, hold on, hold on so I'm saying, I'm saying that
there is no Santa Claus in the Bible. >> CAMERON (VIDEO): No, there is no Santa
Claus in the Bible, but... >> MAN (VIDEO): OK, hold — hey, hey....
>> CAMERON (VIDEO): No, no, no, hold on... >> MAN (VIDEO): Hold on, hold on, 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, oh and he'll bring me presents!"
S A N T A, rearrange the letters, Satan. Santa, Satan, same letters.
>> CAMERON (VIDEO): Right. >> MAN (VIDEO): Right. Coincidence? Yeah,
OK. And who's completely gotten rid of Jesus? Satan, Santa. Oh ho ho ho ho, where's ho ho
ho ho ho in the Bible? Ho ho ho, Bible. >> CAMERON (VIDEO): You better watch out,
you better not pout, you better not cry >> CAMERON AND MAN (VIDEO): I'm telling you
why, Santa Claus is coming to town. >> MAN (VIDEO): What's the next line?
>> CAMERON (VIDEO): He knows when you are sleeping, he knows when you are awake, he
knows if you've been good... >> MAN (VIDEO): Right, omniscience.
>> CAMERON (VIDEO): Or bad, so be good for goodness sake...
>> MAN (VIDEO): Omniscience, omnipresence. >> CAMERON (VIDEO): Oh you better watch out
— he rewards the good and he punishes the bad.
>> MAN (VIDEO): Last I checked, that was God. And by the way, this is works-based. Last
I checked, saved by grace. This is, this is a complete hijacking. This is a hijacking,
high-handed, hijacking, handedness, jacking. 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, and took it. Gone. Christmas is gone, it's all about Santa.
>> CAMERON (VIDEO): It's like a false... >> MAN (VIDEO): Where in the Bible, where
in the Bible? Where Bible flip, flip, flip, flip … red letter, red letter, red letter.
Where is it? So, OK, hold on, I can't, I can't wait for this one, here we go, here we go,
I'm ready. Eyes are closed, I'm looking in, I see him, hold on, I see his face. Oh, I
see his face. >> CAMERON (VIDEO): What do you see? You see
a little elf? >> MAN (VIDEO): Right.
>> CAMERON (VIDEO): And he's... >> MAN (VIDEO): Right.
>> CAMERON (VIDEO): He's in a sleigh, and... >> MAN (VIDEO): Right.
>> CAMERON (VIDEO): He's in a little red cap with...
>> MAN (VIDEO): Yup. >> CAMERON (VIDEO): A little red, little red
outfit. >> MAN (VIDEO): Yup.
>> CAMERON (VIDEO): He's got a sack over his back...
>> MAN (VIDEO): Yup. >> CAMERON (VIDEO): And he's being pulled
by a team of reindeer. >> MAN (VIDEO): Right. Not in the Bible.
>> CAMERON (VIDEO): And he's, he's gonna land on a roof, and he's gonna slide down a chimney,
and he's going to fill stockings and put presents around the base of the tree.
>> MAN (VIDEO): Right. >> CAMERON (VIDEO): Right?
>> MAN (VIDEO): Right. >> CAMERON (VIDEO): OK. Let me tell you about
the real Santa Claus. >> MAN (VIDEO): Oh, I'm ready.
>> CAMERON: 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 the 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 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 named Arius at the council who was, who was proliferating his lies and his
heresy, convincing people with his charismatic speech. And it was Nicholas who opposed him,
who was the good shepherd who would protect his sheep. And he stood up to Arius in the
church council and as the record says, opposed him both in word and in deed, smiting him
on the face. Saint Nicholas punched a guy out at a church council. For real. The church
council was not very happy with some of his less than jolly actions and so they defrocked
him. He lost his, his bishopness, but he was so loved by the people because of who he was
and the 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 Père Noël, in Sweden he was called Jultomten, in Norway he was known as
Julenissen, in the Netherlands he was Sinterklaas. If 1,500 years from now, you are still being
talked about because something you did to defend to a doctrine of the faith and they
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 have 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 and I wanna
be! So now that you know who the real Santa Claus is, you wanna 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 that a King has 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, and He offers terms of peace to His enemies, and He purchased
that peace not with others' 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 you can possibly
imagine. It's time to feast at Christmas. Not turn off the lights and throw Santa 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. Now sure, don't max out your
parents' credit cards, don't use gifts to buy friends, or raise your grades with your
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 could we possibly capture all that is Christmas? We could 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 14, you and I are going
to the big screen all over this country to shout this message from the rooftops. With
Samuel Goldwyn films and 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. >> VOICE (VIDEO): Do you ever feel like Christmas
has been hijacked? >> CAMERON (VIDEO): Hey, where's Christian?
How's he doin? Is he okay? >> WOMAN (VIDEO): Oh he's fine, really. He's
just, he's just not into Christmas this year, that's all.
>> VOICE (VIDEO): By all the commercialism and those who want to replace Merry Christmas
with happy holidays, or season's greetings — whatever that means.
>> CAMERON (VIDEO): You okay? >> MAN (VIDEO): This is not what Christmas
is all about. >> VOICE (VIDEO): Some want to pull down every
manger scene and tell us why our favorite Christmas traditions are wrong.
>> MAN (VIDEO): Newsflash, not in the Bible. That's a pagan idol symbol — was 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, and took it.
>> VOICE (VIDEO): Isn't it time somebody spoke up?
>> CAMERON (VIDEO): Everything you see inside there? It's all about Christmas, it's all
about Jesus. I know you love Christmas and you want it to be all about what it's all
about. >> VOICE (VIDEO): This Christmas, dive headfirst
into all of the joy, the dancing, the celebration, the feasting, the imagination and traditions,
that glorify the true reason for the season. >> CROWD (VIDEO): Ahhh!
>> SECOND UNNAMED MAN (VIDEO): Whoa, work Holy Spirit, ha, can I get a “amen?” I
see.... >> CROWD (VIDEO): Amen!
>> SECOND UNNAMED MAN (VIDEO): Those skills are falling over glory, ah, glory, mmm.
>> VOICE (VIDEO): Join me and my family and together, let's put Christ back into Christmas. >> CAMERON: Mmm glory, ah, glory, can I get
a “amen?” 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.
