On Christmas Day

All of us at Faith and Freedom want to wish you a Merry Christmas. 

We will not be publishing this Faith and Freedom Daily article tomorrow or next week.

The daily live radio program, Straight Talk with Gary Randall, will be airing reruns this coming week.  We will be back live on Monday, January 5.

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, my personal favorite poet, wrote the poem "Christmas Bells" on Christmas Day, 1864.

John Baptiste Calkin would later use the words of the poem to write the song we know as, "I Heard The Bells On Christmas Day."

The story behind the poem is a compelling one.

It is a story of personal loss and restoration on Christmas Day.

Be informed and mindful.

On Christmas Eve

On Christmas Eve, 1952, President Harry S. Truman said of Christmas, "Year after year, it brings peace and tranquility to troubled hearts in a troubled world. And tonight the world seems hushed, as we turn to the old, old story of how 'God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life'."

Indeed, a hushed silence settles upon the world each year on the eve of the Holy Day of Christmas. More than 2 billion Christians embrace it. Most people are at least aware of it.

After the frenzy that's gone on before this night, as evening comes, a Christmas Eve hush starts to descend---an air of stillness grows around us.

It was at this hushed moment that the most sung Christmas carol of all time was written.

And it was in the hushed moments of Christmas Eve that a World War ceased for a few hours.

Be informed.

O Little Town Of Bethlehem, Open For Christmas 2025

Al Jazeera, a Muslim-owned news organization with a strong bias, says "Palestinians hope the first Christmas tree lighting ceremony in three years will encourage tourists to return to the city, which has been undergoing a severe economic crisis."

It says "Between Israel’s genocidal war on people in Gaza and near-daily Israeli assaults on Bethlehem and other cities across the occupied West Bank, Palestinians have endured great suffering over the past two years. They have had little to celebrate, and for the past years, all public Christmas celebrations have been cancelled."

But now, they say, there's a "glimmer of hope."

Upon what do they base their hope?

Be informed, not misled.

Christmas Gift Given to the Military Chaplain Corps.

Retired Army Chaplain Brad Lewis got emotional this week when he heard War Sec. Pete Hegseth’s order to return the Chaplain Corps to actual religious ministry. 

Hegseth said the Chaplain Corps' role has been “degraded” in recent decades, and he gave the example of the 2025 “Army Spiritual Fitness Guide” that mentions “God” once, but “playfulness” nine times in 112 pages. 

Although most people in the military, 82 percent, are religious according to the guide, God has been nearly replaced by secular humanism. Hegseth eliminated the use of the guide this week and announced he is simplifying the faith coding system.

A Christmas gift to both the Chaplain Corps and those who serve our country in the military.

Be informed, not misled.

Harming Kids Is "Creepy"

Yesterday, I mentioned on the radio program that a bill had passed the House of Representatives that would criminalize so-called "gender affirming surgeries for minors."

Three Democrats crossed the aisle and voted for the bill, while four Republicans voted against it.

What were they thinking? 

You should know who they are and what they were thinking.

Let's take a closer look because harming kids is creepy. And so-called gender affirming surgeries harm kids.

Be informed, not misled.