SPEAKER_05: 0:02

Welcome to the Saints That Serve podcast, where each week your hosts dive into the crossroads of faith, culture, and the unknown. Christ is Lord, and the kingdom is now.

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We are the Saints That Serve.

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Hey everybody. Welcome to a wonderful, beautiful, and joyful episode of the Saints That Serve Podcast. I'm your host, Jarrett.

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And I'm your host, Johnny.

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And this is episode 62 of the Saints That Serve Podcast.

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I mean, I mean, ho ho ho ho ho. I'm your host, old Saint Nick.

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You didn't know we were going to have Santa on the show, did you?

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Anyone have a heretic I can punch in the face? Wow, Republican Santa. Oh, that's what St. Nicholas is like. I know, I know.

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I know.

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I know. I actually thought about making that like a Christmas game for the kids instead of pin the tail on the donkey.

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Punch a heretic in the face. No, pin a fist to a heretic. Pin a fist to a heretic. But you're dressed up as Santa? Yeah, yeah. I think it would be good. Yes, yes. Hey, you called me. I did to let you know I was on the way to your house like two hours ago. Sorry.

SPEAKER_03: 1:43

I was I was in the mode. I was in the zone. Doing what?

unknown: 1:48

Minecraft.

SPEAKER_05: 1:49

Playing Minecraft with my children. I got rained out today. Yeah. Were you home all day?

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For the most part. I went out and worked this morning and did what I could do while it was raining and then came home.

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So I was home by like 12. You ruined what I was going to lead up to and make a joke about how welcome to this wonderful sunshining, beautiful December day. Oh. Oops. But all those would be lies. Yeah. Because it's this it's cloudy, it's nighttime, and it's still November when we're recording this. Yep. But not by much. We're very close to the end. Very close. So, but when you get this, it will be the joyful season.

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It will be the joyful season.

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So just pretend that it is the joyful season. Welcome to the joyful season, John.

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And just so for people that don't know, joyful season, we're talking about all things Christmas.

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It's our Christmas season, but it's a joyous time.

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Yep. So we've been working really hard all year for our jingle bells. So are you ready? Yeah.

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You ready to hear my jingle bell? Well, hold on. So me and John have been practicing uh a little jingle on our jingle bells. Yep. Yeah. All year. We've been practicing just for this moment so that we can perform this song for you. To kick off the joyful season. To kick off the joyful season. Yeah. So count it down. All right. You ready?

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Three, two, one.

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There it is, everybody.

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All right, everybody.

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All right. Do you got any announcements for us? Uh, we pray for you every single Friday. Every single joyful Friday.

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So if you need prayer, reach out to us. Uh, you can email us at saints that serve at gmail.com. Or you can message us at the link at the bottom of the description for this episode. Or we're on social media. Check us out, Saints that serve pod. And that's it. That's all I got. All you got. That's all I got. Awesome. Uh yeah. So make sure that you uh yeah, you send us your prayer requests and uh you know what? Comment. Yeah, comment. We would love for you to comment uh if there if you have the ability to. I know a lot of people listen on apps that don't necessarily allow comment.

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If you can't comment on your podcast app of choice, just go out in the middle of the street and just start out to the sky. Speak your comment out loud.

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You can also go to Facebook or Instagram because we we post that there's an episode up mostly every single week. Sometimes somebody forgets, but that's okay. Sometimes somebody drops the ball real hard because he's thinking about getting a want a sprite cranberry? A Sprite cranberry.

SPEAKER_05: 4:46

When's the last time you had a Sprite cranberry? Never. Never I know I have, but it's like one of those forgettable holiday drinks.

SPEAKER_03: 4:54

It's like only at McDonald's. Or it was for a time. It was a McDonald's exclusive. I think I got it from like one of those Coke freestyle machines at the movies. No, you can now, but I'm saying like when they first came out with it, I think it was a McDonald's exclusive.

SPEAKER_05: 5:11

You know what is the best exclusive to a restaurant?

SPEAKER_03: 5:15

What?

SPEAKER_05: 5:16

Baja Blast. You pause, like, ooh, what joke is Jaris gonna make? Someone made a Baja Blast uh cake. Alright, so who if you made the Baja Blast cake, please, please reach out and give us that recipe. No, that's awful. I want to try it. I I want all things, I want to get Baja Blasted, is what I want to do. I want to get Baja blasted, you know what I mean? That cake.

unknown: 5:42

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_05: 5:44

I want to take, I don't want to eat it. I want it, I want to rub it on my face. I want to experience it. I want to experience the Baja Blast. Anyways, let's talk about joyful season. That's right. So, hey, it's joyful season. And you know who I'm joyful for? Your wife, Tyler. So, Tyler, this is your transition into the joyful season. Our first our first episode of our joyful season 2025. What are we talking about today? Christmas traditions. Heck yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 6:22

Yeah. We're not doing around the world.

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No. We didn't want to like copy too much of last week's episode.

SPEAKER_03: 6:27

Yeah, we're doing kind of like maybe some European traditions, but mostly American Christmas traditions.

SPEAKER_05: 6:35

Yeah. So what's your first Japanese Christmas tradition? A place where they don't celebrate Christmas. They do have a Christmas, believe it or not. Really? Yes. I think we talked about this last year, but their Christmas tradition is they go and they get a bucket of KFC. They're real big on having to pre-order the chicken from the stores because it's that popular to go get KFC in Japan. Wow. So bizarre. When's the last time you got KFC?

SPEAKER_03: 7:06

It's been years. Because it's just not good.

SPEAKER_05: 7:10

No, it's not good for you.

SPEAKER_03: 7:12

I mean, like no, I mean, like, comparatively to authentic Southern fried chicken. Yeah. Kentucky fried chicken is nasty.

SPEAKER_05: 7:23

It is. It's just fast food, gross. But the thing is, is like another place that we can talk about is crystals, right? Yeah. I know there was a time when crystals was good. Like it tasted good. It was great. I love crystals, by the way. I could eat it all the time. But it's not good. And it's not good for you. Yeah. When was the last time you think, like, same way with McDonald's or any fast food, when the recipes were good and not cheap and garbage and tasted awful? Like there had to have been at some point where they said, Well, when they compromised.

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When they were like, enough's enough. We're going to make this stuff crappy.

SPEAKER_05: 8:04

Well, it's, you know, uh, we're going to compromise on the quality of the food because that doesn't make us money.

SPEAKER_03: 8:13

Well, I don't even know if it's part of it might be that, but I think the other part might be volume. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_05: 8:21

I couldn't make it fast enough if it was made with the correct property. Yeah, they wouldn't.

SPEAKER_03: 8:25

There wouldn't be, there'd just be a shortage if they used all the authentic ingredients.

SPEAKER_05: 8:30

I would eat crystals once a month if it meant it was delicious and good.

SPEAKER_03: 8:36

It's deliciously nutritious. They're great. Uh yeah, no, I mean, I feel I'm obligated to say that Chick-fil-A is good. It is, though. That's the thing, is like it is good, but like, you know, I would eat other places, but because we're in Georgia, birthplace of God's chicken. The manna from the sky. The man, the, the manna from the farmyard.

SPEAKER_01: 9:05

Uh yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 9:07

The pre-blessed food. What's crazy about Chick-fil-A, and I don't know how this has become the fast food episode, but the crazy thing about Chick-fil-A is that all it is is a piece of chicken, two pickles, and buns. Butter toasted buns. Butter toasted buns. And by all means, on paper, that sounds like a very plain awful biscuit or sandwich with nothing else on it. But because of the flavor and how good the chicken is, it can stand on its own.

SPEAKER_03: 9:40

Oh, yeah. It's it's great. It's pretty good. Yeah. But anyways, going back to joyful stuff. Yeah, let's get back on track here. I will okay. Sorry. Let's go back to it real quick. I might let's get off track. Let's get back on track to get right back off of track again. Well, because I wanted to say this at the very beginning of our diverge into fast food, but I didn't. But my what I wonder is why is the crummiest of American like what American presentation, why is that what foreigners latch on to? Like KFC in other countries. They're like, oh, KFC, that's awesome. It's American, it's great. It's like, yo, that is the least that America has to offer when it comes to culinary perfection.

SPEAKER_05: 10:31

Probably because there is a fast food standard, yeah, in Japan, it probably is actually really good.

SPEAKER_03: 10:39

Uh no, because it's other other parts of the world. Like, yeah, the ingredients are different, but in their mind, like, this is what Americans eat all the time. I see. And it's great, and it's American, so that's why I want to do it.

SPEAKER_05: 10:51

Isn't like, and I don't know about you know the whole world, but it like I feel like that they see America as cowboy shoot 'em up, round up, kind of. I mean, America is American cowboy kind of thing.

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That's what we are, cowboy.

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You know what I mean, though, is like that's not all of America, but they attach to that stereotype of all Americans are cowboys. Yeah. And eat KFC. And eat KFC.

SPEAKER_03: 11:20

Yeah. I think that we need to give ambassador status to pit bosses so that they can go around the world and spread smoked meats. Because that's truly like some real food. The epitome of American cuisine is is smoked meats. Yeah. Anyways, joyful season. Joyful season for real now. All right. So hit us with some traditions.

SPEAKER_05: 11:44

Yeah, so we'll we'll start in the you know 1800s, right? And uh go through that very quickly.

SPEAKER_03: 11:50

Yes, the century of the great falling away. Falling away? Yeah, because that's when all the crap happened. The Jehovah's Witnesses, oh yeah, yep.

SPEAKER_05: 11:59

Mormons. I forgot about our very weird, like, like, realization that all of Evolution, all of the things that like plague our society that uh religiously all happened in the 1800s. Yep. Weird. It's so weird. Anyways. So the 1800s. So you had Christmas trees. Yeah. Started in the 1800s. Um, German immigrants brought them in the early 1800s, became fashionable after 1848, when a published illustration showed Quinn showed Queen Victoria and Prince Albert around a tree. So you know, showed them in this, like, oh, the Queen's doing it.

SPEAKER_03: 12:40

I feel like that's kind of like uh in the American heart, like, oh well, if the British are doing it, we've got to do it better. You know what I mean? Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05: 12:49

Uh Santa Claus started in the 1800s, evolved from Dutch Center. I can't even say Santa Claus. Santa Claus, uh standardized in America by Clement Clark Moore's 1823 poem, A Visit from Saint Nicholas. Gift giving uh started in the mid-1800s. Uh, it wasn't originally a children's uh tradition.

SPEAKER_03: 13:16

Really?

SPEAKER_05: 13:17

Yeah, children didn't get anything. Children couldn't. We're adults and stuff. Only the adults could have nice things. This whole tri this whole entire like tradition of giving gifts to children started by children. Billy, you don't get a present.

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Go sit and play with your stick.

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You get hey, if you don't go play with that stick, I'll hit you with it.

SPEAKER_03: 13:41

Boy, you better go play with your stick. You're not gonna do it. Go grab me a switch.

SPEAKER_05: 13:47

Something else popular popularized uh from the uh Moore poem. More poem? Yeah, the Clement Clark Moore poem that I mentioned three minutes ago. Oh the visit from St. Nicholas. The visit from St. Nicholas. Yes, was uh stockings. Yes, yes, stockings by the fire, yes, and then Caroling, which was brought over from Europe and incorporated into American church culture.

SPEAKER_03: 14:15

Which fun fact Caroline was like super popular, like door-to-door caroling in the 60s and 70s. Yeah, but in the 70s when they started like ramping up stranger danger, yeah, it kind of had to stop, it kind of just died out, like people and and you know, our society has moved away from like knowing your neighbors, yeah, and going door to door, like talking and stuff, and everyone's like working long hour longer hours, everyone's shopping online or interacting online, and so someone coming to knock on your door to sing, you won't even come to the door because you just assume it's the courtesy knock for Amazon, right?

SPEAKER_05: 14:58

You know who there's no possible way that somebody would want to come see me in my home.

SPEAKER_03: 15:03

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_05: 15:04

Did you ever go caroling? Like to strangers?

SPEAKER_03: 15:07

I don't think so. I can't remember us ever doing that. I know that we, you know, would sing girls, but I don't ever remember going to a stranger's house to sing girls.

SPEAKER_05: 15:19

We did it growing up uh at church through church, but it was like you'd go and visit church members who couldn't make it out, like you know, who were just the elderly people stuck at home type thing. And you'd go to we go to them, we'd go door to door, but it was people we knew. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 15:37

So yeah, I feel like if we ever did go caroline, it would be something like that, where we went to people that we knew. Yeah. Kind of deal.

SPEAKER_05: 15:47

By 1870, Christmas became a federal holiday, solidifying the foundation of the holiday.

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Want a Sprite Cranberry?

SPEAKER_05: 15:55

And Sprite Cranberry. Specifically, Sprite Cranberry was invented in 1870.

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By the end of this, people are gonna be like, you know what? Maybe I should just give a Sprite Cranberry a try.

SPEAKER_05: 16:08

Yes, like, hey, Sprite Cranberry, do you want to sponsor next week's episode?

SPEAKER_03: 16:14

We played enough to where everyone's like, I know it's awful, but maybe I was wrong.

SPEAKER_05: 16:19

Wow, why did the Sprite Cranberry sales go up by at least 20? They sold at least 20 more. Our numbers from the past show that I don't know, I don't have anything to say. I I thought I had a thought, but then it wouldn't be cohesive.

SPEAKER_03: 16:39

So our past numbers don't exist. The first time someone is buying a Sprite Cranberry.

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It's been on the shelf for decades and no one's ever bought it.

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Every commercial we did, the people were just drinking normal Sprite.

SPEAKER_05: 16:55

We just had to put the logo for Sprite Cranberry on it. All we did, what is the joke of like LaCroix where it's like it's water adjacent, like it's flavor adjacent. Like it's like let's put it in the same room as lemons and then bottle it up. Yeah, that's the joke I've always seen. So that's the same way with Sprite Cranberry, it's like it's cranberry, cranberry adjacent.

SPEAKER_03: 17:20

I actually now I'm thinking about getting a Sprite cranberry.

SPEAKER_05: 17:23

Stop it, stop, stop it, stop, don't fall into your own trap.

SPEAKER_02: 17:28

Want a Sprite cranberry?

SPEAKER_03: 17:30

Alright, let's go get one. All right, anyways, Caroline. Yep, didn't really do it a whole lot.

SPEAKER_05: 17:36

Sprite cranberry. Do you know who that is in that commercial? Do you know who that is in that commercial? Isn't it uh no? It's either I can't remember. I picture I can picture it. It's a basketball player, and it's either Shaq or Michael Jordan, and I can't remember who.

SPEAKER_03: 17:52

Yeah. Well, that's the thing, is they've had several different basketball players do a Sprite Cranberry episode over the years. Uh episode commercial.

SPEAKER_05: 18:04

A whole episode. Whole episode. Welcome on this week of Sprite Cranberry. Press the button.

SPEAKER_02: 18:12

Want a Sprite Cranberry?

SPEAKER_03: 18:15

Next time on Sprite Cranberry. That kind of sounds like Shaq, though. I think it's Shaq. I think that one is Shaq. But like uh what's what's the guy who's like nobody likes, but he's like got a ton of awards. Is it Jane James something? I can't remember his name.

SPEAKER_05: 18:35

If you know who John is talking about, let us know in the comment section or just step outside and shout it to the sky.

SPEAKER_03: 18:40

I think his nickname was the king. He was in the new uh Looney channel. Oh, LeBron James. LeBron James. I think he did one too. But like I think he's he's all that in a bag of chips, but all the time I hear people like trash talking him, like, oh, he's not that good.

SPEAKER_05: 18:58

Well, I think last time, so his son, to my understanding, and I'm not a sports guy, so bear with me here. But his son plays for a basketball team as well. And everybody says that LeBron's son only got that position on the team because his dad is LeBron. And anytime anybody speaks out against him on it, like in like, you know, newscasters or whatever, yeah, LeBron goes after him, like yelling and shouting at them if he sees them in public. Oh my gosh. So I don't know. What a what a what a what a what a what a what a burger. What a burger. Welcome to the fast food episode of the Saints to Serve Podcast. Anyways. So uh 1900 to 1909 or the 19 aughts, right? Sure. What is it? Like, because it's not like you know, you have the the tens, the twenties, the thirties, the forties, the fifties, right? What's the zeros? What do you call it? I thought that was aughts. Sure. 19 aughts, because it's the 20 aughts. Yeah, then sure. Okay, sure. Yeah, we'll go with the 19 aughts. The 19 aughts. Uh traditions from that is Christmas lights. Yeah. Well. It began what kind of lights? Well, it Christmas lights. In the sense that it'd be like electricity lights began replacing candles as electricity spreads. What what what do you have to say?

SPEAKER_03: 20:29

Well, I just don't know. I don't know.

SPEAKER_05: 20:36

All right.

SPEAKER_03: 20:36

Well, tell me more. When were Christmas lights invented? I'm sure they always had like candles and stuff. 1880. Ooh. Electric Christmas lights were invented in 1880 by Thomas Edison, who created the first strand of lights to decorate the outside of his Minlo Park Laboratory.

SPEAKER_05: 21:01

Was that just like him showing off, though, that he invented it and it wasn't actually meant for Christmas?

SPEAKER_03: 21:06

Who knows? That was that was an AI overview. It could be totally wrong. We're gonna go to a factual site. Wikipedia.

SPEAKER_05: 21:14

Yeah. If you go to the very top, they'll ask for money.

SPEAKER_03: 21:19

Christmas lights, also known as fairy lights, festive lights or string lights, are lights often used for decoration and celebration of Christmas. No duh. Tell me when they were made.

SPEAKER_05: 21:42

1880. Yeah, yeah. But I guess it's like it was popularized and became a mainstream tradition as electricity became more readily available to homes.

SPEAKER_03: 21:53

Yeah. This is saying like uh candle candle holders were first used for Christmas candles between 1902 to 1914. Small lanterns and glass balls to hold the candles started to be used. Early electric Christmas lights were introduced with electrification beginning in the 1880s. So yeah, I guess like they were they started, but that's also right when electricity started. Right. So it's not like it was a common thing. I guess the like they were invented then. I guess the question is when were they the common 19 aughts? But this just said that it was they were still using candles in the 1900s, it just began.

SPEAKER_05: 22:46

Readily available.

SPEAKER_03: 22:48

Just believe us, let's move on. Trust us. Never mind that majority of the country didn't have electricity in the 19 aughts.

SPEAKER_05: 22:58

Mm-hmm. Um, department store Santa's became like a U.S. tradition. Okay. Where you just go, let's go see Santa.

SPEAKER_03: 23:07

Yeah. Department store Santa Claus.

SPEAKER_05: 23:09

Go sit on the stranger's lap. It wasn't weird back then. Back then. It's not weird now. Yeah. Go see Santa, everybody.

SPEAKER_03: 23:20

Yeah.

SPEAKER_07: 23:21

Well, yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 23:23

Yeah. Yeah. Travel to the North Pole and go see Santa. If you can find him, you can talk to him. If you can find him, you can sit on his lap and let him know what you want for Christmas. That just sounds like a like a B-rated film.

SPEAKER_03: 23:38

Santa Claus is running from these people that are trying to find him so they can see it. Finding Santa.

SPEAKER_05: 23:43

It's finding Santa, but it's just there after Santa.

SPEAKER_03: 23:45

It's like a Christmas version of that hide-and-seek movie that came out.

SPEAKER_04: 23:50

Oh my god.

SPEAKER_05: 23:53

Um, window displays at stores like Macy's created Christmas spectacle culture.

SPEAKER_03: 23:59

Like I heard that the they did like they went all out on the window displays. Like animatronics, like thousands of dollars were poured into these Christmas displays at their stores.

SPEAKER_05: 24:14

Hey. They attracted business.

SPEAKER_03: 24:16

Yeah. It was a big deal. I mean, people would like go just to see the window displays.

SPEAKER_05: 24:23

I picture all this stuff, like honestly, I know it's kind of weird to say it because there's a whole entire like country outside of it, but like New York City just feels like where all this is happening. You know what I mean? When you picture like Windows displays and department store Santa's and Christmas lights everywhere, you know what I mean? Like that just screams New York City. Because like a lot of Christmas movies take place in New York.

SPEAKER_03: 24:47

Yeah, isn't uh Miracle on 34th Street, isn't that based in New York? Yes. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 24:53

So is Elf. Yeah, Elf is, yep.

SPEAKER_03: 24:56

Yep, that's true.

SPEAKER_05: 24:57

And you know, Christmas in Kansas is in New York. It's crazy.

SPEAKER_03: 25:04

Uh very confusing movie. The Grinch is in New York. I know, right?

SPEAKER_05: 25:08

Whoville?

SPEAKER_03: 25:10

It's really just New York. All those stuck up nose.

SPEAKER_05: 25:15

That Bollywood Christmas movie I saw. New York.

SPEAKER_03: 25:20

Bollywood Christmas movie?

SPEAKER_05: 25:22

Yeah. Crazy. This is so that's crazy. Dude, this episode's so uh getting out of hand. Yeah. We're not.

SPEAKER_03: 25:32

We're not doing that.

SPEAKER_05: 25:33

I'm enjoying myself. No, I'm having a fun time. We're just this is an entertainment podcast, so.

SPEAKER_03: 25:40

Hey, are you are you not entertained? Are you not entertained?

SPEAKER_05: 25:44

Did you even read my Christmas list? You got that one? No, I should have got I should have got that one. Uh, Christmas cards exploded due to cheaper printing in the 19 aughts. Okay.

SPEAKER_03: 25:59

And that was a huge thing. It still is, like, just greeting cards in general. Well, but like it's kind of died down. Like, if you think about it, before long distance calls were affordable, like that was kind of that was still the way people kept in touch, was writing to each other. Yeah. So at the end of the year, like doing a Christmas update with a Christmas greeting card or e or even getting your family photo and putting it in it and sending it out to everybody. I remember even, I mean, this is in the 90s, like in early 2000s, we did a family Christmas card every year. And my mom had a address book with everyone's addresses on it. And just put them all together and send them out. Yeah, she would just transcribe the addresses onto the Christmas cards and send it out to everybody.

SPEAKER_05: 26:50

I want to. This is okay, here we go. Gonna make a joke right now. I'm ready for it. So we're gonna sh work workshop a a prank right now. Okay. I want to start doing a Christmas card. And every year. At a child.

SPEAKER_04: 27:07

Yes. No.

SPEAKER_05: 27:09

No, so in the background, you just is it it starts out as a dot in the background of the of the of the picture. And every year this thing gets closer and closer and closer, and it's a person, and it's you, and you just slowly get larger and larger in the frame as you're creeping up closer every single year.

SPEAKER_03: 27:29

Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_05: 27:31

Until you're just also in the photo, and it's not explained why you're there. That's crazy. That'd be really funny. That would be funny though. Just a payoff, just slowly over like 10 years, you get closer into the into it. And then you're just not there, and no one and everyone's confused.

SPEAKER_03: 27:49

Better yet, like do your Christmas card, but put the date like way far in the future, and then each year count down. That way, when you your Christmas card lines up with the year exactly, people are gonna be like, What's gonna happen? What's happening today? What's gonna happen? It's all it's leading to this point, you know?

SPEAKER_05: 28:13

Yeah, like the Mayan calendar. So you're saying I need to start with the year 2035, and by the time 2030 happens in five years, something happens.

SPEAKER_03: 28:25

Everyone, you're gonna be your Christmas card's gonna be a cult classic.

SPEAKER_05: 28:29

Everyone's gonna be looking to your Christmas card to find out what start hiding 2030, like cryptid like Illuminati images and stuff into my Christmas card. Just it's the national treasure of Christmas cards. Over the top.

SPEAKER_03: 28:44

Like they're stamped all the way around it. Not even subliminal.

SPEAKER_05: 28:49

It's just turns to find out if you put all the Christmas cards together, it leads a map to the uh to a long-lost treasure. Or make it look that way and there's never a treasure. Oh my gosh.

SPEAKER_03: 29:02

Yeah, it's a map that leads to Oak Island.

SPEAKER_05: 29:05

Oh. Yeah, to Oak Island, but not where the Oak Island treasure is at. Not where it's at. Yeah. Pretty much what I'm saying is Nicholas Cage would go crazy for my Christmas cards. Yeah. I bet he would. Yep. But he also goes crazy for anything.

SPEAKER_03: 29:21

Everything. Yeah, right, right. Okay. All right.

SPEAKER_05: 29:25

Cool. 1910. 1910. Well, 1910s. Tens. Um, gift wrapping becomes mainstream. I guess you just handed the gift or there was a bow on it, maybe before then? Or it was or it was always existed, but it became mainstream, like everybody started doing it. Or, you know, they just use like like newspaper or a sack. Yeah, but this themed paper you put your gifts on is that's what I would assume, is they're talking about themed paper for wrapping. Yeah. Uh toys become central to Christmas due to mass manufacturing. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 30:05

Mm-hmm. And you said that's in the teens. Uh 19 teens. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah, because uh okay, another fun fact about Christmas paper. Apparently a big thing that was a Christmas tradition, once again, up until like the 70s or 80s, was to burn everything on Christmas Day. So burn all the boxes and the wrapping paper. I thought that was like the day after, like that was Boxing Day. You got rid of all the No. Boxing Day is like when you return things that you didn't want to keep. But on Christmas Day, all the trash, rather than taking it like then the trash man coming to pick it up, like um the trash man. Uh everyone would go in, you know, either in their fireplaces or they'd have a burn thing in the back and they would they'd put all their Christmas paper and wrapping paper and they just light it on fire. And it was like a fun thing because all the different paper would make the flames different colors. Because it was all made of different material. Yeah. Or the ink that was. Some of it was toxic. Jeez.

SPEAKER_05: 31:14

So Merry Christmas.

SPEAKER_03: 31:17

That was one of the reasons. That was the main reason that it kind of died out, is because everyone was like, oh, everybody was getting sick burning their wrapping paper. Another reason was because of the amount of fires that got started. Jeez. There's a there's uh several Christmas traditions that the reason they're not around anymore is because of the amount of house fires that they would start. Like candles, like candles and Christmas trees. Live Christmas trees. Yeah. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 31:44

Why why did we stop putting candles in the live Christmas tree?

SPEAKER_03: 31:49

Fire. Fire. Well, because like people would keep their trees like we are now for weeks. So they get really dry, and they have like originally when that started, the candles in a tree, we talked about it last year, but it was like people would go Christmas Eve, grab a tree, decorate it. I think this is how they do it in Germany still. It's Christmas Eve. You go, you grab a tree, you bring it to the house, you decorate it, and then at the end of Christmas Day, you take it down. So it's only in your house for one day. That's crazy.

SPEAKER_05: 32:26

Yeah. Like I'm it's getting hard to like, because I wanted to put up the tree early November just for the sake of doing it. Uh-huh. Uh-huh. And I just you dog. I didn't do it. Oh, okay. I just got too busy with things. It's like, how do you find the time to take down the tree, put it up, and then put it, take it back down and enjoy it for a day? That's crazy. Yeah. So when are you gonna do your tree? Probably this weekend. Heck yeah. Uh FYI uh peek behind the curtain. It's Thanksgiving week right now.

SPEAKER_03: 32:57

Yeah, we're about to do some uh lean, mean turkey eating machines.

SPEAKER_05: 33:03

Heck yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 33:05

We're about no, we're about to be. We're not not we're about to do. We're about to be lean mean.

SPEAKER_04: 33:11

We're about to do the robot.

SPEAKER_03: 33:16

Yeah. But anyways, yeah, same. We're gonna go get our Christmas tree. Uh the Saturday after Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_05: 33:25

Ours is fake. It's in the closet. We'll have to pull it out, decorate it. Uh, some other ones from the 19 odd uh 19 aught, jeez, 1910s. Uh families begin annual Christmas photos. So starting. Okay, is that is that we have Christmas cards like of like like a traditional, oh, there's a Santa on the card, and then we just send you, you know, good wishes and whatnot. But then 10 years later, somebody said, Let's do a photo in these cards.

SPEAKER_03: 33:57

When did uh when did like family photos become a normalized thing? Like what at what point in history did we get to where it's like it's accessible and easy to take pictures? Is it the 1910s or is it sooner than that?

SPEAKER_05: 34:16

I mean, I can remember in the 90s or even the early two 2000s where people were still having to have like film developed. Like, I don't think picture taking became easy until like the last you know 10-15 years. Well, but think about like I'm talking about in a general like I know what you're saying, but like it wasn't that long ago that pictures became incredibly easy to do.

SPEAKER_03: 34:39

Yeah. I'm just thinking about these old timey can't light capturing cameras where it's like you gotta have everything set up, you remove the cap for five minutes, and then you put it back, and then you let the you let the picture laminate stay in there for like 30 seconds or whatever, take it out, and then it takes a couple of days to you know have it cure out or whatever. Yeah, but like it's just a massive undertaking to take one picture and you're not even guaranteed that it's gonna turn out correctly. Ah, Jimmy moved. Yeah, so we get from that point to the okay, everybody stand still, click. Oh, let me take one more, click. You know what I mean?

SPEAKER_05: 35:28

And even then, like when you're talking about that click, was like wasting film if you messed up. It just became cheaper and cheaper to get the film until you got to a point where film doesn't even exist really anymore.

SPEAKER_03: 35:42

Yeah, people are. I mean, the except the nostalgic, like the hobbyists.

SPEAKER_05: 35:47

Yeah, the hobbyists like that there's yeah, that it still exists, but like, where do you go to buy film now? You know what I mean? Yeah, you'd go to Hobby Lobby, probably.

SPEAKER_03: 35:56

Yeah, you can't go to the Kodak store anymore.

SPEAKER_05: 35:58

I went into Hobby Lobby the other day and they had gundams on the shelf, like gundam models, like the Japanese robots. The what it what are what is a Japanese? What do you mean?

SPEAKER_03: 36:13

I'm confused. What is what what is a Japanese? What is a Japanese? What is a Japanese? I I thought you meant what is a gundam. No, no, I I didn't know what that is. Okay, cool. But it's Japanese that you speak. What is this the country of Japanese? What? The country of Japanese? Anyways, okay, so anything. So let's let's move forward a little bit if we can. What are what are in the 1920s? 1920s. What's anybody doing besides the doo-wop? The doo-wop. War. War a world war to be precise.

SPEAKER_05: 36:52

Uh radio Christmas broadcasts, which kind of unify and bring people together in their family households. Yeah. So, like the the radio broadcasts of it's a wonderful life and you know that kind of stuff.

SPEAKER_03: 37:03

I would to be honest, I think we could use a little more of that. Like doing audio broadcasting or even podcasts, like do an audio dramatized something. Yeah. For people that are theme, it's themed for the holidays. Right. People to sit around and listen to as a family.

SPEAKER_05: 37:22

Right. Cause it's like you're not looking at a screen, you're just listening. Correct. Uh there's like that old school, like everybody's sitting around, the kids on their like on their stomach, like, you know, propped up with their hands, looking at a radio. Looking at a yeah, a radio, yeah. I love that like vintage kind of look stuff. Yeah. Like, because no one's actually gonna be looking at the radio. Maybe.

SPEAKER_03: 37:44

You don't know you weren't there. You don't know what Billy was doing.

SPEAKER_05: 37:49

I do. I was there. You don't know how old I am.

SPEAKER_03: 37:52

I am Billy.

SPEAKER_05: 37:54

I'm the Billy.

SPEAKER_03: 37:56

Want Sprite Cranberry?

SPEAKER_05: 37:58

Cran uh Sprite Cran Billy.

SPEAKER_03: 38:00

Cranbilly? You want a sprite cranberry?

SPEAKER_05: 38:03

Uh community tree lightings and public display spread. Hey. So, you know, just everybody getting together, lighting up, come having a commutal tree at this point.

SPEAKER_03: 38:13

My friend told me he I was like, what are you doing Saturday? He's like, Oh, I'm going to the Christmas tree lighting at such and such as a city nearby. I was like, Oh, awesome. Who are you going with? He's like, Nobody. Nobody. I'm just gonna go and watch them turn the light and just go and flip the switch. I'm just gonna go with myself out. And partner was like, Do I offer to go with him?

SPEAKER_05: 38:34

That was was that his way of trying to get like no, no, no.

SPEAKER_03: 38:37

He was he just wanted because he lives in the area, he just wanted to go to to do it because it's fun. But yeah, I was like, man, if I wasn't so busy, uh that would be fun to do, but I'm busy.

SPEAKER_05: 38:53

Let's move over uh on to 1930s. All right. Uh Coca-Cola Santa. Santa becoming Sprite Cranberry?

SPEAKER_02: 39:01

Yes, yes.

SPEAKER_05: 39:02

But that whole um Santa being a huge, yeah, yeah, a huge mascot for Coca-Cola became in 1931, became a huge thing.

SPEAKER_07: 39:14

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 39:15

And then Rudolph the Red Dose reindeer like came became really big. Like it was like a free holiday booklet with him in it in 1931. So not like the um not like the stop motion thing, not yet. But then like Christmas movies as well, and um, and just getting around and making homemade ornaments. You've done that, yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 39:39

Yeah, we actually that was one of the big things we did growing up was we, you know, leading up to the season, we did uh ornaments. Hmm. Yeah, Norman Rockwell. That's what I was trying to think of for Santa Coca-Cola Santa, like the art style for Coca-Cola Santa is similar to like the Norman Rockwell art style.

SPEAKER_05: 40:03

If you will. Hey John, tell us some more about the 1940s Christmas traditions. Go ahead. Without looking it up, go. Um I'm setting you up for a funny joke. They shot Nazis. I was gonna say, yes.

SPEAKER_03: 40:23

The answer is war. We're in the business of Nazi killing, and business is good.

SPEAKER_05: 40:30

We're in the business of killing Nazis, and brother, business is a booming. Yeah, that's uh that's what it is. Yeah, uh, sending gifts to soldiers in the 1940s, uh, handmade ornaments and then sending them to soldiers. Okay. No, I'm kidding. Just handmade ornaments again. Christmas tree decorating and then sending it to soldiers.

SPEAKER_03: 40:52

Uh caroling and then sending it to a soldier. Making fruitcake and then sending it to soldiers. Then they throw it at a Nazi and kill the Nazis with them. Hey, Merry Christmas from America!

SPEAKER_05: 41:08

I didn't know this, but like the song, like, so the next one is Patriotic Christmas songs. Like, I'll be home for Christmas is a war song.

SPEAKER_03: 41:18

Wait, it's a war song? Yeah, I'll be home for Christmas unless I'm not because of the war. Please be snow and mistletoe, because I haven't kissed anyone in years.

SPEAKER_04: 41:39

I'll kill a Nazi if it means I get a smooch. A big bomb will end this war.

SPEAKER_03: 41:54

Careful.

SPEAKER_04: 41:57

Moving on.

SPEAKER_03: 41:59

You're getting awfully close.

SPEAKER_05: 42:03

Uh after the war, uh baby boom leads to kid-focused Christmas mornings. Those selfish children. I told you. They're gonna come in and ruin what Christmas truly means.

SPEAKER_03: 42:16

Them damp burnt baby boomers.

SPEAKER_05: 42:19

Uh tinsel, bubble lights, and themed ornaments become popular.

SPEAKER_03: 42:23

Okay, I didn't know this, but original tinsel was made out of lead. That's what's wrong with us. Genetically. No, it was it was banned before we came into existence.

SPEAKER_05: 42:34

Sure, but it was it was genetically passed down from the Oh, oh, right, right.

SPEAKER_03: 42:37

We genetically get it. Yeah, yep. It's that bad. I'm convinced that lead was not as bad as they they let it to be. They let it to be, yeah. Because think about it, like they're saying the reason that they like bamed lead from everything was like, well, if kids eat it, they'll get sick. I would make the argument that everything that used to be made out of lead that they've replaced now, if kids eat the replacement, it's probably just as bad, they will still get sick. Yeah. So what's the reason? Is it maybe because when they do CAT scans on your body, they put lead vests on you? Maybe because you get the scanning can't go through lead.

SPEAKER_05: 43:27

No, it was that you were eating lead and then you couldn't do x-rays. That's the only reason. It wasn't dangerous, they just want to see your bones.

SPEAKER_03: 43:35

No, they want to see inside your houses, that's why they banned lead paint. Yeah. Think about it. If you had lead paint on your walls, they couldn't use that to x-ray mouse. The kittens, they couldn't scan your house to see what's inside. That's right. And couldn't see your bones. I blame the commies for outlawing lead paint.

SPEAKER_05: 43:54

Uh, and then the last thing for the 1940s is Christmas music like Bing Bing Crosby.

SPEAKER_06: 44:02

Bing Bing Bing.

SPEAKER_03: 44:05

Oh, sorry, sorry. Thank you. Is it Cosby or Crosby? Crosby. I said it wrong. Thank you. No, I didn't know.

SPEAKER_05: 44:14

Yeah, it is Bing. Crosby.

SPEAKER_03: 44:19

Alright, cool.

SPEAKER_05: 44:21

So let's uh jump ahead a couple of decades.

SPEAKER_03: 44:25

Let's get down to the nitty-gritty.

SPEAKER_05: 44:27

Yeah, because I want to start in the 90s. I know we're skipping over stuff, but we're skipping over all the times that you know they start outlawing. Well, we talked about KFC for about 40 minutes. So uh fast food in general wasn't all KFC. But I wanted to kind of get up and start talking about things. Don't let the colonel control your life, brother. Jeez. Um, but I want to talk about what like we what we grew up with specifically. But like 1990s, um, home alone, the Santa Claus, Christmas movies, yep, got were really big. That's the I remember that.

SPEAKER_03: 45:05

You know what I mean? Yeah, I remember, yes, uh, we did some Christmas movies. A big thing at our house was like the Christmas tree decorating was uh a whole thing. Yeah. You know, like the whole family got together, got all the decorations out. Well, first we went and got the tree, and then we got all the decorations out, and everybody worked together to decorate the tree, and we kind of had like appetizers and finger foods, and and then we once the tree was decorated, you know, turn all the lights off, turn the lights on on the tree, and be like, Wow! Yeah. So that was pretty fun. And we try to do that with our kids, my wife and I. We try to do, we go and get a live tree every year, we bring it home, we decorate it together as a family, turn all the lights off, turn the lights on on the tree, and go, Wow! And we have like why don't you have the button? Finger foods. Oh, I don't have the button, you're right.

SPEAKER_05: 46:05

Every every year, every year.

SPEAKER_03: 46:09

Every year.

SPEAKER_05: 46:11

Um, video games. It seems like going through this, like slowly over time, uh, Christmas became less like it started out as a family tradition, make your house look festive and all that. And it slowly became very commercialized. Yes. Because just like we did make that jump from the 40s to the 90s, a 50-year jump. And here it is, it's like movie, movie. Uh video game consoles are the number one wish list item for kids. Hallmark ornaments become collectibles. Black Friday becomes the official start of the season for most families. It's like becomes heavily, heavily commercialized. Uh, one we did jump uh skip over was talking a little bit more about Coca-Cola. And I wanted to talk about that really quick. Coca-Cola. They have the past two years become like under fire because they use nothing but AI generative images for their Christmas commercials. And it is really blatantly AI.

SPEAKER_07: 47:15

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 47:16

And it's like, uh, I was watching a video with them talking about it, and it's like, not only did was the video AI, they had a bad but they had a behind-the-scenes video about the commercial, how they made the commercial. Uh-huh. And the behind-the-scenes video about the AI commercial was AID. Dang. So it's like it's just becoming more and more sucking the life out of the holiday. Yeah. Every year it feels less and less about what Christmas is supposed to be about.

SPEAKER_03: 47:47

We need to Charlie Brown this business. That's right. Actually, you know, that's the reason that the aluminum Christmas tree died. Because of it was it was sorry, Charlie Brown Christmas. Yeah. No, it was super popular. Like 40% of Americans had a aluminum Christmas tree. And then the the Charlie Brown Christmas special came out where they talked about it's too flashy, too commercialized to have all these aluminum trees. The reason for the season is the child born in a major. And after that special, aluminum tree sales plummeted, and they don't make them. Crazy.

SPEAKER_05: 48:30

Crazy. I think did we not look at it last year? But it was like we looked at these and it just looked like if you fell into it, you would die because it was just absolutely it was like spikes.

SPEAKER_03: 48:41

Yeah, it was spiky and it like made of metal. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Now, but now it's like if people can find them, they're selling them for hundreds of dollars.

SPEAKER_05: 48:52

Sure, because it's a it's a collectible antique thing now. Yeah. The 20 oughts. Yeah. Go over this quickly because it's like online shopping started to become a huge thing. Oh, yeah. Which slowly kind of killed Black Friday. Which can we like going to the store going?

SPEAKER_03: 49:09

Can we talk about how insane Black Friday was for a minute? Yeah. Like in the 90s. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 49:15

Like for like that 10 year span and like maybe some of the 20 odds before the online marketplace became huge. It was it was like almost like a death sentence. Like, be careful, like going to war.

SPEAKER_03: 49:29

Yep, yep. Because they did they did insanely good deals for just Black Friday, and it was only first come, first serve. Yeah. And they were unlike today, where it's like, dude, Black Friday deals started a week ago. Yeah. You know what I mean? Like they're doing them right now, and it's not that big of a deal. And so like you maybe save like a dollar or two. Well, like, okay. I think it's PlayStation, they dropped for Black Friday, they dropped their price by a hundred dollars. However, they increased the price a couple of months ago. Yeah. So it just 50. So you're really only getting a$50 discount.

SPEAKER_05: 50:19

And that's what they're saying. If you if you go look and you aren't careful, and what's cool is there's technology there that can show you the trends. Yeah. It's just like they'll like slowly raise the price, maybe a month before Black Friday, and then drop it back down to the retail price. It's like, oh, it was this, but now it's this. Yeah. So and I've seen it like people like at the store, and it's like that Walmart, you know, like on the shelf sticker, and it's like a big sell. You know what I mean? Yeah. Cool clearance item. And they pull back the sticker, and underneath it was the normal price sticker, and it was the exact same. They just stuck on, you know, like oh, clearance, you're getting a deal. Yeah, yeah. Unreal. Unreal. It's crazy, man. Anyways, yeah, 2010s. Uh, yeah, 2010s. You didn't let me finish uh the 2000s. Oh, sorry, 2000s.

SPEAKER_06: 51:12

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 51:13

Uh, there was only a couple other things. Uh the Trans-Siberian Orchestra became really big.

SPEAKER_07: 51:19

Bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum bum. Yep.

SPEAKER_05: 51:23

Mm-hmm. And then, you know, ugly Christmas sweater parties. Oh, I remember those. Heck yes.

SPEAKER_03: 51:29

Ugly Christmas sweaters. Mm-hmm. And that went on for a while. That was like I mean, it still kind of is a thing. Kind of, yeah. But not like a major thing. Well, if people do it now, they do it like because they think it's trendy to do things from the past. Mm-hmm. You know what I mean? Like, okay, this is the depressing part for me. Young people like Gen Z and Younger, they're dressing like we used to dress in the 90s and early 2000s because that's nostalgic. Or no, because it's like, oh, that's cool. That's we're dressing like they dressed a long time ago. And you're like, wait a minute, hold on. It wasn't that long ago. Calm down. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05: 52:17

Can you name any uh any Christmas tradition from the 2010s? We're moving on to the 2010s.

SPEAKER_03: 52:25

The I mean, the biggest thing. So I talked I talked to my wife about this, and the big thing that they did as a family was Christmas themed Christmas movie nights.

SPEAKER_05: 52:37

Yep, that's on here. Hallmark movies dominate December TV, but Christmas movies in general. Yeah, and then she said that they did gingerbread house decorating.

SPEAKER_03: 52:47

It's not on any of these lists, but it's not on the list, but that's kind of a continue. Like, I think we've been doing that for a long time.

SPEAKER_05: 52:52

Yeah. Uh I've done that one time. They did it for at my job, like the department got together, like my the shipping department, like had a uh together built a house and there was a contest and we lost, but whatever. Yeah, you guys don't know how to build, you just know how to ship, right? Yeah. Yeah. We didn't pander enough to the company. Oh to plumbing supplies.

SPEAKER_03: 53:15

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Dang. Uh yeah, that's I mean, that's the big thing. I feel like anything digital has taken up majority of the space for traditions now for Christmas.

SPEAKER_05: 53:28

Uh light shows synced to apps, became normal in suburbs, suburbs. Yeah, yeah. Going out and really it's like the radio or whatever, but yeah, like you kind of tune in, you hear the music, or you can kind of control it. Uh Friendsgiving we talked about last week, and then also Friend Miss. Friendness? Yeah. I didn't know that was a thing. Mm-hmm. And then the big one from the 2010s. And I don't know. It's so goofy and it's almost a little demonic in my opinion. Okay. But it's so funny.

SPEAKER_03: 54:01

I'm ready for it.

SPEAKER_05: 54:02

Elf on a shelf. Elf on a shelf. Yeah. Yeah. Became a huge thing in the 2010s. Yeah, I'm not a big fan of the elf on a shelf. Because it is. It's like this weird, like, you like you're not really saying it, but like, yeah, there's this entity in your house, and you're showing your kids that you don't see it, but it's moved around and it's causing mischief. I think we should do a midge in the fridge. Like a what? What's that? I don't know. So what you just I just came up with some words and rhymed them. I'm Dr.

SPEAKER_03: 54:31

Susan it over here.

SPEAKER_05: 54:34

Uh I've have I talked about mine. It was a like that we have as a tradition around the house. Don't you have a zebra elf? It's a it's a zebra on a cabinet, it was our joke. Zebra on a cabinet. And it became serious, but it was like it was that you know, where an elf on a shelf was supposed to be this thing that like sat in your house and it you relayed the things that you were doing, like from the point of view of a child. Yeah, yeah. It was relaying information to Santa about the child if it was misbehaving. So it was like a tool to keep your kid in line. Yeah. But like, so and it was kind of creepy. Uh our elf on our our zebra on a cabinet was this creepy uh zebra who like had like evil intent in the house. Oh my gosh. Like to the point where like it was me and my cousin. It was a tradition where we just move around and put them in creepy spots and you find them, and it was like, ah, he he got me. That's kind of like back and forth for years. And uh the last one before I got married and moved out and got moved in, got a house with my wife, that kind of thing. Yeah. Was um we we his name is Nimrod, by the way. Of course. Yeah. Yeah. Uh he was I put him in my cousin's bed holding a knife. Like a like like a like a kitchen knife. Uh do you know where Nimrod is? Yeah, I know where you I have him still.

SPEAKER_03: 55:56

You should totally go to their house this year and keep the tradition going. Yeah, put it somewhere. Uh, it'd be hilarious. I think so too. But they know it's in the sailing downside.

SPEAKER_05: 56:07

I mean, just sneak in. Yeah. Um, like side story, side tangent, side quest. Uh, we were going to my cousin's um birthday party that she was having at a uh at a Mexican restaurant. Yes. And uh we drove on the way, we were passing, we stopped, got a uh birthday card for her, and the the place where we stopped was right next to my grandmother's house, and we didn't have a pen. So we just went into my grandmother's house with nobody there and got and stole a pen. Stole. Stole. Wow. I gifted it back later.

SPEAKER_03: 56:44

You wrapped it and gave it to her.

SPEAKER_05: 56:46

But I walked in and like my grandmother had redone her entire kitchen floor. Yeah, I remember you telling me that. And I'm like, wow, this is different.

SPEAKER_03: 56:55

It would have been really funny if you had gone down there and grabbed one of your cousin's possessions and wrapped it and gave it to her.

SPEAKER_05: 57:02

Gave it to her for she has a pet bird. I should have just wrapped the bird, brought the bird with me to the Mexican restaurant.

SPEAKER_03: 57:09

Oh, that wouldn't have gone over. That would have been really funny. It would have been funny, though. You're right. You're right. All right. Well, uh, what are some of the most recent traditions?

SPEAKER_05: 57:20

I feel like the 2020 uh traditions like were all like shelter in place. Yeah. Like it was like drive by Christmas parades, like drive by and just look at the lights, but don't really get out. You can't get out, it's dangerous to get out, you know, that kind of stuff. No comment. And then like virtual gift exchanges, virtual church services. Like, like I don't want to get too deep into it because it's like Christmas has become like it's finally over the last like maybe year or so getting back to a normal thing.

SPEAKER_03: 57:56

Yeah, I think what we need to start pushing and promoting is less of the internet stuff and more online stuff and more in-person intentional things. That's why I was saying like doing doing an audio, like theatrical release of something that's Christmas themed, you have to listen to and getting a group of people together to listen to it for the holidays.

SPEAKER_05: 58:21

And with that, we are announcing the Saints that serve Christmas audio special.

SPEAKER_03: 58:27

That would be fun.

SPEAKER_05: 58:28

Maybe we should see if that's feasible to do. It wouldn't be that hard. I mean, we produce these episodes once a week. Yeah. We could probably have something out for Christmas time. What should we do? It'd be the Christmas story from the Bible.

SPEAKER_03: 58:40

We just get another. Oh, yeah, yeah. Like the the You don't want to make your own you don't want to make uh Saints That Serve Christmas Special. I feel like we just have the story and everything.

SPEAKER_05: 58:51

I mean, no. What better story than the birth of our Savior, John? This is true. You are 100%. They say it's the greatest story ever told.

SPEAKER_03: 59:01

That's what they say, and they're right. Yes. It is the greatest story. As far as I'm concerned, it's the greatest story ever told. Yes.

SPEAKER_05: 59:08

And with that being said, is like we talk about these traditions, right? Yeah. Again, like I said, it's like they slowly became less about family and more about consumerism. But we all know, like we didn't really talk about it this episode of the joyful season, but we will get into it. But yeah, spoiler alert, it's about Jesus. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03: 59:30

That's the reason for the season. The reason for the season is the birth of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. You know, I I saw something I haven't I haven't verified it yet, but I saw a stat where Bible sales in the US are up by 41%. Let's go. I thought that was really cool. Like a bunch of different, like trackable statistics of things like music, media intake, Bible sales, all those things are up. In the Christian area. And so, yeah, I was encouraged by that. Because you know, the distraction is oh, look at what the Muslim people are doing, or oh, look at what the left or the right in the political realm is doing. It's like distraction, distraction, distraction. But what's the the biggest story is that Americans are are returning to Christ. Yeah. They're repenting and believing in God. And what a better time than Christmas season to acknowledge that the big story this year is that Christ is real. He is alive, and he has saved us from our sins. And it started with him in a manger. Right. You know, he came down to earth as a small, helpless child. Sorry, say that last part again. He came down to earth. A hundred percent. Want a sprite cranberry? Uh, but yeah, he came down born of a virgin, and he rang that bell. Um sorry, seriously though. No, yeah. And we're gonna talk about it next week, but like Christ just in his birth fulfills multiple Old Testament prophecies about him. Yeah. And to me, if you're gonna fabricate something, how do you fulfill, how do you fulfill prophecies as a newborn? Right. Or like your parents did it. You know what I mean? So yeah, I think that there's a lot going on there. I'm looking forward to diving into it next week. That's right. Every week we're gonna bring up that the nativity is the reason for the Christmas season. Christ, our Savior, came into the earth to redeem us from our sin.

SPEAKER_05: 1:01:56

A hundred percent.

SPEAKER_03: 1:01:57

100%.

SPEAKER_05: 1:01:58

It's funny because during your the explanation and what you just talked about, every time you said Christ, for some reason I thought you were about to say, and Christ is Lord. It just ended. It just ended it. Yeah. Well, Christ is Lord. Well, I was gonna say before you do. Um, what is your in the comment section? What is your Christmas tradition?

SPEAKER_03: 1:02:18

What's your favorite Christmas tradition?

SPEAKER_05: 1:02:20

No, what is your Christmas tradition, whether it's your favorite or not? Oh, whether you're mandated to do it or not. What is your Christmas tradition?

SPEAKER_03: 1:02:28

No, what is your favorite Christmas tradition? Yeah, let us know in the comments. We want to see what everyone likes to do every year for Christmas. And then we'll come to your house and do it.

SPEAKER_05: 1:02:37

That would be funny. Show up to a listener's house randomly. Randomly. We're ready for their tradition.

SPEAKER_03: 1:02:43

We just we we pull like, all right, we're gonna pull it out of the raffle bowl, and we pull it out of some random person in Tokyo, and we're like, oh man.

SPEAKER_05: 1:02:51

Hey, hey, I'll take a trip trip.

SPEAKER_03: 1:02:53

We're gonna fly to Tokyo. 13-hour flight. Or even or like even more like Turkey. Like, that's even further away.

SPEAKER_05: 1:03:01

No, we just go to Turkey for Thanksgiving.

SPEAKER_03: 1:03:06

Christ is Lord, and the kingdom is now. We are the saints that serve.