Michael Jordan gives back far more than he gets credit for.

After six NBA championships and a Hall of Fame career, Jordan is now known most for his Air Jordan brand, memes of him crying, and compilations of him expressing personal grievances that fueled his athletic prowess.

‘Did you get all the stuff?!’

What does not get as much media play is Jordan’s long history of charity toward low-income communities, disaster relief, and sick children.

In fact, even when Jordan was being mocked with the “it became personal” meme following the airing of his 2020 Netflix documentary, “The Last Dance,” he was giving millions to feed the hungry during the Christmas season.

In late November 2020, months after the documentary released, Jordan donated $2 million of profit from the movie to Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief program. He focused on the Carolinas, where he played college basketball, and Chicago, where he won his NBA championships.

This came at a time when the organization had announced that more than 50 million Americans were struggling with food bills due to COVID-19.

What may be even more notable, though, is Jordan’s history with the Make-A-Wish organization.

RELATED: ‘You don’t get my respect’: NHL legend PK Subban goes off on NBA culture in explosive rant, says he’s tired of the excuses

As the NBA reported in 2019, Jordan has been chief ambassador for Make-A-Wish since 2008, donating more than $5 million to the charity while granting hundreds of wishes over a 30-year span.

His donation totals catapulted in early 2023, when Jordan celebrated his 60th birthday by giving a whopping $10 million donation to Make-A-Wish, the biggest contribution the company had ever received.

But what is seemingly more impactful than his donations is Jordan’s willingness to reach out to young fans of his who are struggling, sick, or even similarly to him, a meme.

The latter is exactly what happened to Jeffrey from Spokane, Washington, in 2016. Jeffrey was spotted wearing Jordan’s Chicago Bulls gear at a local basketball park. Viewers were shocked at how similar he looked to the NBA legend, and the video quickly became a laughing stock online as it appeared an adult man was mimicking a professional athlete.

However, Jordan became aware of the nuanced details of the story, including that Jeffrey was developmentally disabled. He has a seizure disorder, mild retardation, and autism. His mother told reporters that Jeffrey was diagnosed at the age of 4 when he complained of painful headaches.

Just months after the meme took off, Jordan sent Jeffrey a massive haul of Air Jordan goods — and even gave him a phone call.

RELATED: Michael Jordan sues NASCAR but is dealt major legal blow just 2 days before his driver competes in Cup Series championship

“Did you get all the stuff?!” Jordan is heard asking Jeffrey. After Jeffrey confirmed, Jordan followed up, “Is it enough?!”

The two laughed. “Enjoy yourself, and I’m going to be watching for you,” Jordan added.

“All right … I love you,” Jeffrey threw out to his hero.

“Love you, man,” Jordan replied.

The greatest basketball player of all time, who famously said, “Republicans buy sneakers too,” has made so many charitable donations that the NBA has an entire page dedicated to his philanthropy.

It notes $2 million of relief funds to victims of Hurricane Florence in 2018, $500,000 to stock libraries and preschools in Charlotte in 2016, and $250,000 to food banks in 2012, among many other donations.

In November 2025, Jordan continued his tradition of helping others during the holiday season, with a $10 million donation to a North Carolina medical center in honor of his mother.

The Novant Health New Hanover Regional Medical Center in Wilmington, North Carolina, will name its neuroscience institute after Deloris Jordan, according to ESPN.

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Fearless, Michael jordan, Charity, Make a wish, Food bank, Sports 

What many don’t know is that there are two sides to Donald Trump: the public persona known for scathing Truth Social posts and humiliating contentious reporters and the incredibly gracious family man behind the bombast.

Before Glenn Beck knew the difference, he believed Trump to be an insincere grifter, spurring him to make some public statements he deeply regrets today.

On a recent episode of “The Glenn Beck Program,” Glenn shared a story about Donald Trump that nearly drove him to tears.

Before Trump announced his presidential run in 2015, he and Glenn were friendly after hitting it off at one of Larry King’s birthday parties. During one conversation, Trump urged Glenn, who traveled often for work, to stay at one of the Trump hotels.

Glenn agreed to try it out and booked a room at the Trump International Hotel in New City during a business trip. However, at the time, he was on a strict diet for health reasons that only allowed him to eat 70 specific foods. As a result, a personal chef had to accompany him everywhere he went.

“And so I called [Trump] up, and I said, ‘Hey, I’m coming to New York. I have a chef that has to travel with me because I can only eat these 70 things, and it has to be exact. … Could you accommodate?’ … And he’s like, ‘Absolutely, not a problem,”’ Glenn recounts.

However, during Glenn’s stay in NYC, he got a phone call informing him that his father was about to pass away, requiring him to cut his trip short.

“Somehow or another, [Trump] found out that I left. I go to Seattle; my father dies; I come back home, and he calls me up, and he said, ‘Is there a reason you left early from the hotel? Did something go wrong?’ And I said, ‘Yes, sir. My father passed away.’ And he said, ‘Oh my gosh, Glenn, I’m so sorry to hear that,”’ Glenn says, calling Trump “so relatable and so kind.”

However, Glenn’s kindly opinion of the future president immediately soured when Trump announced just a week after their phone conversation that he was running for president.

“I can’t believe I’m confessing this. This is so horrible for me to say. This is one of the worst things I’ve done in a long time,” he says, fighting back tears.

“I remember getting on the air as soon as he announces [his candidacy] … and I said, ‘That son of b***h has been courting me this whole time. He has been setting me up for an endorsement. That’s what this whole thing has been about.’ And I assume the worst of him,” Glenn confesses.

Today Glenn knows the real Donald Trump — the one whose children and grandchildren worship the ground he walks on. He knows that the attentiveness and kindness Trump showed him after his father passed away wasn’t performance or grift. It was genuine.

“He was just such a gracious guy, and I spat in his face for it, and I regret it. Anything that you think he is, anything the press says he is, he’s not that guy,” says Glenn.

To hear Glenn retell the story in detail, watch the video above.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Blazetv, Blaze media, Trump, Donald trump, Trump hotel, Blaze podcasts 

Everyone loves the three wise men at Christmas. Gold, frankincense, myrrh, the star, the long journey — these are the images we place on mantles and church bulletins. But almost no one pauses to consider the politics happening behind the scenes. Matthew’s Gospel is not merely a nativity story; it is a collision of kingdoms. At the center of that collision is a tyrant who sounds far more familiar to modern ears than we might like to admit.

Herod is remembered for one thing: He murdered infants. That is the brutal fact we cannot ignore. But before he unsheathed the sword, Herod did something else — something more subtle, more political, and more recognizable.

Just as Herod spoke the language of worship to mask his intentions, the Democrats speak the language of ‘common sense’ to mask theirs.

He promised moderation. He promised cooperation. He promised unity.

And he lied.

“Go and search carefully for the Child,” Herod told the wise men, “and when you have found Him, bring back word to me, that I may come and worship Him also.” It was a trap. A manipulative plea for compromise. A tyrant asking the righteous to meet him halfway.

Herod never intended to worship Christ. He planned to kill Him. And that is where the story begins to sound painfully modern.

False moderation

Herod’s modern-day heirs still use the same script. Every election season brings a fresh wave of polished slogans: “Commonsense reproductive health care.” “Protecting basic rights.” “Defending freedom.” “Stopping extremism.”

The tone is moderate. The goal is not.

These same Democratic voices champion abortion through all nine months, fund the industry, defend it in court, and celebrate each victory that preserves the so-called right to end a child’s life. Behind the rhetoric of calm reason lies a fixed reality: Every restriction — no matter how small — is treated as an existential threat.

President Donald Trump proved this. He rejected national restrictions, announced he would not sign a bill banning abortion, and embraced the state-by-state approach, even calling a heartbeat bill too restrictive. And the left still branded him a radical intent on a national ban and criminalizing abortion.

The charge did not depend on his position. It depended on leftists’ strategy. If the destruction of the innocent is nonnegotiable for them, then every effort to restrain it is labeled “extremism.” Herod does not distinguish between cautious men and bold ones.

The illusion of safety

Many have assumed that careful posture protects influence. The evidence says otherwise. No matter how tempered the proposal, no matter how limited the step, no matter how deliberately “reasonable” the tone, the same accusations appear: “Outlawing women.” “Criminalizing health care.” “Taking away rights.” “Extreme.”

The strategy is simple: Anything that restricts the regime’s power is given the same label. If the political cost is identical regardless of the position taken, then the logic of compromise collapses. Because what, precisely, is being purchased?

If moderation brings no peace, if restraint brings no goodwill, if cautious measures earn the same condemnation as courageous ones, then moderation is not a shield. It is simply paying the price for a position you do not hold.

Herod offered cooperation. The wise men showed respect. On the surface, it looked like stability, but when God revealed the truth, the wise men acted decisively: “Being warned in a dream … they departed for their own country another way.”

They did not return to negotiate. They did not report back with updated information. They simply refused to play the tyrant’s game. And that refusal protected the Christ-child. Their greatness was not in their gifts but in their clarity. When a ruler is committed to killing the innocent, cooperation is complicity.

New actors, same script

The modern Democratic regime does not offer moderation. It claims moderation while rejecting every limit placed before it.

RELATED: The hidden hope of Christmas the world needs right now

Photo by: Godong/Universal Images Group via Getty Images

A heartbeat bill? Extreme. An ultrasound requirement? Extreme. Parental notification? Extreme. A 20-week ban? Extreme. Nothing is ever reasonable unless it preserves abortion without limits.

Just as Herod spoke the language of worship to mask his intentions, the Democrats speak the language of “common sense” to mask theirs. The tone is polished, but the aim is unchanged: keep the machinery of death running while demanding that others surrender the moral clarity that might restrain it. Herod promised a partnership he never meant to honor. The Democrats promise moderation they never intend to practice.

The question that returns every year

We have no shortage of latter-day Herods. They still promise moderation, still demand cooperation. They still insist that if only convictions are tempered, peace will come.

But Christmas testifies otherwise. Herod was never going to worship Christ.

The Democrats who champion abortion are never going to tolerate restrictions. The accusations will fall on anyone who lifts a finger for the unborn, no matter how small the effort may be. If the cost is the same either way, then only one path honors God, protects life, and is politically wise: Let us refuse the tyrants by avoiding the negotiation altogether.

If the weight of truly treating abortion as murder is inevitable, then let us play the wise man and embrace our convictions.

​Christmas, Herod, Democrats, Abortion, Christians, Radical left, Opinion & analysis, Christianity, Pro-life 

Republican Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky is ringing in the New Year with his annual “Festivus Report,” highlighting all the government’s pet projects taxpayers have been funding.

Paul’s 11th annual waste report totaled up to a whopping $1.6 trillion, including $1.22 trillion in interest payments on the $38.5 trillion national debt.

‘I hope you’re horrified.’

“No matter how much taxpayer money Washington burns through, politicians can’t help but demand more,” Paul said in a statement.

“Fiscal responsibility may not be the most crowded road, but it’s one I’ve walked year after year — and this holiday season will be no different. So, before we get to the Feats of Strength, it’s time for my Airing of (Spending) Grievances.”

RELATED: The 5 best Christmas decorations in recent White House history

Photo by Samuel Corum/Getty Images

The report features a roundup of the government’s most egregious spending, including experiments dosing dogs with cocaine and teaching ferrets how to binge drink. One program taught monkeys how to play a “Price is Right”-inspired video game for a whopping $14.6 million dollars.

Some spending was directed towards actual people, not just pets. One program from the Department of Health and Human Services spent $1.5 million on an “innovative multilevel strategy” to reduce drug use in “Latinx” communities by using influencers and celebrities in TikTok campaigns, which the report dubbed “TikTok therapy.” Other programs spent $2 million on “gender-affirming care” in Guatemala through USAID, as well as $2.8 million in DOD grants towards implanting humanized mice with aborted fetal tissue.

Other funds were just misused entirely, with nearly $200 billion in COVID funds for schools being wasted on excessive amenities like ice cream trucks, rooms at Caesar’s Palace, and renting out MLB stadiums.

RELATED: ‘Why would somebody have such hate?’ Churchgoers stunned at vandalism against Nativity display

Photo by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

“That’s all for today, folks,” Paul said in a post on X. “I hope you’re horrified – I mean, I hope you enjoyed it. The Festivus holiday must come to an end. If only the programs we write about would also come to an end.”

Like Blaze News? Bypass the censors, sign up for our newsletters, and get stories like this direct to your inbox. Sign up here!

​Rand paul, Festivus, Festivus report, Christmas, Government waste, National debt, Waste fraud and abuse, Usaid, Politics 

“For many, the American dream has become a nightmare,” Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) has said, capturing a sentiment that has become common on the political left and across modern culture.

That line now travels far beyond politics. Scroll social media for five minutes, and you’ll see the same message repeated in endless variations: Owning a home is impossible. Raising a family is irresponsible. Work doesn’t pay. The system is rigged. The future is closed.

The American dream was never a promise of ease or comfort by age 25. It was an invitation to build something meaningful over time through responsibility and perseverance.

This message is everywhere, and it is doing real damage.

Harder lives, false conclusions

Life has become harder in tangible ways. Housing costs have surged. College has grown bloated and expensive. Inflation punished families already living close to the margins. Young adults feel delayed, uncertain, and anxious about the future.

Those frustrations are real. The conclusion being pushed alongside them is not.

The lie is not that things are harder. The lie is that effort no longer matters.

That lie spreads quickly online because it feels validating. A 30-second video declaring the system broken beyond repair asks nothing of the viewer except agreement. Building a life requires patience, sacrifice, and time. One goes viral. The other happens quietly.

Much of this shift comes from where young Americans now form their beliefs. For many in Generation Z, ideas about money, marriage, and the future are no longer shaped primarily by parents, churches, employers, or local communities. They are shaped by algorithm-driven platforms like TikTok and X, where extremity is rewarded with attention.

In those spaces, online figures routinely dismiss the American dream as a scam and portray starting a family as a trap rather than a source of meaning or stability. Cynicism is marketed as realism. Detachment is framed as wisdom. A generation looking for guidance is taught to expect failure before it ever tries.

Why despair is profitable

This narrative didn’t arise by accident. It feeds on real pain, but it’s also profitable. Political movements gain leverage by convincing voters that only sweeping control from the top can fix a hopeless system. Media companies thrive on pessimism because fear keeps people watching. Online grievance entrepreneurs build massive followings by telling young people that nothing they do will ever be enough.

If Americans stop believing they can build a future, someone else will gladly build power over them.

History keeps disproving this story.

Tell the generation that survived the Great Depression that the American dream was dead. Tell the men who returned from World War II, many wounded and broke, who used the GI Bill to buy homes and start families, that the climb was too steep. Tell the children of factory workers who grew up without air conditioning, college degrees, or safety nets — but still built middle-class lives through work and sacrifice — that the odds were unfair.

Tell the families of the 1950s and 1960s who lived modestly, saved slowly, and delayed gratification for decades that life was easy. Tell the Americans who endured oil crises, layoffs, and double-digit inflation in the 1970s and early 1980s that the system was designed for their comfort.

The dream was never easy

Life has never been easy. The climb has always been steep. The American dream was never built on convenience. It was built on resilience.

The truth is less dramatic — and far more hopeful. The American dream didn’t disappear. It changed shape.

It was never a promise of ease or comfort by age 25. It was an invitation to build something meaningful over time through responsibility and perseverance. For generations, it rested on a simple foundation: Work hard, form families, contribute locally, and invest in something bigger than yourself.

That path was never easy. What changed is not the dream, but our tolerance for effort and our patience for delayed reward.

The quiet math of real life

Despite the noise, the American dream remains visible in places social media rarely celebrates. It shows up in the quiet math of real life.

Research from the Institute for Family Studies finds that stably married Americans approaching retirement hold, on average, more than $640,000 in household assets, compared with roughly $167,000 for divorced or never-married adults — even after accounting for age, education, and race. That gap reflects decades of shared sacrifice, income pooling, planning, and commitment.

These stories don’t trend online. They play out quietly every day.

Ironically, many of the loudest voices declaring the dream dead are doing quite well selling that message. Entire online brands are built on telling people that life is impossible — while generating substantial revenue and influence in the process. Despair has become an industry.

RELATED: Christmas is worth celebrating, even if your family is fractured

Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg via Getty Images

What truly threatens the American dream is not capitalism, competition, or even inequality. It’s a culture that encourages permanent adolescence. A culture that treats commitment as a burden, delays adulthood indefinitely, and then wonders why people feel anxious and untethered.

The American dream doesn’t die because life is hard. It dies when people are convinced that hard things aren’t worth doing.

Too many young Americans are told that marriage can wait, children are optional, faith is outdated, and roots are restrictive. They’re promised freedom through detachment and fulfillment through endless choice — then wake up years later with more options than ever and less meaning than expected.

Builders still have the advantage

This isn’t a policy argument. It’s a cultural one. No law can manufacture purpose. No program can force optimism. But a nation that teaches its citizens the dream is dead shouldn’t be surprised when fewer people try to live it.

The American dream has always belonged to builders of families, businesses, and communities. It never belonged to those waiting for perfect conditions or guaranteed outcomes.

The American dream isn’t dead. But telling Americans that it is has become fashionable, profitable, and politically useful.

The question is whether we continue to accept that story — or choose, once again, to build.

​American dream, Economy, Gen z, Great depression, Opinion & analysis, Hope, Building 

Glenn Beck has been one of the loudest and boldest voices in conservative media regarding the dangers of artificial intelligence. For three decades, he’s been warning that a day is coming when technology outpaces human control and reshapes society.

As that day draws ever closer, Glenn has urged his audience to learn how to use AI — not as a source for critical thinking, not as a companion — but as a tool beholden to our command.

Glenn has been modeling for his listeners what it looks like to use artificial intelligence well. On his radio program, he regularly shares how he employs AI for research, meal planning, budget optimization, brainstorming, and trend analysis, among other tasks.

Bottom line: AI isn’t good or evil. It just amplifies whoever’s holding the reins.

And this December, Glenn took that philosophy one joyful step further. While left-wing activists and institutions continue their annual push to secularize the holiday — replacing “Merry Christmas” with “Happy Holidays,” banning songs that mention Jesus, and swapping Christmas parties for generic “winter celebrations” — Glenn gave AI a simple but profound task: Produce a song that boldly puts Christ back in Christmas.

And it did not disappoint.

The lyrics are as follows:

Well, the season’s here, and the lights are bright, but they tell me, I can’t say Merry Christmas tonight.

They want RamaHanuKwanzMas all in one breath.

Buddy, that phrase is gonna bore me to death.

So grab some cocoa. Let’s reclaim this place.

It’s the birthday of the baby.

Yeah, remember who that is.

So I’m putting the Christ back in Christmas.

No microaggression here.

My friend, if words can break you, I’ll bless your heart, because that’s a battle we can’t defend.

Yeah, I’m putting the Christ back in Christmas.

Let common sense unfold. Out with the new, in with the old.

Merry Christmas. Let the truth be told.

And hey baby, it’s cold outside, relax.

It’s flirting, not a federal crime.

We used to laugh and dance in snow.

Now they fact-check mistletoe.

They say intent don’t matter.

Well, sure it does, ask Santa.

He’s judging hearts, not Twitter buzz.

So I’m putting the Christ back in Christmas.

You can keep your outrage warm.

If every jingle is problematic, buddy, that’s the real snowstorm.

Yeah, I’m putting the Christ back in Christmas.

Not buying what they sold.

Out with the new, in with the old.

Merry Christmas. Let the truth be told.

They say that greeting is oppressive.

Well, bless my soul.

Who knew if Merry Christmas makes you tremble, the problem ain’t the phrase, it’s you.

I’ll question with boldness. I’ll reason with grace, but don’t rewrite my holiday to make it a safe space.

So here’s to the manger.

The star in the sky.

The angels who sang up that holy night.

Here’s to the story that still brings hope

Even when cultures lost the remote.

Raise your voice, let the bells all ring.

This season was always about one King.

Yeah, I’m putting the Christ back in Christmas.

Let the real good news unfold.

The world may chase the wrapping paper, but the manger holds the gold.

So I put the Christ back in Christmas from the young to the gray and old.

Out with the new, in with the old.

Merry Christmas. Let the truth be told.

So crank up the volume, hit play, and let this AI-born anthem remind the culture: Christmas isn’t canceled — Christ is, and will forever be, King.

Want more from Glenn Beck?

To enjoy more of Glenn’s masterful storytelling, thought-provoking analysis, and uncanny ability to make sense of the chaos, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​The glenn beck program, Glenn beck, Blazetv, Blaze media, Secular christmas, Christmas, Put christ back in christmas, Christianity, Artificial intelligence, Ai, Ai song 

Everywhere you look, it seems like there is an embarrassment of riches when it comes to plans for futuristic, dystopian systems of government. However, one such plan has already materialized and has caught the attention of some very powerful people: freedom cities.

While it’s too early to tell if freedom cities will be a dystopian nightmare or, in the more likely scenario, a merely fascinating innovation, what is clear is that many powerful people have been interested in the idea for years.

‘Our objective will be a quantum leap in the American standard of living.’

First, what are freedom cities?

Freedom cities are essentially deregulated economic zones designed to encourage innovation and technological development without (or with much less) cumbersome bureaucracy, rules, and taxes.

RELATED: Biotech founder sliced open his own legs on camera to prove his product is safe for US troops

Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images

According to an article by Newsweek, the creation of a freedom city in the United States would require at least two states to demarcate land along their borders and to agree on taxation and policy.

But why should we care about what is probably just a billionaire pipe dream to ease the billionaire tax burden?

Well, one of the powerful people who is very interested in these cities is President Donald Trump.

Freedom cities have been on President Trump’s mind for nearly three years at least.

In March 2023, then-former President Trump issued a video statement detailing several plans to revitalize American innovation.

Past generations of Americans pursued big dreams and daring projects that once seemed absolutely impossible. They pushed across an unsettled continent and built new cities in the wild frontier. They transformed American life with the interstate highway system — magnificent, it was. And they launched a vast network of satellites into orbit all around the earth.

But today our country has lost its boldness. Under my leadership, we will get it back in a very big way. If you look at just three years ago, what we were doing was unthinkable — how good it was, how great it was for our country.

Our objective will be a quantum leap in the American standard of living. … Here are just a few of the ways we can do it.

Almost one-third of the land mass of the United States is owned by the federal government. With just a very, very small portion of that land, just a fraction, one-half of one percent — would you believe that? — we should hold a contest to charter up to 10 new cities and award them to the best proposals for development.

In other words, we’ll actually build new cities in our country again. These freedom cities will reopen the frontier, reignite American imagination, and give hundreds of thousands of young people and other people — all hardworking families — a new shot at home ownership and in fact the American dream.

While President Trump’s plans have not yet been put into practice in the United States, the idea of a freedom city has already been put into practice in Honduras, for example.

According to Newsweek, Pronomos Capital, a venture capital firm backed by tech billionaires Peter Thiel and Marc Andreessen, has helped push for the creation and development of Prospera ZEDE, a privately run economic zone on parts of Roatan, an island off the coast of Honduras, and on the coast of La Ceiba, Honduras.

According to the company’s website, Próspera ZEDE (Zone of Economic Development and Employment) is “a startup zone with a regulatory system designed for entrepreneurs to build better, cheaper, and faster than anywhere else in the world.”

However, this economic zone in Honduras has seen its fair share of criticism from locals, pushback from the Honduran government, and legal challenges since its establishment.

Think tanks like the American Enterprise Institute have also taken an interest in the creation of freedom cities in the United States. According to a March 2025 report produced by the AEI Housing Center, freedom cities “offer a dynamic framework for re-shoring critical industries, expanding housing affordability, and facilitating rapid progress in emerging fields such as biotechnology, aeronautics, and energy.”

The AEI even drafted a “homesteading map” showing the pockets of federal land in Western states that could potentially be used for freedom cities, forecasting that the development of freedom cities would take anywhere between 40 and 50 years.

​Tech, Freedom cities, Trump, Trump administration, Pronomos capital, Prospera zede, American enterprise institute, Honduras, Peter thiel, President trump 

As we come to the end of 2025, peace feels hard to find. We are surrounded by news of barbaric terrorism once again — most recently in Australia — erupting in violent displays of prideful, ethnic hatred. We watch regional wars grind on, prolonged by an implacable tyrant bent on self-glorification and the expansion of his own wealth and power.

At such a time, it is good to remember that 2,000 years ago, a child was born for whom there was no room at the inn — a child laid instead in a stable because there was nowhere else to go. Jesus spent his childhood in the simplest of households and his adulthood accounting for every penny, for the life of a carpenter brought little money.

Let us set aside the calamities of the world, if only for a moment, and celebrate the birth of the most extraordinary child ever born — the one who offers eternal love and shelter from the storm.

When Jesus left his home to serve the world, his life became unlike that of the foxes, who have dens, or the birds, who have nests. The Son of Man had no place to lay his head. He rejected the paths of wealth, power, and pride, choosing instead humility, love, and suffering.

His ministry began when he read from the prophet Isaiah: “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to preach good news to the poor.” That good news was revolutionary. God was not, as the Greeks imagined, a distant and uncaring master of abstractions. Nor was he, as many expected, a cold and exacting judge.

The good news was that God is filled with love for humanity — and that was cause for celebration.

So Jesus’ first miracle was not an act of conquest or condemnation, but joy: the transformation of water into wine at a wedding in Cana.

When Jesus chose his companions, he chose people like himself — humble, ordinary, and yet extraordinary. He welcomed women into his ministry, from his mother Mary to Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Susanna, and many others, treating their womanhood as sacred. As F.R. Maltby observed, Jesus promised his followers three things: that they would be completely fearless, absurdly happy, and in constant trouble. Wherever they went, they brought hope, kindness, and cheer, and when Jesus spoke, his words carried the breath of heaven.

Jesus welcomed everyone he encountered — Jews and Romans, Greeks and Samaritans. He spoke with rabbis, tax collectors, and sinners alike. But he devoted his deepest attention to those who suffered: the blind, the deaf, the lame, the lepers. He touched those no one else would touch and loved those no one else would love.

When disciples of John the Baptist asked who he was, Jesus answered simply: “Tell John what you have seen and heard: the blind receive their sight, the lame walk, the lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, and the poor have good news brought to them” (Luke 7:22).

Even more radical was his teaching. “Love your enemies,” he said. “Bless those who curse you. Do good to those who hate you. Pray for those who mistreat you. As you would have others treat you, so must you treat them.”

And above all: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your strength, and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself” (Luke 10:27).

RELATED: The algorithm sells despair. Christmas tells the truth.

Photo by Fine Art Images/Heritage Images/Getty Images

Jesus taught through parables, stories anyone could understand. Perhaps the most famous is that of the prodigal son — a young man who squandered his inheritance on gambling, drink, and excess, only to be welcomed home with celebration rather than condemnation. Jesus explained it this way: “If a man has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray?” (Matthew 18:12).

God, in his love, was searching for a lost humanity, and Jesus was the shepherd sent to bring it home.

When the Pharisees asked when the kingdom of God would come, Jesus answered, “The kingdom of God is within you” (Luke 17:21). It is entered freely — not by force, not by empire, not by the power of Caesar. There exists a realm where Caesar’s writ does not run, a domain belonging wholly to God.

To bring us into that kingdom of peace, Christ endured the cross — the only place on earth that finally made room for one so profoundly good.

Before he departed, he instructed his apostles to greet every home with a prayer for peace — a peace available only in the kingdom he builds within each of us.

So let us set aside the calamities of the world, if only for a moment, and celebrate the birth of the most extraordinary child ever born — the one who offers eternal love and shelter from the storm.

Merry Christmas.

​Opinion & analysis, Christmas, Jesus christ, Gospel, Gospel of matthew, Gospel of luke, Love, Salvation, Sacrifice, Kingdom 

The news never stops telling us everything is falling apart, but the latest data says the exact opposite — at least when it comes to preventable deaths.

On this episode of “Stu Does America,” Stu Burguiere dives into five sets of federal numbers that prove America is quietly winning on life-and-death issues.

1. The US mortality rate is the lowest it has been since 2020, with COVID no longer a leading cause

According to the CDC’s latest provisional data, the 2024 mortality rate “was 3.8% lower than in 2023 and was the lowest death rate since 2020.”

Further, for the first time since the virus’ emergence, COVID was not one of the top 10 leading causes of death.

“This is going to disappoint the Taylor Lorenzes of the world, who want to still wear masks outdoors right now, but COVID is pretty much off the map,” says Stu.

2. Deaths related to heart attacks have plummeted

Research conducted by Stanford Medicine and published in the Journal of the American Heart Association indicates that over the last five decades, there has been a substantial decline in deaths from heart attacks.

The study concluded that since 1970, age-adjusted heart attack deaths have decreased by nearly 90%, while deaths from heart disease are down roughly 66%.

Although chronic heart conditions have risen alongside obesity and diabetes, these drops still reflect major progress in preventing and treating sudden heart attacks.

“Deaths from other types of heart disease … increased by 81% in the United States according to the study, so there are still issues, and that has a lot to do with us becoming fat fat fatties,” Stu jokes.

3. Drug overdose death have declined

A recent CDC report revealed that deaths from drug overdose have declined nearly 24% in the 12 months ending September 2024, compared to the previous year.

Stu displays the following chart to give a visual of this significant improvement in deaths from drug overdose, which skyrocketed during the 2020 COVID pandemic and remained high until last year.

“We’re not back down quite to the pre-COVID levels, but we are approaching that, which is a real positive,” he says.

4. US mass killings are the lowest they’ve been since 2006

Based on the latest data from the Associated Press and USA Today Mass Killing Database, which tracks incidents in which four or more people are killed (excluding the perpetrator) within a 24-hour period, there have been just 17 mass killings in the U.S. this year — the lowest annual total since the database began in 2006.

While one mass killing is too many, the dip indicates that we are thankfully beginning to return from “big COVID/Biden-era peaks,” says Stu.

“We’re going in the right direction.”

5. Teen suicide is declining

Recent federal data from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the CDC reveals a decline in teen suicidal thoughts and behaviors. The 2024 National Survey on Drug Use and Health — an annual federal survey of over 70,000 people ages 12 and older that tracks mental health, substance use, and related trends — shows positive shifts among adolescents (ages 12-17) between 2021 and 2024, following pandemic-era spikes.

Serious suicidal thoughts in adolescents fell from 13% in 2021 to 10% by 2024. Further, suicide attempts in this age group dropped from 3.6% to 2.7%.

“Obviously, all way, way too high, but a good decrease,” says Stu.

All in all, Stu is encouraged by these statistics.

“This is really, really good news. … It is important to every once in a while note the fact that not everything sucks,” he says.

To hear more, watch the episode above.

Want more from Stu?

To enjoy more of Stu’s lethal wit, wisdom, and mockery, subscribe to BlazeTV — the largest multi-platform network of voices who love America, defend the Constitution, and live the American dream.

​Stu does america, Stu burguiere, Blazetv, Blaze media, Mortality rate, Death rate, Teen suicide, Overdose deaths, Heart attacks, Covid, Biden era