I recently read a poll that reported 86% of Americans believe true love really exists. Sixty-seven percent said they themselves had experienced it. Most of the rest indicated they just hadn't found it yet but were hopeful.

Not so surprising, the older respondents were more likely to say they had experienced true love:

• 65% of those between the ages of 30 and 44 said they had experienced true love;
• 69% of people aged 45 to 64 said they had, too;
• But, for those over the age of 65, 75% said they had experienced true love.

What that poll seems to say is: Stay alive long enough and you really will experience true love.

I found that to be true in my life. Like so many of you, I had lots of trials and errors in the earlier parts of my life.

But, at the ripe age of 58, I met my true love and Valentine when I was filming "Walker, Texas Ranger."

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One of my best friends, Larry Morales, came to Dallas for a visit while I was filming.

At the time, I was living the single life, and even though I had a successful TV series, I was miserable. I used to devote my life to fame and fortune. I had learned a hard lesson in those years: If your whole life is spent trying to make money and you neglect the important people in your life, you will create a deep void in your heart and soul, not to mention your relationships. I fell into this trap.

Larry realized that I had everything but I had nothing, so he decided to introduce me to a lady he wanted me to meet. It just so happened that she had a modeling assignment in Dallas.

One evening, I was at a sushi restaurant with about 12 friends, including a date, when Larry walked in with a young lady.

He began introducing her to everyone, but I was engrossed in conversation with my date and didn't notice – that is, until Larry called my name and said he wanted me to meet Gena.

I looked up at her, and all I could see was an angel staring into my eyes. I stuttered, "Oh … er … hi! Nice to meet you."

When I finally turned back to my date, all I could see were daggers in her eyes. She immediately got up and left.

After the meal, Larry took Gena back to her hotel. But the next morning she and I had breakfast together, and she invited me to her fashion show, where she was modeling wedding gowns.

One particular gown had a long train, and as Gena was walking, it hooked on a potted plant, and she dragged it down the runway. She was quite embarrassed.

Kiddingly, I said, "I was thinking about buying that potted plant!"

The next day, I called my mom and told her all about Gena and about her modeling gowns.

Mom asked me, "Is that giving you any ideas about marriage?"

"Nope," I said. "I'm never getting married again!"

Famous last words!

On Nov. 28, 1998, we were married! And we've now been married almost 26 years!

How did we do it? I'll tell you.

It's easy to get caught up in infatuation, but true love takes time and a lot of work. It's also tempting to give up, especially when times get tough. But there's no prize without perseverance. It's true in sports. It's true in relationships.

Love is a battlefield, but it's also one of the biggest blessings in this life. And the blessings far outweigh the battles if you're doing it right.

My advice? If you're dating, you must not leave your brains at the door. Don't merely consider the other person's outer traits but discover what makes that person tick on the inside. Don't compromise your morals or principles when searching for a soul mate. Make sure your core values and beliefs align with the other person's.

And don't be in a rush – take your time. Otherwise, you might succumb to the folly of Socrates, who once said, "By all means marry; if you get a good wife, you'll become happy. If you get a bad one, you'll become a philosopher"! (Same is true for husbands, right, ladies?!)

Speaking of humor, entry No. 9 in my "101 Official Chuck Norris Facts" book reads: "On Valentine's Day, Chuck Norris gives his wife the still-beating heart of one of his enemies. (Being the romantic type, Chuck believes every day should be Valentine's Day!)"

That's funny, but there's a profound truth in there as well.

I think we all should be that vigilant to fight and protect our relationships, especially through increased stressful and difficult times like people are experiencing right now around the country and world.

A health article I recently read explained that relational love is more at risk today than ever before because of enhanced stressful environments like social media, family and financial struggles, substance abuse and even differing political opinions.

If you care for each other, if you value your relationship and the institution of marriage, discuss the potential problems that can possibly await you. Make a plan to keep your love and relationship a priority above all.

Gena and I decided early on, through thick and thin, we were going to stay together no matter what. We dedicated ourselves to fight for love, in us and others. And to discover all the fruits that God intended to bless us with in our marriage and long-term love journey.

Pray together. Ask for divine help for you, your family, your country and your world.

And don't forget to be quick to forgive just as God forgives us. As Dr. James Dobson once said, "A great marriage is the union of two good forgivers."

Be patient. Be kind. And don't go to bed angry without resolving it.

As the great love chapter in the Bible says, "Love is patient. Love is kind. Love is not easily angered. … Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres."

The reason why I have to persevere and work doubly hard to stay in good shape now is because Gena wants to celebrate our 50th Golden Anniversary together. I'll be 108 years old, but I intend to be there!

William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, once said, "She is but half a wife who is not a friend."

Gena is my best friend, the love of my life and the instrument to my spiritual renewal as a Christian. I'm beyond blessed to have her as my wife. She is my heart.

Happy Valentine's Day, my love! The truth is: Every day is golden with you!

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U.S. "forces struck more than 85 targets [at seven different locations in Syria and Iraq] including 'command and control operations, centers, intelligence centers, rockets, and missiles, and unmanned aired vehicle storages, and logistics and munition supply chain facilities' belonging to militia groups and their [Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps] sponsors," as the Guardian reported.

On Saturday, the U.S. and Britain joined together to strike 36 Houthi targets (at 13 more locations) in Yemen in a second wave of assaults.

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While political pundits debate whether or not the military retaliation fit the crime, I keep thinking of the three courageous souls and soldiers who gave up their lives. I equally think of their grieving families – how they feel right now and will feel long after this news cycle is over.

(My family knows all about that heartache as my then 25-year-old brother Wieland was killed in Vietnam on June 3, 1970. Though it's been over 50 years, I'll never forget the moment I first heard. I still miss him badly.)

The three soldiers who were murdered a week ago by that Iran-backed militia drone attack were Sgt. William Rivers, 46; Sgt. Kennedy Sanders, 24; and Sgt. Breonna Moffett, 23. They were assigned to the 718 Engineer Company, an Army Reserve unit based out of Fort Moore, Georgia.

On Friday, the president and first lady joined grieving families at Dover Air Force Base for the dignified transfer of the three American service members.

"The only words spoken during the 15-minute dignified transfer, aside from the commands as each case was carried, were from an Air Force chaplain's brief prayer, asking God for 'grace and mercy,'" as the Associated Press reported.

My wife, Gena, and I send our heartfelt condolences to the families and friends of these fallen warriors. We pray for all of their strength and peace in the midst of their loss and grief.

On Friday, we honored another military fallen hero: Chris Kyle, the "American Sniper" who was killed at a Texas gun range. Friday was the 11th anniversary of his tragic death.

As FOX 10 (Phoenix) reported, "Kyle was a U.S. Navy SEAL from 1999 to 2009. He is considered to be the deadliest sniper in U.S. military history and has had more than 160 confirmed kills during his four tours in Iraq.

"During his career, the decorated military veteran was shot twice, survived multiple helicopter crashes and was involved in six IED attacks."

Chris Kyle is interviewed by Time magazine about his book, "American Sniper."

Tragically, Kyle was killed not on a foreign battlefield but a U.S. practice-shooting range.

Kyle and his friend's tragic deaths were explained by FOX: "More than a decade ago, on Feb. 2, 2013, retired Navy SEAL Chris Kyle was fatally shot along with a friend, Chad Littlefield, at a gun range in north Texas. Kyle was 38 years old when he died.

"Former Marine Eddie Ray Routh was later convicted of the murder of Kyle and sentenced to life in prison without parole. Family members said Routh suffered from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder from serving in Iraq and Haiti."

I posted on my official Facebook page this tribute to Chris: "11 years ago today we lost an extraordinary American hero, Chris Kyle, also known as the American Sniper. Chris served this country with honor and bravery. I'd like us all to pay our respects and gratitude to Chris and all the men and women that have laid down their lives for our freedom. May we never forget their sacrifice."

In Kyle's honor, I wore my American Sniper shirt on Friday. If you'd like one too, go to americansniper.com. All proceeds go to help his family's foundation: The Taya and Chris Kyle Foundation. Please also visit the website of his wife, Taya, who is now a New York Times bestselling author, who has written several books since Kyle's passing.

Taya has often explained that Chad and her husband enjoyed spending time with veterans as a way to help them ease back into civilian life. That's exactly what they were doing when they were gunned down on the Texas gun range.

On the 11th anniversary of the murders last Friday, she reflected on Instagram about her husband and her belief in God:

11 yrs since Chris and Chad were murdered in cold blood. I am no medical expert, but as I recall, in the murder trial, the psychiatrists on both the prosecution and defense testified the murderer had no trauma in his life, not in the military or outside of it. As I recall, he went to Taco Bell after the murders, then to get his dog and head out of state. He even answered Chad's phone in Chris's truck, which he drove away with.

There is no sense in it, no explanation. Where was God? God promises free will to all people, and He keeps His promises. Even people who choose to do evil with their free will have the choice. Where was God? He was with us. He was with you. He was with Chris and Chad. He was with all the broken-hearted people in the world. He was with babies being knitted in their mothers' wombs, in celebrations, baptisms, joys, and pains.

He has shown more of Himself, His majesty, and love through every pain rippling out from the murders. The lawsuits all mercifully ended in our favor (one on appeal years after the original verdict – if you hadn't heard). Rumors and hate have risen, fallen, and faded while God's glory has grown. His love is magnified in my children's and my hearts.

Some say faith is a crutch for the weak-minded, but my experience is the opposite. Each of us has a unique fingerprint and voice that are not replicated in any other person in all time. We have unique gifts and challenges that can either strengthen or destroy us. All of us are irreplaceable. YOU are irreplaceable.

There will never be another Chris. If God is writing a symphony with our lives, Chris played the notes he was given, and we have ours. God builds and softens our music in and after our lives on earth. I have heaven to look forward to and true joy in my heart because the pain did not destroy us. It hurt us, and God used it to bless us. He will do the same for you.

I used to say I could not wait to see Chris in heaven, but maybe that isn't accurate. I can wait because time passes, God heals, and I have a beautiful life here, maybe not despite the pain, but perhaps because of it. I love our Creator with all of me. He makes all the difference.

Very well said, Taya!

One thing we know for sure about all of our fallen servicemen and servicewomen: they show us what sacrificial love is.

Jesus said, "Greater love has no one than this: that one lay down his or her life for others."

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Our heartfelt condolences go out to "Saturday Night Live" star Dana Carvey and wife Paula in the unfortunate passing of their beloved 32-year-old son, Dex.

Last November, Dex was found by first responders lying unresponsive on the floor of his bathroom after a 911 call by his girlfriend.

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Yahoo News just reported, "According to an official autopsy report, Dex Carvey passed away from 'drug toxicity,' specifically from fentanyl, ketamine, and cocaine. His manner of death has also been ruled an 'accident.'"

Our hearts equally go out to "Pawn Stars" all-around great American businessman, Rick Harrison, whose beloved 39-year-old son, Adam, also recently died of a fentanyl overdose.

Rick told the New York Post, "Fentanyl turned my son into someone he wasn't, and that brought with it bad decisions and spending time in jail."

Fox News headlined, "'Pawn Stars' personality Rick Harrison says son Adam died from fentanyl overdose, blames border crisis."

Rick's exactly right. Adam died because the Biden administration refuses to close our borders from illegal activity and contraband pouring into our country at astronomical rates, particularly the production and dealing of fentanyl.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported overdose deaths from synthetic opioids rose 55.6% between January 2020-2021 alone.

The CDC reported, "Provisional data from CDC's National Center for Health Statistics indicate there were an estimated 107,622 drug overdose deaths in the United States during 2021, an increase of nearly 15% from the 93,655 deaths estimated in 2020."

Compare the deaths in the U.S. between fentanyl and other drugs:

Fentanyl overdoses are soaring across all ages and racial lines, with dramatic increases in black, Native American, Alaska Native and Hispanic communities across the nation.

"The rising homicide rate in D.C. is nothing compared with what fentanyl is doing," the Washington Post reported. "In 2020, opioids claimed more than twice the 198 lives that gunfire did in the nation's capital."

"It's the sixth year that drugs have killed more people than guns. City records show the trend began in 2014 and held steady even as gun violence surged; so, too, did the age of those dying of an overdose."

And Washington, D.C., is not alone.

The Post explained, "The graying of overdose victims is happening across the nation, not just in D.C. In 1999, 518 Americans 55 and older died in opioid-related overdoses. That number rocketed to 10,292 deaths in 2019, according to a Northwestern Medicine study published last month in the Journal of the American Medical Association. That's roughly the same number that die in drunken-driving deaths in the United States each year."

Regarding younger generations, fentanyl is now the No. 1 cause of death for Americans ages 18 to 45, surpassing suicide and car accident-related deaths. Please read that again.

What's crazy is how those tragic figures parallel in adolescents, too. Even a new study by the CDC echoed the findings: "The study found that deaths from opioid overdoses in teens ages 14 to 18 increased by 94% between 2019 and 2020 and by an additional 20% between 2020 and 2021.

"The researchers, who hailed from multiple institutions, found that adolescent fentanyl-related overdose deaths leapt 350% over the study period. Overall, fentanyl was associated with 77% of adolescent overdose deaths in 2021."

Safe and In Recovery.com explained the exponential risks for teens who use these highly addictive drugs: "Teens who abuse fentanyl and other opioids are also at increased risk of engaging in other types of dangerous behavior. They are five times more likely than other teens to attempt suicide, drive drunk, get into fights, carry guns or other weapons, or engage in risky sexual activity."

Tragically, most American parents are completely unaware clandestine dealers are using social media to entrap their kids by offering these powerful drugs to them for cheap. And dealers are using innocent emojis to sell fentanyl doses in literally seconds online to millions of teens.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) summarized exactly why the U.S. borders should have been closed ages ago (emphasis mine):

"Fentanyl is a synthetic opioid typically used to treat patients with chronic severe pain or severe pain following surgery. Fentanyl is a Schedule II controlled substance that is similar to morphine but about 100 times more potent. …

"Illicit fentanyl, primarily manufactured in foreign clandestine labs and smuggled into the United States through Mexico, is being distributed across the country and sold on the illegal drug market. Fentanyl is being mixed in with other illicit drugs to increase the potency of the drug, sold as powders and nasal sprays, and increasingly pressed into pills made to look like legitimate prescription opioids. Because there is no official oversight or quality control, these counterfeit pills often contain lethal doses of fentanyl, with none of the promised drug.

"There is significant risk that illegal drugs have been intentionally contaminated with fentanyl. Because of its potency and low cost, drug dealers have been mixing fentanyl with other drugs including heroin, methamphetamine, and cocaine, increasing the likelihood of a fatal interaction.

"Producing illicit fentanyl is not an exact science. Two milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal depending on a person's body size, tolerance and past usage. DEA analysis has found counterfeit pills ranging from .02 to 5.1 milligrams (more than twice the lethal dose) of fentanyl per tablet.

• 42% of pills tested for fentanyl contained at least 2 mg of fentanyl, considered a potentially lethal dose.

• Drug trafficking organizations typically distribute fentanyl by the kilogram. One kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people."

Sadly, the number of fentanyl fatalities will continue to soar for one reason. As NPR reported, Mexican cartels are increasing their production of fentanyl right now because it's so easily smuggled into and sold in our country.

With fentanyl's staggering lethalness and murder rates (which is exactly what these overdoses are) from fentanyl alone in the U.S., it is beyond lunacy that Biden's federal agents are trying to cut the wires Texas border agents have put up to keep illegal activity from coming in. I am grateful for former President Trump and 25 GOP governors who are backing Texas Gov. Gregg Abbott in trying to stop this border madness and atrocity.

President Biden and his whole administration are as guilty and culpable for fentanyl overdoses and those who illegally manufacture, smuggle and deal it. They are aiding and abetting it all!

It's exactly because the feds and our state representatives won't do more to protect our borders and communities from the fentanyl epidemic and overdoses that we must.

Please, contact the White House and your U.S. representatives and demand they close the U.S. borders and stop the cartels powers and illegal contraband of every type coming into our country. Vote in 2024 to get another president in the White House who will bolster and protect our U.S. borders.

For the future of your family and our nation, talk to the teens in your sphere of influence about the epidemic and fatal dangers of fentanyl. Understand the emoji drug code and how dealers are using cloaked identities to solicit your kids.

If you are or suspect someone you know is using or addicted, seek help and intervention immediately. Here are seven signs of fentanyl addiction to watch for.

SAMHSA's National Helpline, 1-800-662-HELP (4357) (also known as the Treatment Referral Routing Service), or TTY: 1-800-487-4889 is a confidential, free, 24-hour-a-day, 365-day-a-year, information service, in English and Spanish, for individuals and family members facing mental and/or substance use disorders. This service provides referrals to local treatment facilities, support groups, and community-based organizations.

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I also believe in empowering and protecting all Americans, from the youngest to the oldest. That includes from the womb to the tomb. Human life is supreme above all else.

My wife, Gena, and I are fully aware how sensitive the abortion issue is. We really do. We've known many people who have struggled through this life-changing decision, and we've been there for them. We respect all peoples' views and beliefs, but we also ask people to respect ours as well, especially if and when they differ from theirs.

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This Mon., Jan. 22, marks 51 years since abortion became legal across the United States.

On January 22, 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court declared their decision regarding the case of Roe v. Wade, when the highest court in the land ruled 7-2 that individual state laws banning abortion were unconstitutional. From that point onward, abortion-on-demand was legalized in all 50 states. (That is, until Roe was overturned in June 2022 by the U.S. Supreme Court.)

In our viewpoint, Jan. 22, 1973, was the worst day in American history because it legalized killing babies in the womb. Abortion should have remained a legal issue for states not the federal government, as the tenth amendment in our U.S. Constitution guides.

Eleven years later, on Jan. 13, 1984, President Ronald Reagan issued a proclamation designating Jan. 22 as the first National Sanctity of Human Life Day. (Ever since, every year, tens of thousands of churches continue to recognize the third Sunday in January as a day to commemorate the high value of human life from the womb to the tomb.)

It is staggering to think that, since 1973, over 65 million innocent humans and Americans have lost their lives in the womb due to being aborted or terminated by their parent.

That's the bad news.

The good news is, as the Guardian reported, "Since Roe was overturned in 2022, 14 states have enacted near-total abortion bans, while two states – Georgia and South Carolina – have banned abortion past roughly six weeks of pregnancy. Other states have enacted laws or held ballot referendums to protect abortion rights."

In our viewpoint, the overturning of Roe in June 2022 was the best day in American history because it will save countless millions of babies lives in the womb, now and in the future.

Where people land on abortion rights depends largely on how they view human life in the womb. Today, people – in particular younger people (students) – aren't taught the scientific proof for human life inside the womb. Instead, they're taught there is no proof. Nothing could be further from the truth.

I was talking recently to an anthropology professor about the conception of life, and he shared with me some very fascinating information from Dr. Dianne Irving, a biochemist and biologist who is a professor at Georgetown University.

She wrote this about the scientific evidence for human life in the womb:

To begin with, scientifically something very radical occurs between the processes of gametogenesis and fertilization – the change from a simple part of one human being (i.e., a sperm) and a simple part of another human being (i.e., an oocyte – usually referred to as an "ovum" or "egg"), which simply possess "human life," to a new, genetically unique, newly existing, individual, whole living human being (a single-cell embryonic human zygote).

That is, upon fertilization, parts of human beings have actually been transformed into something very different from what they were before; they have been changed into a single, whole human being. During the process of fertilization, the sperm and the oocyte cease to exist as such, and a new human being is produced.

To understand this, it should be remembered that each kind of living organism has a specific number and quality of chromosomes that are characteristic for each member of a species. (The number can vary only slightly if the organism is to survive.)

For example, the characteristic number of chromosomes for a member of the human species is forty-six (plus or minus, e.g., in human beings with Down's or Turner's syndromes). Every somatic (or, body) cell in a human being has this characteristic number of chromosomes. Even the early germ cells contain forty-six chromosomes; it is only their mature forms – the sex gametes, or sperms and oocytes – which will later contain only twenty-three chromosomes each.

Sperms and oocytes are derived from primitive germ cells in the developing fetus by means of the process known as "gametogenesis." Because each germ cell normally has 46 chromosomes, the process of "fertilization" cannot take place until the total number of chromosomes in each germ cell is cut in half. This is necessary so that after their fusion at fertilization the characteristic number of chromosomes in a single individual member of the human species (46) can be maintained.

To accurately see why a sperm or an oocyte are considered as only possessing human life, and not as living human beings themselves, one needs to look at the basic scientific facts involved in the processes of gametogenesis and of fertilization. It may help to keep in mind that the products of gametogenesis and fertilization are very different. The products of gametogenesis are mature sex gametes with only 23 instead of 46 chromosomes. The product of fertilization is a living human being with 46 chromosomes. Gametogenesis refers to the maturation of germ cells, resulting in gametes. Fertilization refers to the initiation of a new human being. [Underline mine]

Dr. Edmund D. Pellegrino, physician, bioethicist, senior research scholar of the Kennedy Institute of Ethics, adjunct professor of philosophy at Georgetown, and also the former director of the Center for the Advanced Study of Ethics and founder and John Carroll Professor of Medicine and Medical Ethics, of the Center for Clinical Bioethics at Georgetown University, emphatically stated: "The life of the unborn is of equal value to the life of the mother, and any law that disregards this is unjust and must be opposed."

Dr. Jerome Lejeune, famous French pediatrician and geneticist, a member and laureate of many international academies, universities and scholarly societies, from which he received countless awards like the Griffuel Prize for his pioneering work on chromosomal anomalies in cancer, rightly said, "The right to life is the first right mentioned in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Every human being, born or pre-born, is entitled to this fundamental right."

That is why Thomas Jefferson explained in the founding of our country that preserving human value and life was government's primary role: "The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government."

It is also the reason that Jefferson created and penned in his own hand the words in the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government. …"

We pray the Biden administration would wake up to Jefferson's wisdom instead of expanding access to abortion as he has done, and he pledges to expand it even more if he remains president.

As long as Americans are re-learning how to respect and get along with one another, and even agree to disagree agreeably, maybe it's high time we re-evaluated the worth of every human, and that includes the value we give to the voiceless in wombs, too.

Whether in Washington, D.C., New York, Chicago, Houston, Denver, Los Angeles, Seattle, Portland, or in any other cities across every state of our union, we shouldn't justify violence to humans outside the womb or inside the womb. Instead, we should esteem all human life from conception to the grave.

The inherent and enduring value of all humans is echoed in the Bible in Psalm 139: "For You, God, created my inmost being; You knit me together in my mother's womb. I praise You because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Your works are wonderful, I know that full well."

Or as the old classic 1800s spiritual put it:

Jesus loves the little children,
All the children of the world.
Red and yellow, black and white,
All are precious in His sight,
Jesus loves the little children of the world.

(For more proof about human life in the womb, I recommend starting with the article, "Scientific Evidence for the Personhood of Unborn Children," by Dr. Wayne Grudem, PhD, University of Cambridge. Please also check out our friend and #1 author Randy Alcorn's books and other resources on the subject on his website, Eternal Perspective Ministries. For those who are thinking of having an abortion or if you want to help someone who is thinking about it, please read Dr. James Dobson's article, "How to Help a Friend Who Wants an Abortion." Further personal help and counseling can also be found here.)

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Former President Barack Obama recently admonished President Biden's flailing reelection campaign crew to get it in gear before they suffer a devastating defeat.

With Biden's approval ratings tanking to 39% – the lowest of recent presidents at the same point in their presidencies, I can understand why Biden is shaking in his boots.

The fact is, this presidential election year can serve as a referendum on the White House and Washington, knowing that half of U.S. adults rate current economic conditions in the country as poor (45%) and only 3 in 100 (3%) describing conditions as excellent. Who isn't tired of skyrocketing inflation?

But rather than having me share the potential power of your 2024 vote, I want to let America's founders remind us all. After all, they created our voting republic!

Below is what 10 founders want you to remember as you ponder and pray about whom to vote for this year. (A special thanks goes to historian David Barton from Wallbuilders for providing this information on his website: www.wallbuilders.com)

Consider what a few of America's founders said about the moral conduct of elected officials. I believe we should feel and say the same. If we don't, quite frankly, we contribute to the demise of the country they established.

Samuel Adams, organizer of the Boston Tea Party and signer the U.S. Declaration of Independence, wrote, "Nothing is more essential to the establishment of manners in a State than that all persons employed in places of power and trust be men of unexceptionable characters. The public cannot be too curious concerning the character of public men."

John Adams, our second president, said, "We electors have an important constitutional power placed in our hands; we have a check upon two branches of the legislature … the power I mean of electing at stated periods [each] branch. … It becomes necessary to every [citizen] then, to be in some degree a statesman, and to examine and judge for himself of the tendency of political principles and measures. Let us examine, then, with a sober, a manly … and a Christian spirit; let us neglect all party [loyalty] and advert to facts; let us believe no man to be infallible or impeccable in government any more than in religion; take no man's word against evidence, nor implicitly adopt the sentiments of others who may be deceived themselves, or may be interested in deceiving us."

Thomas Jefferson, primary author of the Declaration of Independence and our third president, said, "[S]hould things go wrong at any time, the people will set them to rights by the peaceable exercise of their elective rights."

Alexander Hamilton, chief of staff to Gen. George Washington, one of the greatest advocates of the U.S. Constitution, and founder of the first American political party and our nation's financial system, wrote, "A share in the sovereignty of the state, which is exercised by the citizens at large, in voting at elections is one of the most important rights of the subject, and in a republic ought to stand foremost in the estimation of the law."

William Penn, founder of Pennsylvania, noted, "Governments, like clocks, go from the motion men give them; and as governments are made and moved by men, so by them they are ruined too. Wherefore governments rather depend upon men than men upon governments. Let men be good and the government cannot be bad. … But if men be bad, let the government be never so good, they will endeavor to warp and spoil it to their turn."

Noah Webster, strong advocate of the Constitutional Convention who was also known as the "Father of American Scholarship and Education," advised, "In selecting men for office, let principle be your guide. Regard not the particular sect or denomination of the candidate – look to his character. … When a citizen gives his suffrage to a man of known immorality he abuses his trust; he sacrifices not only his own interest, but that of his neighbor, he betrays the interest of his country."

William Paterson, a signer of the U.S. Constitution, associate justice of the United States Supreme Court and second governor of New Jersey, paraphrasing Proverbs 29:2, wrote, "When the righteous rule, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan."

John Witherspoon, a clergyman who signed the Declaration of Independence and the Articles of Confederation as well as served at the convention that ratified the U.S. Constitution in New Jersey, advised: "Those who wish well to the State ought to choose to places of trust men of inward principle, justified by exemplary conversation. … The people in general ought to have regard to the moral character of those whom they invest with authority either in the legislative, executive, or judicial branches."

John Jay, the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (appointed by George Washington) and second governor of New York, wrote, "Providence has given to our people the choice of their rulers, and it is the duty, as well as the privilege and interest of our Christian nation, to select and prefer Christians for their rulers."

Their words bring me back again to the words of the most famous American and leader of our republic, George Washington, who by no means was perfect but scholars say a man of great moral repute and more deeply devoted (Anglican) Christian than most know.

Washington worried about the future of his new nation as many of us do now. It was far too divided, with further potential of tearing at its constitutional seams. He was concerned that unbridled freedom, coupled with relative morality and expediency, would give way to an uncivilized society and the ultimate dissolution of our republic.

GovInfo.Gov rightly concluded: "In September 1796, worn out by burdens of the presidency and attacks of political foes, George Washington announced his decision not to seek a third term. With the assistance of Alexander Hamilton and James Madison, Washington composed in a 'Farewell Address' his political testament to the nation … Designed to inspire and guide future generations. …"

Washington culminated his address with these words:

Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable supports. In vain would that man claim the tribute of patriotism who should labor to subvert these great pillars of human happiness, these firmest props of the duties of men and citizens. The mere politician, equally with the pious man, ought to respect and to cherish them. A volume could not trace all their connections with private and public felicity. Let it simply be asked where is the security for property, for reputation, for life, if the sense of religious obligation desert the oaths, which are the instruments of investigation in courts of justice? And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

Follow the above founders' advice and we'll vote for the right candidates and issues as well as reboot our county, state and federal governments upon those who are worthy of our respect.

Lastly, there are few Americans more iconic than Abraham Lincoln, our 16th president. He is most remembered for leading the country through the Civil War, giving the Emancipation Proclamation and being assassinated by a single bullet in Ford's Theater in Washington, D.C.

In 1856, four years before he was elected president, Lincoln spoke at the Republican State Convention of Illinois. In the speech, he gave these truthful (yet eerily prophetic) words we should never forget about our power to vote: "Do not mistake that the ballot is stronger than the bullet."

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It was President Andrew Jackson that led the charge to bring the national debt to $0.

How did he do it?

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History.com explained, "The elimination of the national debt was both a personal issue for Jackson and the culmination of a political project as old as the nation itself. Since the time of the Revolution, American politicians had argued over the wisdom of the nation carrying debt. After independence, the federal government agreed to take on individual states' war debts as part of the unification of the former colonies. Federalists, those who favored a stronger central government, established a national bank and argued that debt could be a useful way of fueling the new country's economy. Their opponents, most notably Thomas Jefferson, felt that these policies favored Northeastern elites at the expense of rural Americans and saw the debt as a source of national shame.

"Jackson, a populist whose Democratic Party grew out of Jefferson's Democratic-Republican Party, had a personal aversion to debt stemming from a land deal that had gone sour for him in his days as a speculator. Campaigning for re-election in 1832, Jackson vetoed the re-charter of the national bank and called the debt 'a moral failing' and 'black magic.' Jackson vetoed a number of spending bills throughout his tenure, putting an end to projects that would have expanded nationwide infrastructure. He further paid down the debt by selling off vast amounts of government land in the West, and was able to settle the debt entirely in 1835."

Outside of brief periods in our nation's history, U.S. presidents have not been frugal and disciplined with debt management. But our founding fathers and first eight presidents did a much better job with money management than present leaders, who could learn a few fiscal lessons by turning back the clock to our early republic.

Critics decry the founders' financial policies as too obsolete for our bloated federal bureaucracy, but resurrecting their policies and passion for bringing down the national debt would serve America well at this moment.

As Thomas West, professor of politics at the University of Dallas, explained in his excellent 2010 Heritage Foundation treatise, "The Economic Principles of America's Founders: Property Rights, Free Markets, and Sound Money":

"It is true that there were bitter disputes over particular policies during the founding era, such as the paying of the national debt, the existence of a national bank, and whether to subsidize domestic manufactures, and these differences seemed tremendously important in the 1790s. But in spite of these quarrels, there was a background consensus on both principles and the main lines of economic policy that government should follow."

According to data from the U.S. Treasury itself, on Jan. 1, 1791, during George Washington's second year as president, the national debt was $75 million, but that financial liability was incurred during the Revolutionary War as the cash-strapped Continental Congress, which lacked authority to levy taxes, accepted loans from France's government, the Spanish government, Dutch bankers and investors, etc.

And it was also true that Washington accrued $7 million more in debt during his entire eight years as president, but, with the genius help of Secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton, they firmly established our flailing country on solid financial grounds and as a global power.

Moreover, in 1795, they absolved U.S. financial or debt obligations to foreign governments (though it did owe to some private investors in Europe) because American bankers privately assumed the foreign debts at a slightly higher interest rate and then resold them at a profit on domestic U.S. markets.

The second U.S. president, John Adams, essentially broke even with the national debt during his four years in office by starting his term $82 million in the red, dropping the debt $4 million in two years to $78 million, then accruing back the same amount by the end of his term in 1801, largely in order to fund a larger, more mobile Army. Nevertheless, Adams cautioned against national loans, saying they led to the collapse of many historical empires.

Thomas Jefferson was head and tail above the presidential pack when it came to federal spending and reducing the national debt. Despite fighting in the Barbary Wars and obtaining low-interest loans for the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, during his eight years in office Jefferson lowered the national debt from $83 million to $57 million.

And the next four presidents basically followed suit. Despite the war of 1812, further U.S. land acquisitions and the building up of inter-state infrastructure, etc., the next four administrations of Presidents Madison, Monroe, Quincy Adams and Andrew Jackson were able to bring the national debt down from $57 million to a mere $33,703.05 cents, and then to $0!

You ask: How did our founding presidents do it?

Here's a snapshot of their sentiments and policies toward national debt, which are further detailed in the third chapter ("Stop the Nightmare of Debt") in my book, "Black Belt Patriotism: How to Reawaken America."

George Washington told the House of Representatives in 1793: "No pecuniary consideration is more urgent than the regular redemption and discharge of the public debt; on none can delay be more injurious, or an economy of the time more valuable," as Time magazine reported.

Washington also wrote in 1799 to James Welch, "To contract new debts is not the way to pay for old ones."

John Adams wrote to Thomas Jefferson from Paris in 1780: "I think we shall do no great things in borrowing [money], unless that system or some other, calculated to bring things to some certain and steady standard, succeeds."

Jefferson similarly admonished Samuel Kercheval in 1816, "To preserve [the] independence [of the people], we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt."

Thomas Jefferson also wrote to Fulwar Skipwith in 1787, "The maxim of buying nothing but what we had money in our pockets to pay for … [is] a maxim, which, of all others, lays the broadest foundation for happiness."

In spite that the national deficit nearly doubled under President James Madison, largely due to the War of 1812, the so-called "Father of the Constitution" said in remorse: "I regret, as much as any member, the unavoidable weight and duration of the burdens to be imposed; having never been a proselyte to the doctrine, that public debts are public benefits. I consider them, on the contrary, as evils which ought to be removed as fast as honor and justice will permit." He described national debts as "moral obligations" as far back in Federalist Paper No. 43.

President Monroe, who shrank the national debt by one-third, said, "The vast amount of vacant lands, the value of which daily augments, forms an additional resource of great extent and duration. These resources, besides accomplishing every other necessary purpose, put it completely in the power of the United States to discharge the national debt at an early period."

John Quincy Adams, who also shrank the national debt by another one-third said, "The plain state of the fact appears to me to be that the load of taxation to pay the interest on the national debt is greater than the nation can bear, and that the only possible remedy will be a composition with the public creditors, or an authoritative reduction of the debt in one form or another."

Andrew Jackson made this passionate presidential commitment: "I stand committed before the country to pay off the national debt at the earliest practicable moment. This pledge I am determined to redeem." (And on Jan. 8, 1835, the national debt was paid off!)

Compare all those frugal fiscal founders' financial principles to the fact that President Biden's 2023 federal budget will "nearly double nominal debt, growing from $24.6 trillion to $43.6 trillion over the next decade," according to the watchdog Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget.

The CBO even reported, "Debt held by the public is projected to rise in relation to the size of the economy each year, reaching 118 percent of GDP by 2033 – which would be the highest level ever recorded."

Am I missing something? Do you think your household could withstand doubling your spending, debt and deficits, without the house of cards eventually crashing in a gargantuan way?

To add insult to injury, our vassalage to other countries deepens as they bankroll increasing amounts of U.S. debt. In 1970, only 5% of U.S. public debt was foreign owned. Fifty years later, foreign owners now own nearly one-third of our national debt!

The Peter G. Peterson Foundation explained, "Foreign ownership of U.S. debt, which includes both governments and private investors, is much higher now than it was 50 years ago. In 1970, total foreign holdings accounted for $4.9 billion, or just 5 percent, of DHBP. As of December 2021, such holdings made up $7.7 trillion, or one-third, of public debt. Of that amount, 54 percent was held by foreign governments while private investors held the remaining 46 percent. Because Treasury securities are backed by the full faith and credit of the U.S. government, creditors including foreign investors often view lending to the United States as a safe investment."

Do you really want four more years of a Biden presidency that literally hands more American soil over to foreign ownership? Can the America economy afford four more years of Bidenomics without utterly collapsing in on itself?

John Adams was right: "Facts are stubborn things."

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So, the big question is: Will a new year bring us brighter times? Will you and yours be happier in 2024? The answer is definitely YES, at least it can be. However, it genuinely doesn't take a new year to find it, including in times we've suffered great hardships. Let me explain.

First, America definitely needs a reset. Most of us can use a new beginning in a big way. The truth is, most people are waiting for personal hardships and a bad economy to disappear so that their lives can get "back to normal." But what is "normal," and were most of us really happy there?

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Studies show that since 1972 to the present, throughout roughly nine presidents, salaries have increased across the fields of employment. House ownership and living space have increased. Material goods in our homes have increased. Technological speed, commerce and social connections via the internet have radically increased. And for those who don't have much of the above, even government growth and entitlements have increased.

Yet, throughout the past five decades, happiness has decreased, according to Arthur C. Brooks, in his very insightful column a few years back in The Atlantic, "Are We Trading Our Happiness for Modern Comforts?"

Brooks, a professor of the practice of public leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School and a professor of management practice at the Harvard Business School, explained, "But amid these advances in quality of life across the income scale, average happiness is decreasing in the U.S. The General Social Survey, which has been measuring social trends among Americans every one or two years since 1972, shows a long-term, gradual decline in happiness – and rise in unhappiness – from 1988 to the present."

Dr. Brooks further explained:

"Empty consumerism and soulless government are the traditional two explanations for our modern alienation. These days, there is a brand-new one: tech. The tech revolution promised us our heart's desires: everything you want to know at the click of a mouse [or touch of an app]; the ability to become famous to strangers; anything you want to buy, delivered to your door in days without you having to leave home.

"But our happiness has not increased as a result – on the contrary. Mounting evidence shows that media and technology use predict deleterious psychological and physiological outcomes, especially among young people. This is particularly true in the case of social-media use. Psychologist Jean M. Twenge has shown that social media increases depression, especially among girls and young women."

Brooks words remind me of a great book I just finished that was written nearly 30 years ago. It is called "Christianity for Modern Pagans" by Peter Kreeft. It is a reflection on selected Pensees by Blaise Pascal, the brilliant 17th century scientist, philosopher and inventor. Pascal's main point is that humans create and are consumed with (some say, addicted to) "diversions" in order to experience lasting happiness, all the while running from their real selves and the true path of happiness. What amazes me is that Pascal wrote these things centuries before TV, Super Bowls, eBay, Netflix, social media and internet commerce.

Kreeft summarized the conclusion: "A society or individual with the most amusements and diversions is not the happiest, but the most unhappy. Therefore, our society is the unhappiest. All the social indicators bear out this conclusion: depression, divorce, suicide, anxiety, drugs, violence [workaholism, chaotic busyness?] – you name it. The point is simple, we never want to divert ourselves from happiness, only from unhappiness" (p. 169).

Or in the words of Dr. Brooks: "We don't get happier as our society gets richer, because we chase the wrong things." Our "diversions," as Pascal wrote, don't stop inner conflicts but only temporarily cover them up.

Winning the culture war for true happiness might be America's greatest battle, and it's waging right now at full tilt within hearts and minds across the union.

Dare I say, 2023 hasn't all been in vain. As tough and even tragic as it's been for so many, it's stripped us of our "diversions" and forced us to face the real us. And as painful as that might be, like fall leaves blown away in the wind, it's also revealed the path to victory and happiness.

Dr. Brooks offers three steps of advice to help get us back to the roots of true happiness, wisdom that can definitely help us in 2024, especially as we pursue a more "normal life" in the aftermath of this last year. It's worth your very slow read, and maybe even a second read:

1. Don't buy that thing

Marketers know that if they can grab hold of your brain chemistry – get you in a state of "hedonic consumption" in which your decisions are driven by pleasure more than utility – they can probably sell you something, whether you "need" it or not. But we can resist advertising's pull on our emotions. Next time you are presented with the claim that this or that product will make you happy, channel your inner monk, and say five times, out loud: "This will not bring me satisfaction." Then imagine yourself in six months looking back on this decision, pleased that you made it correctly.

2. Don't put your faith in princes (or politicians)

If I complain that government is soulless or that a politician is making me unhappy – which I personally have done a thousand times – I am saying that I think government should have a soul or that politicians can and should bring me happiness. This is naive at best.

Some of history's greatest tyrants have promised that a government or political leader could bring joy to life. In 1949, the Soviet government promoted the slogan "Beloved Stalin is the people's happiness." Few leaders have delivered more misery and death than Stalin – but looking at this slogan makes me think twice about my own expectations of governments and politicians. [Don't many today put their same hope in a president or next one?]

3. Don't trade love for anything

I havereferenced in this column before a famous study that followed hundreds of men who graduated from Harvard from 1939 to 1944 throughout their lives, into their 90s. The researchers wanted to know who flourished, who didn't, and the decisions they had made that contributed to that well-being. The lead scholar on the study for many years was the Harvard psychiatrist George Vaillant, who summarized the results in his book "Triumphs of Experience." Here is his summary, in its entirety: "Happiness is love. Full stop."

The current director of the study, the psychiatrist Robert Waldinger, filled in the details. He told me in a recent interview that the subjects who reported having the happiest lives were those with strong family ties, close friendships and rich romantic lives. The subjects who were most depressed and lonely late in life – not to mention more likely to be suffering from dementia, alcoholism, or other health problems – were the ones who had neglected their close relationships.

What this means is that anything that substitutes for close human relationships in your life is a bad trade. The study I mentioned above about uses of money makes this point. But the point goes much deeper. You will sacrifice happiness if you crowd out relationships with work, drugs, politics, or social media.

The world encourages us to love things and use people. But that's backwards. Put this on your fridge and try to live by it: Love people; use things.

And if love and romance are our path to true happiness, they find no greater pinnacle and purpose than in our sacred romance: our relationship with God.

The truth is, all good things (including romance in relationships) come down from God, but those good things were never intended to fill up our hearts or bring ultimate satisfaction.

I think America's founders knew that. That's why they connected a Creator with our happiness in the Declaration of Independence: "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness."

It is not coincidental that Thomas Jefferson's original rough draft of the Declaration, which is on exhibit in the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., began with the words: "We hold these truths to be sacred & undeniable …." Sacred truths? Yes!

Scholars believe one possible source for Jefferson's thought and phrase comes from the "Commentaries on the Laws of England" published by Sir William Blackstone, from 1765 to 1769, which are often cited in the laws of the United States.

Blackstone argued that God "has so intimately connected, so inseparably interwoven the laws of eternal justice with the happiness of each individual, that the latter cannot be attained but by observing the former; and, if the former be punctually obeyed, it cannot but induce the latter."

That is why in my New York Times bestseller, "Black Belt Patriotism," my closing chapter is on "Reawakening the American Dream," or helping people to really understand how America's founders intended us to enjoy life, liberty and happiness.

The one constant in life is also the source of all things in the Declaration: the Creator. Our founders trusted not in the supply but the Supplier to acquire life, liberty and happiness, and encouraged us to do the same.

There's a verse in the Bible that summarizes it for me: "Instruct those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to fix their hope on the uncertainty of riches, but on God, who richly supplies us with all things to enjoy."

The way I put it is: When you've got God, you've got the gold – and all you need to achieve and experience true love, happiness and the American Dream.

The man who has studied and documented the topic of personal happiness better than anyone else in my opinion is our friend and prolific author, Randy Alcorn, in his book titled simply, "Happiness." If there is one book you should read in 2024, this is the one, and very affordable at still holiday discount prices (now half off at only $12 from Randy's website).

The fact is, you've had the key to happiness all along. Like Dorothy with her ruby slippers, God is with you now, and was with you even during the hard times of 2023. The good news about that is that we don't have to wait for a new year, a new day or a new anything to start experiencing happiness. You can have happiness right here, right now, if we turn to the Lord for happiness.

It's why Randy Alcorn also wrote in his Introduction to "Happiness": "Anyone who waits for happiness will never be happy."

Are there better resolutions to make then spiritual ones? Indeed, they "hold blessings for this life and the life to come."

My wife, Gena, and I wish you and yours happiness today, in the New Year and always!

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An Ipsos national poll revealed that "three-quarters agree that most Americans have forgotten the real meaning of Christmas." The Pew Research Center further reported that "a declining majority of Americans believe the biblical Christmas story reflects historical events."

To reveal the historical truths behind Christmas, one must consider the work of Yale Law School-educated, Chicago Tribune investigative journalist and once-atheist Lee Strobel, in his excellent little book, "The Case for Christmas," which is full of big evidence for the rationale or reason in the reason in the season.

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In Part 1, I gave snapshots from scholars Strobel interviewed in answering two of four critical questions to decipher fact from fantasy in the Christmas story:

• Can the biographies of Jesus (in the Bible) be trusted?
• Does archeology confirm or contradict Jesus' biographies?
• Did Jesus fulfill the attributes of God?
• Did Jesus match the identity of the Messiah?

Let me now convey how scholars answered Strobel's latter two questions.

Did Jesus fulfill the attributes of God?
For this question, Strobel interviewed an author and editor of 40 books, Dr. D.A. Carson, who got his doctorate at Cambridge University and is research professor at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School. He's also a Greek scholar.

Dr. Carson explained evidence from Christ's deity and incarnation to his atonement and miracles, with his resurrection being "the ultimate vindication of his identity" (p. 57). Dr. Carson noted how Christ repeatedly attributed to himself qualities or attributes reserved only for God, especially the act of being able to forgive sin. He wasn't merely claiming to be a good moral man or teacher, but the Son of God – the very essence of God in human flesh. To differ with that claim is not merely to disagree with mainstream scholarship consensus, but Jesus himself. This puts him head and tail above all the other religious leaders in human history.

In fact, Dr. Edwin Yamauchi, professor emeritus of History for over 40 years at Miami University, concluded: "To argue each of these [world religious] leaders is equivalent is to argue not from tolerance, but from ignorance. … In comparing Jesus with Zoroaster, Buddha, Socrates and Muhammad, we discover a number of unique features in Jesus' life and ministry: (1) Only Jesus came out of a culture that was already monotheistic; (2) His death by crucifixion; (3) Excluding later legend in other religious leaders, early accounts attribute miracles only to Jesus; (4) Only Jesus spoke on his own unquestioned authority; (5) Only Jesus predicted he would be resurrected after his death, and only his followers rest their faith on such an event; (6) Only Jesus claimed equality with a sole, supreme deity."

From Jesus' miracles to acts of forgiveness, Jesus stands on a shelf all alone, set apart as one of the most influential – if not the most influential – life ever lived in human history. His influence has shaped nearly everything in Western civilization, including art, literature, architecture, governments, culture, countries and even our very calendar (B.C. for "Before Christ" and A.D. for the Latin, Anno Domini – "In the year of our Lord"). And he continues to change the hearts and minds of millions of his followers who are called Christians, including my wife, Gena, and me.

Did Jesus match the identity of the Messiah?
To understand if Jesus was the awaited Messiah expected by Judaism, Strobel turned to someone who was raised in a Jewish home, attended a Jewish synagogue and personally wrestled through the claims of Christ. Louis Lapides earned two master's degrees in Old Testament and Semitics from Talbot Theological Seminary and is the former president of a national network of 15 messianic congregations.

Early into Lapides' inquiries into Jesus, he was startled to find aspects about his life and ministry that matched Old Testament verses foretelling the coming of One greater than Moses hundreds of years before Jesus was even born. Scholars call those messianic prophecies.

Though hundreds of such predictions exist in the Jewish Scriptures, Lapides was stunned by how Jesus fulfilled more than four dozen major predictions. They included things one couldn't fabricate or orchestrate, such as a virgin birth in Bethlehem, originating from the lineage of the tribe of Judah and house of David, performing many miracles, being betrayed, killed by piercing in the hands and feed (despite crucifixion wasn't a form of death penalty at the time), and whose body would see no decay (resurrection), etc. (p. 77).

Strobel's notes that, "As Lapides progressed through the Scriptures, he was stopped cold by Isaiah 53" about God's suffering servant. He added, "Instantly Lapides recognized the portrait: this was Jesus of Nazareth!" (p. 76).

Lapides went on to explain that the odds of just eight messianic prophecies being fulfilled in Jesus were astronomical. Strobel concurred, recollecting his own research as an atheist when he discovered the same statistical analysis by mathematician Peter W. Stoner, who "estimated that the probability of fulfilling 48 prophecies was one chance in a trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion, trillion!" (p. 82).

It's no surprise that C.S. Lewis – the great Oxford scholar, writer of the Narnia series and someone who was also once an avid atheist – wrote in his now timeless classic "Mere Christianity": "A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a good moral teacher. He would either be a lunatic – on a level with the man who says he is a poached egg – or else he would be the Devil of Hell. You must make your choice. Either this man was, and is, the Son of God: or else a madman or something worse. You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill Him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God. But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great moral teacher. He has not left that open to us. He did not intend to."

And for those who might think religious belief is obsolete in our modern era, Lewis also had a good word and reminder: "We all want progress, but if you're on the wrong road, progress means doing an about-turn and walking back to the right road; in that case, the man who turns back soonest is the most progressive."

Jesus proved who He was to give us assurance that what the shepherds experienced 2,000 years ago on the Bethlehem hills was true. In this scripture passage, they were watching sheep in their pastures when an angel appeared to them. As many people in the Bible reacted when angels showed up, the shepherds were frightened, so the angel said, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger" (Luke 2:10-12).

As you turn into a new year, remember that there are no greater resolutions we can make than spiritual ones. If you have questions about how to take the steps to peace with God, please go online to http://peacewithgod.org.

And if you want to read more about Christmas evidence, I encourage you to start by picking up Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christmas," or you can watch Strobel himself detail the proofs in a CCN public speech he gave posted here on YouTube.

Speaking of inspirational videos, I can't complete this Christmas column without recommending you also view a timeless Christmas classic: President Reagan back in 1981 giving his Christmas address from the Oval Office. It is among his best orations on faith and Christmas – one we may never hear again unless we elect another leader in his legacy.

From my wife, Gena, myself and our whole household, we wish you the merriest of Christmases and the happiest of New Years with the greatest of God's blessings!

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But that original Christmas story has been largely forgotten by many Americans today. And even among those who know it, many doubt that it represents real history. It's more like a belief in Santa Claus. (Interestingly, 1 in 5 American adults believe Santa is actually real!).

An Ipsos national poll revealed that "three-quarters agree that most Americans have forgotten the real meaning of Christmas." The Pew Research Center further reported that "a declining majority of Americans believe the biblical Christmas story reflects historical events."

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If you doubt the authenticity of the origin of Christmas, I know an investigative editor and scholar who can put some evidence in your eggnog!

Lee Strobel earned a Master of Studies in Law degree from Yale Law School, became the award-winning legal editor of the Chicago Tribune and was a spiritual skeptic until 1981. I recently read his short 91-page booklet titled "The Case for Christmas," in which he viewed the sacred holiday as an investigative journalist and interviewed various scholars on the heart of its meaning. You can call his book: the rationale or reason in the reason for the season.

Strobel explained in his Introduction, "Essentially, that's what I did for a living as a Tribune reporter: investigate claims to see if they're true, separate rumors from reality, and determine facts from fiction" (p. 11).

As an atheist and crime reporter for the Tribune, Strobel first set out to disprove and discredit the Christ in Christmas, but ended up writing in favor of him in face of the compelling evidence. Strobel commendably allowed even his own bias to be confronted by his investigation.

Strobel's historical examination led him to research in four primary areas and proofs: the eyewitness evidence, the scientific evidence, the profile evidence and the fingerprint evidence. In back of each of those four proofs were these four questions:

• Can the biographies of Jesus (in the Bible) be trusted?
• Does archeology confirm or contradict Jesus' biographies?
• Did Jesus fulfill the attributes of God?
• Did Jesus match the identity of the Messiah?

I recommend a complete reading of Strobel's booklet because there's so much more evidence in it to be examined and pondered. Nevertheless, I grabbed a few of the experts' answers to those questions to highlight them here in my Christmas column.

Can the biographies of Jesus (in the Bible) be trusted?

Craig Blomberg, who received his Ph.D. from Aberdeen University in Scotland and later served as senior research fellow at Cambridge University, is one of the foremost authorities in our country on Jesus' biographies. In "The Case for Christmas," Dr. Blomberg explained to Strobel that, as with some of the best works of antiquity, Jesus' biographical accuracy is based upon eyewitnesses. The fact is, two of the Gospels or accounts about Jesus (Matthew and John) were authored by first-century eyewitnesses of his life. The other two Gospels (Mark and Luke) were written by men of high repute who compiled firsthand eyewitness evidence.

For example, there is turn-of-the-first century evidence that the Gospel of Mark recorded the Apostle Peter's eyewitness testimony. In addition, the New Testament writer Luke, a physician and historian in that day, wrote in his prologue, "Many have undertaken to draw up an account of the things that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed down to us by those who from the first were eyewitnesses and servants of the word. With this in mind, since I myself have carefully investigated everything from the beginning, I too decided to write an orderly account for you … so that you may know the certainty of the things you have been taught."

Dr. Blomberg explained to Strobel that it's also very important to note that even liberal critics date all four accounts of Jesus' life in the Bible within the first century A.D. And, as copies of those Gospels circulated around Israel and the Mediterranean world, there wasn't a single person living at that time who wrote down any doubt of their content's accuracy, even though myriad of eyewitnesses of Jesus' life and ministry were still alive in the first century.

Does archeology confirm or contradict Jesus' biographies?

In this section of his booklet, Strobel shares about his interview with John McRay, Ph.D., who wrote the nearly 500-page book, "Archeology and the New Testament." McRay studied at Hebrew University, the Ecole Biblique Archeologique Franaise in Jerusalem, Vanderbuilt University Divinity School, and the University of Chicago, from which he earned his doctorate.

Strobel posed the question to Dr. McRay: "Does archeology affirm or undermine the New Testament when it checks out the details in those accounts [about Jesus]?"

Strobel then explained that McRay didn't flinch in his response: "Oh, there's no question that the credibility of the New Testament is enhanced, just as credibility of any ancient document is enhanced when you excavate and find that the author was accurate in talking about a particular place or event" (p. 41).

When the authors of the Gospels wrote about people, places and events, they wrote about historical realities that existed or occurred in real space and time in first-century Palestine. Among those are the census that required Mary and Joseph to return to his town of Bethlehem and the archeological proof for Nazareth, whose existence skeptics once doubted.

Dr. Ray affirmed that archeological discoveries haven't controverted a single reference in the birth narratives of the Gospels. That is why, for example, McRay explained, "The general consensus of both liberal and conservative scholars is that Luke is very accurate as a historian. He's erudite, he's eloquent, his Greek approaches classical quality, he writes as an educated man, and archaeological discoveries are showing over and over again that Luke is accurate in what he has to say" (p. 43).

Not only are the Gospels full of real people, places and events but they are backed by having some of the earliest and the greatest number (thousands) of handwritten manuscripts compared to other works of antiquity. They demonstrate "99.5 percent free of textual discrepancies" (p. 53), when comparing the New Testament's earliest manuscripts with today's modern translations.

Next week in Part 2 (on Christmas Day), I will reveal how other scholars replied to Strobel's remaining two questions: Did Jesus fulfill the attributes of God? And did Jesus match the identity of the Messiah – the one who Jews expected to come as the Savior of the world?

If you want to read those answers sooner and in greater depth, pick up Lee Strobel's "The Case for Christmas," or you can watch Strobel himself detail the evidence in a CCN public speech he gave posted here on YouTube.

My wife, Gena, and I wish you a very Merry Christmas and the happiest of New Years!

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I might have one more movie for you to add to your collection next year as I'm back in action with a new military sci-fi combat film, "Agent Recon"! It's not a Christmas movie, but it will definitely put some joy in your jingle and thrill in your tinsel!

I'm starring alongside sci-fi icon Derek Ting ("Agent Revelation") and Marc Singer ("Beastmaster, V"), as well as other amazing actors on our all-star team.

As Deadline and Yahoo News reported, I star as "Alastair, the commander of a covert Earth security task force, who calls upon super-powered rookie Jim (Ting) to go on a mission led by battle-hardened Colonel Green (Singer) and his seasoned marines to track a mysterious energy disturbance at a base in New Mexico suspected of experimenting on alien technology. When the team encounters an unknown being of not only extraordinary strength and speed, but also the ability to control mindless warriors, the trio must fight through unstoppable hordes to uncover the truth behind the hostile alien fortress and prevent humanity's demise."

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Director and star Ting explained, "I knew we had to make sure fans experience epic fun. My stunt team pushed the boundaries of my vision for clear-grounded action elevated with motivated storytelling, and we had Chuck's son, Dakota, come on board to choreograph all of his father's fight sequences. Moreover, we filmed on the cinematic ARRI Alexa cameras at Hollywood's most breathtaking sets and landscapes and finished it off with cutting-edge visual effects, an invigorating score, and heart-pumping sound effects."

As Ting mentioned, one of the personal thrills for my wife, Gena, and me was to have our son, Dakota, serve as the choreographer for my fight scenes on "Agent Recon." Dakota is a third-degree black belt and a martial arts expert in his own right. Here's an action-packed 1-minute video of Dakota and his equally amazing black belt sister and our daughter, Danilee, sparring in our gym on our Lone Wolf Ranch in Texas. Here is Dakota also doing a little more training in Hawaii. Not bad, eh?

Our son, Dakota, with his mother and my beautiful wife, Gena, and his twin sister and our equally amazing daughter, Danilee.

Here are a few behind-the-scene photos from my fight scenes in "Agent Recon" that Dakota choreographed:

Quiver Distribution has now completed production on "Agent Recon" and plans to release the film in North America in 2024, with Millennium Media selling foreign territories. So, be watching soon for upcoming trailers in your local theaters.

Gena and I couldn't be more grateful for "Agent Recon" Producers Ting and Joyce Yung and for Random Art Workshop (RAW) Films. We equally thank Executive Producers Meyerowitz, Sackman, Larry Greenberg and Judah Klatzer for Quiver and Matthew Helderman, Grady Craig and Luke Taylor for Buffalo 8 and BondIt Media Capital.

I can't wait for you all to see "Agent Recon"! Coming soon to a theater near you! Stay tuned!

Especially during this holiday season, I can't finish this column without commending the real heroes and freedom fighters of our country and this world: U.S. servicemen and servicewomen. Wherever you are serving, God bless you and your families. We pray for you all and your protection, strength and peace.

From our home to yours, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year from Gena, Dakota, Danilee and me!

Content created by the WND News Center is available for re-publication without charge to any eligible news publisher that can provide a large audience. For licensing opportunities of our original content, please contact licensing@wndnewscenter.org.

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