The Real Meaning of Christmas, Faith & Family

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Wolves & Wisemen Reignited — Episode 10 — Christmas Special

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About This Episode

Christmas presents.

Santa Claus.

Family traditions.

Matching pajamas.

Spending way too much money.

And somewhere underneath all of it...

A Savior was born.

Jesus Christ.

Starting in Luke 2, the guys talk about the birth of Jesus, His incredibly humble beginning in a manger, and what Christmas has become in modern culture.

When you're a kid, Christmas can feel magical.

But as you get older, that magic can easily become wrapped up in buying presents, spending money, comparing what you have to what everyone else has, and trying to create some perfect version of Christmas.

The guys ask whether we've allowed all of that to overshadow the real meaning of the holiday.

They share their own childhood Christmas traditions, what they're trying to teach their children, how their experiences with Christmas have changed over the years, and why keeping Christ at the center matters more than what's sitting underneath the tree.

The conversation also gets personal as they talk about family traditions, divorced families, sharing holidays with children, spending Christmas without your kids, and how different everyone's experience of the season can be.

But the central message stays the same:

Teach them why we celebrate Christmas.

Because the baby born in Bethlehem wasn't simply part of a Christmas story.

His birth is the beginning of the story that leads to the Cross, salvation, and the reason Christians have hope in the first place.

Then, because this is still Wolves & Wisemen, the Christmas Special eventually moves from Jesus and family traditions to current events, ridiculous stories, Folks on Fire, Boners, haunted military outposts, OP Rock, night vision, mysterious radio transmissions—and finally a truck driver who claims he shot an eight-foot-tall Dogman.

Merry Christmas from Wolves & Wisemen.

What We Talk About

The Check In — The Real Meaning of Christmas

Luke 2:10–11

Luke 2:6–7

Luke 2:14

The birth of Jesus Christ

Why Christmas matters to Christians

Jesus being born in incredibly humble circumstances

The Savior beginning His earthly life in a manger

How Christ's humility continued throughout His life

The “magic” of Christmas as a child

Santa Claus versus the meaning of Christmas

How social media and modern culture have changed Christmas

Christmas becoming increasingly materialistic

Presents becoming more important than family

The pressure to spend money during the holidays

Going into debt for Christmas

Teaching children that Christmas is about more than gifts

Keeping Christ at the center of family traditions

Santa bringing smaller presents instead of taking credit for everything

Children comparing Christmas gifts at school

Gratitude instead of comparison

Family Christmas traditions

Reading the story of Christ's birth before opening presents

Christmas Eve traditions

Staying together under one roof

Family meals, games, pajamas and movies

Divorced and separated families during the holidays

Sharing Christmas with children who live in another home

Choosing what's best for your kids even when it means missing part of the holiday

Different childhood experiences with Christmas

Passing faith traditions to the next generation

Helping adults who may never have learned why Christians celebrate Christmas

The guys' own “reignition” of their faith

Why understanding Christ's birth helps us understand His eventual sacrifice

Scripture From This Episode

Luke 2:10–11

The Christmas Check In begins with the angel's announcement of Christ's birth.

The message isn't about presents, decorations or traditions.

It's about good news.

A Savior has been born.

The guys use that announcement to bring the conversation back to what they believe should remain at the center of Christmas.

Luke 2:6–7

Jesus enters the world without wealth, status or luxury.

There isn't even room for Mary and Joseph at the inn.

The guys spend time talking about the significance of that image:

The Savior and King begins His earthly life in a manger.

It's an incredibly humble beginning—and one that stands in sharp contrast to how focused modern Christmas can become on possessions, money and having more.

Luke 2:14

The third passage brings the conversation toward glory to God and peace.

Together, the three passages tell the story the guys want their families to remember before the presents are opened:

Christ was born.

And that birth changed everything.

Galatians 4:4–5

The episode closes with another passage shared through the live chat:

When the right time came, God sent His Son so that those under the law could be redeemed and receive adoption as His children.

That brings the Christmas conversation full circle.

The importance of Bethlehem isn't limited to the manger.

Christmas points forward to why Christ came.

Key Takeaways

Jesus is the reason for Christmas. Traditions can be fun without becoming more important than what Christians are actually celebrating.

Christ entered the world humbly. The King Christians worship wasn't born surrounded by earthly wealth and power.

Christmas doesn't have to be expensive to be meaningful. Spending more money doesn't automatically create a better Christmas.

Don't go into debt trying to manufacture Christmas magic. The guys would rather emphasize family, faith and experiences than financial pressure.

Teach children why the holiday exists. If the faith component disappears completely, younger generations can grow up knowing everything about Santa and nothing about Christ.

Traditions matter. Reading Scripture, eating together, playing games, watching movies and simply being under the same roof can become the memories people carry for decades.

Not everyone's Christmas looks the same. Divorce, distance, custody arrangements and other circumstances can make the holiday complicated.

Sometimes loving your children means changing the tradition. One of the guys discusses waiting until December 26 to get his boys rather than making them spend much of Christmas Day traveling.

Social media isn't real life. Don't measure your Christmas against somebody else's carefully selected pictures of a “perfect” family and holiday.

You can keep the fun without losing the faith. Santa, presents and Christmas movies don't have to replace Jesus.

The manger is only the beginning. Understanding why Christ was born helps Christians understand what His later sacrifice means.

Rebel Report

The Christmas Rebel Report starts relatively light.

There's talk about a missing Utah parakeet, a massive Powerball jackpot, sports and a dramatic shoplifting incident where a suspect reportedly pulls a firearm while being questioned.

The guys also get into boxing, Jake Paul, Anderson Silva, football, the Denver Broncos, Travis Kelce and the Kansas City Chiefs.

Like most Rebel Reports, what starts as a collection of news stories quickly turns into sports arguments, jokes, personal opinions and whatever tangent happens to show up next.

It's Christmas.

Nobody was expecting professionalism.

Folks on Fire

Keeping Christ in Christmas

One of the highlights comes from a Christmas advertisement the guys felt wasn't afraid to actually acknowledge Christmas.

That turns into a much longer conversation about Harbor Freight tools, broken tools, questionable mechanical decisions, working on cars, warranties and exactly how much abuse a cheap socket can survive.

Because apparently that's how three guys review Christmas advertising.

A Reminder for Anyone Struggling at Christmas

Another Folks on Fire focuses on a message the guys encountered about something that's especially important during the holidays:

Don't compare your Christmas to social media.

Pictures of matching pajamas, beautiful houses, huge piles of presents and smiling families don't tell you everything happening in someone's life.

If your Christmas doesn't look like somebody else's, that doesn't mean you've failed.

If you're alone, struggling or going through a difficult season, this moment isn't your entire story.

That message connects directly back to The Check In:

Christmas doesn't need to be perfect to matter.

Battleships Are Back?

The guys also get extremely excited about reports and political discussion surrounding American naval power and the possibility of a new generation of heavily armed surface warships.

That naturally turns into battleship history, Pearl Harbor, the USS Missouri, naval warfare and one host becoming considerably more excited about battleships than any grown man probably should.

The political and military claims discussed in this portion reflect the hosts' conversation and reactions at the time of recording.

Boners

Boners begins with teenagers, a Mustang and a police encounter.

Which is already a fairly strong indication of where things are headed.

From there, the guys react to bad decisions, law-enforcement encounters, strange stories and the usual collection of people who managed to earn themselves a place in the segment.

There are also several Christmas-history stories mixed throughout this part of the show, including past events connected to Christmas Day and American history.

And naturally, none of it stays on topic for very long.

That's probably for the best.

Fringe Files — OP Rock

The Christmas Special eventually returns to a subject the guys didn't finish previously:

OP Rock.

OP Rock was an observation position used by U.S. Marines in Afghanistan.

And according to stories discussed on the show, Marines stationed there reported experiences that were difficult to explain.

The guys dig into accounts involving:

Marines stationed at OP Rock

Strange activity around the observation post

Unexplained voices

Radio interference

Sounds reportedly coming through communications equipment

Batteries draining unexpectedly

Equipment problems

Figures or movement around the position

Night-vision observations

Stories from multiple Marines

Reports from personnel of different ranks

The isolation of being stationed at a remote position

Experiencing something strange while already operating inside a war zone

The inability to simply leave when something doesn't feel right

Strange experiences connected to the area's history

Whether some places can carry something from the violence that happened there

One detail makes the story especially unsettling:

You're already in Afghanistan.

You can't simply hear something strange outside, lock the door and leave in the morning.

You're there.

It's your post.

And if the radio isn't working, you're even more alone.

Whether the stories surrounding OP Rock have a supernatural explanation or something much more ordinary, the guys agree that multiple service members reporting unusual experiences makes it one hell of a story.

Fringe Files — The Dogman Trucker

And apparently haunted military outposts weren't enough for the Christmas Special.

The guys shift gears into a story heard on another podcast about a truck driver who reportedly encountered something extremely strange while stopped along an isolated road.

According to the story discussed on Wolves & Wisemen, the driver pulled over after having trouble with the air system on his semi.

After making the repair, he begins feeling strangely disoriented.

He gets back into his truck.

The feeling goes away.

Then he starts driving uphill with a heavy load and can only manage around 25 miles per hour.

That's when he reportedly sees something running beside the truck.

Something big.

Something resembling a massive canine.

And something tall enough to reach the passenger-side window of a semi.

According to the story, the creature begins clawing at the truck.

The driver fires at it.

And that's when the story gets even stranger.

The account eventually involves mysterious people appearing near the location, alleged government questioning, damage to the truck disappearing after repairs—and a claim that the driver was told he had killed an “asset.”

From there, the Wolves go exactly where you'd expect:

Dogman.

Werewolves.

Government experiments.

Cryptids.

Portals.

Creatures guarding portals.

And whether strange physical sensations reported by people in the wilderness could somehow be connected to whatever they're supposedly encountering.

Another similar alleged Dogman encounter gets brought into the discussion, involving a large upright canine creature, unusual tracks and a blood trail that seemingly disappears.

None of these stories are presented as established fact.

They're stories and claims being explored for exactly what Fringe Files is built around:

What if?

Because nothing says Merry Christmas quite like:

“What if the government has werewolves guarding interdimensional portals?”

The Bigger Conversation

Underneath the jokes, presents, Santa stories, news, battleships, haunted military posts and government werewolves, Episode 10 has a remarkably simple message:

Remember why you're celebrating.

The guys aren't arguing that families shouldn't have presents.

They're not saying Santa can't be fun.

They're not saying everyone needs exactly the same Christmas traditions.

They're saying those things shouldn't become the entire point.

Because for Christians, Christmas begins with something much bigger.

A child.

Born without earthly status.

Placed in a manger.

Who would grow into the man Christians believe came to save them.

That's the story worth passing down.

Not because every Christmas needs to become a sermon.

But because someday your kids won't remember every present that was underneath the tree.

They may remember everybody being together.

They may remember Dad reading Luke before anyone was allowed to touch the presents.

They may remember Christmas Eve pajamas.

They may remember the games.

The food.

The laughter.

The family members who aren't here anymore.

And hopefully, somewhere in those memories, they'll also remember:

why Christmas mattered in the first place.

Watch & Listen

Watch the full Christmas Special and join the conversation.

Follow Wolves & Wisemen Reignited

Wolves & Wisemen Reignited is three imperfect guys trying to strengthen their faith while talking honestly about life, family, current events, military experiences, the unexplained and whatever rabbit hole they fall into next.

We don't have every answer.

We're learning as we go.

And you're invited to be part of the conversation.

New episodes every Tuesday night.

And from everyone at Wolves & Wisemen Reignited:

Merry Christmas.