Joining the program today: Joe Cullen from the Knights of Columbus to talk about the passage of bill HR 390—“The Iraq and Syria Genocide Relief and Accountability Act of 2018”—yesterday. Years in the making, HR 390 makes clear that those targeted for genocide by ISIS should be included in American government assistance in the region. The bill was bipartisan, with its author being Representative Chris Smith (R-NJ) and its lead co-sponsor being Anna Eshoo (D-CA). HR 390 passed unanimously in both the House and Senate and should add some muscle towards helping stem the steep decline in Christians living in Iraq (down from 1.4 million in 2002 to less than 250,000 in 2017) and in Syria (down from 1.4 million in 2011 to 450,000 today), in large part by applying funds in the direction of rebuilding homes and communities destroyed by ISIS.

 

Keith Getty also calls in from New York City to share about “Sing! An Irish Christmas” tomorrow night at Carnegie Hall, including special guests Phil Keaggy and Tim Keller (founding pastor of Redeemer Church in NY). Keith and his wife Kristyn are modern hymn-writers whose songs like “In Christ Alone" are sung in thousands of churches around the world.

 

The Christmas song featured (including the backstory for it) on the show today: The Christmas Song (Chestnuts Roasting On An Open Fire) by Bob Wells & Mel Tormé in 1945 and made popular via several versions by Nat King Cole, the most-performed Christmas song in history.

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