Hobby Lobby is once again highlighting its Christian identity by distributing hundreds of thousands of free faith-based books to customers nationwide during the Christmas season.
Christian author and apologist Lee Strobel announced in a Dec. 3 post on X that the arts-and-crafts retailer is giving away 500,000 complimentary copies of his book The Case for Christmas at Hobby Lobby locations across the country. “I’m praying God uses them to point people to Himself!” Strobel wrote.
In a follow-up post shared on Dec. 6, Strobel clarified that the giveaway will continue until all 500,000 copies have been distributed.
The book being offered is a newly revised edition of The Case for Christmas: A Journalist Investigates the Identity of the Child in the Manger, which Strobel released in September as a “completely revised and updated version” of the original work.
The Case for Christmas is part of Strobel’s broader “Case for” series, which began with his best-selling 1998 book The Case for Christ. That work chronicles how Strobel, then an atheist journalist, set out to disprove Christianity and instead became convinced of its truth.
Strobel reflected on that spiritual journey while accepting the Museum of the Bible’s 2023 Pillar Award for history, an honor recognizing individuals “who reinforce the Bible’s history by discovering, preserving and communicating the authenticity of God’s Word to the world.”
“I was an atheist for much of my life, and I lived a very immoral and drunken and narcissistic and profane life,” Strobel said during his acceptance speech.
“I never could have anticipated, first of all, coming to faith. I thought religion was a crutch, that it was based on make-believe. I thought faith was believing in something even though you knew in your heart it couldn’t be true.”
Strobel explained that his effort to disprove Christianity began after his wife embraced the faith following an invitation to church from a neighbor.
“I thought maybe I could rescue her from this cult that she’s gotten involved in if I could just disprove the resurrection of Jesus,” he recalled.
After two years of investigation, Strobel said his conclusions shifted dramatically. He found that “based on the avalanche of evidence that points so powerfully toward the truth of Christianity, it would take more faith to maintain my atheism than to become a Christian.”
“God changed my values, my character, my morality, my worldview, my philosophy, my attitudes, my marriage, my parenting, my relationships,” he added. “I never could have anticipated what God would do, and so I give Him all the glory.”
Hobby Lobby, which operates more than 1,000 stores across the 48 contiguous United States, has long been known for openly integrating Christian faith into its corporate identity.
The company states that its mission includes “honoring the Lord in all we do by operating the company in a manner consistent with biblical principles,” as well as sharing “the Lord’s blessings with our employees” and investing in local communities. As part of that commitment, all Hobby Lobby stores remain closed on Sundays.
For more than 30 years, the retailer has also placed Christmas and Easter advertisements in newspapers nationwide, which it describes as a form of public “testimony” about the spiritual meaning of those holidays.
This year’s Christmas message features the phrase “Jesus is the Gift,” alongside a Nativity scene displayed inside a snow globe and a citation from Luke 2:11: “For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Savior, who is Christ the Lord.”
