CHARLIE KIRK
1993-2025
This afternoon, I happened to check my Truth Social stream and saw a tweet from President Trump saying to pray for Charlie Kirk. He had been shot during a rally he was doing at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. It was a shock that became increasingly surreal as it became apparent that the shooting was fatal. According to what law enforcement officials are saying, he was shot to death by a high-powered rifle. The assassin is considered a professional. He was cunning enough to target Charlie’s neck, and sharp enough as a marksman to kill him with one shot, 200 feet away from the top of an adjacent building and into the canopy under which Charlie was sitting.
The footage is horrifying. Former Utah congressman, Jason Chaeffetz, was present and nearly broke down when giving an interview in the aftermath on Fox News. Within half an hour or so afterwards, President Trump announced to the world that Charlie Kirk was dead. He was 31 years old (about to turn 32 next month) and leaves behind his wife of four years, Ericka, and their two small children.
I never knew him personally, but I have watched his podcasts and his ‘Prove Me Wrong’ debates many times in the last 10 years. I admired his courage in daring to start a conservative youth political movement at the age of 18. He dropped out of college but nonetheless was well-read enough to engage in debates with college professors and pundits. Last month, he traveled to England for a series of Turning Point events in the British Isles and during his time there engaged in debates at the Oxford Union. His main objective was to keep lines of communication open rather than having them slammed shut by prevailing secular/infidel orthodoxy and cancel culture. He debated every subject from science and economics to politics, social norms and religion. On the subject of religion, I rejoiced in that he was unabashedly a Born-Again Christian. And theology was one of the main subjects he was most well-read in.
This should not be surprising. Virtually every idea that people debate will be based on what philosophers and apologists call “truth claims” based on religious idea. In my personal opinion, it is the most effective way of dismantling the ideas coming from the left. When the alphabet mafia pushed trans ideology, and many of their supporters tried to justify their ideology from Biblical morality, Charlie Kirk and others boldly debunked their claims by referencing the Bible and science.
It was during the 2016 election cycle that young conservative speakers began to make their ascendance. This was the brainchild of several individuals from times past, most notably Phyllis Shafly (founder of the Eagle Forum in 1972), Rush Limbaugh (the late great conservative radio personality), and Andrew Breitbart (founder of his namesake news agency). Milo Yiannopolis, Ann Coulter, Candace Owens, Ben Shapiro, Michael Knowles, Matt Walsh, Mark Dice, and Alex Jones, along with Charlie and many others begin to make their presence felt on college campuses, social media, YouTube, and increasingly on mainstream media.
Conservative minded people from Protestant, Catholic, and Jewish backgrounds felt a kinship through these young geniuses. They found common ground in moral issues based on the Bible, as well as our conservative leanings in politics. The satire and provocation to debate leftist ideas began to genuinely pique the interests of many collegiates. The so-called “smart people” were left dumbfounded when they could not answer the challenges and claims of these “whiz kids.”
I should also mention that ministries of Christian Apologists in the past were major inspirations to the conservative political activists. David Wood, Nabeel Qureshi, Josh McDowell, Frank Turek (and yes, even the unmentionable Ravi Zacharias) had a gigantic influence on these kids in the formation of their ideas and methods.
Charlie and his Turning Point USA group began to campaign for President Donald Trump from 2015 onwards. According to their website, Turning Point chapters are represented in 3,500 schools and colleges, 2,000 student groups and 800 church/faith groups. They began to engage students in high schools and colleges in their local area before branching out further. Later, he gained access to the conservative donor class, and that was when things really took off. Candidate Donald Trump immediately saw the value of Charlie Kirk and Turning Point and incorporated them into his campaign.
Many veteran political maestros laughed at them but that was as big an underestimation as there ever was. Charlie’s team aggressively engaged social media and the internet to reach an estimated audience of tens of millions while at the same time finding the Christian and conservative minded kids in schools and colleges through TPUSA’s outreach. That younger generation got involved and fresh blood was pumped into a political world controlled by immovable establishment figures past the age of retirement. Charlie’s greatest political victory took place in the last election with President Trump’s return to the White House. More than anyone else, it was his team that was responsible for turning the most pivotal swing state of Pennsylvania Red.
As a preacher of the Gospel, my objective is to bring people of different stripes to the Cross of Calvary, to a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ. There is a big difference between Christian apologetics/ministry and conservative political activism. Our goals will align most of the time, but our targets are markedly different. Church ministries actively try to bring people the Gospel message through their particular distinctives so it is possible that antagonism can arise between different religions as well as different Christian denominations based on Dogmatic Theology.
Charlie was a Born-Again Christian who engaged in the public forums for political ends. I do not say that was his primary agenda but that was what he was known for and there is nothing wrong with that. He was decidedly not giving altar calls the way that Franklin Graham does. He made alliances with non-Christian people and groups which normally does not happen in Christian ministries settings. There are conservative minded Hindus, Muslims, atheists, agnostics, and even homosexuals. Charlie found common ground with them all. He had to particularly when it was his organizational objective to bring them as a mass of people to the ballot box on Election Day. But in the midst of his political work, he did represent his Christian faith, his Born-Again testimony well.
I wish I had known him. The possibility for meeting him materialized several times over the years, and I was unable to do so, and that is my loss. But from afar, I rejoiced and admired his courageous stance for the Christian Faith as well as conservative principles.
I am not a political aspirant (even though I have the ability to see things happening in that world fairly quickly). But I will express why I am sorrowful about Charlie Kirk, the 31-year-old unabashed follower of Jesus Christ.
Alexi de Toqueville once said that the most powerful man in the United States was the preacher at the pulpit, meaning that the political aspirations, agendas, and conscience of this nation find their foundations and greatest influence in the Judeao-Christian worldview. This has been true since the first Great Awakening revival that took place in the Thirteen Colonies over 100 years before the Declaration of Independence. President John Adams once said that this “great experiment” called the United States would be impossible under any other kind of idea or people.
Charlie believed (as did several before him) that the youth of this nation were not a monolith of woke leftists. Rather, the vast majority were silent, cowed by the dogmatism and blustering of non-Christian elements. A confrontation of ideas needed to happen in the academic centers. When confronted with the Truth from a Biblical worldview, the lies and absurdities of the infidels would be exposed. Some young people would change, others would be solidified, others would get angry, but in the end, we could be generous enough, courteous enough, to either agree to disagree, or to try to understand.
I envied him. I am 17 years older than Charlie Kirk and quite opposite to him in virtually every way. Charlie, when he started 10 years ago, was 6 foot 4 inches and built like a football player – decidedly not like a dork. (For a little bit, he did start to get puffy, but he got back into shape!) He was good looking and charismatic, and he could connect with the youth. (Believe me, none of those details were true in my life!) He was bold enough to quit college and do something he loved. As an American of Asian-Indian descent, I can tell you, do not ever try that in our culture!
He was bold enough to use his God given brain and talent to sit on college campuses and have people try to “prove him wrong,” which lead to engaging conversation with different people about everything. Even life questions. There is nothing wrong with this practice nor is it a new one. Socrates engaged the people of his time in the marketplace of Athens with questions. It takes courage to strike up and hold a conversation with people. To stop them in the middle of a busy day and ask them life altering questions. I wish I had that courage. I wish I could engage young people like Charlie did.
Today is Wednesday and I am back home after our regular evening service. I was not ready to minister or do much of anything. I do not think that I have ever felt this upset about the passing of any person in my life in the last 20 years. It was all so surreal. I grieved for his wife and children. I grieved for the work that this man did in the course of the last few years. I did not think anyone would understand my feelings on Charlie, so I kept them to myself.
I reached church about an hour earlier than usual, and after preparing the place for the evening service, I sat down on one of the benches at the altar area and closed my eyes in prayer. It was at that time, a passage of Scripture came into my mind, words that the Lord Jesus said on his last day in the Temple in Jerusalem before His Last Supper with the disciples. The Gospel of John 12:20-32:
“Now there were some Greeks among those who were going up to worship at the feast; these then came to Philip, who was from Bethsaida of Galilee, and began to ask him, saying, “Sir, we wish to see Jesus.” Philip came and told Andrew; Andrew and Philip came and told Jesus. And Jesus answered them, saying, “The hour has come for the Son of Man to be glorified. Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit. He who loves his life loses it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it to life eternal. If anyone serves Me, he must follow Me; and where I am, there My servant will be also; if anyone serves Me, the Father will honor him. Now My soul has become troubled; and what shall I say, ‘Father, save Me from this hour’? But for this purpose I came to this hour. Father, glorify Your name.” Then a voice came out of heaven: I have both glorified it, and will glorify it again.” So the crowd of people who stood by and heard it were saying that it had thundered; others were saying, An angel has spoke to Him.” Jesus answered and said, “This voice has not come from My sake, but for your sakes. Now judgement is upon this world; and now the ruler of this world will be cast out, and I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all man to Myself.”
Often times when reading a passage, the details become sharp. In this case, the Greek Jews who are mentioned here are wanting to see Jesus. It was in this same area, that Stephen the deacon, and also a Greek Jew, had the confrontation which led to his death (Acts 6-7). I wondered if perhaps he was one of the Greeks in this company of people who wanted to meet Jesus.
The Lord’s answer to their request was powerful. “The Son of Man will be glorified.” “Truly, truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls to the ground and dies…” It intrigued me that this mysterious message was what was conveyed to the Greeks who simply wanted to talk to Jesus. What was He trying to communicate to them?
“If anyone wants to serve Me, he must follow Me. The Son of Man will be glorified.” The way I understand it, the Lord was inviting them on a journey. “Follow me… you will find life eternal.” In perhaps another day or two, they would see the “glory” of the Son of God. This Person that they wanted to see would be whipped with the Roman ‘cat of nine tails’ whips. His beard would be ripped out. Blood was pouring out from the top of His head where crown of thorns had been plated. He had become the worst object of ridicule as He carried that heavy rugged cross through the streets of Jersualem to Golgotha, the place of the skull. “If I be lifted up, I will draw all men to me.”
Is there “glory” in this? Certainly not in the Roman sense of the word, or for that matter in the Greek or Jewish senses either. But in three days’ time, that Glory would be revealed in the Resurrection!
“Now judgement is upon this world; now the ruler of this world will be cast out.”
When the Resurrection happened, and the disciples began to shout to the world that Jesus Christ is risen from the dead, something profound happened to all those who were listening. This was the Son of God, and through Him, God comes into the lives of all those who believe.
When I think of Charlie, I think of Stephen the Deacon. Was he one of the Greek Jews present in John 12? I do not know, but there is that possibility. What we do know about Stephen’s life is very telling. The Bible says in Acts 6 that He was filled with the Holy Spirit. He was someone who was a man of integrity and ability. He was good at his job and good at dealing with people in the serving ministry of the Jerusalem Church. And eventually he began to debate with other religious Jews in the very place that the events in John 12 took place.
I don’t know how deep Stephen’s faith was or his experiences before the events in Acts 6-7 took place, but I see a connection between the Voice that spoke to the Lord in John 12 and the moment Stephen looked up in front of the Sanhedrin council and saw Jesus standing at the right hand of the Father. If Stephen had been present at that moment in John 12, or in the aftermath of the Resurrection, this would have been the moment where all things came together and made sense. Acts 7 was when his faith became sight. “Behold I see the heavens opened up and the Son of Man standing at the right hand of God.”
The screams of the mob and the religious leaders were meaningless. The pain rocks pelting his body from every direction along with the curses and screams of hundreds of people could not dim that vision. In the midst of searing pain he groaned a prayer, “Lord Jesus, receive my spirit!” And then a moment later, “Lord, do not hold this sin against them!” And then Scripture tells us, “He fell asleep.”
Standing there was a young man named Saul of Tarsus, the man who would later be known as the Apostle Paul. Paul would have been the man who relayed to Dr. Luke (the medical doctor and later historian and follower of Jesus Christ) what all happened that dreadful day. The brilliant Jewish lawyer and scholar who had studied under the renowned Mosaic Law professor of the time, Gamaliel, was driven into a rage so terrible, he made it his life pursuit to persecute every Jewish believer in Jesus Christ he could find. Why? What drove him to such an insane rage?
I asked that same question with regard to Charlie Kirk (and others like him) and the dangerous work he did over the last many years. Why was it that abortionists and the alphabet mafia (the lgbtq…) and woke leftists would lose their minds? They had the support of most university officials and even college towns leaders to attack and censure conservative speakers like Charlie from speaking their mind or engaging youth in college as well as in high schools in conversations. He mentioned being spit at, people hurling drinks at him, vitriol becoming so out of control that he needed to hire personal security.
Fellow podcaster, Candace Owens (who started in TPUSA along with Charlie), shared about the early years and the thousands of miles that they drove together, the hotel rooms they shared, the experiences that they had going from college to college to set up their “Prove me wrong” tables. They worked just about nonstop for close to 365 days a year before hitting the “big time.” As the political climate became heated, antifa terrorists attacked them several times.
But this was not the only challenge he had to deal with.
I know that Charlie took time to express his faith in Jesus Christ and to share his testimony, along with the pursuit of all his political objectives, but politics will wear a person down. Running a gigantic $100 million non-profit operation like TPUSA, meeting state and federal politicos, doing a podcast, visiting hundreds of campuses, dealing with supporters as well as enemies… all of it wears down the people involved, even someone like Charlie Kirk.
Tucker Carlson said the type of work Charlie was involved with is fraught with all sorts of dangers and temptations, and often from the most unexpected of places. Charlie strived to stay on the straight and narrow and beyond reproach. Such a life is a wearing down experience.
Perhaps we are asking the wrong question. In the midst of such rage, what makes a person like Stephen, like Charlie Kirk, keep going, and in fact go deeper into danger? The Apostle Paul would give the answer much later. The Resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.
“For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain!” Philippians 1:21
Charlie Kirk had a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. I do not know how many people who knew him understood what that meant. They knew him as a “man of faith” who talked about the Bible and Jesus. Almost everybody on the political right says “Lord, Lord” and yet so many have lives that are morally/spiritually compromised.
There are many who say that Charlie was ambitious… perhaps ambitious enough to make a run at the Presidency of the United State. That might be true, but I also heard Charlie rage against RINOS (not just Democrats) and repeatedly say that members of the Establishment/Deep State have absolutely no concern for the future of the youth of this nation, even after President Trump was elected to office. The whole point of him getting into grass roots political activism was because of the apathetic and incompetent stewardship of the Republican National Convention by various men and women who seemed to have a tacit agreement with the political left to “maintain the center.” Such people drove Charlie, podcasters and conservative radio hosts up the wall! If he wanted to run for office in Arizona, he could have. If he wanted to run for congress, he could have. But he did not. Why? For the type of Man of Faith that he was, it would have worn him down. And I say that knowing that there are several wonderful men and women who are true Believers in elected office. But in my opinion, Charlie was never one of that group of people despite walking frequently among them.
The Bible tells us that this world will not be at all conducive to anyone who wants to live Godly lives and/or for the purpose of God. That statement is even more potent for people who are involved in places of government and power in this nation and around the world. For anyone who wants to follow Jesus Christ, and no matter how determined a believer might want to, without the Holy Spirit that is nigh impossible.
Charlie Kirk and his family attended Dream Center Church in Phoenix, Arizona (formerly known as Phoenix First Assembly of God – Pastor Tommy Barnett’s church). The pastor emeritus of Godspeak Calvary Chapel in Newbury Park, California, Pastor Rob McCoy, was his personal pastor and is also one of the chairmen and speakers in Turning Point USA. He regularly attended church, and not just on Sundays. This was important not just for the sake of “community” but also for spiritual fellowship, discipleship, and intercession, and Biblical edification and exhortation. There is the element of spiritual warfare which very few people in politics understand. And that is a sphere which the unbeliever and dry nominal Christians cannot enter. Charlie was a regular part of those prayer services.
There are many who aspire to replace Charlie as the next voice to the youth crowd but that is impossible. What he had was an Anointing, a touch of God that strengthened him to keep going unto the very end. It was why he connected with so many people and brought them out of their shells into an open commitment to Jesus Christ and/or Biblical values. It is the service of the Kingdom of God. And that kind of Anointing for the service of the Kingdom of God can only come one way.
If a person (whether young and old) wants to serve God, he/she must follow Jesus Christ. They must hear His voice, deny themselves, take up their cross, and follow Him. Matthew 16:24.
That service is a labor of love based on a relationship of love with our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. Perhaps that relationship or connection was what Saul of Tarsus was looking for when he went on a rage in the aftermath of Stephen’s death. Stephen had it and he did not. How could that be if Stephen was following what Saul considered was a lie? It enraged him until the day Jesus Christ was revealed to him on that road to Damascus. He would write about it in Romans 8. He would mention it in the end in 2 Timothy 4.
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Will tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword? Just as it is written, “FOR YOUR SAKE WE ARE BEING PUT TO DEATH ALL DAY LONG; WE WERE CONSIDERED AS SHEEP TO BE SLAUGHTERED.” But in all these things we overwhelmingly conquer through Him who loved us. For I am convinced that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor things present, nor things to come, nor powers, nor height, nor depth, nor any other created thing will be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:35-39)
“For I am already being poured out as a drink offering, and the time of my departure has come. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; in the future there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me n that day; and not only to me, but also to all who have loved His appearing.” (2 Timothy 4:6-8)
Charlie Kirk was not the first conservative student or activist who was assaulted. There are many from different groups who have faced vicious attacks in public spaces as well as in “freedom of speech” areas on college campuses across the United States. And unfortunately, that phenomena will increase. And the victims will not just be famous people in politics. This will be the danger that every follower of Jesus Christ bold enough to take a stand of Faith will have to accept in days to come. It does not matter what kind of ministry they do.
In June of 2024, Davy and Natalie Lloyd, a missionary couple from the Ozarks in Missouri, after graduating from Ozark Bible Institute and College, made the decision to serve in the worst place on Earth – the nation of Haiti. Their ministry in that country was to orphan children. Haiti is one of the most violent and spiritually evil places in the world today. On top of that, the government is unstable to the point where anarchy is the normal state of affairs in many parts of that island nation. After having a children’s service, the couple was attacked on their way back to the station by gangs and were brutally murdered. The details are too graphic for this article. In the aftermath, some months later, Natalie’s parents, Ben and Naomi Baker, were interviewed by former Arkansas Governor and current US ambassador to Israel, Mike Huckabee, on his program which use to air on TBN prior to his current assignment. Both of them were still grieving, still shaken over the details, but Mrs. Baker in her soft, yet strong and dignified voice, said, “When you give your children to the Lord, you have to trust Him that He will take care of them.”
No true Christian willingly goes into a dangerous situation for the sake of engaging danger or for the adrenaline rush. The Bible forbids us from becoming sadists or pursuing suicide in the name of martyrdom. Charlie loved life. He was only married for 4 years, and still in that time of marriage was absolutely enamored with his beautiful wife. I am sure that he wanted so much to be a part of the future of his 3 year old daughter and 1 year old son. The threats were real. But a decision about life was taken and that decision must be taken by anyone who reads this article.
My life belongs to the Lord Jesus. My time is in His hands. Whether I live or die, my life will bring glory to Him.
God bless you, Charlie!