A Nation Mourns: Remembering Charlie Kirk's Courage, Faith, and Unwavering Commitment to Truth and Freedom

[00:00] It is a dark day in America. And on the

[00:02] date that is now a reminder of evil and

[00:05] terror, yesterday we saw terrorism play

[00:07] out on a college campus. And wearing a

[00:10] plain white t-shirt that simply said the

[00:11] word freedom, Charlie Kirk was

[00:13] assassinated in front of thousands of

[00:15] students simply for speaking truth. It

[00:18] was his first stop on his fall tour

[00:20] called the American Comeback Tour. And

[00:22] frankly, America will never be the same.

[00:25] He was the voice of a generation and

[00:28] gave voice to a generation. Now, I

[00:30] hadn't yet got the privilege to meet

[00:32] him, but he has been pivotal in my

[00:34] journey in conservatism and even more so

[00:37] in my walk with the Lord, as I'm sure so

[00:39] many of you experienced as well. He was

[00:41] the most wellspoken, articulate young

[00:44] advocate and debater of our beliefs that

[00:47] I have ever heard. And he was only 31

[00:50] years old, a true American hero. He

[00:52] started turning point when he was just

[00:54] 18 because he believed that youth do

[00:56] have power and can make a difference.

[00:59] And then he taught us that and then gave

[01:01] students a platform to demonstrate that

[01:03] power. And to all of the disenfranchised

[01:05] youth who were bullied into submission

[01:07] and silence, particularly on college

[01:09] campuses. He gave hope and power to

[01:12] them. And the movement, it worked. I

[01:14] mean, he wept when Trump won, humbly

[01:16] knowing that his work had paid off. I

[01:19] mean, he was instrumental in the last

[01:21] election. And his success didn't come

[01:23] through evil or hate or threats or

[01:26] violence, but through open dialogue and

[01:29] debate and respectful good faith

[01:31] conversations. And he didn't speak at

[01:34] people. He conversed with them. And he

[01:36] spoke in a way that cut through the BS

[01:39] and that people could actually

[01:40] understand. And it terrified people on

[01:42] the left. and his voice was the most

[01:45] powerful and dangerous weapon one could

[01:47] carry because it's the one thing they

[01:49] couldn't take from him. And it was out

[01:51] of love for this country and out of love

[01:53] for the very people that he spoke to

[01:55] that he dared to speak truth unafraid.

[01:58] He encouraged debate and conversation

[02:00] more than anyone else I've ever seen. I

[02:02] mean, he would talk to anybody. He

[02:05] wanted to talk to anybody. That was his

[02:07] whole thing. If you disagreed with him,

[02:09] he wanted you at the front of the line.

[02:10] Why? Because confusion and lies thrive

[02:13] in darkness. But if you bring it all out

[02:15] in the light, it weakens and it dies.

[02:18] And as for why he did this year after

[02:21] year, I think Charlie described it best.

[02:23] And I just want to share this video of

[02:24] him in his own words talking about it.

[02:26] I go around universities and have

[02:28] challenging conversations. And um

[02:30] because that's what is so important to

[02:33] our country is to find our disagreements

[02:37] respectfully because when people stop

[02:38] talking, that's when violence happens.

[02:40] I've never seen someone do this.

[02:41] Well, it's a growing trend because

[02:43] people like me are facing violence,

[02:46] assaults,

[02:47] the left.

[02:48] Yes. The campus Antifa. I've been

[02:51] stormed out of restaurants. I've been

[02:52] assaulted publicly, multiple death

[02:54] threats.

[02:54] Okay. So, what's your goal in all of

[02:56] this?

[02:56] There's more people that agree with me

[02:58] than some people would actually believe

[03:01] and they come out of the woodwork when I

[03:02] do stuff like this. We record all of it

[03:03] so that we put on the internet so people

[03:05] can see these ideas collide. When people

[03:08] stop talking, that's when you get

[03:09] violence. That's when civil war happens

[03:11] because you start to think the other

[03:12] side is so evil and they lose their

[03:14] humanity.

[03:14] When people stop talking, that's when

[03:16] violence happens. He understood the

[03:18] importance of conversation so much so

[03:21] that he was willing to risk his life

[03:23] every day to promote that and to make

[03:25] sure that there are healthy, good, open

[03:27] conversations that are happening. And

[03:29] that's literally what he was doing. And

[03:31] unfortunately, I think that lack of

[03:33] humanity that he mentions there, we've

[03:36] now witnessed play out on social media

[03:38] after the shooting. Even last night, I

[03:40] was scrolling on Facebook because I

[03:42] couldn't sleep, and I saw multiple posts

[03:45] from people, people I once knew who were

[03:47] old fellow students of mine, saying

[03:49] things like, "Someone like him is

[03:51] undeserving of any empathy, and others

[03:54] outright celebrating it, saying all

[03:56] sorts of inhumane and heartless things.

[03:58] just your everyday person on Facebook

[04:01] just saying the most vulgar things. I

[04:03] had a friend texting me yesterday saying

[04:05] that she's trying to hold back tears at

[04:07] work while her fellow colleagues were

[04:08] laughing at it. It is a symptom of a

[04:11] diseased culture and there is a sickness

[04:13] in this nation that I know we all feel

[04:15] because we see it. But Charlie, he was

[04:18] one of the few bold enough to go into

[04:20] the sick places and respectfully debate

[04:24] and discuss. Always respectful. And to

[04:27] anyone who are saying those vile things,

[04:29] do they ever watch a full debate? Do

[04:31] they ever listen to a full discussion of

[04:32] his? People like that, they scatter and

[04:35] they cower away at the sight of true

[04:37] debate. And as all of my favorite

[04:38] Charlie Kirk clips would show, truth

[04:40] always wins in those debates and they

[04:42] hate it. But Charlie, that man did every

[04:46] single thing out of love. He so fiercely

[04:49] loved his family and his country and

[04:52] most of all his Lord and Savior Jesus

[04:54] Christ. And millions of people around

[04:56] the world loved him for it. They sought

[04:58] after his words because they are thirsty

[05:00] for truth. I mean, just a few weeks ago,

[05:02] I saw photos of him over in South Korea

[05:04] and Japan just getting selfies after

[05:06] selfies with swaths of people just

[05:08] smiling ear to ear. He was growing in

[05:10] popularity globally because the message

[05:12] of truth was radiating around the globe.

[05:15] And now that bright light has been

[05:16] snuffed out by true evil, sending a

[05:19] message in front of thousands of eager

[05:21] and innocent conservative and liberal

[05:23] students in that crowd who were just on

[05:25] fire for freedom and debate. What an

[05:28] evil message they are trying to send our

[05:30] generation to silence the biggest

[05:32] advocate for freedom, for free speech,

[05:34] for biblical values, for truth. And so I

[05:38] mourn for our youth right now, to those

[05:40] there and beyond who now witness this. I

[05:44] mourn for this country and for Charlie's

[05:46] beautiful wife Erica and his young son

[05:48] and daughter. But as a brother in

[05:51] Christ, this is not the end. We know

[05:54] this. And so I wanted to show this one

[05:56] clip that I saw of Charlie last night.

[05:58] If everything

[06:00] completely goes away, how do you want to

[06:02] be remembered? If I die, everything just

[06:05] goes away. How would you if you could be

[06:06] associated with one thing? How would you

[06:08] want to be remembered? I want to be I

[06:10] want to be remembered for for courage

[06:12] for my faith. That that would be the

[06:14] most important thing. Most important

[06:16] thing is my faith in my life.

[06:20] And that you are Charlie. His faith was

[06:22] the driving force of his life of his

[06:25] mission to speak truth. Why he felt it

[06:27] was so important to speak truth. It was

[06:29] the foundation of every belief that he

[06:31] held. That man fiercely loved Jesus

[06:34] Christ. And everyone here who knows him

[06:36] keeps saying that and always says that

[06:37] it it wasn't an act with him. He was the

[06:40] real deal through and through. And that

[06:41] is just fruit of a faithful life. You

[06:43] could just see that faith. Even just a

[06:45] few days ago, Charlie tweeted this out

[06:47] and he said, "Jesus defeated death so

[06:49] you can live." And so it is on that note

[06:52] that I wanted to just quickly pull out

[06:54] my Bible actually because I didn't feel

[06:56] like pulling out my phone and thought

[06:58] that I need to open this thing up um

[07:00] much more anyways. But I wanted to read

[07:02] to you guys just u Matthew 5. I think

[07:05] that this is just a good couple verses

[07:08] that um the nation needs to hear right

[07:10] now. Blessed are the poor in spirit for

[07:12] theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed

[07:14] are those who mourn for they will be

[07:16] comforted. Blessed are the meek for they

[07:18] will inherit the earth. Blessed are

[07:20] those who hunger and thirst for

[07:21] righteousness, for they will be filled.

[07:23] Blessed are the merciful, for they will

[07:25] be shown mercy. Blessed are the pure in

[07:28] heart, for they will see God. Blessed

[07:30] are the peacemakers, for they will be

[07:33] called children of God. Blessed are

[07:36] those who are persecuted because of

[07:37] righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom

[07:40] of heaven. Blessed are you when people

[07:42] insult you, persecute you, and falsely

[07:45] say all kinds of evil against you

[07:47] because of me. Rejoice and be glad

[07:50] because great is your reward in heaven.

[07:52] For in the same way they persecuted the

[07:54] prophets who were before you. Matthew

[07:56] chapter 5 goes on and says, "You are the

[07:58] salt of the earth. But if the salt loses

[08:01] its saltiness, how can it be made salty

[08:03] again? It is no longer good for anything

[08:05] except to be thrown out and trampled

[08:06] underfoot. You are the light of the

[08:09] world, a town built on a hill that

[08:11] cannot be hidden. Neither do people

[08:13] light a lamp and put it under a bowl.

[08:16] Instead, they put it on its stand and it

[08:18] gives light to everyone in the house. In

[08:21] the same way, let your light shine

[08:22] before others. They may see your good

[08:25] deeds and glorify your father in heaven.

[08:28] And I would say that now as a nation for

[08:31] years, for decades at this point, we

[08:34] have seen Charlie's good deeds and his

[08:36] good work. And his work glorifies God.

[08:40] So while we mourn as a nation right now,

[08:42] we can find solace in knowing that

[08:44] Charlie is alive in Christ and with our

[08:46] savior whom he loved and served

[08:48] vigorously while on this earth. And in

[08:51] Christ, death has already been defeated.

[08:54] And now we must scream his message

[08:56] louder than ever before. He wouldn't

[08:58] want us to go silent, to turn the volume

[09:00] down on our voices, to act in fear,

[09:02] though it's tempting because this is

[09:04] scary. That's everything he fought

[09:05] against. The fight is far from over. And

[09:09] goodness will prevail.