Daniel Kolenda Responds to Charlie Kirk Assassination: A Call to Fill the Gap and Reclaim America's Universities

[00:00] Praise the Lord.

[00:02] Well,

[00:05] um

[00:06] I'm actually not even supposed to be

[00:08] here this morning.

[00:11] Wednesday, um I was with my wife and we

[00:14] were getting on a plane to go to Dallas.

[00:17] Um I was preaching there and ministering

[00:18] there and and supposed to be there until

[00:20] Tuesday, actually. And while I was

[00:23] sitting there getting ready to board the

[00:24] plane, I I was getting phone calls. I

[00:26] couldn't take the calls because I was

[00:28] boarding.

[00:30] But then I started to see the text

[00:31] messages coming through that Charlie

[00:34] Kirk had just been shot.

[00:37] And um I'm sure you all know it's pretty

[00:41] much um the talk of the nation at the

[00:45] moment. And so when we were boarding the

[00:48] plane, the message was pray pray that

[00:50] the Lord will save him and spare his

[00:52] life. So I was sitting there on the

[00:55] plane in my seat silently just praying

[00:58] for Charlie and praying for America.

[01:02] And as we started to come in for landing

[01:05] into Dallas

[01:07] and uh people started to get Wi-Fi, I

[01:09] could see on the laptop or the iPad in

[01:12] front of me the news reports that that

[01:14] Charlie had just passed away.

[01:17] And I don't know how you felt in that

[01:19] moment, but to me it was kind of like a

[01:22] like a punch in the gut. Just a a very

[01:26] sobering strange feeling actually. And I

[01:30] don't know if you guys can can relate to

[01:32] this, but something is different about

[01:35] this.

[01:36] Different from other situations,

[01:40] even you know,

[01:43] assassinations, murders, terrible things

[01:46] going on in the world. And how many of

[01:47] you know there are many terrible things

[01:48] going on in the world right now? Even

[01:50] just this past week. It wasn't just

[01:52] Charlie, but there was another school

[01:54] shooting this past week. There was that

[01:57] that young lady killed on a train,

[01:59] stabbed to death. There's there's wars

[02:02] going on around the world. I mean,

[02:03] thousands of lives lost just in this

[02:05] past week. And every one of those is

[02:08] tragic. And and I tell you, as the as

[02:10] people of God, our hearts should break

[02:12] for these things, right? Shouldn't we

[02:14] have the compassion of the Lord in

[02:17] moments like this?

[02:19] But the thing with Charlie,

[02:22] it struck me in a different way.

[02:25] Something that I can't even really

[02:27] explain. I'm going to try to give you

[02:29] some of my thoughts. And this is

[02:30] unscripted. This is just from the heart.

[02:32] I hope that's okay.

[02:34] But um I had to come back early. I we we

[02:37] flew back in. I just got in this morning

[02:39] actually so I could be here with you

[02:40] because I just felt like I need to be

[02:43] with my family today. My my im my my you

[02:47] know immediate family but also my church

[02:49] family. I love you guys and we need each

[02:52] other

[02:54] especially in moments like this. There

[02:56] is a reason why the scripture says do

[02:58] not forsake the gathering of yourselves

[03:00] together because we are the we are the

[03:02] ecclesia. We are the church and we're

[03:05] here for one another. And I just want

[03:08] you to know, no matter where you stand,

[03:10] no matter how you're feeling, I want you

[03:11] to know something this morning. Number

[03:12] one, God has not been outwitted.

[03:16] His back is not up against a wall.

[03:20] He is sovereign. He is Lord. And he's

[03:24] going to cause all things to work

[03:26] together for the good of them that love

[03:28] him and that are called according to his

[03:30] purpose.

[03:35] And it's it's no secret, those of you

[03:37] that are members of this church, you

[03:38] know,

[03:40] even just a few weeks ago, I I wasn't

[03:42] here on a Sunday morning because I was

[03:43] in Tampa speaking at the Turning Point

[03:46] USA convention. And for those of you

[03:49] that don't know, it's it's very

[03:50] interesting and it's telling. It's it's

[03:52] one of the reasons I think why we feel

[03:54] the way we feel. Because when when

[03:56] Charlie's teen called me and they said,

[03:58] "Will you come speak at this event?" My

[04:00] my first reaction was, well, I'm, you

[04:01] know, I'm not a political guy. I'm I

[04:04] don't really it's not not my area of

[04:06] expertise. You know, I'm not one of

[04:07] these pundits that's going to be able to

[04:09] come in there and debate or whatever it

[04:10] is. I said, "What do you want from me?"

[04:12] They said, "No, you're an evangelist.

[04:13] Come preach the gospel." I said, I said,

[04:17] "Okay."

[04:19] I said, "Like, like, you really want me

[04:21] to preach the gospel of salvation? Can I

[04:24] give an altar call?" They said, "Yes,

[04:25] give an altar call."

[04:27] And so I mean you got to imagine at this

[04:30] rally hundreds thousands of mostly

[04:33] college age young people were there. I

[04:35] was able to preach the gospel give a

[04:38] clear altar call for salvation and

[04:39] hundreds of young people came forward to

[04:41] receive Christ.

[04:43] [Music]

[04:47] And I just want to say this. I am

[04:50] thankful

[04:51] for the life of Charlie Kirk.

[04:54] I'm thankful not only for his courage

[04:57] and his boldness on matters that were

[05:00] political or cultural. And how many of

[05:02] you know in some ways I I think Charlie

[05:04] had more courage than a lot of pastors

[05:06] and preachers. There was more courage

[05:09] sometimes coming from him than from the

[05:10] pulpits of America.

[05:13] But but I appreciated even more even

[05:16] more than his social activism. What I

[05:20] really appreciated was his bold,

[05:21] fearless, uncompromising

[05:24] stance for the gospel of Jesus Christ.

[05:27] This man was a bold proclaimer

[05:31] of the gospel. And so in in that way, it

[05:34] feels like a brother has fallen. He is

[05:37] our brother. If you're a believer, if if

[05:39] you love Jesus, that is your brother.

[05:41] And my heart breaks for his family

[05:44] that's left behind. And I think in in

[05:46] some of way some ways it feels to many

[05:49] of us like like we've lost a member of

[05:52] our own family in some strange way. But

[05:55] even more than that I I think that there

[05:57] is a prophetic thing that happened this

[05:59] week in America.

[06:01] And it's it's an I don't know how many

[06:04] of you would say this feels different.

[06:07] There's something about this that is

[06:08] different. It's it's even beyond

[06:10] Charlie. It's beyond an assassination.

[06:12] And what we saw was terrible. I don't

[06:14] know if there's ever been another time

[06:16] in history where we literally watched a

[06:18] man murdered right in front of our eyes

[06:20] in high definition. It was gruesome. It

[06:23] was it was visceral and raw and horrible

[06:27] in every possible imaginable way. But

[06:31] more than that, there was something

[06:32] prophetic about what happened because

[06:33] you realize that the bullet hit Charlie

[06:36] in the neck

[06:39] where the voice comes from. This is

[06:41] where the voice box is. and and and it

[06:44] almost feels like the enemy it's it's

[06:46] kind of like a visceral prophetic symbol

[06:48] of something that has been happening for

[06:50] a long time, which is we have sensed it

[06:52] as the church. We've sensed it as the

[06:54] people of God that the enemy is trying

[06:56] to shut down the voice of truth. He's

[06:59] trying to shut down boldness. He's

[07:01] trying to shut down those who will

[07:03] fearlessly proclaim what is true and

[07:05] what is real and what is gospel. And our

[07:07] nation has been slowly sliding into

[07:10] complacency and into apostasy. And the

[07:13] things that we have allowed and

[07:14] tolerated and the things that have

[07:16] become normal are almost impossible to

[07:18] even imagine 10 years ago or 20 years

[07:21] ago. And yet here we are. And you know

[07:23] why we're in this place? It's because

[07:26] not because the world is so evil. The

[07:28] world's always been evil.

[07:31] Evil triumphs not because evil is evil.

[07:34] Evil triumphs because good men refuse to

[07:37] speak out.

[07:44] Somebody said, you know, they they said

[07:46] to me, well, the the greatest threat

[07:48] that our world faces, this was was in

[07:50] like the 9/11 days, the greatest threat

[07:52] that our world faces is radical Islam. I

[07:54] said, no, the greatest threat our world

[07:56] faces is lukewarm Christianity.

[07:59] Because if the church will rise up and

[08:01] the church will speak out,

[08:04] the darkness cannot overcome the light.

[08:08] And Charlie was one of those men that

[08:11] was willing to take the bullets. He was

[08:14] willing to put himself at risk. He was

[08:17] willing to stand there in the midst of

[08:19] the fray and and and the arguments and

[08:21] the criticism and he was willing to to

[08:25] take a risk for the sake of truth.

[08:29] And then he was silenced.

[08:32] And I think in many ways this has been

[08:34] the enemy's goal all along is to back us

[08:36] down and to convince us that we should

[08:39] not speak out. But I think the enemy has

[08:41] made a terrible miscalculation this past

[08:43] week.

[08:48] Because even Jesus himself, he said

[08:52] this, "Except a kernel of wheat fall to

[08:54] the earth and die, it abideth alone. But

[08:58] if it die, it bear much fruit."

[09:02] And I'm not trying to paint Charlie Kirk

[09:04] as some sort of Messiah figure. He's not

[09:07] Jesus. We have one Messiah. When we have

[09:09] one Lord, that is Jesus. It's not

[09:11] Charlie Kirk. It's not Donald Trump.

[09:14] It's not the White House. My hope is in

[09:16] Christ and in Christ alone.

[09:18] [Music]

[09:21] However, I feel there is something

[09:24] highly prophetic about this moment. Is

[09:26] it a coincidence that the name of

[09:29] Charlie Kirk's organization is Turning

[09:30] Point? Could it be somehow that in God's

[09:33] providence all along there was a plan

[09:37] that in this moment where it seems like

[09:39] a terrible tragedy has taken place and

[09:41] it has and yet in this moment the church

[09:44] will rise up and it will truly be a

[09:46] turning point for the United States of

[09:49] America. The turning point for a

[09:51] generation. The turning point for Gen Z.

[09:54] The turning point for the college

[09:55] campuses in America. A turning point in

[09:58] Jesus name.

[10:06] And you know

[10:08] what I saw when I saw you know Charlie

[10:12] on those campuses I was so proud of him

[10:15] because you know it's one thing to

[10:17] proclaim the truth in a beautiful

[10:18] building like this and preachers are

[10:20] really good at hiding in beautiful

[10:22] buildings

[10:24] and preaching to the choir.

[10:27] I was telling some students last week, I

[10:29] said, "It always makes me nervous in

[10:30] crusades. If I start preaching and the

[10:32] people are amening me because then I

[10:33] know I'm just preaching to a bunch of

[10:34] Christians. I like it when I preach and

[10:37] everybody just stands there and scowls

[10:38] at me. I'm like, now I'm in the right

[10:40] place."

[10:42] Anybody can preach to the choir. Anybody

[10:44] can preach to friends, but to stand in

[10:46] front of enemies and to stand before

[10:48] people who would like to see you dead,

[10:51] that takes courage.

[10:56] But here's what I saw is on these

[10:57] college campuses there was Charlie and

[11:00] just this one guy and there would be all

[11:01] these people debating him and throwing

[11:02] accusations at him and and

[11:04] contradictions and he did a very good

[11:06] job. He was an intelligent you capable

[11:09] man. But what I saw in my mind was you

[11:11] know the college campuses are one of the

[11:14] one of the breeding grounds of demonic

[11:16] ideology and the spirit of the age.

[11:19] They're one of the reasons our country

[11:20] is in the place that it's in because

[11:22] that seems to be the enemy's like ground

[11:24] zero where he has targeted. He gets

[11:26] these young impressionable people. Many

[11:28] times they come in as believers. Many

[11:30] times they come in as Christians and

[11:32] they leave as atheists. They leave full

[11:34] of godlin godlessness and worldly

[11:38] wisdom. We've we've lost a generation in

[11:41] our universities.

[11:43] But what I could see is that the tide is

[11:45] beginning to shift in America. It's been

[11:47] that way for a while. It's been that way

[11:49] for a while and people are starting to

[11:50] realize the insanity and the madness

[11:52] that has gripped our nation. And even

[11:54] young people, I tell you something,

[11:55] there's very there's something very

[11:57] special about this younger generation,

[11:58] Gen Z. They have a calling on them.

[12:02] They're different in the best ways. And

[12:06] I could see how many of them were just

[12:07] kind of standing around in the in the

[12:09] background kind of hiding in the

[12:10] shadows, letting Charlie be their voice,

[12:13] letting Charlie be the the voice of

[12:15] reason on their behalf. And you know,

[12:16] they might silently clap or, you know,

[12:18] whisper amen or something. Let Charlie

[12:21] fight our battles for us. But now we

[12:24] watched that voice be silenced. And

[12:26] there are some people that are praying,

[12:28] you know, I've had even messages on

[12:29] Facebook, you need to go pray for

[12:30] Charlie Kirk to be raised from the dead.

[12:33] And and and listen, there's nothing

[12:35] wrong with that. And if you have faith

[12:36] for Charlie to be raised from the dead,

[12:38] more power to you. Go to the funeral.

[12:41] But I tell you what, I'm praying. Not

[12:43] just that Charlie's body will be ris

[12:45] raised from the dead, but that Charlie's

[12:47] voice

[12:48] will be raised up and that it will

[12:51] infiltrate and infect a whole

[12:52] generation. And those people hiding on

[12:55] the outskirts and blending in, they'll

[12:57] realize we can't depend on somebody else

[12:59] to speak on our behalf anymore. Now

[13:01] we've got to stand up. Now we've got to

[13:03] stand in the gap. Now we've got to

[13:04] proclaim the truth. Now we've got to

[13:06] shout the gospel from the highest

[13:08] mountaintops. Let it ring across

[13:11] America, from coast to coast, from sea

[13:14] to shining sea. Somebody say amen.

[13:19] [Music]

[13:22] You know, I was reminded

[13:25] a lot of times when whenever I I go

[13:27] through things in my life, I often

[13:28] think, I wonder what Reinhardt would

[13:29] have said about this. Reinhardt was like

[13:31] a for those of you that don't know

[13:33] Reinard Bonnke, he was just an

[13:36] incredible man of God and the one that

[13:38] founded Christ for All Nations, a dear

[13:40] mentor and a spiritual father to me. And

[13:43] and as I was thinking about that, I I

[13:45] was reminded of a thing that happened in

[13:47] our ministry years ago where two of our

[13:49] truck drivers that were transporting the

[13:51] equipment from one city to the next,

[13:54] they had a head-on collision with a oil

[13:57] gas tanker. drunk driver hit them, the

[14:00] thing blew up and both of those guys

[14:04] burned to death right there in the road.

[14:06] And the worst thing of all is that

[14:10] the son of one of those men was

[14:11] following in the car behind

[14:14] and he watched the whole thing and he

[14:15] ran up to this lake of fire burning

[14:19] gasoline and there he saw his father in

[14:21] there disintegrating right before his

[14:24] eyes.

[14:26] and Reinard, you know, he they they

[14:28] gathered up what was really just bones

[14:30] and ash was all that was left from these

[14:32] guys. And they put them in bags and

[14:35] Reinhardt carried those bags

[14:38] back to South Africa where their

[14:40] ministry headquarter was

[14:43] he is the one that had to give it to the

[14:44] family. Can you imagine?

[14:47] And then at the funeral, he he stood up

[14:48] and he was officiating. You got to

[14:50] imagine the scene. This is why I'm

[14:51] telling you the story. in front of him

[14:53] there's two boxes with just bones and

[14:56] ash and he's he's performing the funeral

[14:59] and all of a sudden the Holy Spirit

[15:00] speaks to him and the Holy Spirit says

[15:02] there is a gap that needs to be filled

[15:06] and so in the funeral Reinhardt

[15:09] stops his ceremony and he says the Holy

[15:11] Spirit has just spoken to me there is a

[15:13] gap in the team that needs to be filled

[15:15] who will stand up and fill the gap and

[15:17] from the back of the room Rutiger the

[15:20] son of the man that had just got killed

[15:21] stood up and said I will fill fill the

[15:23] gap. I will fill the gap. And I tell you

[15:25] what I sense in my heart that there is a

[15:28] call right now that is going out across

[15:30] America. And the Holy Spirit is saying

[15:32] there is a gap. Who will fill the gap?

[15:35] Who will stand in the gap? And I'll be

[15:37] the first one to stand up and to put my

[15:39] name in and say, "Lord, I volunteer.

[15:42] Here am I. Send me. I will go. I will

[15:46] preach. I will proclaim. I will shout it

[15:49] in Jesus name." If that's you, would you

[15:51] stand with me this morning? And if if

[15:54] you don't feel it, you can stay seated.

[15:55] It's okay. It's okay.

[15:58] By the way, you you might be here this

[16:00] morning and you didn't like Charlie's

[16:01] politics or you didn't like some of

[16:03] Charlie's political stances, social

[16:05] stances, whatever. This is not about

[16:06] politics. This is about truth. And this

[16:09] is about courage. And it's about the

[16:11] church becoming who she was meant to be.

[16:15] And so, can we just do this as a

[16:18] symbolic prophetic act? By the way, we

[16:21] are taking the universities and we're

[16:23] going to be right there in the midst of

[16:24] it.

[16:26] [Music]

[16:29] We listen, we've got 6,000 evangelists

[16:32] that have been trained to preach the

[16:33] gospel. Let me tell you, those

[16:35] evangelists are coming with me. We're

[16:37] going to go to university after

[16:38] university. We're going to preach the

[16:40] gospel, and we're going to see God

[16:42] invade this nation.

[16:45] We're going to knock down the devil's

[16:46] front door

[16:49] and possess the land in Jesus name.

[16:54] So Lord, we we volunteer in the day of

[16:57] your power.

[16:58] Lord, we pray that you would look down

[17:00] and see this group, this company of men

[17:02] and women, Lord, that that on this day

[17:05] and at this moment, there would be a

[17:08] boldness that would be imparted to us

[17:11] and to your people all across this

[17:13] nation. Lord, waken a sleeping giant

[17:15] called the church

[17:18] and give us victory in the mighty name

[17:21] of Jesus. And everybody said, "Amen."

[17:24] Amen. Praise God.