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On Sept. 10, America lost a warrior, and a family lost their father.
Charlie Kirk, my brother, a man who stood tall with his feet firmly planted and a microphone in his hand, was taken from us at Utah Valley University while proclaiming truth. He did not flinch. He did not waver. He did not run. He died as he lived, bold, steadfast and unashamed of the Gospel and the truth.
When America needed a hero, God sent us Charlie Kirk. Without Charlie, there is no youth movement, no President Donald Trump, no Vice President JD Vance. But no matter how big Charlie got, he was always kind and generous to everyone. He would make a nobody feel like a somebody when he listened to every person who wanted to talk.
The Book of Acts says that Stephen was stoned for speaking truth. As Stephen lifted his eyes to Heaven, he saw Christ standing to receive him. I believe Charlie had that same vision. He never feared men, because he feared God alone.
Last year, Charlie lost his voice before a college event at Penn State. He texted me and said, “Jack, the kids are waiting, and I cannot let them down.” I told him, “I am on my way.” I hopped a flight, and the next day, Penn State shut down our speakers, so I grabbed a bullhorn and we threw hats to the thousands of students who arrived. I never forgot the way he looked afterward and said, “God bless you.”
Charlie lived by that. He believed every effort, every word, every moment was to the glory of God.
Behind the cameras, Charlie was a man of prayer. We spent nights not only strategizing but bowing our heads to ask for the Lord’s guidance. He would send me verses at odd hours, reminding me that “the joy of the Lord is our strength” (Nehemiah 8:10). Charlie wore politics like armor, but his true weapon was the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.
Charlie Kirk was a father. He was a creator. He was a builder. He was a leader and was one of my best friends. He built not only Turning Point USA from nothing, but a household of faith with Erika and their two precious children. He modeled what it means for a man to love his wife as Christ loved the Church. That example may be his greatest legacy.
He knew the threats. After Butler, I talked to him privately about danger and the possibility of death. But he wasn’t going to stop.
Charlie died fighting, even as a question was asked about violence and chaos in our country. His last public act was speaking into the storm with courage and clarity. Charlie Kirk is a martyr.
“Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
In 31 short years, Charlie Kirk lived 10 lifetimes. He never once sat still. Charlie Kirk lived a life worth living.
I grieve for Erika and their children. I grieve for his parents, his family, his countless friends. But I do not grieve as the world grieves, because I know Charlie is alive in Christ. Jesus told us, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live.” Charlie believed that with every fiber of his being. Now he sees the truth face to face.
To the world, Charlie Kirk was a conservative firebrand. To me, he was a brother, a fellow soldier, and a servant of the living God. Charlie pressed forward, anchored in Christ, trusting in the promise that perfect love casts out fear.
So let’s honor him in the way he lived. With boldness, with faith and with prayer. The same God who called Charlie home will one day wipe every tear from our eyes. Until then, we pick up the banner he carried, we carry the cross he bore, and we keep walking forward in the light of Christ and love of nation.
God bless you, Charlie. I will tell your children who you were. You fought the fight. You died with your boots on. I know you are now in the presence of the King.
Until we meet again, brother.
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