Charlie Kirk was a polarizing figure. He never pretended otherwise. But that polarization was directly downstream of his Christian faith, a faith that divides between good vs. evil, light vs. dark, and Jesus vs. everything else.

He also had a rare willingness to put two opposite sides in the same place and make them talk.

His method was a folding chair under a tent labeled “Prove Me Wrong.” Students lined up for hours. He asked their names. He often put the people who disagreed first. He said the point was to show conservatives they weren’t alone, find where people actually agreed, and let speech chase the truth.

He died doing that exact thing.

Today, on the one-year anniversary of his untimely death at the hands of a deranged, leftist assassin, I want to pause and remember the best of who Charlie was and what he meant to us. He was a Christian, a husband, a father, a prophet, and a martyr. He might be gone, but his mission endures. The call to live boldly, and perhaps even die bravely, for what we believe is a call that every Christian accepts when we pick up our cross to follow Christ. Charlie no doubt had counted the cost. Have you?

I pray that, as you reflect on who Charlie was and what he did, you will too. And that you will join us in advancing the mission of Christ and Charlie Kirk here in America and around the world.

An Ambassador for Christ

He was unapologetically Christian. He never wavered. He said he gave his life to the Lord in fifth grade and called it the most important decision he ever made.

In response to being asked what his faith in Christ means to him and for his work, Charlie said: “I mean, I’m nothing without Jesus. I’m a sinner. I fall incredibly short of the glory of God. We all do. I gave my life to the Lord in fifth grade, and it’s the most important decision I’ve ever made, and everything I do incorporates Jesus Christ.”

And when asked how he wanted to be remembered if everything else went away: “I want to be remembered for courage, for my faith. That would be the most important thing. The most important thing is my faith in my life.”

Four days before he was assassinated, he posted this: “Jesus defeated death so you can live.“

On the day he died, he spoke about the resurrection, 1 Corinthians 15, and the evidence that Jesus lived, died, and rose. His wife later said one of his favorite verses was Isaiah 6:8: “Here I am, Lord. Send me.”

That was the spirit he walked in. And that’s the same spirit Charlie would want all of us who seek to honor his legacy to keep walking in today.

A Loving Husband

He loved Erika and made her part of his daily work and mission. They met in 2018 and were married in 2021. She stood with him on stages all across the country and around the world. She shared the same gospel and the same fight. After his death, the Turning Point USA board named her CEO and chair.

He told their daughter the story of how he met her mother. It started as a job interview. Then he realized she was “beautiful, and smart, and elegant, and Christlike.” He called it his favorite love story.

A Devoted Father

Charlie had a daughter in 2022. And then a son in 2024. He kept their names and faces off the public internet on purpose.

Charlie filled stadiums everywhere he went. He could call President Trump anytime he wanted. But the videos that still bring a tear to our eyes are the small ones: his little girl running across a Fox & Friends set yelling “Hi, Daddy,” and him scooping her up.

He once reflected that teaching his daughter to know God, with Erika, was the greatest privilege of his life: “Having a family will change your life in the best ways, so get married and have kids.”

A Prophetic Voice

Charlie Kirk wasn’t a pastor, but he was a modern-day prophet in a land that constantly rebuked and hated him. He walked in the spirit of Isaiah and Elijah, boldly proclaiming truth to people with unclean hearts and minds.

And he did it by going on to hostile college campuses. He quoted Scripture in political arguments. He told young men to marry, have children, go to church, and stop living for themselves. He said Christians are called to fight evil and proclaim truth, not merely to be nice.

Whether you use the word prophet or not, that was the posture: Here I am. Send me. And he went.

He was a bulwark conservative with a large voice. He founded Turning Point USA at 18 with almost nothing. Over the years, he built TPUSA into America’s most formidable conservative youth movement. He helped make a generation of young conservatives visible, trained, and loud. Presidents took his call. Campuses filled tents to argue with him. Everyone heard him, even those who despised him.

A Martyr: September 10, 2025

He is gone now. Evil forces, driven on by the demonic spirit on the Left in America, succeeded in silencing him. Charlie was shot in the neck while he sat under that tent, mid-debate, in front of thousands. He was 31. Husband. Father of two. Christian. Dead in the act of speaking.

What I saw after his death was some of the most evil, debauched behavior I have ever witnessed. People celebrated. They watched the video and laughed. They talked as if a man murdered in front of a crowd and his family “deserved it.”

Erika had to look into cameras and say: “You’re sick. He’s a human being. You think he deserved that? Tell that to my 3-year-old daughter.”

Then came the conspiracy sludge aimed at her, the mockery of her grief, the lectures about how a widow should look and how soon she should speak. It makes you wonder if this country has any hope.

But there is. A light still shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

An Enduring Mission: Preaching Christ like Charlie Kirk

Charlie is gone. From this world, at least. The faith he preached is now sight. One year ago, His Lord and Savior called him home and said, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

Charlie might not be here, but I am. And you are. And if you are in Christ, then you know the same Savior Charlie knew. The hope for those who remain, with work yet unfinished, is not in the depraved people who have lost their minds. Our hope is in the only One who can bring salvation: King Jesus.

I am convinced Charlie would have been president one day. But that would not have been his crowning achievement. He already told us what it was. The best thing that ever happened to Charlie Kirk was Jesus.

It is the best thing that can ever happen to you. Jesus still saves lost sinners. You can trust Him today. Surrender. Die to your sin. Confess that Jesus is Lord. Believe God raised Him from the dead. You too can be saved.

There really is a Charlie Kirk quote for everything.

Who is Jesus? How will you answer that question? There is only one right answer: “If you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved” (Romans 10:9).

My prayer, as an American, a Christian, a husband, a father, and a pastor, is that you would answer that question like Charlie. That you would be brave for the faith, like Charlie. That God would raise up another like him.

And that all of us would answer, when called to live or die for our faith, like Charlie: “Here I am, Lord. Send me.”