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A Tribute to Charlie Kirk
28 Plays2 months ago
Logan and Brendan honor the life of Charlie Kirk
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction and Tragic News
00:00:03
Speaker
Hello and welcome to From Dublin to Cleveland. I am Logan Howard. I am joined by the one and only Brendan Thomas Merritt. How are you doing today, Brendan? How's it going? I'm good today, Logan. Thank you very much. How are you?
00:00:16
Speaker
I am all right. Well, we come to you on a very interesting week. Um, and it's been, ah quite a time for America. It seems like we recorded, i think it was two weeks ago. Last week we didn't get to record, even though you heard an episode.
00:00:35
Speaker
Uh, so that's just our special skill of pushing things back. Um, but, um, it's It's been a hard time for America. um What happened, I believe it was, was it a Wednesday? I think it was a Wednesday last week um that we got the news that Charlie Kirk, who was a famous um Christian influencer ah who would go around campuses and would ah share the share the gospel, but also just take questions from people um and any kind of questions. And ah his big slogan was, prove me wrong.
00:01:11
Speaker
And and He would have people come and talk to him and ask him questions and different conversations. And um he was quite a ah bold proponent not only for the gospel, but he was also ah just a bold proponent for politics and making sure that ah we kept discussions open. One of the things with the the differing ideology in America, it kind of has made – um Two different sides so far apart that they wouldn't even talk to each other.
00:01:41
Speaker
And he was attempting to bridge those gaps, to have those conversations, and even when they were uncomfortable conversations. um But we learned on Wednesday that he was unfortunately ah assassinated and murdered. Yeah.
00:01:56
Speaker
And the clips were quickly going around of him being shot, and um he was rushed by by his friends and people around him to the hospital, and he did not survive long at the hospital.
Global Reaction to Kirk's Death
00:02:12
Speaker
um So we come to you sort of with sad and heavy hearts um about it here in America, but I'm going to turn over to Brendan because ah there is some of an impact for Brendan as well being overseas. It's not that it wasn't – it didn't make – it wasn't that it was just ah an American thing.
00:02:32
Speaker
So I'll turn it over to Brendan. Yeah, thanks for that. Yeah, I don't want to in any eclipse the reality it. of what Americans are feeling, because he was one of your own.
00:02:44
Speaker
But just so you know, of you who are listening today, on the side of our voices, he was incredibly treasured by Europeans far and wide.
00:02:57
Speaker
I know Irish Christians that I've spoken to were just in abject disbelief and horror. um We know that Christians are persecuted in different ways,
00:03:10
Speaker
even in the West, every day. But this was the most prolific martyrdom of a believer in recent decades in the West.
00:03:25
Speaker
My sister lives in Madrid in Spain, and I know that and she and I don't know how many thousands of others ah went to the American embassy the day after.
00:03:38
Speaker
in show of support and solidarity. And the same happened in London.
00:03:46
Speaker
And so, yeah for me, I was going to some writing that evening, actually. And next thing, a Megyn Kelly thumbnail appeared, and I saw that she was live. The thumbnail basically said that Charlie had been shot.
00:04:03
Speaker
And oh my goodness, I could not... believe it. It is very hard for me to be caught by surprise by things, but I have to say this was just like the wrong thing called to have one in my beats.
00:04:16
Speaker
um And as I watched it, you know, um she was an absolute horror. um he was already in hospital by that stage.
00:04:27
Speaker
There were conflicting reports coming in some suggesting he was actually improving. His health was um showing signs of going the right way up. And then I remember just the moment when she announced he was
Fear and Resilience in America
00:04:42
Speaker
dead.
00:04:42
Speaker
And just, I mean,
00:04:47
Speaker
think of that Oscar show when Will Smith made a fool of himself. you know, the slap that was heard across the world. This was the shot that was heard around the world.
00:04:59
Speaker
um And... It's strange. I'm not really an emotional guy. and It's very, very rare that I would even feel sad, necessarily. There are things that would upset me.
00:05:13
Speaker
I hate evil. I hate injustice. But a few things actually make me just feel sad. But this did. just feel like down the waterworks beginning. Even at work the next day, whenever I thought about him, i was so heavy of heart and started gulfing. And I'm just like...
00:05:31
Speaker
wow I'm not going to cry in this place. and the work in it, not going to happen. um But i think I thought to some friends in the UK and they phrased it very well, actually.
00:05:44
Speaker
When the Queen died, because being a believer and a praying Queen, even though the conservative governments in the UK pure evil and the liberals are worse, having a praying monarch did give the place a certain spiritual cover of protection.
00:06:02
Speaker
But as soon as she was erased from the board, UK Christians just said that they felt the spiritual vacuum were void. and And think that's right what it really was in the West more broadly when Charlie died.
00:06:19
Speaker
The support, the tactics, the strategies, skill, the fearlessness, the boldness. he represented for his family, his community, believers, the wider conservative MAGA movement and beyond.
00:06:35
Speaker
I think that's, it was very tangible, very palpable for a lot of people.
Impact on Christian Communities
00:06:44
Speaker
Yeah, definitely. Um, it was, I know for me, it was a, um, the, the Thursday, the next day was, it was, it was a sad day.
00:06:56
Speaker
um A somber day is how I put it. um i I work at a a Christian school and – you're never sure with a situation like that.
00:07:09
Speaker
Um, not that I think I'm the one who would get shot or anything, but you're not sure f is this a movement thing? Is this more people? Cause even it wasn't just here in America, just Charlie Kirk shooting. There was, um, different schools that were being shot at in the same week in the days prior.
00:07:30
Speaker
Um, and so it wasn't totally clear if it, if even being, um Being out or going places was the the best choice of action.
00:07:42
Speaker
and um But it's kind of kind of one of the things we as Americans do, and I think of it's similar to after 9-11, is we don't let them decide what we're going to do.
00:07:57
Speaker
um We get back to what's what we're what we're supposed to do and don't let the fear control you. um And so it was a fearful day. You weren't sure, is this the start of a civil war?
00:08:12
Speaker
Because there are a lot of things that people say on both sides after this, the, the way, um, the Senate and, people were, so were treating each other. And some of the things are said online about whether it was celebrating, um, his death, um,
00:08:30
Speaker
there's just a lot of going on of what's actually going on here. um But I think one of the most encouraging things has been a lot of people's, it slowed people down to the point where they had to ah acknowledge and address the situation.
00:08:47
Speaker
And they also had to acknowledge and and address that Charlie Kirk had things to say about Jesus Christ as his Lord and savior. that, um, and that That's what's important, right? We sometimes forget in our day and age that we need to slow down and we need to acknowledge God.
00:09:09
Speaker
And um Charlie did a good job of that. um But i think we we sometimes forget that. And so that was – um was his heart was always to following God and to looking to God and pointing to God. And even in his interactions with people who he vehemently disagreed with, he could still have ah a respectful conversation.
00:09:36
Speaker
Um, I think everybody thinks that he wasn't that way because if you see some of his clips that he's having to talk over people. And the only reason is that because they're being disrespectful first.
00:09:47
Speaker
Um, He was somebody who stood his ground and um what he said, ah he he wasn't going to back down from people being rude or unkind. um And there's there's an element of of learning ah learning from that and applying some of that.
00:10:04
Speaker
um But I guess to me, it's been really encouraging to see um there's been people who have accepted Jesus Christ as their savior on Sunday from – from ah backgrounds that were very liberal.
Understanding Christianity: Kirk's Message
00:10:19
Speaker
um There's been liberals who go to some of these vigils that are going on across America for Charlie Kirk, and um they realize what it's about and and that it's not that we're just a bunch of haters and we're out to hate them.
00:10:36
Speaker
um But we we're we're not going to stand for this kind of violence in the way people treat others um because there was no need for him to be shot and killed. There isn't um there there there isn't a good reason for it to have happened because it wasn't like he had he had done something like that to somebody else.
00:10:58
Speaker
um And so I think that was what was was just so shocking is it didn't make sense. It seemed so senseless and um hateful. So – um But yeah, it's – he was a good man, and he lived his life well.
00:11:15
Speaker
um And um you know God took him home, but I think it – in doing so, it has brought a lot of people to face God and to acknowledge that they need to – go to church They need to acknowledge him and get into a relationship with him, and hopefully it creates even more of a revival, not only here in America but across the world, of people needing Jesus.
00:11:45
Speaker
so um but So Brendan, I think you had some clips or some stuff that ah you wanted to show of things that we really appreciated of things that he had said or he had pointed out.
00:11:56
Speaker
um and so I'll turn it over to Brendan and as he's, uh, pulling it up, I'll turn it over to him and he can announce or, um, say what, what this one is about.
00:12:12
Speaker
right, guys, we've got three clips, um, two that Logan shows and then one, which was very important to me and very instrumental in my fate journey.
00:12:24
Speaker
Um, taking up my mats and walking away from ah pool of Bethesda in my life and walking onto to something better. Riskier plus healthier spiritually.
00:12:37
Speaker
um So I'll lay this one first and then you know when we can share any thoughts that we have in it.
00:12:46
Speaker
For those of you that are not yet believers, it's very simple. going to have a court date, we all die, and you're all going to meet the supreme judge of the universe. Justice is getting what you deserve, which is going to a not-so-good place. We're all sinners, and we all fall short of the glory of God. But thanks to the cross, a perfect loving God who came down in human form, human flesh, lived a perfect life and died for us so that we could live forever.
00:13:06
Speaker
At that moment, we're about to get that sentencing into eternal damnation. Somebody says, no, no, no, I know him. I know her. Welcome to eternal life. You have an opportunity. The gospel in four words is Jesus took my place. Three words is him for me.
00:13:18
Speaker
Two words is substitutionary atonement. And one word is grace. Grace you cannot earn. Grace you do not pay for. It doesn't matter how much money you give to the hospital. You can't earn it. doesn't matter if you're a good person. It doesn't matter if you have always done the best you can. Because what's different about Christianity is that it's a gift for all of humanity to receive regardless of everything that we have done.
00:13:41
Speaker
And your life will be transformed. You will be born again. Grace is not earned. It is given by a God who loves you and wants to spend eternity with you. It is the most important decision you can make in your life.
00:13:55
Speaker
Here I am. God bless you guys. Thank you so much. For those see you that are not...
00:14:00
Speaker
You could tell he he had to get through that quick, um whether he was – somebody was in the backstage telling him he we had time or whatever. But um he did a great job of explaining what the gospel is and how to accept ah Christ as your Savior and why the
Mental Health and Technology Use
00:14:17
Speaker
it's not just a good – you're just good enough. Like you just do enough good things. And um i think if you have people around you in our our area, it's very heavily Catholic. and so really they think They're fine, right? You just pay enough money to get to heaven. And that's not Christianity. Christianity is not paying your way to heaven. It's Christ paid for you. It's a gift and you just have to accept it.
00:14:43
Speaker
um You have to believe in what Christ did for you. And so he did a great job of laying it out. Any thoughts that you had on it? It was a very clear presentation of the gospel of grace. have to say just yesterday, the Lord really impressed Luke 15, 11 to 32 on my heart, which is the story of the prodigal son, or the lost son.
00:15:07
Speaker
And it's interesting, the one that you think is lost yeah not the one who seems lost at the start the story. um But it's a tale of two brothers.
00:15:18
Speaker
Brother reliable, who becomes brother resentful. And brother restless, who becomes brother reckless. And the younger brother, who makes a lot of very, very stupid, rebellious mistakes, and under the Mosaic law, he could literally have been stoned to death for those was errors.
00:15:42
Speaker
Yeah. He has the moment when he says, i will arise and I will go to my father's house. And I will rise. has two meanings in Greek.
00:15:54
Speaker
One is I will die and two, I'll get up. I'll die to myself, but the resurrection power Jesus will be in operation my life. And he plans this speech in his head about how he's going to be servant. He's going staff. going be a worker for his father.
00:16:12
Speaker
And his father just ignores him, shuts him up, and says, your worth has nothing things to do with work. Your worth is dependent on your birth.
00:16:27
Speaker
It's because of the proximity he has to the father, because of the relationship he has to the father, not because of anything he could ever do for the father. he's given a brand new robe, um these which in the story of the men who had the s spirit of legion in the gatherings, when the villagers come, they see the naked men in new clothes and in set in mind.
00:16:52
Speaker
So the robe represents a new way of thinking, putting on Christ. The rings represent sonship. The sandals represent an end to the old way of walking and a new journey, a new destination. The sacrifice the fattened calf, which had done nothing wrong.
00:17:15
Speaker
The guy was in a innocent. The sacrifice of Jesus for him. Not that he deserved a family barbecue for all of his pouring about, but um But the father was sacrificially giving this to him because the father's will.
00:17:35
Speaker
But then you've got Brother Reliable, who, in the absence of his brother, became Brother Resentful. And he refuses to join the family party.
00:17:49
Speaker
And when asked, when pressed by the father, says, I've been slaving away for you all these years. He wasn't serving the father out of love for the father or the other workers or the clients.
00:18:05
Speaker
He was doing it out of a sense of having been yoked to an obligation. Not that the father put this on him. it was his own perspective.
00:18:16
Speaker
One to become a servant because he didn't feel worthy. One had a slave mentality despite being close the father. but the father just wanted them in sums.
00:18:28
Speaker
And I think what Charlie did there is a very clear presentation of the gospel that it is a gift. And what happens with a gift? You receive it, you reject it, or you take it, and then later return to sender.
00:18:45
Speaker
There are only three options.
00:18:49
Speaker
All right, and then Logan, you sent on a second one. let's have a look at this.
00:18:58
Speaker
Turn your phone off for one day. No contact, no social media, no work. Your mental health will improve dramatically. So every Friday night, I take a Jewish Sabbath, turn off my phone Friday night to Saturday night. The world cannot reach me and I get nothing from the world. It will bless you infinitely. And I could be traveling for five or six days, but if I at least get one good Sabbath with my family, it charges all back up.
00:19:22
Speaker
When he turns his phone off and it goes in that drawer, he's all on for the family. There is no distractions and he finally gets to reset his brain. He finally gets to breathe. And as a wife, there is nothing more precious than my husband's sanity when it comes to everything that he's dealing with in his world. So I have seen it change him and impact our family in one of the most beautiful ways. It's made our family much tighter knit.
00:19:50
Speaker
And it says very clearly in the scriptures, for six days you shall work and the seventh day you shall rest. It was important enough that God put it as one of the Ten Commandments and God rested after creation. Go back to God's natural rhythm. That is a day to go be with God and be out of the busyness and the hurriedness noise of this world.
00:20:16
Speaker
Yeah, i I chose that one because um i didn't know that was something that he did. That was something I just came across in the last week after his death.
00:20:28
Speaker
And and I have read a lot of books on that, the hurry culture and how it's so unhealthy, and um and I have had mixed results of application of it. um But it's really convicted for me to to do that, to turn your phone off on Friday night and go through Saturday for 24 hours because – I mean, who needs to contact you every minute of every day?
00:20:58
Speaker
um And you need that break from it to be able to go enjoy things, to live things. I think um in our own lives, we just get so wired into our phones. And um you know I have a a way to track, and it tells me every Sunday – of how much I've been on my phone throughout the week. And sometimes they'll say, well, you've been an hour more or two hours less.
00:21:23
Speaker
But unless I go in there and look, and then I start to see, oh, well, I'd never made any of my goals of being under two hours of using my phone every day. Well, and that's that's me where I know the world's wise, if you just asked a random person, the average is about four or five hours a day on your phone.
00:21:43
Speaker
um And so... It was very convicting for me to just turn it off and let it go because I think we always think in the back of our heads of, well, what happens if you know my car breaks down or something happens and have to call somebody or you know somebody passes away and I don't know that they passed away?
00:22:05
Speaker
a Yes, there is some element of of that happening, but it's an act of trusting God. Yeah. Do you trust God that he'll take care of those things and take care of you and protect you? And are you trusting in the phone to save you from what the situation could happen?
00:22:24
Speaker
Or are you trusting in God? And so that's a way to to think about it. And so for me, I'm going to be trying that this Saturday. And hopefully next week when you hear me on the podcast, I will give you some ah how it went and if it was helpful. but um But I'll be trying that Friday night. it's i'll just When I get home, my phone will go to the charger and completely off. And we'll pull it back out on Saturday and see if the world has exploded and changed changed.
Church's Role in Society
00:22:54
Speaker
if it wasn't even like it happened. So that's your time to send me an email, guys. Anyway, Brendan, what did you take away from that video?
00:23:07
Speaker
Listen, it is very, very good. um It's something that I was best at years ago. um I used to be very,
00:23:20
Speaker
very disciplined lethally. so And we're protecting my time. um i would say to a large extent, I still am not as much.
00:23:32
Speaker
um I think being in a leadership role of Joshua Generation, which I'll top it after the next clip, and and being in a leadership role in my international ministry, Open House Ministries,
00:23:47
Speaker
i God's people are nuts. There's always a crisis. There's always something to solve, sort out, whatever. and So there is that sense of wanting to be ready to put out certain fires.
00:24:01
Speaker
um But the same time, especially this week, I've really noticed that I've been very good at saying that's not something I need to reply to.
00:24:15
Speaker
or the phone goes off.
00:24:20
Speaker
I'm pretty of sure you can wait and you'll be okay. The message...
00:24:28
Speaker
Do you need an answer to that are you just speaking for the sake of being heard? um We do tend to get trapped in cycles of communication and repetitive communication for no reason whatsoever.
00:24:41
Speaker
And sometimes people speak just for the sake of saying something rather than so speaking sense. um So yeah, it is important that we just have our switch off time. I even there on Monday, I went for a walk with a friend in a forest and what followed being, you know, autumn here, it's getting dark at like half eight in the evening now. It's like pitch black almost.
00:25:05
Speaker
So I went for a walk in a forest and oh my goodness, like you genuinely could not see centimetre ahead beside it behind you.
00:25:19
Speaker
And we just said to each other, I don't know how long we we got lost for on the way back just going around in circles but we just said are you gonna freak out and I was like nah this is glad this is a great and then my friend was like isn't it so great it's just to put away technology just get out like in nature and get some fresh air and was like oh my goodness yes because I got so few friends who would even think about that they tend be very indoorsy um So yeah, it's a case where we were never supposed to live in a 24-hour cycle.
00:25:58
Speaker
And there are always supposed to be times to carve out time for the Lord, first and foremost, for family, for friends, for yourself, some alone time, some time your thoughts, exercise, exercise.
00:26:15
Speaker
But so often we we spiritualize our obsessive FOMO, our fear of missing out. It's, oh, but what if someone calls me who needs prayer?
00:26:28
Speaker
Or your example, the and the phantom limb. You know, what if am in the car and the car runs out of petrol or the car breaks down? Forget that people coped for centuries.
00:26:44
Speaker
without a mobile phone, before they were invented. Oh, no, but how would we survive? I mean, yeah. and Yeah, that the neediness that we attach with technology is ridiculous.
00:26:58
Speaker
So, yeah, it's so important. We do have times and we just say, not today. And sometimes I will get a call and I'll just say no, not today. Not right now. um I can't recharge if I take this call I cannot be who I need to be for Jesus.
00:27:19
Speaker
If I give you another second of my day. Yeah. ah Yeah.
00:27:27
Speaker
If anybody gets offended now that they try to call me this week and didn't answer, get over your offense. And holding onto offense is not going to convert you. All right. And people who are really bored, we can read the screen now and see what looks like when Logan and talk to each other.
00:27:45
Speaker
yeah Here is one of the most impactful videos of his that I've ever seen. i don't know if it was this one or one where he said something very you like it. I think he said something very like it, but then he rehashed it here.
00:28:02
Speaker
um But again, I'll let you respond, and then I'll jump in. Sounds good. you know, Donald Trump's not as pro-life as me. i say, well, has your pastor spoke out regularly against the slaughter of the unborn? Well, no, no, my pastor doesn't do politics. Oh, so you want Donald Trump to speak out on holy matters when the person you tithe and offer to that you call your home church won't even whisper about it. Got it. Church is a place where you go to be saved and corrected.
00:28:25
Speaker
It is not a place to be told about how your lifestyle is the greatest thing ever. You go there to be reminded that you need a savior and that your life is currently in error. But people don't like that. They say, well, that's not very nice. Well, on a second. What exactly are you running here?
00:28:39
Speaker
Is it a church, which is about correction and elevating the divine? Or is it a place where a TED Talk occurs with organized parking, above average coffee, and a motivational speech, and good music with nice lights? What exactly are you running there?
00:28:53
Speaker
You see, a church in its proper context should be unafraid to go against the culture and not conform to the world, but preach the word.
00:29:05
Speaker
Wow. Yeah, he's right. There's there's so many pastors and um and preachers of the word who ah spend it as a motivational speech. They use chat GPT to break their messages because they can't be bothered to Actually sit down and write a message.
00:29:24
Speaker
um And they they don't want to preach the word and they don't want to say convicting things or um aggressive things because you got to make your your congregation feel good about themselves.
00:29:40
Speaker
where Where is that? where what would What would our culture do with a Moses or a even a Jesus who just shows up and is like, you whitewash tombs.
00:29:53
Speaker
pick so Figure yourself out. like You are sinners on the outside. You're sinners on the inside and you look so good and nice on the outside, but you're horrid on the inside.
00:30:07
Speaker
Like, What would you – some of the churches nowadays, I'm not sure they could handle Jesus just walking into their church and saying something like that. they I don't think they could.
00:30:18
Speaker
And so that makes you think, though, if Jesus could walk into your church and say something like that and you're offended, o maybe he's close to the truth.
00:30:33
Speaker
So, um yeah, that he's he's very right on about um our our churches nowadays need to talk about the things that actually apply to the people that are there and encouraging and challenging them to grow in their walks with the Lord and not that it's just a bunch of pat you on the back. and um And one of the things that I always – got frustrated was ah there was at times I had somebody who would speak on Sundays and he would say, oh, okay, here's the Bible verse and here's the sin that you guys, or here's the sin that this is referring to.
00:31:14
Speaker
um And you, you shouldn't do that. And then he would go, but none of you are that way. And I'm like, you just let them off the hook. They were all right there. You had them dead to rights and you went and here's the back door. Okay.
00:31:26
Speaker
Nobody hears that way. Yeah, you just let them all out the back door. Instead of letting them wrestle with it a little bit and make them feel a little uncomfortable and go, hmm, maybe he's talking to me, you went, okay, door's open, everybody's out.
00:31:41
Speaker
um And yeah and and i know there are times where it's not necessarily referred to you, but there's always conviction. god When God's word is preached...
00:31:53
Speaker
um his His word comes through, and there's always things that we can learn from when the Bible's taught. And if we waste that opportunity, um we're just making weak Christians and Christians that won't be able to stand against the world and Christians that just fall for everything that the devil throws at them.
00:32:12
Speaker
So that's that's not what we need in our churches um and has never worked in churches. um So that's my thoughts. Yeah, wow, true.
00:32:26
Speaker
And for me, God been speaking to me over the last number of years. Here I've got over a thousand pages worth of Bible notes that God would have me teach on, and I've probably got another 500 or so to write by week's end.
00:32:43
Speaker
And in my ex-church, it was not going to happen.
00:32:49
Speaker
Put that way. Um... they They're very yoked to a certain denomination. And and it's one that people would probably typically say very outgoing and you know mainstream Christianity. It's bold.
00:33:08
Speaker
It's bash. But actually very cowardly, have to say um There were things that they
00:33:18
Speaker
undoubtedly, on some level, um Pastors must have known there was more to the word than they're willing to share. i But I think they were afraid of certain congregants knowing more than they did.
00:33:30
Speaker
So they regarded congregants with a level of suspicion or animosity rather than than letting the word read them teach them as much as they were being paid to teach the word. Yeah.
00:33:46
Speaker
And what really spoke to me about Charlie and his opinion on basically letting pastors have it when they wouldn't speak politics, is the Bible commands us to fight the good fight of faith.
00:34:00
Speaker
And nowhere does the war between good and evil rage more viciously in the spirit realm than politics. Think of when Joe Biden was campaigning to wreck your country.
00:34:16
Speaker
What was his slogan? The soul of the nation. Now this is the same guy who'd speak like a snake.
00:34:28
Speaker
Hello, who do you think won the soul of your nation? The devil. ah but It's the same in Ireland. People decided beyond reason to elect a sodomite into our government.
00:34:44
Speaker
And then all of a sudden, what on the surface looks like probably the most conservative country in in the world, All of a sudden we had gay marriage, abortion, now we've got open borders and basically everything your Democrats ever wished to pull off are going to basically get inspired rather than looking out in horror.
00:35:05
Speaker
And they're making plans to come after free speech as well. So we'll have to beat them back on that too. aim So it's a case where the enemy always wants...
00:35:20
Speaker
wicked people in politics because he knows that when they're there, can do most damage. There's a reason the Bible has two groups called Kings. And yeah we've got cowardly pastors who do not want their congregants speaking about politics or fighting the good fight of faith or obeying biblical commands.
00:35:43
Speaker
Hate evil. Resist evil. Expose evil. expose evil There are Bible verses that a lot of pastors are very happy to pretend don't exist.
00:35:55
Speaker
um I remember one of my former pastors even wrote a book. And this was before I knew anything about US politics. But he referred to some quote that was said at a Democratic convention. I think it might have been the year Hillary Clinton ran.
00:36:09
Speaker
And back then when I saw Democrats, in my mind, i thought democracy. I thought, oh, these must be the good guys. Little did I know. was actually Netflix's House of Cards that really got me questioning. Wait, who are the others?
00:36:25
Speaker
It's actually how I got into US politics with that show. I didn't understand a word of it, so I had to start doing an investigative thing. and But at the Democrat convention, the pastor had this quote in the book.
00:36:41
Speaker
um Something about you shouldn't mix church and politics. in the same way that you shouldn't mix ice cream and feces.
00:36:55
Speaker
Because the ice cream might enhance the taste of the feces, but the feces means the ice cream shouldn't be eaten. And that was the rationale for keeping church and state separate.
00:37:08
Speaker
Well, when I read this as a teenager, I thought, oh, okay, and maybe so. And then I got older and I got some common sense. I realized, well, that makes no sense at all.
00:37:18
Speaker
I mean, God's the one who chose David, chose Saul before on Darkseid, chose Solomon. And actually, when you release people to be in positions of power and commit evil unchallenged, that's exactly what they're going to do.
00:37:36
Speaker
And as ambassadors for Italian congregants, don't talk about politics. Stop with the memes. I'll be honest, I sat there for months and months and years and years just assuming it was meant directly at me, and it probably was.
00:37:50
Speaker
um But then I found out that the pastors were having Zoom calls with politicians during COVID, when even the body of Christ were pushing the masks and the vaccine mandates and passports.
00:38:03
Speaker
And i said, okay. So the compromise here runs very, very deep. But it's only Christians who call out evil who are compromised.
00:38:14
Speaker
So long as you're working with evil, it's fine. And it was videos like this from Charlie that really led me to have a pool of Bethesda moment. Pick up your mat.
00:38:25
Speaker
And walk. Why are you sitting under the crap? Why are you sitting beside the same pool, paralyzed, and going nowhere year after year after year?
00:38:36
Speaker
Makes no sense. It's your own destiny to get that gets hampered. If the people got actually once in your life, once in your life, you don't get blessed. um So then at the end of last year, God spoke to me incredibly clearly. And Charlie opened my eyes. Then God gave me a prophetic dream and spoke directly and said, leave.
00:38:58
Speaker
he said, church culture is a beast and you're not going to change this. It's up to leaders to get their act together. Walk away. And then i walked away.
00:39:11
Speaker
And within two or three weeks, God had not just given me one ministry, but two. um One in my hometown and one that's international.
00:39:22
Speaker
So God is absolutely
Legacy of Faith: Kirk and Biblical Parallels
00:39:25
Speaker
good. He knows what he's doing. a But we can't afford to live and fear. We can't afford to live in terror.
00:39:34
Speaker
Yeah. i do not want to look back on these days... when my grandkids are tugging at my ankles saying, daddy, daddy, or granddaddy, whatever are they want to call me.
00:39:48
Speaker
don't want my kids or grandkids having this reaction. And saying, in history, you know, we've read a about how people tried to take over the world in the 2020s. What did you do? I don't want to say I sat in a church pew and I let it happen.
00:40:02
Speaker
I don't want to say, a pastor who was kind of compromised, told us not to speak against evil. So I zip my mouth and I just sat there and let evil steamroll over God's people.
00:40:20
Speaker
not happened Not happening, not happening. If God's people don't call out evil, who will? And you can say, ah well you know, there's this conservative movement, this right-wing movement, this MAGA movement.
00:40:33
Speaker
Political movements are great. but the world should be peripheral to the body of Christ. Because smart people there might be a good righteous movement on the surface, but if it's not actually led by God's people, it's going to go pear-shaped.
00:40:49
Speaker
So, yeah My advice, friends, is shake off whatever shackles that you've been sitting under. If you're sitting in a church,
00:41:02
Speaker
And you're sitting there frustrated that they're letting evil run amok. And anyone who wants righteousness on the land is being shouted down or emotionally blackmailed by the pulpit.
00:41:13
Speaker
Or told, sit down, shut up, don't rock the boat. Take a mountain and walk. Leave. Be brave. Because this world needs heroes.
00:41:26
Speaker
And it's got one too many cowards. God's family as it is. Amen. Indeed. um So I'm going to call an audible on Brendan here.
00:41:37
Speaker
I am thinking as he was speaking, I was thinking of um Moses' last challenge to the children of Israel. And i feel like that's sort of what Charlie Kirk did. In a lot of his episodes and a lot of his clips is he did exactly what Moses said here, which is I'm looking at verse 15 through verse 20. It says, See, I have set before you today life and good, death and evil, in that I commanded you today to love the Lord your God, to walk in his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes and his judgments, that you may live and multiply, and that the Lord God will bless you in the land which you go to possess.
00:42:20
Speaker
But if your hearts turn away so that you do not hear and are drawn away and worship other gods and serve them, I announce to you today that you shall surely perish. You shall not prolong your days in the land which you cross over, the Jordan, to go in and possess.
00:42:35
Speaker
Mm-hmm. i call heaven and earth as witnesses today against you that I have set before you life and death, blessing and cursing. Therefore, choose life that both you and your descendants may live, that you may love the Lord your God, that you may obey his voice and that you may cling to him for he is your life and the length of your days. And you may dwell in the land which the Lord swore to your fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac and Jacob to give them.
00:43:02
Speaker
man That, to me, speaks to how Charlie Kirk lived his life. He set before people life and death. He set before to them good and evil.
00:43:13
Speaker
He didn't mess around a lot of his time with things that weren't important. He was always going at what is what is important. And Moses says that he he's calling heaven to to stand and and say, hold them accountable.
00:43:31
Speaker
And – I think that's how Charlie Kirk lived his life is he he knew that there was only so much he could do in his own power and say, but he also was going to to say what needed to be said. He wasn't going to keep it to himself. He wasn't going to just um hide what he knew was true. He was going to reveal it, and he was going to to listen to what other people had to say while at the same time… I'm asking them to say, okay, so why are you thinking this way?
00:44:00
Speaker
ah Challenging them in a logical way. It wasn't that he was challenging them in a – in illogical ways. He was challenging them, okay, prove to me why what you say that's different than what I say is right.
00:44:14
Speaker
yeah And I think we as Christians, we don't like that confrontation. We don't like that – um Having to confront people on what they're doing, and we don't like to call people out um because we don't we don't want to be thought of as unkind or mean or nasty.
00:44:32
Speaker
um And in reality, you're not. You're standing up for what's right. And if people want to throw that at you, that's them trying to manipulate you into thinking that something that is untrue is true.
00:44:46
Speaker
They're trying to manipulate you so that you back down. um And I think a lot of us probably back down a little too much. um It's not that we ah plow through too much. we We back down too much of what's right and what God says.
00:45:01
Speaker
um and I know for me, I talk a lot about hills that you want to die on, right? Things that are most important that you want to put forward. And it it comes down to the gospel. It comes down to what Jesus says. It comes down to God's word.
00:45:16
Speaker
Those are hills that you die on. um Sure, there are other areas that we could say maybe aren't as big, but when those things affect things that the Bible talks about, whether it's life and death, what is true, what is good, what is beautiful, if we start sacrificing those things because somebody – we're worried about hurting people's feelings.
00:45:38
Speaker
I would much rather hurt somebody's feelings and explain the gospel to them than never share what's true, and they go to hell. And then they look at me and they say, why did you never tell me? Why did you not say about the gospel? Why did you not say that this was what was most important?
00:45:55
Speaker
Why didn't you tell me? You knew it was important. Why didn't you tell me? And I would say, well, i didn't want to hurt your feelings. That's a bad reason to not tell somebody about the gospel. starting a lot more on hell. So, yeah, that though that's my take. And if you want to add some words on Joshua 1-9 or Deuteronomy 30, you're welcome to.
00:46:14
Speaker
Yeah, and that's awesome. I was just about to go to Joshua 1-9, actually. and Because after Moses spoke, or God spoke through Moses, there was one man who stood up and said, okay, I'll answer the call.
00:46:32
Speaker
If life and death... are the options. Good and evil are the options. Blessing and purses are the options. I know which one I'm choosing. And that man's name was Joshua.
00:46:45
Speaker
And, you know, Joshua had seen God move. He'd seen the relationship, the intimacy that the Lord had with Moses. He'd seen manifestations of the power God.
00:46:59
Speaker
Yeah. Yet even Joshua got spooked. Even Joshua got scared. Even after all of that. And in Joshua 1, 9, the Lord spoke, have I not commanded you?
00:47:11
Speaker
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid. Do not be discouraged. For the Lord, your God, will be with you wherever you go.
00:47:24
Speaker
And this was not the first time he needed reassurance. He needed reassurance again and again and again. Just like we all do. Amen. um But you know what? He still chose to believe the word of God.
00:47:38
Speaker
He hearkened to the word of God. He took hold of it. He held it until it burned. And he ran forward in the things of God, right into the promised land.
Conclusion and Call to Action
00:47:55
Speaker
And he became... the de facto leader of the nation of Israel after Moses, and saw not all, but a very great deal ah the promised land reclaimed, the Nephilim and the Geburim and all the heights during his time on his leadership.
00:48:20
Speaker
Because he chose to say yes to the instruction of the Lord. Mm-hmm. An entire nation got blessed. An entire nation entered into and abundant life of living in houses they had not built, eating what they had not planted, land overflowing with milk and honey, a land where the Lord's presence could be felt so powerfully
00:48:54
Speaker
Intentively. Or the Lord wanted to build a kingdom on earth as it was in heaven. It began with him. began with obedience.
00:49:06
Speaker
So, Charlie ran his race more than well. Well, it's far too small an adjective of manner probably ran his. and But the path that he mapped out doesn't have to end with him.
00:49:22
Speaker
In fact, in our own ways, in our own lanes, let's keep up the good fight of faith. Let's run the race well and to completion and bring others on the journey.
00:49:37
Speaker
So just like with Joshua, um we'll see our nations forsake death and choose life. Forsake curses and choose blessings.
00:49:52
Speaker
Forsake evil. And choose good. Because God is absolutely good. And he only has good, perfect, pleasing plans for his kid.
00:50:04
Speaker
Amen. Amen. Well, Brendan, would you close us out in prayer? Amen.
00:50:14
Speaker
Well, God, I thank you for Charlie's life, Lord. Thank you, God, the inspiration that he has been to so many.
00:50:23
Speaker
for the people who've only actually found out about him or have been listening to him since his murder.
00:50:31
Speaker
Thank you, Lord God, for the beautiful family that he's left behind in the words.
00:50:37
Speaker
Encourage his wife, Erica, Jesus, to keep on carrying Christ.
00:50:45
Speaker
And may she raise his children beautifully powerfully and effectively, Lord, that they would do their earthly father proud as they walk in the boldness, love, fearlessness, and sound mind of their heavenly father.
00:51:08
Speaker
And pray, Lord God, that what Charlie began we not just continue, Lord God, but will multiply and like rabbits.
00:51:20
Speaker
in the USA, Lord God, and all across the Western world and beyond.
00:51:28
Speaker
Lord God, I thank you for the Dublin to Cleveland audience under the sound of our voices and minds. Be with each of them, Lord God, in such a special way, way that touches their minds, touches their hearts, where there is cowardice, Lord God.
00:51:49
Speaker
and fear. May faith arise, as you've not given your people a spirit of fear, but of boldness, love, and sound mind. We're either dealing, Lord God, with soul sickness, Lord God, or infirmity in the body. Breathe on them, Lord Jesus.
00:52:13
Speaker
Say the word, and they will be healed. Say the word, they will be made whole. because we know you're willing and we know you're able.
00:52:24
Speaker
For any of them are disenfranchised, Lord God, with their current church congregation. Give them the boldness, Lord God, to pick up their mat, and you direct their feet, Lord God, where you want them to go.
00:52:37
Speaker
And it's okay if looks different. And it's okay if it looks abnormal. And it's okay if people Disagree with their decision.
00:52:50
Speaker
You send them where you want them to go, Lord God. Or use them to set up home church, Lord God, just as it was and the earliest days of the church.
00:53:02
Speaker
For those, Lord God, who stepped out in faith, starting a YouTube channel, teaching your word, evangelizing,
00:53:17
Speaker
running for office, and they got discouraged.
00:53:23
Speaker
People or demons popped their balloon and their dreams burst.
00:53:30
Speaker
The people who should have caught the vision and inspired them, instead treated them like Joseph's brothers and cut them down. But who do you think you are?
00:53:42
Speaker
Treated them like Eliab treated David. I know your heart. He lied, full of conceit and wickedness. You're here for the blood, the guts, and won the battle.
00:53:52
Speaker
Misrepresentation. Rejection.
00:53:57
Speaker
Well, God had declared that those chains are broken off their minds. Off their hearts. Off their eyelids. that the dragon scales that have blinded their eyes thus far fall to the ground.
00:54:13
Speaker
And instead they see God-reality. They see you as you are. They see themselves as you have made them.
00:54:26
Speaker
They see the good, perfect, pleasing plans you have for them and the good work you ordained them to do before the foundation of the earth would lain. And their time on the earth was ordered.
00:54:38
Speaker
was chosen on purpose. They're here for such a time as this.
00:54:47
Speaker
That they would believe again.
00:54:51
Speaker
In Jesus name.
00:54:55
Speaker
Amen. Amen. Amen. a man Well, um I know that normally we close out with shout outs. I think in lieu of that this week, we will just tell you to go look at Charlie Kirk's videos. you know Go look at some of the stuff that he said, some of his truths, because he had a lot to say. And there are a lot of little clips, and there's a lot of people who asked him questions.
00:55:18
Speaker
And just go get a view and a feel for what he said and what he believed in. And especially if you think that he was just antagonistic or he was just an angry, hate-mongering person.
00:55:29
Speaker
go look at some of his videos, just see what he was at and what he was about. um And there is plenty of those things out there that show what his real heart was about and what his mission and what his focus was. And so go check those out this week.
00:55:43
Speaker
um We will be back next week. ah You will hear from us soon um and it will be probably a little less somber, but um at the same time, we're thankful for Charlie Kirk, the impact he made on,
00:55:57
Speaker
on people And christians and america and that legacy will not ah will not die or ah just fade away. I think it's going to only ah grow and continue. And um his mission was Jesus first and that Jesus is the king and he's the Lord and he's the savior.
00:56:18
Speaker
And we need him. And so if you are somebody who doesn't know or hasn't decided to make that decision, reach out to one of us. You can find us.
00:56:29
Speaker
the The links are going to all be in the description of how to get hold of us. So please do that um because I know that's what Charlie Kirk would want you to do is to accept Christ as soon as possible. um So have a wonderful week. You'll hear from us soon.
00:56:43
Speaker
um And we'll see you next time. Bye, friends. Because you were speaking there, i was just thinking of them like, share, and subscribe. And I could hear my thoughts more than I was listening to you.
00:56:56
Speaker
So as soon as I thought my head, all I heard was you saying, that's what Charlie would want you to do. Like, share, subscribe, from Dublin to Cleveland? Was that really his preoccupation? ah no Yes.
00:57:08
Speaker
Why not? He wants the good news getting out there, guys. Bye-bye. um lots of garage yeah by Bye, friends. We'll see you next time.