A Death That Shook My Soul
Charlie Kirk’s assassination has shattered something in me. Yesterday, at 31 years old, this young warrior for truth was cut down by an assassin’s bullet while speaking boldly for biblical principles at Utah Valley University. I didn’t know him personally, but like millions of others, I watched his fearless stand for righteousness. In an instant, his voice was silenced by evil.
But here’s the truth that grips my heart: his mission was not cut short by chance. Scripture declares in Psalm 139:16: “Your eyes saw my unformed substance; in your book were written, every one of them, the days that were formed for me, when as yet there was none of them.” Charlie’s days were written long before he drew his first breath. God had numbered them. His last breath didn’t catch heaven off guard.
That reality both humbles and ignites me. If the Almighty has numbered our days, then not one is wasted, not one is meaningless. Charlie didn’t die in vain, because his race was finished in God’s perfect timing. And his death should awaken in every believer a sobering reminder: our days are numbered too.
Tempus fugit. Time flies.
The question burning in my soul is simple: What am I doing with the days I have left?
The Spiritual War We’re Fighting
Charlie’s assassination is being labeled as political violence. The media analyzes security failures and cultural implications. But let’s not be deceived. This is not merely about politics or ideology.
The apostle Paul declares in Ephesians 6:12: “For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of this age, against spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.”
This is the real battle. Not conservative against liberal, not red against blue. The powers of darkness rage against truth, against righteousness, against the light of Christ breaking through. And when someone stands boldly for biblical principles in public, they step directly into that battlefield. Charlie knew it. You and I know it.
Our nation is under assault, yes, but more than that, truth itself is under siege. Families are shattered. Faith is mocked as foolishness. Children are discipled not by Scripture but by social media algorithms designed to destroy their souls. And the forces behind this destruction are not random, they are intentional, coordinated, and evil.
When I look at America right now, I see Satan’s fingerprints everywhere: Division where unity should flourish. Fear where faith should reign. Confusion where clarity should cut through lies. Compromise where conviction should stand firm.
Yet Scripture reminds us that darkness does not get the final word. We are called to stand in this battle, not shrink from it. This is why Paul urges us in Ephesians 6:13-14: “Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand. Stand therefore…”
Charlie’s assassination was a stark reminder that this spiritual war is real. And if I’m honest, it has lit a fire in my soul that’s been smoldering for too long.
The Divine Weapons We’ve Been Given
If this fight is spiritual, then how do we fight? Not with bullets or ballots alone. Not with the same rage and hatred the world hurls around. Paul explains it clearly in 2 Corinthians 10:3-4: “For though we walk in the flesh, we do not war according to the flesh. For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal but mighty in God for pulling down strongholds.”
That changes everything. The believer is not defenseless. We are not helpless victims. We are equipped with weapons the world cannot understand or defeat.
Paul lists our divine arsenal in Ephesians 6:14-17:
The belt of truth In a world drowning in lies, truth is our unshakeable foundation.
The breastplate of righteousness Not our own goodness, but the righteousness of Christ covering and protecting us.
The gospel of peace as our shoes Ready to move, ready to proclaim, standing firm even when chaos swirls around us.
The shield of faith Extinguishing every fiery dart of the enemy, the accusations, the doubts, the fear, the intimidation.
The helmet of salvation Protecting our minds, reminding us constantly of who we are and Whose we are.
The sword of the Spirit The Word of God, our only offensive weapon, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing through every lie and deception.
This isn’t religious theory for Sunday morning. This is practical equipment for daily warfare. When I step into my business as an owner and coach, I don’t see spreadsheets and strategies as the end game. Those are tools, yes, but the deeper battle is for truth, integrity, righteousness, and faith in the marketplace.
I run my businesses by biblical principles because they are not just “best practices,” they are divine weapons. I coach leaders with grace and truth because the Word of God cuts deeper than any motivational slogan or secular philosophy.
The world says we fight with influence, power, and money. Scripture says we fight with prayer, truth, righteousness, faith, and the gospel. And those weapons, though unseen, tear down strongholds and demolish the gates of hell.
Isaiah 54:17 gives us this promise: “No weapon formed against you shall prosper, and every tongue which rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from Me,” says the Lord.
We are not victims. We are victors. No weapon formed against us shall prosper.
The Gospel Mission We Cannot Escape
If the battle is real, what’s our mission? It’s crystal clear. The mission is the gospel of Jesus Christ.
Romans 1:16 proclaims: “For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ, for it is the power of God to salvation for everyone who believes, for the Jew first and also for the Greek.”
The gospel is not advice. It’s not a political platform. It is power, power to save, power to transform, power to bring light into the deepest darkness. And what is the gospel? Paul defines it in 1 Corinthians 15:3-4: “That Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, and that He was buried, and that He rose again the third day according to the Scriptures.”
That is the good news that shakes hell and opens heaven. The life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.
This is our mission: to proclaim with boldness the gospel of Jesus. Paul himself prayed in Ephesians 6:19-20: “And for me, that utterance may be given to me, that I may open my mouth boldly to make known the mystery of the gospel… that in it I may speak boldly, as I ought to speak.”
Friends, that’s not Paul’s mission alone. That’s mine. That’s yours.
I am a business owner, yes. I am a speaker and coach. But those are not my identity, they are my platforms. Platforms for the furtherance of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Every meeting, every stage, every coaching call, they are divine appointments to proclaim Christ in word and deed.
And if Charlie’s assassination has taught me anything, it’s this: I cannot waste those opportunities. I cannot play it safe. I cannot stay silent while evil advances. The mission is urgent.
The Race Marked Out for Each of Us
Here’s the truth that grips me: each of us has a race marked out by God Himself. But before we run, we must remember who has run before us. Scripture shows us the great cloud of witnesses who have gone before us in faith.
Hebrews 11:32-40 declares: “And what more shall I say? For the time would fail me to tell of Gideon and Barak and Samson and Jephthah, also of David and Samuel and the prophets: who through faith subdued kingdoms, worked righteousness, obtained promises, stopped the mouths of lions, quenched the violence of fire, escaped the edge of the sword, out of weakness were made strong, became valiant in battle, turned to flight the armies of the aliens. Women received their dead raised to life again. Others were tortured, not accepting deliverance, that they might obtain a better resurrection. Still others had trial of mockings and scourgings, yes, and of chains and imprisonment. They were stoned, they were sawn in two, were tempted, were slain with the sword. They wandered about in sheepskins and goatskins, being destitute, afflicted, tormented—of whom the world was not worthy. They wandered in deserts and mountains, in dens and caves of the earth. And all these, having obtained a good testimony through faith, did not receive the promise, God having provided something better for us, that they should not be made perfect apart from us.”
These heroes of faith faced lions, fire, torture, and death. They were mocked, imprisoned, and martyred. Yet they kept running their race with faith. Some saw miraculous victories. Others faced brutal persecution. But all of them proved faithful to the end. They are cheering us on right now.
Charlie Kirk has now joined that great cloud of witnesses. His race is finished. His faith proved genuine unto death. And now he, along with all the faithful who have gone before, is watching us run our race.
The writer of Hebrews urges us in Hebrews 12:1-2: “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith.”
Paul, nearing his execution, declared in 2 Timothy 4:7-8: “I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. Finally, there is laid up for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will give to me on that Day, and not to me only but also to all who have loved His appearing.”
That’s the finish line we’re running toward. Not wealth, not applause, not influence or recognition. Faithfulness. Finishing well. Hearing those words: “Well done, good and faithful servant.”
Charlie’s race ended at 31 years old, cut short by an assassin’s bullet. And his death has forced me to ask: Am I running my race with urgency? With passion? With boldness?
Time flies. Tempus fugit. None of us knows how many days remain. But God does. He’s numbered them. And that truth removes every excuse for delay, every justification for compromise, every reason to stay silent.
I’ve heard people tell me lately, “Justin, you’re bold. You talk about Jesus a lot.” Well, friends, I’m about to get bolder. More clear. More pointed. More uncompromising. Because if not me, who? If not now, when?
Our mission isn’t acceptance or agreement from others. Our mission is surrender, full surrender to the calling of God on our lives. That surrender leads to boldness, because when you know who you are and Whose you are, fear loses its grip.
The Identity That Breeds Boldness
Boldness is not something we manufacture or fake. It is the natural overflow of identity. When we truly understand who we are in Christ and what He has called us to do, fear loses its stranglehold on our lives.
Scripture declares in Romans 8:17: “And if children, then heirs—heirs of God and joint heirs with Christ, if indeed we suffer with Him, that we may also be glorified together.” That means we are not spiritual paupers begging for scraps. We are sons and daughters of the King of Kings, joint heirs with Christ Himself.
Peter echoes this reality in 1 Peter 2:9: “But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
That identity reshapes everything. And the natural outcome is fearless boldness. Proverbs 28:1 declares: “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.” Acts 4:31 records: “And when they had prayed, the place where they were assembled together was shaken; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with boldness.”
I’ve heard it from friends and clients lately: “Justin, you’re bold. You talk about Jesus a lot.” I take that as confirmation, but I’m not done. I’m just getting started. Like Joshua of old, I stand and declare: “As for me and my house, we will serve the Lord” (Joshua 24:15).
That is my line in the sand. My identity in Christ demands it.
The Eternal Perspective That Changes Everything
If our days are numbered and our race is divinely appointed, then our goal becomes crystal clear: faithfulness unto the end.
Jesus told the parable of the talents, and in it the master commended the faithful servant:
“WELL DONE, GOOD AND FAITHFUL SERVANT; YOU WERE FAITHFUL OVER A FEW THINGS, I WILL MAKE YOU RULER OVER MANY THINGS. ENTER INTO THE JOY OF YOUR LORD”
(Matthew 25:21)
That is what I want to hear when my race is finished. Not applause from men. Not recognition from the marketplace. Just those words from my King: “WELL DONE.”
Ezekiel 22:30 reveals God’s heart: “So I sought for a man among them who would make a wall, and stand in the gap before Me on behalf of the land, that I should not destroy it; but I found no one.”
I refuse to be counted among the missing. If God is searching for someone to stand in the gap, let Him find me. Let Him find us. When the smoke clears and the battle rages, I want to be among those who, as Paul wrote in Ephesians 6:13, “having done all, to stand.”
That is not weakness. That is victory.
## The Memory of the Righteous
There’s a sobering promise in Proverbs 10:7: “The memory of the righteous is blessed, but the name of the wicked will rot.”
History forgets the self-indulgent and the cowardly, but God remembers the faithful. Hebrews 6:10 assures us: “For God is not unjust to forget your work and labor of love which you have shown toward His name, in that you have ministered to the saints, and do minister.”
Malachi 3:16 gives us this beautiful picture: “Then those who feared the Lord spoke to one another, and the Lord listened and heard them; so a book of remembrance was written before Him for those who fear the Lord and who meditate on His name.”
Charlie Kirk’s name will not be forgotten because he feared the Lord and proclaimed His truth with boldness. And if we stand with that same courage, neither will ours.
My Declaration
So here it is. My declaration before God and man.
I am a business owner, a speaker, and a coach. But these roles do not define me, they are my assignments, my God-given platforms. My true calling is to proclaim the gospel of Jesus Christ, His perfect life, His substitutionary death, His victorious resurrection.
I will run my businesses on biblical principles, not worldly philosophies. I will steward every client, every company, and every opportunity with grace and truth. I will coach not merely for profit but for transformation, for Kingdom impact that echoes in eternity.
I will proclaim Christ unapologetically. Come persecution, come mockery, come whatever may, I will not be silent.
Psalm 107:2 commands: “Let the redeemed of the Lord say so, whom He has redeemed from the hand of the enemy.”
This is my voice. This is my stand. This is my declaration.
The Challenge
But this declaration is not mine alone. It is a charge to every believer reading these words.
What will you do?
Romans 12:1 calls us to “present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.” Luke 9:23 reminds us: “If anyone desires to come after Me, let him deny himself, and take up his cross daily, and follow Me.”
This is not about winning acceptance or agreement from the crowd. It’s about complete surrender to the call of God on your life.
We have a race to run. We have a gospel to proclaim. And the days are flying by, tempus fugit.
Charlie’s assassination has awakened something fierce in my soul. It is time for a new generation of bold believers to rise up. Not timid, not silent, not distracted by lesser things. Bold. Clear. Unashamed.
Ezekiel 3:18-19 warns us: “When I say to the wicked, ‘You shall surely die,’ and you give him no warning, nor speak to warn the wicked from his wicked way, to save his life, that same wicked man shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. Yet, if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, nor from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity; but you have delivered your soul.”
We have a responsibility. Blood is on our hands if we stay silent.
So I ask you: Will you stand in the gap? Will you be bold as a lion? Will you run your race with holy urgency until you cross the finish line?
Charlie Kirk’s death has shaken me awake. It is time for the church to stop whispering and start roaring. It is time for believers in the marketplace to stop blending in and start standing out.
Because the cause of Christ is worth any cost.
The time for silence is over. The time for boldness is now.
“The righteous are bold as a lion” (Proverbs 28:1).
Let’s prove it.
