Thousands of attendees show condolences at Kirk Memorial Service

Around 200,000 people showed up for the Charlie Kirk Memorial Service at the State Farm Stadium and overflow venue in Glendale, Arizona. The event lasted four hours and featured music by several bands, an opera singer singing the Star Spangled Banner, and Grammy Award winner, Lee Greenwood, singing “God Bless the USA.”

A host of speakers took part, ranging from young Turning Point USA workers to his pastor, his wife, people affected by his preaching, and political figures (such as Ben Carson, Tulsi Gabbard, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., Marco Rubio, Donald Trump, Jr., a Congresswoman, Vice President Vance, and President Trump). Tucker Carlson also spoke. A surprising number of those individuals quoted scripture, spoke of their own relationship with God, and presented the gospel. Christ was presented as dead, buried, resurrected, and coming again. The entire service had an evangelistic flavor.

There were several common themes which played out throughout the event. One was that the assassination might have been intended to shut Charlie up and destroy his movement, but it was having the opposite effect (just as the crucification of Christ didn’t shut Jesus up or destroy his followers). An indicator of Turning Point’s increased vitality is that the memorial service itself was larger than anything Turning Point had ever produced previously (and it was being viewed worldwide by millions). Thousands of new people, as well, had just attended their very first church service as a result of Charlie’s martyrdom.

New workers were also emerging and committing themselves to growing Turning Point worldwide. Over 37,000 new college and high school students were committing to starting new chapters. This was all an indication that political conservatism is growing, as well as that a revival is taking place as people turn to Christ.

One of the most significant messages during the event was given by Charlie’s wife Erika Kirk. She vowed to continue her husband’s work, but also forgave his assassin. She did so because Charlie, himself, had loved his enemies and worked diligently for their salvation. When it became President Trump’s time to speak, he called the assassin a monster and indicated he disagreed with Erika on that point. He hated his enemies and did not wish them well. He did concede, however, that Erika and her friends might convince him he was wrong.

It became abundantly clear during the memorial service that Erika deeply loved her husband and had to fight to hold things together as she spoke. It also became apparent Charlie, himself, had a tremendous number of friends. Everyone who spoke, no matter their station, indicated they were his friend. Charlie, it seems, went out of his way to help people when they were undergoing tragedy or need. He really loved those around him, and it showed.

One point President Donald Trump made was that Charlie had foregone a salary for five years. He often wore clothing purchased at Goodwill. He didn’t really care about money (except to the extent that it was a tool for spreading Christian teaching). He often called up Trump the day before an event on the other side of the country asking him to fly over and speak. More often than not, Trump said he had done so.

Tucker Carlson noted that any attempt to extinguish the flame only made it burn brighter. There was, he said, no hate in Charlie’s heart. He loved those around him and preached the absolute need for repentance. Tulsi Gabbard described him as a warrior armed with the Constitution. He showed compassion for the thousands who opposed him.

I couldn’t help but think as I viewed the service that it was probably available on prison televisions. I wondered whether Kirk’s murderer watched the event. I hope he did, because he’s badly in need of repentance.