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The past couple of weeks have been tough for me. One of the toughest couple of weeks that I can remember in a long time. Like many others, Charlie Kirk’s assassination goes beyond shocking to unimaginable devastation. For me, it goes beyond a famous person dying shockingly…it goes way beyond that. I know how I feel, but I can’t even fathom what his beautiful wife, young kids, and family are going through. I am thankful we serve a God who is alive and well, who has broad enough shoulders to carry them through. I could see this clearly when watching Erika Kirk’s strength as she delivered her first powerful message to the world and then at his memorial.
I didn’t know Charlie, and I am quite a bit older than he is. I have watched and admired him from a distance, being so thankful for his talent and so thankful for his calling. Watching a young man go into the fire that is today’s college campuses, where our young people are being sold a destructive bill of goods, and challenging them in the way he did was not just impressive, but needed now more than ever before! What I find sad is that the media coverage, by and large, is painting him as a “political MAGA Republican right-wing conservative activist”. This is on purpose because they don’t want to spotlight who Charlie truly is…A Christian who claimed Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. When it comes to Charlie, I say “is” and not “was” because Charlie is alive and well in the presence of our Lord. And let this be clear: If being a liberal left-wing Democrat meant you fought for Christian morals and values that line up with Jesus Christ, then Charlie Kirk would have been a liberal left-wing Democrat! Charlie made it clear that the number one priority in his life was his faith in Jesus Christ. He just understood that he needed to fight for that in the public square (politics), and of the two parties, the right, conservative side clings to those values most. Sadly, between the two sides, it is not even close.
As I think about Charlie Kirk, it got me to think of how short his life here on earth was. Charlie was only 31 years old. If you heard him speak, you’d be floored when you realized his youth. Charlie was smart, well-read, and educated himself extensively. He worked tirelessly to have the knowledge necessary to not just debate the other side, but get them to think. When Charlie debated, he won! Many times, it wasn’t even a close debate. But it wasn’t about the win for Charlie…He didn’t win the debate and spike the football! Instead, the win he wanted was the difference he was making in young people, and quite frankly, anyone he could when given the opportunity. And in doing so, more times than not, he brought the conversation back to the foundation of his stance. The foundation was founded in Christianity and Jesus Christ! And if the aftermath of his death isn’t showing you the impact he has had, just pull up any videos of him on college campuses and watch the dialogue.
Charlie was quick to give the other side the microphone, many times trying to find a common ground with the person, and then trying to help lead them to his argument. When they walked away, you could see the impact he just made on them. He didn’t win over every person he debated, but many… You could see them walk away with an incredible respect for Charlie. In our world of great divisiveness, it was not hard to see the difference that Charlie was making. Charlie was on the right side of the argument when it comes to Jesus Christ, and that is what ultimately brought me to my thoughts that came to me as I reflected on this man’s short life.
My thought is this: We MUST find the TRUTH in this life to be on the right side of our existence! What exactly do I mean by this? I am talking about the reality of the literal time of your existence. Our existence, for lack of a better term, will have 2 phases to it that God tells us about. We will have the time afforded to us on this earth and then the time that comes next. The time that comes next will not stop. I will give you an example of what I mean that hopefully hits the target:
Abraham Lincoln had 56 years of physically living on this planet, but his soul has gone on for 158 years after that as of this blog…oh…AND STILL COUNTING, I might add! If Abraham Lincoln were allowed to come back for 1 day and be asked what is the right side of your existence, your physical life or your spiritual soul after… I am extremely confident he would tell all of us to be ready to be on the right side of our existence that comes after physical death. I am also confident that if you go down the list of every person that has ever existed who has now passed, their answer to this same question would be the same. And why? Because what one believes the truth to be will have no relevance to what the Truth is once it is revealed. Meaning even those who didn’t believe in an afterlife, if the truth is that an afterlife does exist, they are stuck dealing with it. They don’t get to say, I didn’t believe in this, so therefore stop this. No, they won’t have that luxury. Please read on…
Now here is the link between the two. God gives us the physical time on this earth to make our decision to want a relationship with Him or reject Him. To those who want Him, He requires trust and faith on our part. For God’s part, He always delivers, even when we might not see it. Our faith and trust in Him will result in a life spent with Him when all wickedness receives its righteous judgment. We will be left with no excuse. If we reject Him, we die in our sins under that righteous judgment. The only difference between the two is the salvation offered by Christ’s sacrifice. Jesus Christ is faithful to save us from our sins as He has already defeated sin and death on our behalf through his life, death, and resurrection. It’s not rocket science. It’s not a Rubik’s Cube that needs a genius to solve. It is quite clear and not hard to comprehend. For those who want God, they will find Him. To those who don’t, God gives them what they desire as well, an eternity separated from Him. That existence will have no love or joy in it whatsoever. In fact, that existence will come with weeping and the gnashing of teeth. Without God, there is no light, only darkness, as only God is the source of light!
I will start wrapping this up with this…God is clear in His Word to us:
Jesus said in John 14:6-7…”I am the way, and the truth, and the life. NO ONE comes to the Father except through me. If you had known me, you would have known my Father also. From now on you do know him and have seen him.”
Romans 6:23 tells us, “For the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”
Hebrews 9:27-28 is quite clear, “And just as it is appointed for man to die once, and after that comes JUDGMENT. So Christ, having been offered once to bear the sins of many, will appear a second time, not to deal with sin but to save those who are eagerly waiting for him.”
Finally, in John 11:25-26 Jesus said to Martha…”I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live, and everyone who lives and believes in me shall never die. Do you believe this?”
The question I have for anyone reading this is this: Are you on the right side of your existence? Without Jesus Christ as your Lord and Savior, you simply CANNOT be. Jesus Christ is the ONLY way to get from the wrong side of our existence, this physical life where sin and death rule the day, to the right side of our existence that will last forevermore, where sin and death have been defeated. Truly, what side of your existence are you on? If you are currently on the wrong side…here and now, without a relationship with Jesus Christ…how much longer do you have to decide to get on the right side?
For some, who live a longer life, they’ve had more time. Maybe God is being patient with them as He waits for them to call on Him. Maybe someone is in deep prayer for that person, and God is being faithful in his calling of the person in his timing. For others, their time comes and goes too quickly for them. Why God gives some more time than others is for God to know in his sovereignty and his sovereignty alone. God is God, and we are not. In this, we should all be able to take comfort.
For Charlie Kirk, he had 31 years of life on this side of his existence. However, while here, Charlie was on the right side of his existence because he has Jesus Christ! He has now crossed over to his eternity with the ONE who saved him.
I don’t know why God brought Charlie Kirk home so quickly when Charlie was here fighting the good fight to make a difference for God’s kingdom. I don’t understand, but again I submit to God’s sovereignty in this. But I would like to think maybe it’s this:
Could it be that God, in his faithfulness to Charlie, decided that Charlie had run his race to completion to God’s satisfaction? And maybe because of this, He brought Charlie home in an instant so that Charlie could have a front row seat to watch the majesty of what God will now do through Charlie’s faithfulness to Him! Only God would be able to verify if this is truly the case, but I would like to think so!
What I do know is that Charlie now has truly crossed over to the right side of his existence, where sin and death have truly been defeated forevermore for him. In Jesus Christ, we do KNOW this!
I believe God, in all his majesty and power, is now doing miraculous things in human lives in the aftermath of what Satan meant for wickedness. I hope we can all see this so clearly! And how can this be? Because we serve a God who is faithful and can do way beyond anything we can ever dream of!
Make Heaven Crowded- Charlie Kirk, you are so right, sir! And I believe our God is doing just that! I can only imagine the seat you have, if God, in his sovereignty, is allowing it!
Have Character!
J. Noah Russell
4 responses to “Are You On The Right Side Of Your Existence? A Message Inspired By My Thoughts Of Charlie Kirk”
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Give it a rest: religion politics and billionaires is not what Christ was about. The right wing used him. There is shady connections to Trump Falwell and possibly Epstein. The love and redemption of Christ is not about money greed and power.
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Hi James and thanks for taking the time to post a comment. Yes Charlie was involved in politics. He understood that unfortunately government shapes a country, but if you watched any of his videos his foundation and his identity was his faith in Jesus Christ. He was going into our universities where young people are being indoctrinated with spiritually destructive ideas and fighting the good fight. He was young and his identity in Jesus Christ put him on the right side of his existence which is the message of the blog. God Bless you, sir. Have Character.
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Great word. May many read and be changed by it.
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Thank you Robert! I appreciate your kind words of encouragement. They mean more than you realize. God bless you and your family, sir. Have Character
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Give it a rest: religion politics and billionaires is not what Christ was about. The right wing used him. There is shady connections to Trump Falwell and possibly Epstein. The love and redemption of Christ is not about money greed and power.
Hi James and thanks for taking the time to post a comment. Yes Charlie was involved in politics. He understood that unfortunately government shapes a country, but if you watched any of his videos his foundation and his identity was his faith in Jesus Christ. He was going into our universities where young people are being indoctrinated with spiritually destructive ideas and fighting the good fight. He was young and his identity in Jesus Christ put him on the right side of his existence which is the message of the blog. God Bless you, sir. Have Character.
Great word. May many read and be changed by it.
Thank you Robert! I appreciate your kind words of encouragement. They mean more than you realize. God bless you and your family, sir. Have Character