WATCH: NOW WHAT? At NRB Media Summit, Sen. Ted Cruz, White House aides share memories of Charlie Kirk’s passion for Jesus, youth & Israel – urge 1 million to join ‘America Prays’ movement
Christian broadcasters hit hard by loss of their biggest rising star, process next steps
WASHINGTON, DC — Now what?
Where do we go from here?
Will we become paralyzed by anger and bitterness and fear?
Or inspired and invigorated by our love for Jesus and our love of country?
The Apostle Peter had a good word for the dark moment in which we find ourselves:
“All of you be harmonious, sympathetic, brotherly, kind-hearted, and humble in spirit, not returning insult for insult, but giving a blessing instead; for you were called for the very purpose that you might inherit a blessing….” (1 Peter 3:8–9)
Look, Charlie Kirk was not simply a bright and articulate young American who loved his country and wanted others to rediscover their love for America, too.
Nor was he simply a born-again Evangelical follower of Jesus Christ who loved to tell others how Jesus had changed his life and why Jesus is the only answer for the troubles facing a lost and cynical generation.
Charlie Kirk was certainly those things.
But he was more.
He was also the most winsome, listened-to, watched, and effective Christian conservative communicator of his generation.
He was the new and rising Rush Limbaugh.
I knew Rush.
I worked for him.
I was devastated by his death.
But I never doubted the Lord would replace him.
And He did.
Emerging in the wake of Rush’s tragic and untimely death in 2020, Charlie Kirk developed a wildly popular, nationally syndicated, midday radio show on Salem, the most-listened-to Christian radio network in the U.S.
Kirk developed and hosted a highly popular show on the Trinity Broadcasting Network (TBN), the most-watched Christian television network in the United States.
What’s more, Kirk had an outrageously popular daily podcast on YouTube.
JUST HOW MASSIVE WAS CHARLIE KIRK’S REACH?
In 2024 alone, he had more than 15 billion views on social media.
That’s right – 15 billion.
And at only 31, he seemed to be just warming up.
On every college campus Kirk spoke at, thousands of young people attended – yes, many to criticize, mock, and jeer at his biblical beliefs and conservative worldview, but far more to listen, learn, and even try to emulate and replicate.
Kirk had already attracted some 800,000 young people to join chapters of his Turning Point USA organization on college campuses and in high schools.
And he was passionate about building out this movement far, far bigger.
“We want to be an institution in this country that is as well-known and as powerful as the New York Times, Harvard, and tech companies,” he told a reporter in Utah.
Now he’s gone – cut down by an assassin’s single bullet – and we’re reeling from this staggering loss.
WHO CAN REPLACE SUCH A SINGULAR TALENT?
On Wednesday evening – just hours after the news broke – I happened to be having dinner with about 75 Christian media executives gathered for the “Capitol Media Summit,” which is hosted each fall by the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) Association.
As members of NRB’s President’s Council met at a lovely restaurant in Arlington, Virginia, with a commanding view of Washington, D.C., we were all in shock, trying to process the tragic and heartbreaking loss of our brightest light and fastest-rising star.
Before dinner began, NRB CEO Troy Miller asked a somber Allen Power to pray for Charlie’s family, friends, colleagues, and followers.
Power is the president of Salem Media Group’s broadcast media division, and thus was Charlie Kirk’s employer on the radio side of his life.
Power was being hit especially hard by Kirk’s death, and you could feel his burden.
How do you replace a broadcaster of Charlie Kirk’s singular talent and God-given favor?
You can’t.
Not quickly, anyway, not easily.
But after Moses, the Lord gave us Joshua.
After Elijah, the Lord raised up Elisha.
When the Lord took Rush home, He gave us Charlie.
The Lord will raise up others, too.
Don’t lose heart.
Watch, pray, and be amazed.
In the meantime, pray relentlessly for Charlie’s grieving family, friends, and team.
They need comfort and healing – it will come, but it won’t come quickly.
WHITE HOUSE AIDES SHARE THEIR GRIEF – AND THEIR NEWLY INTENSIFIED RESOLVE
On Thursday, my NRB colleagues and I spent a good part of the day at the White House.
We were supposed to receive briefings from aides and advisors to President Donald J. Trump and Vice President JD Vance on the administration’s most important accomplishments over the previous seven months, get a sneak preview of upcoming initiatives, and have an opportunity to ask our questions, both on and off the record.
All that happened, but it was hardly business as usual.
Some of these aides and advisors knew Charlie Kirk well and personally.
Some knew his wife, Erika, and his two small children.
They didn’t have to, but they chose to share with us where they were and how they reacted when they first heard the news that Kirk had been shot – and later learned that he had died after a massive loss of blood from a single gunshot to the neck from a high-powered rifle.
It was hard to hear, but I was deeply grateful for their candor.
Some noted that it was Kirk’s mobilization of young people for Trump that swept the former president back to office.
Others noted that it was Kirk’s deep Christian faith and unashamed proclamation of Bible truth that deepened and galvanized their own personal faith.
One shared how she broke down sobbing when the news of his murder broke and wondered how she was going to be able to get up the next morning and go back into work at the White House and keep functioning effectively.
Another shared how stunned and moved she was to see Susie Wiles – the tough, shrewd, no-nonsense White House chief of staff – bury her face in her hands and weep when the news broke, something she’d never seen Wiles do before in all the years that they had worked together.
But they didn’t just share their grief.
To their credit, they also shared their memories of Charlie Kirk’s passion for Jesus, for America, for reaching and winning and mobilizing young people, and his love for Israel and the Jewish people.
CAN WE MOBILIZE ONE MILLION AMERICANS TO PRAY DAILY FOR REVIVAL?
They talked openly about how worried they are for a country that is becoming consumed not just by political division but by an epidemic of political violence, including the two assassination attempts against President Trump during last year’s campaign.
Yet each of them said that all of the opposition facing the president, the president’s closest allies, their values, and their faith is motivating them to fight all the harder.
We weren’t told to protect the identities of those who met with us.
But given the sensitive nature of what they shared, I’ve decided not to share their names in this article.
Except one.
Jenny Korn, the director of the White House Faith Office – who is Christian on her mother’s side and Jewish on her father’s side – urged us to use this moment to call the nation to prayer.
Amen.
She noted that just this week, on Monday morning, President Trump and Secretary Scott Turner – an African American Evangelical pastor from Prestonwood Baptist Church in Dallas who is now head of the Department of Housing and Urban Development – hosted a powerful and moving event at the Museum of the Bible.
They announced the administration’s “America Prays” initiative and their hope that as we approach the 250th anniversary of the founding of the United States of America, we can work together to mobilize one million Americans to commit to praying daily for the country.
I love this idea – I’m all in – and I will write and speak more about this soon.
THE PAIN AND THE FIRE OF SENATOR TED CRUZ
But before I close, I also want to share about the dinner meeting we had with Senator Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican, last night at the Capitol Hill Club.
Cruz was a very close friend and mentor to Charlie Kirk.
The senator shared with us his memories of meeting the young firebrand about 11 years ago.
And why he became so quickly stunned by – but impressed with – Kirk’s vision to reach, transform, and electrify high school and college students.
Even though Kirk himself had dropped out of college (because he was bored).
I’ve never seen Cruz so emotional.
Nor so angry.
Nor so resolved to fight harder to advance his biblical convictions and conservative ideals.
Charlie Kirk’s death has hit Cruz hard.
He had a lot to say to us.
All of it is worth watching.
I recorded the entirety of the senator’s remarks to us, delivered without notes and from the heart.
And I’d note that he covered several other important issues, not just his reaction to this brutal and sickening assassination.
I encourage you to watch it all.
Share it with family and friends.
NOW WHAT? HOW WILL THIS MOMENT MOVE YOU TO ACT?
I began this column by asking, “Now what?”
How will this moment move you?
To despair or determination?
To fear or to faith?
To action or to apathy?
I urge you to commit yourself to becoming part of the movement of one million Americans praying urgently, passionately, and without ceasing for a revival in America’s pulpits and pews, and a Great Spiritual Awakening among America’s lost, confused, hurting, and depressed.
That’s a great place to start.
But don’t stop there.
Let Charlie Kirk’s passion for preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ in a loving, winsome, and fearless way move you to do the same.
Let Charlie’s passion for reading and obeying the Bible every day inspire you to follow his example.
Let his passion for standing unapologetically for Israel and the Jewish people during this Satanic season of surging antisemitism become your passion, too.
Charlie has run his race and finished it well.
He fearlessly articulated, defended, and advanced the Truth to the very end.
Will you and I do the same?
Joel C. Rosenberg is the editor-in-chief of ALL ISRAEL NEWS and ALL ARAB NEWS and the President and CEO of Near East Media. A New York Times best-selling author, Middle East analyst, and Evangelical leader, he lives in Jerusalem with his wife and sons.
