It was June 15th 2025.
Very easy to remember because this happens to be my wife’s and my anniversary as well as my birthday.
I was turning 30 and my beautiful wife wanted to celebrate in a special way and she always wanted to go to Iceland.
Neither of us had been, but upon arriving, we realized most of Iceland is driving and hiking.
Honestly? It was perfect.
My wife and I like views and talking, so we were happy.
It turns out that hours between waterfalls that I couldn’t pronounce and sitting in the car, make the perfect conditions for a man to finally hear something he’d been avoiding for years.
For weeks before this trip, I didn’t know why, but it’s like God had highlighted one person in particular out to me to pay attention to.
Hard to explain, but that still small voice, I’ve learned not to ignore.
So before we hit the road for our first waterfall, I downloaded everything I could find from him. Interviews, podcasts, lectures, debates…
This man was Charlie Kirk.
For about three days, my wife and I would hike, see a waterfall, then drive and listen. We’d talk about it, then rinse and repeat.
It was a blast.
We both were in somewhat of an awe, but I don’t think she knew just how moved I was.
Sure, he was sharp, intelligent, well-read, could quote passages from our founding documents off the cuff…
It was impressive, sure.
But most of all, he refused to choose between God and his country. He was so on fire for Jesus, while also taking a political stand.
Jordan Peterson: And I know you’re a figure whose political activity is grounded in a religious substrate.
Charlie: That’s right.
Peterson: Shapiro is of course like that too, and Dennis Prager.
Charlie: Christianity is my foundation.
This was new for me.
See, my parents were associate pastors when I was young and later in my teen years. they went into full-time travel ministry.
So for most of my life, I always thought that’s what I would do. Even though in my early 20s, I went into business, this was still the plan and expectation I had for myself.
But all the while, I couldn’t ignore what I was seeing in my country. I watched as the culture in our nation had grown more morally corrupt.
Colder towards God, more divided, confused and violent.
And I always wanted to do something about it.
Even as a young boy, I would ask my teachers and my parents questions. So much so. They’d get pretty annoyed and tell me that I’d understand when I got older.
It was like this burning inside of me that never went away, but I ignored it.
It’s because where I come from, you don’t mix politics and ministry.
Mixing in politics could water down your witness for Christ. You might offend someone.
This wasn’t a written rule, but more so an unspoken one.
And I believed it.
This inner compulsion grew and grew, I remember watching debates and lectures in my free time sometimes until 2 or 3am.
In 2024 the Ronald Reagan biopic released and I wanted to see it. The only person I could get to come with me was my newlywed wife. We walked into the auditorium and looked around. I’m pretty sure everyone else in that room was 50 and older.
The scene where the president stands at the wall in Berlin and says:
“General Secretary Gorbachev, if you seek peace, if you seek prosperity for the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe, if you seek liberalization: Come here to this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, open this gate! Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!”
It brought me to tears.
Literally a 28 year old man, crying about the fall of the soviet union. I had this desire to do something. I just couldn’t articulate what it was.
By my own admission, I was stuck in between these two worlds because of a story I was telling myself.
That is until I heard Charlie Kirk simultaneously share the Gospel and take a stand for our nation.
He wasn’t a politician, nor was he a pastor.
He was 18 years old when he started Turning Point USA out of the suburbs of Chicago.
Nobody handed him a platform. He decided to pick up a folding chair and a microphone, and engage in civil dialogue on college campuses.
His reason was…
When people stop talking, really bad stuff starts. When you stop having a human connection with someone you disagree with, it becomes a lot easier to want to commit violence against that group.
He was right. Our nation’s society and culture were birthed through contending with ideas. We wrestled with them in dialogue and arrived at the best possible outcome.
For example, our constitution was the product of public debate over months, as people wrestled with the idea of a federal government in the newspapers.
He would sit down outside at college campuses with a sign reading “prove me wrong.”
You don’t agree with Charlie? Great. You could grab the mic and defend your views.
He didn’t give a speech, then ran away without defending it. He welcomed anyone and everyone to exercise their right to free speech.
And guess what? Students started showing up in droves.
Thousands of students would show up to either watch or debate him.
He started a movement.
He launched 900 college chapters and 1200 high school chapters across the nation.
Young people were inspired…
Why?
He made conviction look like something to be proud of, as opposed to something to hide.
He was young and simultaneously proud to be American when the culture had learned to hate our nation and our history.
He loved God and he loved our nation.
And the most spiritually starved generation in American history followed him anyway.
So how did he impact me?
Hard to put into words.
For the first time, I witnessed someone making an impact in a way I’d never seen before, but knew the world needed.
In the beginning of September last year, I was on the phone with a good friend of mine and mentor named Mark. He had asked how I was doing - I was honest.
I told him lately I had been feeling uneasy, unfulfilled… and stuck. I wanted to do something else with my life.
He asked what it would be.
I told him it might sound strange, but I wanted to somehow pursue politics. That it could be a mission field just as much as traditional ministry could be.
That I wanted to make an impact similar to Charlie Kirk, but in my own way.
Mark said that sounded interesting, and we should talk next week.
We never got the chance. Before our next conversation, Charlie was murdered.
I remember. I was in my home in NYC, on the phone with one of closest friends, Taylor, when he saw the clip and told me mid-sentence.
“Bro, look at the link I just sent you. Charlie Kirk was shot”.
I watched it and my heart sank.
I turned to my wife, Bee.
She looked at me and asked…
Bee: “Do you think he’ll be ok? We need to pray. Do you think he’ll be ok?”
I answered, “I… don’t know. It doesn’t look good.”
She started to cry, as I held her.
The man pioneered the largest conservative youth movement by speaking the truth in public. He was murdered for it, while doing it.
And look, I’m not here to write a eulogy.
But I wanted to share the impact Charlie Kirk had on me, because I know many of you feel the same.
Charlie Kirk inspired us all…
But personally, his life also gave me the permission I needed.
Permission to pursue a work that could be done in a way I didn’t know existed. To educate, inspire, and disciple, and to defend both the Gospel and the founding principles this nation was built on.
Because we need both.
Charlie saw that before almost any of us, and he did it with such character, virtue, and wisdom.
I think he modeled what a modern-day founding father would look like.
And he was just as much a force for the Kingdom of God as he was for the conservative movement.
I’m not going to tell you to “be like Charlie Kirk.” I think he would’ve hated that and it would be the wrong lesson anyway.
He would tell you to follow Jesus, to be like Christ, and to take a step of courageous faith to do the thing God put you on this planet to do.
Even if it’s scary, if it costs you friends, your reputation, and a lot of hard work.
You have no idea the impact it will have on people. People alive today or future generations.
So what’s the thing burning on the inside of you to do?
Maybe yours isn’t ministry or politics. Maybe it’s a business, a family, art, or something that doesn’t exist yet.
One thing I’ve learned is to say it out loud to someone. Once I did, it lit a spark and there’s a chain reaction.
Let it happen.
And let Charlie’s life be a testimony.
Be courageous.
Speak the truth.
The truth will set you free.
-Mitchell
WOW so good