Charlie Kirk.
Thursday’s Verse:
From Psalm 46:1 ESV
God is our refuge and strength,
a very present help in trouble.
Yesterday, after I arrived back at the house after treatment, I turned on the news for a quick update. My heart sank when I heard that the founder of Turning Point USA, Charlie Kirk, was shot. A few hours later, President Donald Trump told the world the horror - the 31-year-old sparkplug of debate was dead. Tears welled up in my eyes.
Another political assassination. We see the horror of evil in the world all around us—smartphones with cameras become our eyes to the degradation of society. A young woman on a train in North Carolina was savagely murdered by a habitual criminal who should never have been free. We saw every gruesome second of her final moments of life. And now, with Charlie on a college campus in Utah, smartphone cameras caught him as the bullet ripped through his body. Our hearts break. Or well they should.
On X, Charlie’s wife, Erika, tweeted out earlier in the day a Bible verse:
In times like this, we Christians hold deeply to our faith in Jesus, a faith shared with men like Charlie Kirk. He was never ashamed of his faith in Jesus and spoke of it proudly and often. As people of Almighty God, we know that Charlie is with His Lord and Savior. Let us find comfort in knowing that Charlie's faith has brought him home to God.
As we take up our crosses in this world and go on, let us live with the same confidence that Charlie exhibited. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Please pray for Erika, her children, and everyone touched by Charlie’s life.
And pray for America. With all the violence we see and hear about, we need a resurrection of hope and trust in our Lord. May each of us become beacons of hope to our lost and lonely world.
Prayers
A Prayer for Today:
Heavenly Father, from whom all things have their beginning, thank You for the gift of this day and the world You lovingly made. Forgive my anxious striving and my neglect of Your gifts. In Jesus—through whom all things were made and by whose cross I am redeemed—grant me rest, renew my faith, and ready me to serve my neighbor. Amen.
Apostles’ Creed:
I believe in God, the Father Almighty, maker of heaven and earth.
And in Jesus Christ, His only Son, our Lord, who was conceived by the Holy Spirit, born of the virgin Mary, suffered under Pontius Pilate, was crucified, died and was buried. He descended into hell. The third day He rose again from the dead. He ascended into heaven and sits at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. From thence He will come to judge the living and the dead.
I believe in the Holy Spirit, the holy Christian Church, the communion of saints, the forgiveness of sins, the resurrection of the body, and the life everlasting. Amen.
The Lord’s Prayer:
Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be Thy name, Thy kingdom come, Thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven; give us this day our daily bread; and forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us; and lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil. For Thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever and ever. Amen.
Luther’s Morning Prayer:
I thank You, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, Your dear Son, that You have kept me this night from all harm and danger; and I pray that You would keep me this day also from sin and every evil, that all my doings and life may please You. For into Your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all things. Let Your holy angel be with me, that the evil foe may have no power over me. Amen.
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