A Different Kind of Turning Point

3 Beloved, while I was making every effort to write you about our common salvation, I felt the necessity to write to you appealing that you contend earnestly for the faith which was once for all handed down to the saints.

Jude 1:3 NASB

Charlie Kirk

The depraved assassination of Charlie Kirk is a turning point in our nation for several reasons. However, there is one turning point in this story that I have not heard others say...yet. But before I go into my main point for this blog post, I want to express my very real sadness for the earthly loss of Charlie. I believe he is in heaven with the Father, and we will see him again one day, but until that day comes, we will surely grieve his absence here. I also want to say that we have been praying for his wife and children; I can't imagine the hurt they must be feeling at this moment and in the future.

It is my belief that love should be freely given, but respect is sacrificially earned.

Mr. Kirk truly did earn the respect of his fellow believers. He "put it all on the line" so to speak and he was an example to all of us of what it meant to take up your cross and follow Christ, regardless of what it may cost. Charlie took the conversation right into the very sanctums of demonic liberalism: college campuses. But he did it out of love for people and his commitment to Christ.

I began listening to Charlie's podcast not long after it began and we have supported the work that Turning Point USA has been doing. In fact, a year or so ago, when we were looking for a church in Murfreesboro, I reached out to Turning Point Faith to ask for a list of churches in our area who were possibly associated with their organization. Now, I don't mean to imply that I agreed with everything that Charlie said. There were some "big tent" conservative issues that he pushed among the homosexual groups in the USA that I disagreed with, and I felt he became too ecumenical in his approval of different "faith traditions" in the Christian Church. Nevertheless, we are indebted to Charlie's work that he achieved on behalf of God-fearing Christians in the USA and all around the world. I certainly credit him with helping get Trump elected and I am thankful to have had the role model for our young people that he provided.

All of that being said, I want to point out something that is very disturbing about what happened to Charlie. I have seen numerous people pointing out that his death will be a "turning point" in the USA because it will open the eyes of how evil the people on the left really are, and I don't doubt that. I would suspect that his murder will be a "turning point" in many areas of our society and that the organization he founded will live up to its name.

A Different Kind of Turning Point

But there is one "turning point" that, I believe, is one of the most critical that could be accomplished, and I don't see it coming to the surface; at least, I am not seeing anyone talk about it yet. Maybe it's just too soon since the event to talk about it, or maybe it is because of his grieving widow's stance on the subject, or maybe it's for a number of other reasons. But we need to discuss the reality of the more recent Roman Catholic influence on Charlie's faith and look at a couple of things which have come out since the assassination. There have been a seemingly endless number of rumors, misinformation, and just plain nutty (Candace Owens) things that have been said surrounding Charlie's life leading up to the event. But there are two things that appear to be true and are worth mentioning.

1. The night before he was murdered, Charlie went to a Roman Catholic priest to ask for a prayer of protection. It appears this was at the behest of his wife due to some fears they had from violent threats.

2. Charlie had been wearing a necklace which bore an image of Saint Michael. This had been given to Charlie to wear for "protection" against any evil forces that may have been lined up against him.

Now, you must understand that this post is not meant to break down every unbiblical doctrine of Roman Catholicism; that would require numerous posts, and I don't have the time or will to do that. Nor do I want to condemn every person who subscribes to the Roman Catholic church teachings; their faith is between them and God. What I do intend to do is point out how the Lord may be trying to show us something in all of this that we may be currently missing.

Roman Catholicism

For decades now, protestants have been increasingly accepting of the Roman Catholic church as fellow believers, just with a more "reverent" view of Mary. This has been a more recent shift in attitude as historically speaking, the protestants have viewed Roman Catholicism as almost "cultish," not necessarily at all "Christian," and rightfully so as people who are blind of Truth and in need of repentance from their false religion. For people in my parent's generation and those prior, they can remember the shock of seeing JFK elected as our Christian nation's first Roman Catholic president; my, how times have changed. Our Christian culture has gone so far today that Mormons have become the new "Roman Catholics" in the eyes of today's church world and even they are rapidly receiving more and more acceptance by mainstream protestants (thanks in large part to politicians like Mitt Romney and fictitious TV shows like The Chosen). But I digress...

The Priest

If nothing else, we need to understand that the night before his murder, Charlie chose to go to a priest to receive a rite of protection and blessing, where the priest invoked prayers against spiritual harm and for divine safeguarding, including elements of the Saint Michael prayer often used in Roman Catholic tradition for such purposes. THIS IS NOT GOOD. Jesus was quite clear that He alone is our high priest and that God alone is our father.

8 But do not be called Rabbi; for One is your Teacher, and you are all brothers. 9 Do not call anyone on earth your father; for One is your Father, He who is in heaven. 10 Do not be called leaders; for One is your Leader, that is, Christ. Matthew 23:8-10 (NASB)

Charlie Kirk had an amazing history of dependence on the True Christ, and his faith was directed towards Him only. Charlie had spoken numerous times in public about his reliance on Christ alone and how he wanted to follow Him regardless of the cost. Now, from an apparent strong influence from his traditionally Roman Catholic wife, we see him start to drift towards a faith that necessitated a prayer from a priest. This reliance on what a priest can provide above what another fellow believer would do is a step towards a change of faith. It is a move towards the belief in the created, rather than the Creator. This is the beginning of a very slippery slope.

The Necklace

He also had been wearing a necklace featuring an image of Saint Michael the Archangel (a small silver medal depicting the saint vanquishing a dragon) at the time of his murder. His wife, Erika, had presented it to him as a symbol of spiritual armor, drawing from Roman Catholic devotion to Saint Michael as the protector against evil. ALL OF THIS IS NOT GOOD. The Bible is clear that we do not pray to angels or dead people (including Mary) and that it is not we who give God's angels charge over us, but God alone who directs their activities. It should be noted that Charlie lost his life from a bullet that pierced his neck, the same place where he was wearing his mystical "protective" jewelry.

If you want to wear jewelry, fine. If you want to wear a cross of gold, or Saint "Whoever," fine. But understand that these symbols are little more than fool's gold as it relates to the redemptive work of the actual cross or the divine protection of our heavenly Father. Wearing some necklace of a Roman Catholic saint will do nothing for your life, nor will the blessing or "rite" of their priests. Roman Catholicism is a powerless, false Gospel that at every turn attempts to inject a human being between God and man, discounting the reconciliatory work that Christ accomplished on the cross.

Regarding the Roman Catholic church's worship of Mary, Jesus addressed this also: 27 While Jesus was saying these things, one of the women in the crowd raised her voice and said to Him, “Blessed is the womb that bore You and the breasts at which You nursed.” 28 But He said, “On the contrary, blessed are those who hear the word of God and observe it.” Luke 11:27-28 (NASB)

I started this post with a verse from Jude where he encourages us as believers to "contend earnestly for the faith." Yes! And this is a "turning point" which is long overdue. As believers who have left the dead, false religion of Roman Catholicism, we must contend earnestly for the True faith in Jesus Christ and call men to turn away from their dead traditions. We must turn away from the decades-long watering down of the True Gospel and draw the lost world to the True Jesus of the Bible.

13 Be on the alert, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. 1 Corinthians 16:13 NASB

Our Personal Turning Point

Where are you in your walk with Christ today? Have you compromised the Truth which you once believed and exchanged it for a lie? Have you left the free gift of salvation for a works-based set of sacraments and rites? Have you turned your eyes away from Christ and begun to place them on a priest, a religious father, pope, or other "spiritual advisor?" Run away from these dead religions! Have nothing to do with them!

I will leave you with this final, rather sobering thought: the spirit of antichrist who murdered Charlie was driven by a hatred for what he believed and spoke. But I can't help but wonder if the Lord allowed this tragic event if only to spare Charlie's soul from a future where he would walk away from his faith in Jesus and instead place his faith in a dead, religious institution based on men. Only God knows but let us learn from this tragic event and press on towards a Spiritual maturity in the Truth of God's Word.

God bless!

Matt