I made the trip alone to Phoenix on Friday the 19th, armed with my smallest suitcase ever. I had just enough room for a nice green shirt, undies and socks. I arrived at 4 pm and grabbed a rental car at…Alamo of course. I always rent from Alamo so I can ‘remember’ it.
At 5 pm I ate at the New Green Vegetarian restaurant on 7th street. Great food, and if the hipsters don’t mind me, I don’t mind them. At least they let me in without a nose ring.
On Sabbath, I visited two churches (I should get extra points for that) — Paradise Valley and Desert Cove. Both were nice congregations. I spent the afternoon with the amazing Ivan Raj and Heidi, from Heidi’s Health Kitchen. Potluck at Pastor Randy Field’s place was delightful and invigorating. Plus, they had air conditioning and it was 102° outside.
During the afternoon, we discussed the Charlie Kirk Memorial tomorrow. We agreed it might be crowded. “It’s ok”, I said, “I’ll get there at 5 a.m. Plenty of time.”
Then, we started hearing reports of 200,000 people signing up for the memorial service. The Stadium holds 73,000 if you fill every seat and broom closet with humans. “I’ll get there at 4 a.m.” I bartered. Plus, I had a secret plan.
I was asked what I was going to wear to the memorial tomorrow.
“Green, of course.”
“The email from Turning Point requested that people dress up and wear blue, white or red” Ivan said.
Long silence…
“Uhh, is there a Target store near Mesa?” Google Maps assured me that there was.
I arrived at Target two minutes after sundown and found the 200 ft² men’s clothing section just behind the two acre section of women’s clothing. I grabbed a blue shirt and paid for it. Maybe they’ll let me in after all.
I set my alarm clock for 3 am and sacked out. My internal clock woke me up at 2:41. Close enough. I dressed, ate a bagel and a brownie (hey, it was free in the hotel) and headed to Glendale. Smooth sailing. I arrived at the Raymond Skellis School parking lot (my secret plan). I love walking and it was only 1.7 miles from the State Farm Stadium. The parking lot was locked. Rats. I drove around and found lots of places that would be happy to tow my rental car for unwanted parking. I then found Westgate Mera resort with a big vacant lot just west of the resort. I parked there and set off for the Stadium. Fast!
I joined a long line of people in front of the Diamond Arena at 4:10 a.m. (the line was almost a mile long). The people in the line around me were from New York, northern Arizona, Kansas, Joisey, Vegas, and a recent escapee from Pasadena California. I was the only Buckeye in the group. We all became friends and they are definitely invited to Thanksgiving dinner. Humans were everywhere, it was a sea of patriots. People were very polite and well ordered. There were no riots, no looting, and no angry shouting.
At 5:02 a.m. something amazing happened—the line actually started moving! At 5:48 the sun came up, just in case any of us were cold. We weren’t.
At 6:26 we could actually see the stadium. There was hope! At 6:50 a.m. we were within 600’ of it. At 7:12 a.m. the crowd began spontaneously singing Amazing Grace. That was nice, Fannie would have liked that. A lady near me had lost her phone over a half mile back. It was returned by a man who tracked her down, as the song ended. Amazing Grace indeed.
Nearby, in the same area of the stadium parking lot, a separate group brandished a variety of anti-Kirk messages, including one woman holding a sign reading, “Rot in Hell.” Asked why she was at the event, she smiled and said, “Because I hate Charlie and I’m standing up for what I believe in… I like it when bad things happen to bad people,” she said, calling Kirk “an a–hole.” I forgot to ask her if she attended Oakwood College or worked for the Conscience and Justice Council. You never know…
With visions of 200,000 people trying to cram into a building that can hold 70k, we all wondered how much room was left in the Stadium as the horde of people pressed towards it. Helicopters began flying around. The President and numerous heads of state were going to be here, so security was tight.
At 8:07, I went through a security checkpoint with the Secret Service. That was four hours exactly since I got in the line. They said “Don’t bother showing your ticket, just empty your pockets and you can go in.” “Go, go, go.” So I went. . Speaking of ‘going’, I located a rest room too.
The music was pretty loud, with the bass making my shirt vibrate. I’m not into rocky-rolly worship music. I wondered if I had blundered into a Glop-Gurk or ToeJam concert by accident. But that’s how these people roll (pun intended).
The song How Great Thou Art in the stadium was among the most beautiful things I have heard, with thousands joining in the chorus.
I walked around inside the stadium, getting my steps in and talking with people. I bought some nachos and cheese (for research purposes). They were quite good, although my placard got into the cheese and distributed yellow spots on the front of my new blue shirt.
One of my highlights was meeting and talking to Devarjaye “DJ” Daniel and his father Theodis Daniel. DJ is a 13-year old cancer survivor whose life goal was to become a police officer. In March, DJ was made an honorary US Secret Service agent by President Trump. Theodis is a very cool guy; I wish both of them the absolute best.
At 10:43 a.m. my cheese shirt and I finally took a seat. This place is packed! At 11:05 the bagpipes played amazing grace. It was beautiful, echoing around the stadium. People were reverent, and some were tearful. A guy named Chris Tomlin played Holy Forever on his acoustical guitar. That was very pretty. A well-dressed young man in front of me could not stop the tear that ran down his face as he took in the moment. He had been to a Charlie Kirk campus event last year.
Rob McCoy (Mikey’s dad) spoke for a while. He’s a pastor somewhere. Him and Charlie went to Korea recently to support the persecuted Christians there. Charlie spoke to the youth over there; youth that today are standing in the streets of Korea saying “I am Charlie Kirk, standing for freedom.”
“God is here today, to call his children back to him. No effort will make us righteous, only God can. Charlie knew this. God loves you. He wants to cover your sins with Christ’s blood.”
McCoy invited people to stand if they want to repent and turn to God through Jesus Christ. Thousands stood on their feet. People were standing together, praying for each other. Some with their heads bowed in contrition.
I learned later that some Seventh-day Adventists gathered their robes around them and sniffed haughtily, at this ‘false revival’. Question. Is the Lord honored by your condemnation?
After all, some of these people praying were politicians. Some might have been sinners, and we certainly can’t have that! My friends, we don’t know everyone’s heart, but can we make room for people giving themselves to God and asking His forgiveness? I’m just gonna say it. Some of us are in danger of blaspheming the Holy Spirit in our haughtiness (Luke 18:11).
Many influential people are here. We will hear from some of them as the day goes on. The National Anthem was played. The mood was pensive.
Rebecca Dunn spoke. Her and her husband Bill were donors that helped Charlie start his mission to young people. Irony. Charlie was supposed to speak at her husband’s funeral last week. The roles reversed and Rebecca spoke at Charlie’s funeral.
As a 20-year old kid, Charlie told the Dunns about his vision to help college kids who were steeped in leftism and Marxism on college campuses (he wanted to start Turning Point USA). They asked Charlie how much he needed. He said, “Maybe 50 grand.” They said “Tell you what. You raise half that amount and we’ll match it.” Charlie raised 25k in two days. Now they had to pony up the other 25k. All this for a 20-year kid with no college education who had a vision to help other young people get free from their destructive worldviews. He told the Dunns he had a moral obligation to fight for freedom. “He fought for freedom and truth with his last breath” (Rebecca closed).
Turning Point started in his parent’s basement. I like that story.
Mikey McCoy cancelled his college plans to help Charlie start Turning Point USA. He’s glad he did; he met wife Elizabeth there. Charlie had some sayings that he used for over a decade.
“Never surrender.”
“Live free.”
“Get married. Have children. Enjoy life.”
Charlie met Erika at Turning Point. She was looking to get hired there. Charlie later interviewed her and said he didn’t want to hire her. She was surprised. He said “Because I’d like to date you.” She smiled, big. They married after 18-months.
Mikey said Charlie loved God more than safety and comfort. One woman said Charlie is in heaven. Nope. He is in the grave, like King David and Grandpa Jones. Look for an article on this soon.
Mikey closed with "The killer dies and his rule is over, the martyr dies and his rule begins."
Ben Carson came on stage to huge applause. He was his usual soft-spoken, loveable self. He said many pastors are changing the Gospel to a social gospel (social justice). He challenged pastors to talk about what Bible says, not what culture says. He said to be willing to confront evil in our culture. We can’t be the land of the free if we aren’t the home of the brave.
He said college education is way overrated (it certainly is). There are many kinds of education, and leftism closes more doors than it opens. Charlie didn’t have a college education and he was way more learned then the college professors who sought to debate him. He closed with John 12:24. There was huge applause, Ben is admired and respected.
There were already lots of police and secret service people around. But at 12:59 more and more of them showed up. That told me that the President was in the house.
Right about now my iphone's power took a nosedive like it was auditioning for a crash-landing scene. I went to the battery bank by Gate #2 and tried to rent a charger. All gone. Rats. I reasoned “My rental car was only 1.4 miles away and I’m a fast walker and there is a power pak in there.”
So I asked the security force if would be allowed to re-enter the building if I retrieved my battery pack from the car. They gave me a look like I was a flat earther auditioning for a position at NASA.
“The President of the United States is in this building, and YOU want to go to your car and get something and re-enter the building, Sir??!! It’s not the dumbest question we have heard all year, but it might be in the top five!”
I withdrew the question, and put my phone on low battery mode. Ha.
Tucker Carlson He said the only real solution to life’s problems is God. It begins with repenting. He acknowledged his need of repentance, said he used to struggle with anger. Sometimes he still does. He closed with these words “Any attempt to extinguish the light makes it burn brighter.”
Stephen Miller I didn’t know who this guy was prior to the funeral. A son of thunder, he delivered a heated talk, trying to rile people up. If he didn’t call down fire on his enemies, it was only because he forgot or ran out of time. This speech was much better in its original German, in my opinion. I wasn’t a fan.
Tulsi Gabbard “Charlie went into battle armed with the constitution and his faith in God.”
Jack Posobiec He held up a rosary during his short talk. That’s a hard pass, for me. We don’t need beads, we need the grace of God.
Marco Rubio Charlie wanted to go to college campus and convince students that America is the best idea. Marco said, “College campuses? Why not go somewhere easier, like communist Cuba?” Marco isn’t a preacher, but he explained the Gospel in three minutes as well as anyone ever has.
There was a black woman standing to my left during Marco’s talk. She was wearing a Make America Great Again hat. I spoke with her at length, a very pleasant person. She was originally from Indiana, and now lives in California. She said she often gets called a racist by other black people for wearing her red hat. Her family has ostracized her and her brother won’t even allow her into his home. I replied, “It’s so unfair. Some people just can’t handle other people having a different viewpoint, nowadays. In times past, we could still have conversations with people we disagreed with.” She said she missed those days, and feared we may not have them again. She also said that how she was treated helped her see the deep problems of leftism.
Pete Hegseth Charlie finished the race. Live worthy.
RFK Charlie died with his boots on. Well, it’s true.
Trump Jr. Did a hilarious imitation of his father. The camera cut to the President in a private suite with Elon Musk. Trump was laughing good naturedly about the imitation. He and Elon appear to have resolved their disagreement. That’s good for the country, and it’s what men should do. Trump Jr. said Charlie had threats to not speak in 2016. He did it anyway.
JD Vance Charlie brought the light of truth to dark places. For every hateful voice celebrating his murder, there are a thousand mourning it.
Erika She took comfort in the Bible words “Thy will be done.” She said she is experiencing a level of heartache she never knew existed. When she saw Charlie in the hospital room after he was dead, she noticed one gray hair on her husband’s head. Funny the things that stand out in moments of tragedy. She now belongs to a small elite group. Jackie Kennedy, Mary Lincoln, Correta King, may God bless her.
She told Usha Vance “Somehow I have to get through the next several months", and I don’t know how.” Usha said just get through this 15 minutes. The next 15 will be better.
Erika said Charlie would have been pleased that there were no riots after he was killed. Some people just have more class than others. Way more, compared with June 2020. She continued,
“Mark your souls with Scripture each day. Charlie died with incomplete work, but not unfinished business. He tried to revive the American family—that was his major premise. Be a leader worth following. Love your wives and protect them. Love your husbands. We are not rivals in marriage. Motherhood is the highest calling in life.”
She also urged women to “be virtuous.”
Charlie would leave her a note every Saturday (Sabbath) to encourage her and make her feel loved. He often asked “What can I do to make your life more complete?”
She missed an opportunity to testify about their Sabbath commitment when she encouraged people to attend church on Sunday. We’ll see what’s in Charlie’s book when it comes out.
Erika said “her husband wanted to save lost young men, just like the one who took his life.” She quoted Jesus who asked God to forgive those who crucified him “for they know not what they do.”
“That man, I forgive him,” she dropped her head, crying. She said it’s because of what Christ did, and what Charlie would have done. She said the answer to hate is not hate but love, and to “love our enemies.” “I forgive him.”
That was one of the most powerful moments I’ve seen in years. The place was deathly quiet.
When you stop the dialogue, violence happens. Murder happens. Charlie wanted to increase dialogue between different viewpoints. He gave his life for it, you might say. Her closing words were, life is about choices. “Choose prayer, choose courage, choose adventure and choose Christ.”
Trump U.S. President Donald Trump entered the stage to God Bless the U.S.A., sung live by Lee Greenwood.
Trump described it as a “surreal experience” when he learned Kirk had been killed. He said he was in the Oval Office with some very important people. Trump said he rushed them out of the room. “I said, ‘You have to leave, now, right now. You have to leave.” It hit him hard.
He said Charlie was killed by a “cold blooded monster” and that on the day of his death, the U.S. lost its “greatest evangelist for American liberty.”
He thanked Erika for being a comfort to millions in the midst of great loss. He said Charlie was a better man than him, he has a hard time forgiving his enemies. “I hate my opponents. I can’t stand my opponents,” he said, which drew laughter from the audience. At least he was honest. Charlie didn’t hate his opponents.
“We have to bring back religion to America,” Trump said. “We want God back.”
We’ll see how that goes. If it happens organically, I can support it. If it tries to happen by legislation, I reject it.
He summoned Erika Kirk back on stage before ending his remarks. They stood on stage as "America the Beautiful" played. Erika’s last gesture was to hold up the ASL sign language hand sign for “I love you.” Some enthusiastic conspiracists online said she was holding up the devil’s horns. Oh, please.
Tidbits
One young couple from Sedona have three children. “We’ve decided we’re going to have three more,” said Dylan. “We’re going to name one of them Charlie.”
A spokesman for the venue said the stadium had 73,000 attendees. Another 10,000 people were seated inside the overflow venue, Desert Diamond Arena, and another 10,000 were estimated to be outside in the Westgate Entertainment District. 200,000 people signed up. Seeing the crowds, many turned away and went home.
When Ben Carson said college was overrated, a woman from Texas said “Most leftists are not smarter. They are more “educated,” which in today’s world means they are more indoctrinated, more gullible, and more brainwashed. Ask me how I know. I got indoctrinated and turned into a leftist cultist fool at Duke University. I thank God I got free.”
When people don’t communicate they think the worst of each other. Let us communicate and dialogue with each other, especially when we disagree. That’s what Charlie was doing.
Again, there was no rioting, looting or burning down innocent business. These two groups are not the same.
I realize that by attending and reporting on this event, I may be canceled by the regional conference office. I don’t mind.
I’m home now, looking for an opportunity to wear my green shirt. Maybe I’ll attend one of those Climate Change rallies.
****
“And because lawlessness will abound, the love of many will grow cold” (Matthew 24:12).