Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, good morning and welcome to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve. Here it is, Thursday, September 10th, and I wanted to read to you from Acts chapter 17. Paul in Thessalonica says in verse 2 and according to Paul's custom he went to them and for three sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead and saying, this Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is, is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas along with a large number of the God fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women. But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar and attacking the house of Jason. They were seeking to bring them out to the people. When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, and these men who have upset the world have come here also and Jason has welcomed them. And they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another King Jesus. They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things and when they had received a pledge from Jason and the others, they released them. Well, today is the one year anniversary of the murder of Charlie Kirk. He died at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. He was speaking to a crowd of about 3,000 college students on his Prove Me Wrong tour. And while he was answering a question on mass shootings, a man on a rooftop from about 164 yards away, shot him in the neck and killed him. Charlie was well loved by those who love the truth and well hated by those who hate the truth. And he was one who did exactly what the Apostle Paul did. He upset the world as he spoke the truth in love. So we're dedicating this program today to remembering Charlie Kirk. And I've asked my friend Bill Federer, historian extraordinaire and somebody who is personal friends with Charlie to, help me do just that. So Bill, welcome to the program.
Bill Federer: Hey, it's great to be with you, Pastor Jeff.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, I appreciate you, my friend. And I remember, Bill, I had you on the radio, not too long after Charlie had been assassinated, maybe just a few weeks. And I didn't know at that time that you and Charlie were friends, but you got to spend some time with him and so I wanted to get your, reflections on what it means to have this special day, this one year anniversary of Charlie's death.
Bill Federer: Yeah, it was such a gut blow. I mean, I can still hear his voice in my head if I think of him, you know, I first met him in 2014. He was a warm up speaker for me at a civic center in Robinson, Illinois with a couple hundred people. And you know, he's just 19 years old and so he's going to take, you know, talking about taking a year off before college and he's talking about the Constitution. And I'm like, this guy's really good. but then as he grew, he would end up being a speaker at conferences where I was a speaker. And so we get a chance to bump into each other and rub shoulders and ah, then we had Foster, Freeze is the nicest billionaire you would ever meet. He since passed away. I ran for Congress, in the year 2000 and that's when he first started supporting my campaign and we got to be friends. And he, would ask me to join him and a couple dozen guys on a pheasant hunt once a year out in South Dakota. And, and I always thought, you know, why in the world is he including me? You know, is Ross Perot Jr. And, and you know, Gary Sinise, who's Lieutenant Dan, you know, from Forrest Gump, and he is a veterans organization. And you know, Rick Santorum would often be there and you know, Mike Rogers was the governor of South Dakota at the time. Jon Thune came a couple times and Andrew Breitbart, Tucker Carlsen, you know, Neil Patel. With Daily Caller, and, just a whole sort of eclectic group. And they were all, I considered way above my pay grade. but, But he would invite people that he thought. And anyway, so, the last few times, he invited Charlie, and, before Foster passed away and and then Charlie, we. We spent a couple hours together in the car driving back to the airport, and he was peppering me with all kinds of. And And then he would, He, would ask, more questions, via text. And so we would text back and forth. And I've got, you know, probably about, you know, six years worth of texts on my phone from Charlie where he would, say, tell me about socialism and tell me about Islam and tell me about, you know, the Christian founding of America. And, you know, one time I got a text from him and he's like, can you come out to Arizona, you know, this week? I'm like, you know, sure, I'll come out there. And it was a dream city church, and I, had my son Micah with me. And. And the church is packed. I mean, it's like a mega church and it's a freedom night. And. And we're sitting on the front row and I lean over to Charlie. It's like, now, now, what's the lineup for? You know, who all do you have speaking and how. And he goes, no, it's just you. He goes, they're all here for you. I'm like, what? And so they do the thing, you know, with the two chairs on the platform, and we talk for like, you know, 90 minutes. And, And then, what.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: this was a TP USA event, right?
Bill Federer: in Phoenix, Arizona. Tommy Barnett and Luke and Angel Barnett. it's called Dream City Church.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah.
Bill Federer: and then, Rob McCoy, is the pastor, of Calvary Chapel, Thousand Oaks, California. You know, Godspeed. Calvary Chapel. And So for, about 10 years, David Laine had American Renewal Project. He still does, but he was the sole person organizing pastors events. he'd get donors to donate and they would have nice hotels and they'd be free for the pastor and his wife for like three days.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: I went on one of those. It was really nice.
Bill Federer: You know, it'd be, as I mentioned, M. Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Skinnis, David Barton, you know, a whole lineup of Bob McEwen, former congressman from Ohio. and, I know I'm missing a bunch of names that way.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Bill. That was the first time I met you was at one of those. I think it was San Antonio or Austin or San Antonio or something.
Bill Federer: Yeah, yeah. And so, David Laine introduced Rob, McCoy to Charlie. And I remember Rob saying, I've never met anybody like you, Charlie, a conservative young person. And Charlie said, I've never met anybody like you. A pastor who's also the mayor. Because Rob McCoy got elected mayor of Thousand Oaks, California while he's the pastor. And so anyway, Rob McCoy asked my wife and I to move to Phoenix to help start Turning Point Faith. And we had just moved to Florida. My wife's like, I don't want to move anymore. And so I, I felt bad turning him down on that. And I always wondered, you know, what would happen if I, But then the next year or so I get a call. He, Charlie texts me, an interview that he did. He's wanting to launch Turning Point Education. And and he goes, you're going to be a big part of this. You know, I thought of, that's Charlie. He didn't ask, will you be a part of this? He just says, you're going to be a big part of this. It's like he would just, he had that confidence and that boldness just to speak through, you know, how he got places. I was with, you know, Fritz Steiger helped start the Texas Public Policy Foundation. It's like the biggest think tank outside of the Heritage Foundation. And so I'm speaking there and I get a chance to meet the US Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Collins. And anyway, she said Charlie Kirk was in my office so many times telling me who to hire and what she got. A lot of people are in their positions because Charlie Kirk told me. I said, what, what 26 year old gets to be in the office of the Secretary of Agriculture? That where he would go. It was just amazing. And of course he But he would text me questions. One time, I did an interview with him and and I talked about how I read through all of the constitutions of all the colonies and states. And nine of the original 13 state constitutions required you to be a Protestant to whole state office. And then three, all you had to do is be a plain Christian. And, and, and he was like, now say that again. And he like grabbed it and then he did a tick tock video that got a billion views.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Wow.
Bill Federer: And then he texted me the video and I said, well, you know, brilliant, you did great. He goes, well, I learned from you was I factually correct? And I'm like, yeah. And then I texted him all the, you know, the articles I've written on my website, you know, and
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Bill, what would you say if you had to come up with one or two or maybe three things that were the keys to his greatness?
Bill Federer: Well, you know, I was with him four days before he was shot in Seoul, Korea. And, and I was the warm up speaker for him. Talk about full circle. And and then at the end he's doing you know, question answer with before it's like the end of his talk. And and I recorded it on my phone and it sort of sums up. He said, he said the most important thing is to bring people to Christ. You know, and of course they all cheer. and this is something that I've said for 20 years. And he grasped it, but the second most important thing is to preserve the freedom to do the most important thing. And so, you know, he talks about how they're persecuting Pastor, son, Young Bosan there in South Korea and how they're basically a communist government snuck in to South Korea and is persecuting Christians. And and, and so, you know, he he said we have to be involved preserving the freedom. So if we don't, we're all gonna be preaching the gospel from a prison cell someday. But it's this, this motivation. And I can credit this pretty much, you know, to Rob McCoy, Jack Hibbs. Ah, Pastor, Jurgen out there at Awakened Church. And he chose to. Frank Turek, he chose to surround himself. And I was one of those people that he chose to include in his circle of who gave into his life. And I could see him as he's rubbing shoulder, moving more away from just talking politics to talking Jesus. And, and it was almost like instead of, you know, the politics and then a little bit of faith at the end, it was now it was the politics. It was just an excuse for him to talk about Jesus. And he loved talk. And so he would tell kids, he goes the most, you know, get married, put Jesus first, get married, have kids, but save the country. You know, we are in the back room with Rob McCoy and with a Kim, Mina Kim and who organized it. And then a, Chinese, excuse me, a Korean newspaper reporter. And he said, you worked so hard to get Trump elected. That must have been the best day of your life. And he goes, no, Marin Erica was the best day of my life. And then my two kids. And then, Rob's across the room. And Rob says, jesus. And then Charlie says, give my life to Jesus. That was the best day of my life. And then my wife and then my two kids. So Trump is fifth, you know.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yes.
Bill Federer: And but he, he texted me scriptures like every week or two I just get a scripture verse out of the blue. He texted me the day before he was shot. He ah, copied, you know, myself, Rob McCoy and Bob McEwen. And, and it was Corinthians 16, nine. There's a wide door of effective ministry open for me, but there are many adversaries. And and he was with Alex McFarland, like three weeks earlier. And he, Alex, told me this. And you know, you know Alex because he is often there on afr. And Alex said, right before Charlie went out, he said, you know, I have the feeling that I'm not going to die of old age. And Alex says, oh, come on Charlie, you know, God will take care of you. And he says, you know, that's what you would normally say. And Charlie's like, no. And then he got out there. He like spent a good portion of his talk talking about the dangers of Islam. And so, you know, he, he wrote the foreword for Jon Amachu's book. And Jon's a dear friend and I'm summarizing it, but he said, who would want to follow a Christian leader who's not afraid to die? It's like our whole gospel message is Jesus conquered death and we have eternal life in Christ. So why should we be afraid? Why should we cave to the government? Why should we. Let's stand up and be bold for Jesus. He texted me last Easter, a year ago.
: Easter.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: we're out of time for this segment, but stay on and we can go pick it up in the next segment. You're listening to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here talking to Bill Federer. We're talking about remembering Charlie Kirk. We'll be right back on American Family Radio.
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: This is Real Truth for Today. Podcasts of the program are available on the podcast [email protected] now back to Pastor Jeff Schrieve.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Welcome back to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here talking about and my good friend, Bill Federer, William J. Federer, historian extraordinaire, best selling author and he's The President of AmeriSearch and the Creator of the daily American Minute radio feature. We're talking about Charlie Kirk. This is the anniversary of his death. A year ago today. He was brutally assassinated while on his Prove Me Wrong tour, answering a question. And, and he was shot and martyred for his faith in Christ. And so, Bill Wright, we were there at the break but you were telling a story. Please continue that.
Bill Federer: Yeah, well, he was such an inspiring person. He would text me scripture verses. So a year ago Easter, I texted him the Keith Greene song. I'm like I love this song. And he texted me back and he said, first he gives scripture. So it was Romans 10, 9 and 10 that if you believe in your heart, that Jesus arose from the dead and confessed with your mouth that he's your, your Lord and you'll be saved. And he says we need to proclaim the resurrection daily. And, and he just, you know, just to really strong tell people about Jesus. And the Anyway, it was still a, such a blow, I mean to be with anybody four days before their shot. But. But then just to get a text from him the day before he shot, I gave him a little thumbs up, you know, maybe m the emoji, praying hands, you know, but I, I thought I should have called him or fell to my knees and prayed, you know, sensing that, that he was facing something. And but the
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Let me ask you this Bill. Since because he was so controversial and he was controversial for speaking the truth, as Paul said. Have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? Charlie told people the truth. He told them what they needed to hear. Not necessarily what here. In, in some ways, were you not surprised that somebody shot him?
Bill Federer: I mean, I was totally shocked. I mean, I was doing an interview, and, the text shows up on my computer screen while I'm doing the interview. And it says, charlie shot. Like. But I mean, it was totally. And I, you know, texted him right away. Of course, I still have the texts on my phone that were unanswered. and, it was just a gut blow. I, I didn't eat or sleep for two days. I, I, like, was so stunned. you know, the. The day that he. I got the news that he was shot. and again, I was just with him four days earlier in Seoul, Korea. But I go out, we're in Florida. You have those little screened in back porches, you know, and it. And it. Twilight. The, the sky gets sort of this golden yellow before the sun sets, you know, sort of an orangeish hue to it. And I'm. And we have a little hammock out there. And so I, I like. I think I've been in the hammock a half a dozen times. It's there and I look at it, but I don't get. Anyway, I, I got in it and I, like immediately, like, fell asleep, but it was like this comatose type sleep. And, And in it I had a. It's like a dream, but I, I saw Charlie walk right onto my back porch. And I said, I need your help to. Can you do it? And. And I thought, oh, you know, this is a, dream, so I want to dream a little bit more, you know. And I.
: But I couldn't.
Bill Federer: And I woke up and that was what I was left remembering. And I can't say that it was a vision or anything, but it was just this thought, you know, I need your help to keep this thing going. What thing? Keeping the young people, turning them back to Jesus, educating them, you know, being involved in the fight for our country's future. And it bothered me. It's tremendously. You know, I've studied socialism. I wrote a book on it. And there's something called disinformation campaign and psychological operations which the CIA and the KGB would do to try to, split countries and cause, you know, them to lose elections so that they could do coups and replace the leader with Soviet puppets and so forth. And so no sooner did, you know, a couple months after Charlie's memorial, which was outstanding, they have a hundred thousand people worshiping God. you know, and then there's still the songs. Krish Tomlin was there and he sang, you know, the Holy Forever song. Whenever I hear that song, I just see myself Standing on the floor and looking in a circle, and a hundred thousand people surround, singing at the top of their lungs, you know, holy forever. And they had a picture of Charlie, on the front, you know, that somebody had painted, but it was him there with his hands, like, folded. And. And then they have the whole cabinet of the United States and Elon Musk and Trump and Hegseth and Rubio's talk was outstanding, and Kelsey Gabbard, and it's like, you know, this is a lifetime event. And then it was streamed to, like, a billion people. And Rob McCoy got up and he gave the gospel. And like a million people, you know, billion people heard it. And. And Frank Turek. And it was like, this is a once in a lifetime event. I mean, there's nobody that could die and have the whole cabinet. And there was 25,000 in an overflow stadium. I mean, it was so surreal and the enthusiasm was so high. But no sooner, you know, month later, you have this disinformation campaign, psyops of these, people who had Charlie had platformed to his followers, and they began to split maga, and then try to turn the whole thing around to all this youthful energy of putting Jesus first, get married, have kids, save the country. It's. It turned into controversy. Media with no care about the midterms. I knew Charlie. He thought politics. He thought. He knew every race in every state. He knew how to win it. He knew how to chase down votes. He knew the margins. And to have these controversial media people who care nothing about the country, who care nothing about the next election, who are even leaving, you know, the parties and say, we're going to, What better message would the devil want to give to Charlie's followers to break that momentum? I'm convinced that Charlie could have been vice president, you know, for Vance. I think Charlie could have been president. a couple terms after that, he was just. And, you know, one of the stings, he said, you want to test somebody, give them power, you know, and. And he had this. And when we were in the car together, my son and I and him, and we're driving to the airport for two hours in Wyoming, you know, we're just making small talk. I'm like, you know, I would. Would take my sons, I got, you know, skiing every now and then. And then, you know, I want to be a good dad, do stuff, my son. So then I, you know, would take him scuba diving every now and then. And Charlie says, I don't do any of that stuff. too invested too much in me for me to do something, irresponsible and get injured. It's like, wow, what, what a responsible. Here he is with this, you know, this big organization with, with lots of money, and he wouldn't do anything. And then we're, we're having dinner with Rob McCoy and Mikey McCoy and myself and Charlie and, And, you know, we're sort of small talking and, and I'm, you know, over here and, And Rob says, well, what are your plans for the weekend? And he says, oh, I gotta fast this weekend. I need to hear from God on something. And I, I really have to, to, to fast. And I thought, you know, I don't know how old he was at that time, maybe 27. But I mean, it's like planning his weekend as a weekend of fasting, to hear from the Lord. He really was an exceptional leader. You know, we, we. We remind ourselves, you know, the apostles that followed Jesus, they were all in their twent people, but they were sold out. There's that verse that says, remember thy creator in the days of thy youth.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yes.
Bill Federer: You don't have to go through 10 years of partying and sleeping around and pornography and then finally, realizing that life is serious and, and you want to make a contribution. You can find out as a young person that God has a call in your life, and you can let him use you in your teens and in your 20s and in your 30s and, and. And make your life count for eternal purposes. And, that's what Charlie did.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Bill, what do you. If Charlie were able to come back, and assess what's going on in Turning Point usa, and what's going on with the midterms and the things that people have said about him, the Candace Owens, all the stuff that she comes up with, what do you think he would have to say?
Bill Federer: Well, you know, you bring up those names. There's a name for Satan, and it's accuser, accuser of the brethren. And then one of the names for Satan is calumniator. I'll say that again. Calumniator. It's a Latin word which means a column of half truths. and so any one of them is unconvincing and unprovable, but you add a column of them, and they seemed. The weight of the column seems so convincing. And that's what these, these different podcasters do. They. Well, you know, this. And this does look a little fishy. And, you know, I'm just saying. And they, and they do These accusations and any journalist they'll spend years researching before they break a story. This was not research. This was not. it was. I just. It was this thought that thought, you know, one of them, you know, she even said she. She had a dream. And so she was like, saying that. That. That almost like Charlie told me that he was betrayed. It's like I. I saw this in a dream. It's like, what. You know, I knew Charlie, you know, and I had, something. But he said, can you keep this thing going? Now, again, I'm not saying that was anything divine, but it was definitely. It spoke to my heart. And, But it's this idea that what would Charlie have wanted? I don't think he would want to squander that enthusiasm on, you know, controversy, media, winning clicks. I guarantee if. If the shows that those, podcasters did got zero views, they changed the subject. They just talked about it because it got clicks. anyway, I don't mean to get into all that, but. But I think Charlie would. He would be focused on the midterms.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: He's like, what do you think?
Bill Federer: Get involved, Bill.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: What do you think he'd say to President Trump? I know he talked to President Trump a lot. What do you think? What, would be his counsel to President Trump concerning the situation in Iran and inflation and high prices and all that stuff?
Bill Federer: I mean, I can't put words in his mouth. I, know he loved Trump. I know, that m. He supported him 100%. Trump is not a globalist. Trump is, like, the only person that's keeping the one world government from taking place. there's so many entrenched global powers. I mean, you got, you know, the, Klaus Schwab World Economic Forum, and he, you know, would make a statement of, you, know, that America is holding back. I'm paraphrasing. But America is the obstacle of the one world government. You know, Trump was. Is not a globalist. He's a make America great again. And for that matter, I think every country should try to make their country, ah, great. God's the one at the Tower of Babel, when he confused the languages and the people separated into language groups, they turned into nations. Nations were God's invention to postpone a one world government. and I know Charlie supported, ah, Trump 100%. you know, the inside story is that, the Biden administration was cracking down on free speech, and I. I think they had Charlie in their crosshairs, hairs, and. And they were going to come after him as well. but you, you see that the, you know, putting spies in Catholic churches to see if there's a pro life person to, you know, want to arrest a mom because she spoke out at a school board meeting because she didn't want her kid transgendered without her knowledge. I mean, this is the stuff that we were standing against. And, and Charlie knew it was serious. We've, because of Trump, we've, gone through, the period of not having to worry about that. but it's still there and it's still itching to rear its head. And if we lose these midterms and they win the, the House, it'll be impeachment, immediately. And they won't stop with, with Trump. They'll go up to the Cabinet. Won't stop with the cabinet, go after the supporters, won't stop with. It'll go after each and every one of us like it was doing under, under Biden previously. So, so everything's on the table. This is serious. They, you know, I just saw some numbers, Muslims come into an area and they vote 100%. we're barely getting 30% of the Christians to vote. And so they're winning, not just Mondawi in NewSong York, they're winning races all across the country. And if you watch their videos, there's an organization called Rare R A I R and they, I don't know how they do it, but they get clips of these imams in their mosques talking about, how their goal is to enact Sharia law on the whole country. Right, Where a woman can't leave the house without her husband's permission and without being covered. And they can have polygamy and child brides and, you know, all these type of things that they do when Sharia is, is takes over a country. So we're barely getting Christians to vote, but here they're coming in and voting and winning races. I think, but, but the last message that Charlie was on and I got the text on my phone, he was saying that, you know, tell me about Islam. Tell me about Thomas Jefferson and the Barbary pirate wars.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah, well, obviously that's a big concern, Bill. And if people. I spoke earlier this week and just said, hey, your vote matters. And, if we don't vote, as you said, I quote you a lot on, the most important thing is to preach the gospel. Second most important thing is to ensure that you can do the most important thing. And, if we don't Go vote. Then, the second most important thing is in jeopardy, which, which jeopardizes the most important thing.
Bill Federer: Yeah, exactly. You know, after he was assassinated, somebody did an AI picture of him walking the steps to Jesus in heaven and turning and passing the baton to the hundreds of young people that were sticking their hands up to grab the baton. And my son, would, would always say Charlie left his shoes too big to fill. So it's going to take all of us. And and so I, I think that's the, the message that we should be left with, that let's all get involved. God loves to wait until things look hopeless and then he, uses little nobodies who are small in their own eyes to do big things and everything starts small. amen to that.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, Bill, I appreciate it so much. You're a good friend and looking forward to being with you in Washington D.C. in just about a month, October 11th, 16th, we'll be in Washington D.C. and you're going to lead us through the U.S. capitol Building. And that's going to be a great, great time. Well, thank you for being my guest as we remembered Charlie Kirk. And it's always a pleasure, my friend.
Bill Federer: Bless you Jeff, and all the listeners. And just thank you for Thank you Lord for letting us have Charlie, all those years.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Amen to that. Well, you're listening to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here on American Family Radio. And we come back from the break. We'll be talking to Jenna Ellis as she remembers her friend Charlie Kirk. We'll be right back. Don't go away.
: If you'd like to contact Pastor Jeff, email pastor jeffromhishheart.org now back to Real Truth for today with Pastor Jeff Schrieve.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Welcome back to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve. Here we are remembering Charlie Kirk on the one year anniversary of his assassination, actually his martyrdom. He was martyred for his testimony, for his faith in Christ, for his boldness. And we were talking to Bill Federer who is a close personal friend of Charlie's. And now we want to talk to our own Jenna Ellis, AFR's Jenna Ellis. Jenna was also a good friend of Charlie Kirks. And so Jenna, thank you for coming on the program today.
Jenna Ellis: Thank you so much for having me. And it's so, significant and timely that we memorialize Charlie on the one year anniversary of his martyrdom that you rightly say he was martyred. And the year that has passed.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, you know, I Was I had asked Bill what he thought, as we think about this day and what happened a year ago and that, you know, Jenna, for you, you get the news that there's been a shooting. And, when I saw the video, I said, no way can he survive that. Nobody could survive that. So what was going through your head when you first heard the news?
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, well, I was actually walking out of a doctor appointment, and so I'd had my phone on silent for probably the 20 minutes, the initial 20 minutes after it happened. So I walked out to my phone just blowing up with so many messages and alerts and texts from friends. And so, I immediately texted Andrew Colvett, who is, Charlie's executive producer. In fact, I had him on, this morning on my program to remember Charlie. And he's been a dear friend, for even longer than. Than Charlie, was to me. And so I texted him, asking you, is everything okay? What's going on? And then, like, you, I saw the video and just thought, first it had to be unreal. I mean, I just did not believe it. And then thought, like you, there was no way, that someone could survive this. And then, of course, we get the message then, from the news and from, I think President Trump was posting as well that his heart had been restarted. And so there were some kind of hope, I think, before we ended up finding out later that evening, that he had passed. And I just remember sitting on the floor, and weeping and thinking, I cannot believe that we have lost. such a great advocate for the faith. And, you know, Jeff, as well as I knew Charlie, I interacted with him mainly in the political sphere. I've spoken at, a lot of turning point events and, you know, things that dealt with election integrity, the Young Women's Leadership Summit, my work with Trump. I mean, you know, all of these things that obviously are important. But significantly, it wasn't until after his passing that I started seeing even more and more reels and actually watching them of what he was doing on college campuses and how he turned everything back to the truth of the gospel of Christ. And it really showed me how. I think I even took his full ministry for granted because he, he to me, was more of a political figure where his ministry was so much more than that. And while politics is important, important, obviously the biblical worldview of truth is the most important, and everything works up from there. And so Charlie, even after his passing, I think, has been a remarkable teacher. he's Had a remarkable testimony, and I think his legacy continues to inform Christians how we should go about our ministries.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Amen to that. You know, when I think of Charlie and I didn't know him like you did, but just watching his videos and seeing how well he interacted with people and he could get, you know, he could get fired up, and I, appreciated that about him. But the. The idea that, wasn't. Came from scripture, came from the lips of Jesus. We are salt and we are light, and we are here to make a difference. And, let's face it, Jenna, the church hasn't done very well making a difference. the world has made more difference in the church than the church has made in the world in many instances. And I think Charlie really, I know for me personally, he really, just lit my fire to say, hey, go out and turn the world upside down. And if people don't like it because you're speaking the truth, then guess what? You're probably doing something right, not doing something wrong.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And I think for a lot of us as Christians, on one hand, we had a deep, profound sense of desire for justice and I think righteous anger at what happened to Charlie and especially for his family, his wife and his two little kids, and that he was robbed of life, for them. And at the same time, this profound sense of urgency as well to say, you know, here in our lifetimes is a very giant now martyr of the faith. a giant in the faith, but now martyr of the faith that a lot of us knew personally, and I think everyone at least knew of, who is a contemporary. And so instead of just hearing the stories of, you know, the great faithful who have come before us, who have been willing to lay down their lives, to actually see this happen in real time, I think it spurred on a lot of us to this. This. This sense of urgency of why we do what we do. And this is so much more than party and politics and, you know, the online bickering and, you know, some of these, some of these debates that we engage in. Ultimately, everything we do, whether it's from raising our children to learning more about the Lord, to faithfully, going to our jobs and our careers, to engaging in. In civil government. everything is ultimately to show the truth of the gospel of Christ, to win as many people as we can for him, and. And, and then ultimately to worship and love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind. And. And that became even more real, I think, in the immediate aftermath of Charlie's Death. And over the last year, you know, as you said, with churches it's, it's been so disappointing frankly to see how the church has really not harnessed this revival to the extent that they should have and use this as a catalyst and a vehicle to say come now to the Lord. Because no one knows, their time to face eternity. And some did, of course. And I think there were a lot of people saved immediately in that aftermath. But to continue that and say let's build on that legacy instead of kind of eventually just going back to the status quo.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, I saw a, post by our friend Rick Metaxas, and he said this, Jen, I want to get you to comment on it. He said, if your church believes Charlie was divisive and therefore doesn't see him as a hero who was martyred, you really must, all in caps, find another church. Must. The hour is late. So would you go so far as to say if your church is not, not talking about him because you see him as a divisive figure, that you ought to find another church?
Jenna Ellis: Oh, 100%. I mean, after, ah, the decision of who you marry, I think, where you go to church is just as significant because, the first decision that is even more important than who you marry is what you believe about God. And if you are going to a church and that is teaching you the bright, fluffy, you know, felt board kind of figure of Jesus, or that he was this calm, pacifist, socialist Jesus, or that Jesus loves and affirms any decision you make and let's just go out and be a good influence in the world. You are missing the power and the truth of the gospel and you need to find another church because you are being taught the wrong Jesus, a false Jesus. And I've personally in a lot of the, the people that I've encountered through my ministries, I have encountered people who have said they've gone to church for decades, if not their entire lives, and didn't actually know what it meant to be saved. They didn't know the real Jesus. And so absolutely, churches are not meant to just be community clubs. They're not just meant to be a place where you send your kids to school or to Sunday school, school or you know, gathering. They are all those things. And that's okay. But that is just the building up from the foundation. The foundation has to be that when you go to church, not only are you ministered to, but you are fed the truth. You grow in the knowledge of Lord, you are exhorted and you are under authority, and you, Your church cares about your personal life and that you are following the Lord and that you actually know what that means in daily life.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Jenna, what would you say if you were going to evaluate Turning Point USA a year after Charlie's, homegoing passing away? do you think the organization is doing well, maintaining or losing ground?
Jenna Ellis: I hope they're not losing ground. I, know that this organization was Charlie's everything, and it was the vehicle for him to minister. And I think that they have done the, leadership has done a phenomenal job in keeping that going amidst an unprecedented, horrifying circumstance that they never could have envisioned. I do think that they could, add more of the ministry element, and I think, Lucas Miles, who heads up the faith side, has been doing a phenomenal job of that, and so I'd like to see that even more at the forefront and incorporated, and I think it's going in that direction. And so I would encourage people that, you know, give them a little bit of. Of grace and, and a little bit of slack. And you may not like all the decisions they're making, but that's okay. You don't have to. In order to support their mission, pray for them, pray for the leadership. pray for Erica especially. all of these guys are in the midst of having to do their job, continue Charlie's legacy and also go through a very difficult and public trial, for his assassin, for his murderer. that's really hard for anyone, and we need to be on their side and cheering them on.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, and to remember, too, that Charlie Kirk was one of a kind. There have not been a lot of Charlie Kirk's that have ever been born. And so, you take him out of the mix and it really affects things. so, Jen, I asked, Bill Federer just a little bit ago, if Charlie were to come back today and be able to talk to President Trump right here before the midterms, what do you think he would say to him?
Jenna Ellis: Well, you know, I think that's a great question, and I think, the way I want to answer that is to say that I have been. Been so careful, even with as much as I knew Charlie personally, to not put words into Charlie's mouth. And I think that's so important, for everyone to. To continue to recognize, because in the immediate aftermath, so many people wanted to harness Charlie's legacy for their own benefit.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yes.
Jenna Ellis: and to say, you know, Charlie suddenly was, you know, the. The greatest advocate of something he never believed in. In his life, or, you know, here's what Charlie said to me, and all the text messages that were private are suddenly public. And I think that that's a really, That's a disservice to his legacy. And so, you know, I think that what he would say to President Trump would likely be something encouraging. it would be something that would be, championing him, as he always did. but I don't know exactly what that would be. And I think we need to remember that Charlie's ministry, his earthly ministry, is finished, and that we shouldn't try to, carry on his legacy in a way that's trying to, revive him as much as we are trying to carry forward the goal of serving Christ and having a moral and upright society. Because that's ultimately what he championed.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. Amen to that. If you had to pick, one or two things that you would say from your perspective were his greatest strengths, what would you say?
Jenna Ellis: First and foremost, coalition building. this is actually where he and I clashed a little bit. because he would see the coalition where I would see some of the differences. And so he was really just in philosophy or in personalities or so forth. and he would always say, well, as long as they're voting in the right way and on our side, we need to welcome them, and then we need to win them on the other issues. And so he was extremely, successful at getting very diverse people on various issues into the same room and somehow, putting them on the same team. And with that, I think his second most valuable trait, that we all should emulate, myself included, is even more humility. He was, for his phenomenal success, he was just a regular guy. He was always humble. He was always so kind, and he would always be willing to learn from other people. he spoke with me a lot about, you know, election integrity, in the aftermath of the 2020 election, you know, he would ask me, you know, some legal questions and so forth. And so he. Even at his level, he was always recognizing that he wasn't the smartest person in the room. And I think all of us need to take that as an admonition that for as much as we know and may have accomplished, we can still learn from others, and we can still remember for whom we're serving, and that's not ourselves or our brand. He never wore his brand or his name. He always, pointed back to the Lord.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Amen to that. And he probably was, most of the time, the smartest person in the room, which is. You know, it makes it even more impressive that he would humble himself like that. Well, Jenna, I appreciate so much you coming on, and I, know this is a difficult day, as you remember your good friend. But it's also a day for us to rejoice because we know where he is, and he's with the Lord in heaven. And as much as he loved his wife and his children and his friends, he wouldn't want to come back here for anything. So, just a closing thought, before we go. What do you think is a good takeaway from Charlie's Life?
Jenna Ellis: Life M. To, Like Ephesians 5 says, take advantage of every opportunity, for the days are evil. Charlie never missed a single opportunity to win hearts, change minds, and promote the truth of the gospel of Christ. And we need to do that as well.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Amen to that. Well, thank you, Jenna. I appreciate it so much. And thanks for listening to Real Truth for today. listen, remember, you are salt. You are light. That's one of the things that I remember from Charlie Kirk. We are supposed to make a difference. That's what we're on this earth to do. So go out today, shine for Christ, and share what great things the Lord has done for you. And guess what? God will use you as his witness. God bless you.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, good morning and welcome to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve. Here it is, Thursday, September 10th, and I wanted to read to you from Acts chapter 17. Paul in Thessalonica says in verse 2 and according to Paul's custom he went to them and for three sabbaths reasoned with them from the scriptures, explaining and giving evidence that the Christ had to suffer and rise again from the dead and saying, this Jesus whom I am proclaiming to you is, is the Christ. And some of them were persuaded and joined Paul and Silas along with a large number of the God fearing Greeks and a number of the leading women. But the Jews, becoming jealous and taking along some wicked men from the marketplace, formed a mob and set the city in an uproar and attacking the house of Jason. They were seeking to bring them out to the people. When they did not find them, they began dragging Jason and some brethren before the city authorities, shouting, and these men who have upset the world have come here also and Jason has welcomed them. And they all act contrary to the decrees of Caesar, saying that there is another King Jesus. They stirred up the crowd and the city authorities who heard these things and when they had received a pledge from Jason and the others, they released them. Well, today is the one year anniversary of the murder of Charlie Kirk. He died at Utah Valley University in Orem, Utah. He was speaking to a crowd of about 3,000 college students on his Prove Me Wrong tour. And while he was answering a question on mass shootings, a man on a rooftop from about 164 yards away, shot him in the neck and killed him. Charlie was well loved by those who love the truth and well hated by those who hate the truth. And he was one who did exactly what the Apostle Paul did. He upset the world as he spoke the truth in love. So we're dedicating this program today to remembering Charlie Kirk. And I've asked my friend Bill Federer, historian extraordinaire and somebody who is personal friends with Charlie to, help me do just that. So Bill, welcome to the program.
Bill Federer: Hey, it's great to be with you, Pastor Jeff.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, I appreciate you, my friend. And I remember, Bill, I had you on the radio, not too long after Charlie had been assassinated, maybe just a few weeks. And I didn't know at that time that you and Charlie were friends, but you got to spend some time with him and so I wanted to get your, reflections on what it means to have this special day, this one year anniversary of Charlie's death.
Bill Federer: Yeah, it was such a gut blow. I mean, I can still hear his voice in my head if I think of him, you know, I first met him in 2014. He was a warm up speaker for me at a civic center in Robinson, Illinois with a couple hundred people. And you know, he's just 19 years old and so he's going to take, you know, talking about taking a year off before college and he's talking about the Constitution. And I'm like, this guy's really good. but then as he grew, he would end up being a speaker at conferences where I was a speaker. And so we get a chance to bump into each other and rub shoulders and ah, then we had Foster, Freeze is the nicest billionaire you would ever meet. He since passed away. I ran for Congress, in the year 2000 and that's when he first started supporting my campaign and we got to be friends. And he, would ask me to join him and a couple dozen guys on a pheasant hunt once a year out in South Dakota. And, and I always thought, you know, why in the world is he including me? You know, is Ross Perot Jr. And, and you know, Gary Sinise, who's Lieutenant Dan, you know, from Forrest Gump, and he is a veterans organization. And you know, Rick Santorum would often be there and you know, Mike Rogers was the governor of South Dakota at the time. Jon Thune came a couple times and Andrew Breitbart, Tucker Carlsen, you know, Neil Patel. With Daily Caller, and, just a whole sort of eclectic group. And they were all, I considered way above my pay grade. but, But he would invite people that he thought. And anyway, so, the last few times, he invited Charlie, and, before Foster passed away and and then Charlie, we. We spent a couple hours together in the car driving back to the airport, and he was peppering me with all kinds of. And And then he would, He, would ask, more questions, via text. And so we would text back and forth. And I've got, you know, probably about, you know, six years worth of texts on my phone from Charlie where he would, say, tell me about socialism and tell me about Islam and tell me about, you know, the Christian founding of America. And, you know, one time I got a text from him and he's like, can you come out to Arizona, you know, this week? I'm like, you know, sure, I'll come out there. And it was a dream city church, and I, had my son Micah with me. And. And the church is packed. I mean, it's like a mega church and it's a freedom night. And. And we're sitting on the front row and I lean over to Charlie. It's like, now, now, what's the lineup for? You know, who all do you have speaking and how. And he goes, no, it's just you. He goes, they're all here for you. I'm like, what? And so they do the thing, you know, with the two chairs on the platform, and we talk for like, you know, 90 minutes. And, And then, what.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: this was a TP USA event, right?
Bill Federer: in Phoenix, Arizona. Tommy Barnett and Luke and Angel Barnett. it's called Dream City Church.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah.
Bill Federer: and then, Rob McCoy, is the pastor, of Calvary Chapel, Thousand Oaks, California. You know, Godspeed. Calvary Chapel. And So for, about 10 years, David Laine had American Renewal Project. He still does, but he was the sole person organizing pastors events. he'd get donors to donate and they would have nice hotels and they'd be free for the pastor and his wife for like three days.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: I went on one of those. It was really nice.
Bill Federer: You know, it'd be, as I mentioned, M. Ted Cruz, Mike Huckabee, Skinnis, David Barton, you know, a whole lineup of Bob McEwen, former congressman from Ohio. and, I know I'm missing a bunch of names that way.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Bill. That was the first time I met you was at one of those. I think it was San Antonio or Austin or San Antonio or something.
Bill Federer: Yeah, yeah. And so, David Laine introduced Rob, McCoy to Charlie. And I remember Rob saying, I've never met anybody like you, Charlie, a conservative young person. And Charlie said, I've never met anybody like you. A pastor who's also the mayor. Because Rob McCoy got elected mayor of Thousand Oaks, California while he's the pastor. And so anyway, Rob McCoy asked my wife and I to move to Phoenix to help start Turning Point Faith. And we had just moved to Florida. My wife's like, I don't want to move anymore. And so I, I felt bad turning him down on that. And I always wondered, you know, what would happen if I, But then the next year or so I get a call. He, Charlie texts me, an interview that he did. He's wanting to launch Turning Point Education. And and he goes, you're going to be a big part of this. You know, I thought of, that's Charlie. He didn't ask, will you be a part of this? He just says, you're going to be a big part of this. It's like he would just, he had that confidence and that boldness just to speak through, you know, how he got places. I was with, you know, Fritz Steiger helped start the Texas Public Policy Foundation. It's like the biggest think tank outside of the Heritage Foundation. And so I'm speaking there and I get a chance to meet the US Secretary of Agriculture, Brooke Collins. And anyway, she said Charlie Kirk was in my office so many times telling me who to hire and what she got. A lot of people are in their positions because Charlie Kirk told me. I said, what, what 26 year old gets to be in the office of the Secretary of Agriculture? That where he would go. It was just amazing. And of course he But he would text me questions. One time, I did an interview with him and and I talked about how I read through all of the constitutions of all the colonies and states. And nine of the original 13 state constitutions required you to be a Protestant to whole state office. And then three, all you had to do is be a plain Christian. And, and, and he was like, now say that again. And he like grabbed it and then he did a tick tock video that got a billion views.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Wow.
Bill Federer: And then he texted me the video and I said, well, you know, brilliant, you did great. He goes, well, I learned from you was I factually correct? And I'm like, yeah. And then I texted him all the, you know, the articles I've written on my website, you know, and
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Bill, what would you say if you had to come up with one or two or maybe three things that were the keys to his greatness?
Bill Federer: Well, you know, I was with him four days before he was shot in Seoul, Korea. And, and I was the warm up speaker for him. Talk about full circle. And and then at the end he's doing you know, question answer with before it's like the end of his talk. And and I recorded it on my phone and it sort of sums up. He said, he said the most important thing is to bring people to Christ. You know, and of course they all cheer. and this is something that I've said for 20 years. And he grasped it, but the second most important thing is to preserve the freedom to do the most important thing. And so, you know, he talks about how they're persecuting Pastor, son, Young Bosan there in South Korea and how they're basically a communist government snuck in to South Korea and is persecuting Christians. And and, and so, you know, he he said we have to be involved preserving the freedom. So if we don't, we're all gonna be preaching the gospel from a prison cell someday. But it's this, this motivation. And I can credit this pretty much, you know, to Rob McCoy, Jack Hibbs. Ah, Pastor, Jurgen out there at Awakened Church. And he chose to. Frank Turek, he chose to surround himself. And I was one of those people that he chose to include in his circle of who gave into his life. And I could see him as he's rubbing shoulder, moving more away from just talking politics to talking Jesus. And, and it was almost like instead of, you know, the politics and then a little bit of faith at the end, it was now it was the politics. It was just an excuse for him to talk about Jesus. And he loved talk. And so he would tell kids, he goes the most, you know, get married, put Jesus first, get married, have kids, but save the country. You know, we are in the back room with Rob McCoy and with a Kim, Mina Kim and who organized it. And then a, Chinese, excuse me, a Korean newspaper reporter. And he said, you worked so hard to get Trump elected. That must have been the best day of your life. And he goes, no, Marin Erica was the best day of my life. And then my two kids. And then, Rob's across the room. And Rob says, jesus. And then Charlie says, give my life to Jesus. That was the best day of my life. And then my wife and then my two kids. So Trump is fifth, you know.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yes.
Bill Federer: And but he, he texted me scriptures like every week or two I just get a scripture verse out of the blue. He texted me the day before he was shot. He ah, copied, you know, myself, Rob McCoy and Bob McEwen. And, and it was Corinthians 16, nine. There's a wide door of effective ministry open for me, but there are many adversaries. And and he was with Alex McFarland, like three weeks earlier. And he, Alex, told me this. And you know, you know Alex because he is often there on afr. And Alex said, right before Charlie went out, he said, you know, I have the feeling that I'm not going to die of old age. And Alex says, oh, come on Charlie, you know, God will take care of you. And he says, you know, that's what you would normally say. And Charlie's like, no. And then he got out there. He like spent a good portion of his talk talking about the dangers of Islam. And so, you know, he, he wrote the foreword for Jon Amachu's book. And Jon's a dear friend and I'm summarizing it, but he said, who would want to follow a Christian leader who's not afraid to die? It's like our whole gospel message is Jesus conquered death and we have eternal life in Christ. So why should we be afraid? Why should we cave to the government? Why should we. Let's stand up and be bold for Jesus. He texted me last Easter, a year ago.
: Easter.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: we're out of time for this segment, but stay on and we can go pick it up in the next segment. You're listening to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here talking to Bill Federer. We're talking about remembering Charlie Kirk. We'll be right back on American Family Radio.
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: This is Real Truth for Today. Podcasts of the program are available on the podcast [email protected] now back to Pastor Jeff Schrieve.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Welcome back to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here talking about and my good friend, Bill Federer, William J. Federer, historian extraordinaire, best selling author and he's The President of AmeriSearch and the Creator of the daily American Minute radio feature. We're talking about Charlie Kirk. This is the anniversary of his death. A year ago today. He was brutally assassinated while on his Prove Me Wrong tour, answering a question. And, and he was shot and martyred for his faith in Christ. And so, Bill Wright, we were there at the break but you were telling a story. Please continue that.
Bill Federer: Yeah, well, he was such an inspiring person. He would text me scripture verses. So a year ago Easter, I texted him the Keith Greene song. I'm like I love this song. And he texted me back and he said, first he gives scripture. So it was Romans 10, 9 and 10 that if you believe in your heart, that Jesus arose from the dead and confessed with your mouth that he's your, your Lord and you'll be saved. And he says we need to proclaim the resurrection daily. And, and he just, you know, just to really strong tell people about Jesus. And the Anyway, it was still a, such a blow, I mean to be with anybody four days before their shot. But. But then just to get a text from him the day before he shot, I gave him a little thumbs up, you know, maybe m the emoji, praying hands, you know, but I, I thought I should have called him or fell to my knees and prayed, you know, sensing that, that he was facing something. And but the
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Let me ask you this Bill. Since because he was so controversial and he was controversial for speaking the truth, as Paul said. Have I become your enemy by telling you the truth? Charlie told people the truth. He told them what they needed to hear. Not necessarily what here. In, in some ways, were you not surprised that somebody shot him?
Bill Federer: I mean, I was totally shocked. I mean, I was doing an interview, and, the text shows up on my computer screen while I'm doing the interview. And it says, charlie shot. Like. But I mean, it was totally. And I, you know, texted him right away. Of course, I still have the texts on my phone that were unanswered. and, it was just a gut blow. I, I didn't eat or sleep for two days. I, I, like, was so stunned. you know, the. The day that he. I got the news that he was shot. and again, I was just with him four days earlier in Seoul, Korea. But I go out, we're in Florida. You have those little screened in back porches, you know, and it. And it. Twilight. The, the sky gets sort of this golden yellow before the sun sets, you know, sort of an orangeish hue to it. And I'm. And we have a little hammock out there. And so I, I like. I think I've been in the hammock a half a dozen times. It's there and I look at it, but I don't get. Anyway, I, I got in it and I, like immediately, like, fell asleep, but it was like this comatose type sleep. And, And in it I had a. It's like a dream, but I, I saw Charlie walk right onto my back porch. And I said, I need your help to. Can you do it? And. And I thought, oh, you know, this is a, dream, so I want to dream a little bit more, you know. And I.
: But I couldn't.
Bill Federer: And I woke up and that was what I was left remembering. And I can't say that it was a vision or anything, but it was just this thought, you know, I need your help to keep this thing going. What thing? Keeping the young people, turning them back to Jesus, educating them, you know, being involved in the fight for our country's future. And it bothered me. It's tremendously. You know, I've studied socialism. I wrote a book on it. And there's something called disinformation campaign and psychological operations which the CIA and the KGB would do to try to, split countries and cause, you know, them to lose elections so that they could do coups and replace the leader with Soviet puppets and so forth. And so no sooner did, you know, a couple months after Charlie's memorial, which was outstanding, they have a hundred thousand people worshiping God. you know, and then there's still the songs. Krish Tomlin was there and he sang, you know, the Holy Forever song. Whenever I hear that song, I just see myself Standing on the floor and looking in a circle, and a hundred thousand people surround, singing at the top of their lungs, you know, holy forever. And they had a picture of Charlie, on the front, you know, that somebody had painted, but it was him there with his hands, like, folded. And. And then they have the whole cabinet of the United States and Elon Musk and Trump and Hegseth and Rubio's talk was outstanding, and Kelsey Gabbard, and it's like, you know, this is a lifetime event. And then it was streamed to, like, a billion people. And Rob McCoy got up and he gave the gospel. And like a million people, you know, billion people heard it. And. And Frank Turek. And it was like, this is a once in a lifetime event. I mean, there's nobody that could die and have the whole cabinet. And there was 25,000 in an overflow stadium. I mean, it was so surreal and the enthusiasm was so high. But no sooner, you know, month later, you have this disinformation campaign, psyops of these, people who had Charlie had platformed to his followers, and they began to split maga, and then try to turn the whole thing around to all this youthful energy of putting Jesus first, get married, have kids, save the country. It's. It turned into controversy. Media with no care about the midterms. I knew Charlie. He thought politics. He thought. He knew every race in every state. He knew how to win it. He knew how to chase down votes. He knew the margins. And to have these controversial media people who care nothing about the country, who care nothing about the next election, who are even leaving, you know, the parties and say, we're going to, What better message would the devil want to give to Charlie's followers to break that momentum? I'm convinced that Charlie could have been vice president, you know, for Vance. I think Charlie could have been president. a couple terms after that, he was just. And, you know, one of the stings, he said, you want to test somebody, give them power, you know, and. And he had this. And when we were in the car together, my son and I and him, and we're driving to the airport for two hours in Wyoming, you know, we're just making small talk. I'm like, you know, I would. Would take my sons, I got, you know, skiing every now and then. And then, you know, I want to be a good dad, do stuff, my son. So then I, you know, would take him scuba diving every now and then. And Charlie says, I don't do any of that stuff. too invested too much in me for me to do something, irresponsible and get injured. It's like, wow, what, what a responsible. Here he is with this, you know, this big organization with, with lots of money, and he wouldn't do anything. And then we're, we're having dinner with Rob McCoy and Mikey McCoy and myself and Charlie and, And, you know, we're sort of small talking and, and I'm, you know, over here and, And Rob says, well, what are your plans for the weekend? And he says, oh, I gotta fast this weekend. I need to hear from God on something. And I, I really have to, to, to fast. And I thought, you know, I don't know how old he was at that time, maybe 27. But I mean, it's like planning his weekend as a weekend of fasting, to hear from the Lord. He really was an exceptional leader. You know, we, we. We remind ourselves, you know, the apostles that followed Jesus, they were all in their twent people, but they were sold out. There's that verse that says, remember thy creator in the days of thy youth.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yes.
Bill Federer: You don't have to go through 10 years of partying and sleeping around and pornography and then finally, realizing that life is serious and, and you want to make a contribution. You can find out as a young person that God has a call in your life, and you can let him use you in your teens and in your 20s and in your 30s and, and. And make your life count for eternal purposes. And, that's what Charlie did.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Bill, what do you. If Charlie were able to come back, and assess what's going on in Turning Point usa, and what's going on with the midterms and the things that people have said about him, the Candace Owens, all the stuff that she comes up with, what do you think he would have to say?
Bill Federer: Well, you know, you bring up those names. There's a name for Satan, and it's accuser, accuser of the brethren. And then one of the names for Satan is calumniator. I'll say that again. Calumniator. It's a Latin word which means a column of half truths. and so any one of them is unconvincing and unprovable, but you add a column of them, and they seemed. The weight of the column seems so convincing. And that's what these, these different podcasters do. They. Well, you know, this. And this does look a little fishy. And, you know, I'm just saying. And they, and they do These accusations and any journalist they'll spend years researching before they break a story. This was not research. This was not. it was. I just. It was this thought that thought, you know, one of them, you know, she even said she. She had a dream. And so she was like, saying that. That. That almost like Charlie told me that he was betrayed. It's like I. I saw this in a dream. It's like, what. You know, I knew Charlie, you know, and I had, something. But he said, can you keep this thing going? Now, again, I'm not saying that was anything divine, but it was definitely. It spoke to my heart. And, But it's this idea that what would Charlie have wanted? I don't think he would want to squander that enthusiasm on, you know, controversy, media, winning clicks. I guarantee if. If the shows that those, podcasters did got zero views, they changed the subject. They just talked about it because it got clicks. anyway, I don't mean to get into all that, but. But I think Charlie would. He would be focused on the midterms.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: He's like, what do you think?
Bill Federer: Get involved, Bill.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: What do you think he'd say to President Trump? I know he talked to President Trump a lot. What do you think? What, would be his counsel to President Trump concerning the situation in Iran and inflation and high prices and all that stuff?
Bill Federer: I mean, I can't put words in his mouth. I, know he loved Trump. I know, that m. He supported him 100%. Trump is not a globalist. Trump is, like, the only person that's keeping the one world government from taking place. there's so many entrenched global powers. I mean, you got, you know, the, Klaus Schwab World Economic Forum, and he, you know, would make a statement of, you, know, that America is holding back. I'm paraphrasing. But America is the obstacle of the one world government. You know, Trump was. Is not a globalist. He's a make America great again. And for that matter, I think every country should try to make their country, ah, great. God's the one at the Tower of Babel, when he confused the languages and the people separated into language groups, they turned into nations. Nations were God's invention to postpone a one world government. and I know Charlie supported, ah, Trump 100%. you know, the inside story is that, the Biden administration was cracking down on free speech, and I. I think they had Charlie in their crosshairs, hairs, and. And they were going to come after him as well. but you, you see that the, you know, putting spies in Catholic churches to see if there's a pro life person to, you know, want to arrest a mom because she spoke out at a school board meeting because she didn't want her kid transgendered without her knowledge. I mean, this is the stuff that we were standing against. And, and Charlie knew it was serious. We've, because of Trump, we've, gone through, the period of not having to worry about that. but it's still there and it's still itching to rear its head. And if we lose these midterms and they win the, the House, it'll be impeachment, immediately. And they won't stop with, with Trump. They'll go up to the Cabinet. Won't stop with the cabinet, go after the supporters, won't stop with. It'll go after each and every one of us like it was doing under, under Biden previously. So, so everything's on the table. This is serious. They, you know, I just saw some numbers, Muslims come into an area and they vote 100%. we're barely getting 30% of the Christians to vote. And so they're winning, not just Mondawi in NewSong York, they're winning races all across the country. And if you watch their videos, there's an organization called Rare R A I R and they, I don't know how they do it, but they get clips of these imams in their mosques talking about, how their goal is to enact Sharia law on the whole country. Right, Where a woman can't leave the house without her husband's permission and without being covered. And they can have polygamy and child brides and, you know, all these type of things that they do when Sharia is, is takes over a country. So we're barely getting Christians to vote, but here they're coming in and voting and winning races. I think, but, but the last message that Charlie was on and I got the text on my phone, he was saying that, you know, tell me about Islam. Tell me about Thomas Jefferson and the Barbary pirate wars.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah, well, obviously that's a big concern, Bill. And if people. I spoke earlier this week and just said, hey, your vote matters. And, if we don't vote, as you said, I quote you a lot on, the most important thing is to preach the gospel. Second most important thing is to ensure that you can do the most important thing. And, if we don't Go vote. Then, the second most important thing is in jeopardy, which, which jeopardizes the most important thing.
Bill Federer: Yeah, exactly. You know, after he was assassinated, somebody did an AI picture of him walking the steps to Jesus in heaven and turning and passing the baton to the hundreds of young people that were sticking their hands up to grab the baton. And my son, would, would always say Charlie left his shoes too big to fill. So it's going to take all of us. And and so I, I think that's the, the message that we should be left with, that let's all get involved. God loves to wait until things look hopeless and then he, uses little nobodies who are small in their own eyes to do big things and everything starts small. amen to that.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, Bill, I appreciate it so much. You're a good friend and looking forward to being with you in Washington D.C. in just about a month, October 11th, 16th, we'll be in Washington D.C. and you're going to lead us through the U.S. capitol Building. And that's going to be a great, great time. Well, thank you for being my guest as we remembered Charlie Kirk. And it's always a pleasure, my friend.
Bill Federer: Bless you Jeff, and all the listeners. And just thank you for Thank you Lord for letting us have Charlie, all those years.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Amen to that. Well, you're listening to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve here on American Family Radio. And we come back from the break. We'll be talking to Jenna Ellis as she remembers her friend Charlie Kirk. We'll be right back. Don't go away.
: If you'd like to contact Pastor Jeff, email pastor jeffromhishheart.org now back to Real Truth for today with Pastor Jeff Schrieve.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Welcome back to Real Truth for today. Pastor Jeff Schrieve. Here we are remembering Charlie Kirk on the one year anniversary of his assassination, actually his martyrdom. He was martyred for his testimony, for his faith in Christ, for his boldness. And we were talking to Bill Federer who is a close personal friend of Charlie's. And now we want to talk to our own Jenna Ellis, AFR's Jenna Ellis. Jenna was also a good friend of Charlie Kirks. And so Jenna, thank you for coming on the program today.
Jenna Ellis: Thank you so much for having me. And it's so, significant and timely that we memorialize Charlie on the one year anniversary of his martyrdom that you rightly say he was martyred. And the year that has passed.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, you know, I Was I had asked Bill what he thought, as we think about this day and what happened a year ago and that, you know, Jenna, for you, you get the news that there's been a shooting. And, when I saw the video, I said, no way can he survive that. Nobody could survive that. So what was going through your head when you first heard the news?
Jenna Ellis: Yeah, well, I was actually walking out of a doctor appointment, and so I'd had my phone on silent for probably the 20 minutes, the initial 20 minutes after it happened. So I walked out to my phone just blowing up with so many messages and alerts and texts from friends. And so, I immediately texted Andrew Colvett, who is, Charlie's executive producer. In fact, I had him on, this morning on my program to remember Charlie. And he's been a dear friend, for even longer than. Than Charlie, was to me. And so I texted him, asking you, is everything okay? What's going on? And then, like, you, I saw the video and just thought, first it had to be unreal. I mean, I just did not believe it. And then thought, like you, there was no way, that someone could survive this. And then, of course, we get the message then, from the news and from, I think President Trump was posting as well that his heart had been restarted. And so there were some kind of hope, I think, before we ended up finding out later that evening, that he had passed. And I just remember sitting on the floor, and weeping and thinking, I cannot believe that we have lost. such a great advocate for the faith. And, you know, Jeff, as well as I knew Charlie, I interacted with him mainly in the political sphere. I've spoken at, a lot of turning point events and, you know, things that dealt with election integrity, the Young Women's Leadership Summit, my work with Trump. I mean, you know, all of these things that obviously are important. But significantly, it wasn't until after his passing that I started seeing even more and more reels and actually watching them of what he was doing on college campuses and how he turned everything back to the truth of the gospel of Christ. And it really showed me how. I think I even took his full ministry for granted because he, he to me, was more of a political figure where his ministry was so much more than that. And while politics is important, important, obviously the biblical worldview of truth is the most important, and everything works up from there. And so Charlie, even after his passing, I think, has been a remarkable teacher. he's Had a remarkable testimony, and I think his legacy continues to inform Christians how we should go about our ministries.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Amen to that. You know, when I think of Charlie and I didn't know him like you did, but just watching his videos and seeing how well he interacted with people and he could get, you know, he could get fired up, and I, appreciated that about him. But the. The idea that, wasn't. Came from scripture, came from the lips of Jesus. We are salt and we are light, and we are here to make a difference. And, let's face it, Jenna, the church hasn't done very well making a difference. the world has made more difference in the church than the church has made in the world in many instances. And I think Charlie really, I know for me personally, he really, just lit my fire to say, hey, go out and turn the world upside down. And if people don't like it because you're speaking the truth, then guess what? You're probably doing something right, not doing something wrong.
Jenna Ellis: Yeah. And I think for a lot of us as Christians, on one hand, we had a deep, profound sense of desire for justice and I think righteous anger at what happened to Charlie and especially for his family, his wife and his two little kids, and that he was robbed of life, for them. And at the same time, this profound sense of urgency as well to say, you know, here in our lifetimes is a very giant now martyr of the faith. a giant in the faith, but now martyr of the faith that a lot of us knew personally, and I think everyone at least knew of, who is a contemporary. And so instead of just hearing the stories of, you know, the great faithful who have come before us, who have been willing to lay down their lives, to actually see this happen in real time, I think it spurred on a lot of us to this. This. This sense of urgency of why we do what we do. And this is so much more than party and politics and, you know, the online bickering and, you know, some of these, some of these debates that we engage in. Ultimately, everything we do, whether it's from raising our children to learning more about the Lord, to faithfully, going to our jobs and our careers, to engaging in. In civil government. everything is ultimately to show the truth of the gospel of Christ, to win as many people as we can for him, and. And, and then ultimately to worship and love the Lord with all our heart, soul and mind. And. And that became even more real, I think, in the immediate aftermath of Charlie's Death. And over the last year, you know, as you said, with churches it's, it's been so disappointing frankly to see how the church has really not harnessed this revival to the extent that they should have and use this as a catalyst and a vehicle to say come now to the Lord. Because no one knows, their time to face eternity. And some did, of course. And I think there were a lot of people saved immediately in that aftermath. But to continue that and say let's build on that legacy instead of kind of eventually just going back to the status quo.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, I saw a, post by our friend Rick Metaxas, and he said this, Jen, I want to get you to comment on it. He said, if your church believes Charlie was divisive and therefore doesn't see him as a hero who was martyred, you really must, all in caps, find another church. Must. The hour is late. So would you go so far as to say if your church is not, not talking about him because you see him as a divisive figure, that you ought to find another church?
Jenna Ellis: Oh, 100%. I mean, after, ah, the decision of who you marry, I think, where you go to church is just as significant because, the first decision that is even more important than who you marry is what you believe about God. And if you are going to a church and that is teaching you the bright, fluffy, you know, felt board kind of figure of Jesus, or that he was this calm, pacifist, socialist Jesus, or that Jesus loves and affirms any decision you make and let's just go out and be a good influence in the world. You are missing the power and the truth of the gospel and you need to find another church because you are being taught the wrong Jesus, a false Jesus. And I've personally in a lot of the, the people that I've encountered through my ministries, I have encountered people who have said they've gone to church for decades, if not their entire lives, and didn't actually know what it meant to be saved. They didn't know the real Jesus. And so absolutely, churches are not meant to just be community clubs. They're not just meant to be a place where you send your kids to school or to Sunday school, school or you know, gathering. They are all those things. And that's okay. But that is just the building up from the foundation. The foundation has to be that when you go to church, not only are you ministered to, but you are fed the truth. You grow in the knowledge of Lord, you are exhorted and you are under authority, and you, Your church cares about your personal life and that you are following the Lord and that you actually know what that means in daily life.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Jenna, what would you say if you were going to evaluate Turning Point USA a year after Charlie's, homegoing passing away? do you think the organization is doing well, maintaining or losing ground?
Jenna Ellis: I hope they're not losing ground. I, know that this organization was Charlie's everything, and it was the vehicle for him to minister. And I think that they have done the, leadership has done a phenomenal job in keeping that going amidst an unprecedented, horrifying circumstance that they never could have envisioned. I do think that they could, add more of the ministry element, and I think, Lucas Miles, who heads up the faith side, has been doing a phenomenal job of that, and so I'd like to see that even more at the forefront and incorporated, and I think it's going in that direction. And so I would encourage people that, you know, give them a little bit of. Of grace and, and a little bit of slack. And you may not like all the decisions they're making, but that's okay. You don't have to. In order to support their mission, pray for them, pray for the leadership. pray for Erica especially. all of these guys are in the midst of having to do their job, continue Charlie's legacy and also go through a very difficult and public trial, for his assassin, for his murderer. that's really hard for anyone, and we need to be on their side and cheering them on.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Well, and to remember, too, that Charlie Kirk was one of a kind. There have not been a lot of Charlie Kirk's that have ever been born. And so, you take him out of the mix and it really affects things. so, Jen, I asked, Bill Federer just a little bit ago, if Charlie were to come back today and be able to talk to President Trump right here before the midterms, what do you think he would say to him?
Jenna Ellis: Well, you know, I think that's a great question, and I think, the way I want to answer that is to say that I have been. Been so careful, even with as much as I knew Charlie personally, to not put words into Charlie's mouth. And I think that's so important, for everyone to. To continue to recognize, because in the immediate aftermath, so many people wanted to harness Charlie's legacy for their own benefit.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yes.
Jenna Ellis: and to say, you know, Charlie suddenly was, you know, the. The greatest advocate of something he never believed in. In his life, or, you know, here's what Charlie said to me, and all the text messages that were private are suddenly public. And I think that that's a really, That's a disservice to his legacy. And so, you know, I think that what he would say to President Trump would likely be something encouraging. it would be something that would be, championing him, as he always did. but I don't know exactly what that would be. And I think we need to remember that Charlie's ministry, his earthly ministry, is finished, and that we shouldn't try to, carry on his legacy in a way that's trying to, revive him as much as we are trying to carry forward the goal of serving Christ and having a moral and upright society. Because that's ultimately what he championed.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Yeah. Amen to that. If you had to pick, one or two things that you would say from your perspective were his greatest strengths, what would you say?
Jenna Ellis: First and foremost, coalition building. this is actually where he and I clashed a little bit. because he would see the coalition where I would see some of the differences. And so he was really just in philosophy or in personalities or so forth. and he would always say, well, as long as they're voting in the right way and on our side, we need to welcome them, and then we need to win them on the other issues. And so he was extremely, successful at getting very diverse people on various issues into the same room and somehow, putting them on the same team. And with that, I think his second most valuable trait, that we all should emulate, myself included, is even more humility. He was, for his phenomenal success, he was just a regular guy. He was always humble. He was always so kind, and he would always be willing to learn from other people. he spoke with me a lot about, you know, election integrity, in the aftermath of the 2020 election, you know, he would ask me, you know, some legal questions and so forth. And so he. Even at his level, he was always recognizing that he wasn't the smartest person in the room. And I think all of us need to take that as an admonition that for as much as we know and may have accomplished, we can still learn from others, and we can still remember for whom we're serving, and that's not ourselves or our brand. He never wore his brand or his name. He always, pointed back to the Lord.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Amen to that. And he probably was, most of the time, the smartest person in the room, which is. You know, it makes it even more impressive that he would humble himself like that. Well, Jenna, I appreciate so much you coming on, and I, know this is a difficult day, as you remember your good friend. But it's also a day for us to rejoice because we know where he is, and he's with the Lord in heaven. And as much as he loved his wife and his children and his friends, he wouldn't want to come back here for anything. So, just a closing thought, before we go. What do you think is a good takeaway from Charlie's Life?
Jenna Ellis: Life M. To, Like Ephesians 5 says, take advantage of every opportunity, for the days are evil. Charlie never missed a single opportunity to win hearts, change minds, and promote the truth of the gospel of Christ. And we need to do that as well.
Pastor Jeff Schreve: Amen to that. Well, thank you, Jenna. I appreciate it so much. And thanks for listening to Real Truth for today. listen, remember, you are salt. You are light. That's one of the things that I remember from Charlie Kirk. We are supposed to make a difference. That's what we're on this earth to do. So go out today, shine for Christ, and share what great things the Lord has done for you. And guess what? God will use you as his witness. God bless you.
Pastor Jeff Schreve remembers Charlie Kirk on the one-year anniversary of his death with historians and friends Bill Federer and Jenna Ellis. They reflect on Charlie’s boldness in sharing the Gospel, his commitment to truth, his influence on young people, and his desire to preserve freedom so Christians could continue to proclaim Christ. The conversation also highlights Charlie’s humility, leadership, coalition-building, and passion for pointing people to Jesus. Listeners are encouraged to follow his example by making the most of every opportunity, standing for truth, and living boldly for Christ.
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