Chapter 33: A Call To Arms

9/17/2025
 
John 15:18-19 “If the world hate you, ye know that it hated me before it hated you. If ye were of the world, the world would love his own: but because ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you.” (KJV)
 
Matthew 5:10-12 “Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you.” (KJV)
 
“It’s all about Jesus.” - Charlie Kirk
 
            Before September 10th I had only a passing familiarity with the name of Charlie Kirk. Some time ago I began following him on Twitter (a.k.a. X) because I liked many of his conservative posts. He seemed to have the same values as me, and the Twitter algorithm caused Charlie’s profile to pop up in my feed because of other similar people/posts that I had liked or re-tweeted. But I never bothered to actually learn anything about the man. I just assumed from his profile photo and his tweets that he was a senator or some type of political lobbyist/consultant closely involved with the Trump administration. It wasn’t until last Wednesday that I discovered who Charlie really was and what he was all about.
            Since then, like most of this nation and many other nations around the world, I have been watching video clips of Charlie’s debates on college campuses as well as reading the seemingly endless social media responses to his assassination, both heartwarming and disgusting. (Praise God there seems to be far more of the former than the latter, at least in my feeds.) I’ve also been pondering the man, all that he was and stood for, and the incident of his death. But even more than that, I’ve found myself looking back on the entire year of 2025 thus far and all that we the people of these United States have been witnessing on the streets ever since Trump’s oath of office in January.
             Anyone who knows me isn’t surprised about where I stand. Yes, I wholeheartedly and enthusiastically voted for Trump last November. I cheered – and am still cheering – when I saw Twitter posts from ICE naming the hundreds of illegals they rounded up – and are still rounding up – daily. (Yes, I follow the official ICE social media accounts on both Twitter and Instagram. It’s a daily mood booster.) I also gave a hearty “Amen!” to Trump’s efforts to bring religious faith and traditional conservative values back to government. I applauded his initiative to throw out from all government institutions every scrap of the racist propaganda calling itself “DEI”. (The correct order of those letters should be “DIE”.) Same goes for his mission to either eliminate or severely diminish all evidence of celebration of sodomy and transgenderism in our government, all military branches, and even – though less successful – our public schools. And let’s not forget Elon Musk and his successful campaign that either eliminated entirely or severely cut billions in government spending due to outright fraud by the criminals in Washington calling themselves senators and congressmen. And, oh yeah, that one big beautiful bill (OBBB)? Pure genius! In summary, I will go so far as to claim that the current presidential administration is the best ensemble of conservative – some of them even Christian in the truest, Biblical definition of the word – men and women since the days of George Washington. God bless America! Amen!
             It's also been no small joy to watch daily the thoroughly entertaining meltdowns of the liberal idiots who actually believe that all of that is a form of tyrannical dictatorship on the same page as Nazism and Hitler. Yes, I truly feel sorry for those lost folk who have been so brainwashed by the mainstream media for the last two decades – and especially in the last four years – to actually believe that Trump’s new laws and initiatives are harming them the same way that Hitler and his demonic men persecuted the Jews. Quite the opposite is true, in fact, but the god of this world and his minions have so blinded those lost souls that they cannot see or understand plain reality. But their childish temper tantrums are also a daily mood booster for me.
            In short, this year has been a breath of fresh, spring air and sunshine upon the bleak winter landscape that was the Obama and Biden eras. (Trump’s first term in the white house was also a pleasant summer season for the American people.) But with all of that charging force for good, there has been an equal and opposite pushback from the vile monsters disguising themselves as human at all levels of our current government and legal system. These demons have championed child abuse under the banners of gay marriage and transgenderism, signed into state law the legal murder of the unborn right up to the moment of birth, and literally burned down Los Angeles as a direct result of DIE initiatives in both the firefighting force and the inept leadership of Screwtape’s nephew who goes by the name of Gavin Newsom. (Screwtape’s son is currently masquerading as Minnesota governor Tim Walz, he who signed into law that abortion-at-birth initiative I just mentioned.) And last, but definitely not least, let’s remember the literally hundreds of innocent victims whose lives were cut short by the thousands of illegal aliens (99% of them violent criminals) that the Biden administration openly invited into this country. I could write an entire book just listing all the names of those victims as well as the numerous reports of Venezuelan/Honduran/Mexican gangs that were allowed to run rampant and unchecked through the streets of cities like Chicago, L.A. and Denver, terrorizing innocent citizens while the Democratic socialist mayors turned a blind eye.
           Which brings me to the present day and three events that have prompted the writing of this chapter. The first was the brutal murder of Ukrainian refugee Iryna Zarutska (here legally) in Charlotte, NC, on August 22nd by Decarlos Brown (here illegally). Brown had been arrested multiple times for violent crimes but put back on the streets by – no shocker – liberal judge Teresa Stokes. Then there was yet another school shooting on August 27th at yet another Christian school, this time a Catholic one, by yet another transgender criminal. And, like all the other demonic cowards before him, he killed himself before he could be taken into custody. Then, lastly, on September 10th was the assassination of Charlie Kirk by a man whose boyfriend identified as a woman.

            From what little I have gleaned thus far in my online searches, Charlie was a genuine godly man, the old fashioned kind that was a born again Christian, Bible believer, and family man who unashamedly stood for his faith and proclaimed the gospel of Christ every chance he got. He also possessed a keen mind that could instantly recall any number of historical facts in the heat of the moment when verbally sparring with the numerous college students that bravely challenged his conservative, religious views. It still fascinates me to watch some of the video clips where he calmly and cooly fires back simple, one sentence retorts whose facts immediately obliterate his opponent’s views. Like a good Vulcan, Charlie used plain logic and sound reason to showcase the utter absurdity and complete illogic of the woke, liberal, leftist, godless ideology that the demonic universities have been pouring into the hapless, defenseless minds of these poor young people. It’s not only fascinating and entertaining to watch, but it’s also severely eye-opening and downright awe-inspiring.
            I’m still sifting through online videos as well as reading up on Turning Point USA, the non-profit founded by Charlie when he was only 18 (!), so I still don’t know much about him. But what really stands out to me so far is not his political views or his whip-crack book smarts. It’s his faith in Jesus Christ and his testimony as a fundamental, Bible believing Christian. Charlie made no attempt to hide the fact that his political and civic beliefs were firmly founded in the word of God and his saving faith in Christ. He didn’t shy away or back down from quoting scripture, and he was more than happy to give his salvation testimony at every available opportunity. He also adored his wife, Erika, and their two children. And, judging by her public comments and appearance following her husband’s death, she is just as saved, godly, and smart as Charlie was. It’s clear that she was God’s intended help-meet for His servant Charlie.
            In hindsight, I wish I could say I’m surprised and shocked by Charlie’s death. Unfortunately, given the current state of spiritual, cultural, and political unrest right now in this country, something like this was inevitable. We all knew this last summer when Trump – by only the grace of God – survived his own assassination attempt. Because of his religious convictions, Charlie was not afraid to call out sin, especially that of sodomy, transgenderism, and abortion. And, given the brainwashing of the vast majority of this nation’s population by the mainstream media, it’s no wonder that Tyler Robinson was convinced that Charlie was a “nazi” and “filled with hate”.
            I am, though, truly saddened by Charlie’s death. It is a tragedy, but I’m also heartened by two things: 1) he is now in heaven with his Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ; and 2) his death has given renewed fire to a cause that has been growing in this country ever since Trump took office for his second term. The American people have finally had enough and are starting to actually wake up and recognize the liberal, leftist dogma for what it really is: socialist garbage that celebrates lawlessness, encourages laziness, puts violent criminals on the streets while also defunding the police force, mutilates innocent children, slaughters the unborn without remorse, and hates anything that if right, godly, just and true.
            In short, they hate America, this fundamentally Christian nation.
 
            On the night of September 1st, as I walked out of my store and turned to lock the door behind me, I caught movement from the corner of my eye. By the time I turned my head, the masked man was already right next to me, black handgun in his right hand pointed at the ground and tucked close to his body to hide it from view of anyone that might pass by while he tried to force me back into the store. He calmly ordered me to open the door, but I told him I couldn’t. He threatened to shoot me if I didn’t get him back in the store, and I told him again I couldn’t. I even unlocked the door and pulled on it to demonstrate that the mag-lock security system was already activated and the door would not open. Again, he promised he would shoot me and pointed the gun at my left thigh, and again I demonstrated that it was physically impossible to get back into the store.
            There was no other cars driving by us in the parking lot, and the other stores in the shopping center – with the exception of Taco Bell at the far end – were long ago closed up and dark. All I could see of the man’s face was his eyes behind what I assumed were his prescription glasses. There was enough skin visible around his eyes to tell that he was black. He wore a brown, button-down shirt with the UPS logo on the left breast, a black baseball cap with the UPS logo and tan khakis with dark shoes. His hands were shielded in silver gloves. The face mask was those stupid neck scarves that were so popular in 2020 during the height of COVID, and my first thought was, “That’s the same shade of royal blue that I had when I had to wear those dumb things to work every day.” (It is weird what flashes through your mind in these types of situations.)
            The guy made one more threat to shoot me, and I – again! – insisted that I could not get back into the store. I was also firmly and urgently pressing the panic button in my right hand, and either this dude was too stupid to realize what I was doing, or he didn’t care. He finally told me to empty my pockets and then grabbed my cell phone and stuffed it in his pocket. He gathered up everything I had just tossed on the ground – my wallet, my keys (both personal and the store set), my AirPod case with only the left earbud in it (I still had the other one in my right ear), the bottle of Glipizide medication that I had just had refilled 2 days earlier, and the two bags of trash that I was going to toss in the nearby dumpster on the way to my car. (Yes, really, the idiot stole a bunch of empty fast food containers, used Kleenex, and dirty paper towels.) I watched him dash to a black, four door car parked close by, throw all of that into the trunk, and then speed away. (From my viewpoint, it was too far away and too dark to get a good look at the license plate.)
            Once again, either the guy didn’t notice or didn’t care, but I still had my Apple watch, and I was able to call 911 first and then my boss. Once I was done giving my statement to first the police and then the detectives, my friend Mike drove me home to get the spare set of car keys and house keys, then back to the store to get my car. It was around 2 a.m. when finally I crawled into bed but I barely slept. I had to be up for work at 6, and Maricel graciously stayed on video call with me through the whole night to keep watch. I could have taken the next day off, but I didn’t want to. Yes, I was a little shaken up, but I was fine, thankful to God for watching over me and sparing my life, and, besides, I needed the hours. (My upcoming wedding and honeymoon are still only half paid for.) Tuesday night was better. I went to bed early, slept hard and long, and felt like my old self again on Wednesday morning.
            One week later, Charlie Kirk was assassinated.
           
           All of this – the recent Catholic school shooting, the senseless murder of Charlie and Iryna, and then my own brush with violent crime – has left me in an odd, pensive mood. I’m not depressed or upset or even angry. Yes, I am frustrated and saddened by those national tragedies, and I am a little peeved by all the hassle I had go through to replace my phone, ID, debit card, and credit cards, not to mention changing the locks on my home. (My employer graciously offered to replace my AirPods at his own expense.) But angry at my attacker? Furious at Charlie’s and Iryna’s killers? No, not really. I pity them more than anything else.
            I was on a video call with Maricel when I was leaving the store that Monday night, and the next day, when we both had calmed down and sufficiently recovered emotionally, the first thing she said to me was, “Love, we need to pray for that man.” I had honestly never even thought of that, but the moment she said it I knew she was right. And so we did. And I also thanked God yet again for this wonderful woman He had gifted to me as my help-meet. When I was sure I was going to be shot, my first thought was, “LORD, I’m not ready yet. I want to see Maricel first.” You’d think I’d have been looking forward to Heaven more than the marriage and family that I was sure, in that moment, God had already promised to me. I didn’t want to miss out! And, praise His name, God did choose to protect me that night, and now I’m even more in love with Maricel than I was before. She is truly a woman after God’s own heart, and she makes me want to be a better, godly man.
            Kinda like the man that Charlie Kirk was.
         That’s the thought that keeps bouncing back to the front of my brain. As I sift through the social media posts responding to his death, the recurring theme is what I already stated earlier. Charlie was a soldier for Christ, a godly, family man who led his home and his community with religious fervor and firm conviction of what is absolute right and wrong. I disagree with many Christians who seem to think that Charlie doesn’t deserve the title of “martyr”, but that is exactly what he was: a martyr of the faith, worthy to be named alongside all the others recorded long ago by Foxe. And I echo what so many other Christian men and women have stated online in the last week: I want to be like Charlie Kirk.
            This year, for me, has been quite the roller coaster ride, and the best is still to come. Lately, especially since the robbery two weeks ago, there’s been moments when I just sit back and shake my head in wonderment at where I am now and where I started 5 years ago when I got saved. There was such a strange sense of calm and peace overlaying my fear as I looked straight in that masked man’s eyes, desperately trying to convince him that I could not get him into my store. I didn’t want to die, but I was more than ready if that’s what God had planned for me, and that peace is still with me.
            Now, as the days draw closer to our wedding, and as Maricel and I talk more and more about what our children will look like (she’s praying they have my European nose and blue eyes, and I’m praying they look like her), I am more sure now than ever before of two things: 1) I know, beyond any doubt, where I will spend eternity after I die; and 2) I want the same thing Charlie Kirk told a reporter on his show earlier this year. “The American way of life is very simple. I want to be able to get married, buy a home, have kids, allow them to ride their bike till the sun goes down, send them to a good school, have a low crime neighborhood, not to have my kid be taught the lesbian, gay, transgender garbage in their school. While also, not having them have to hear the Muslim call to prayer five times a day. That’s important.”
            Our nation is under attack right now from Islam and the alphabet crowd, and, like Charlie, I’m sick of it. I’m also tired of all the other liberal, woke, leftist hogwash that is currently poisoning the minds of our young people like Tyler Robinson. I don’t have the public platform that Charlie had, nor do I have the money to build it. But what I am going to do is what I had already resolved to do 3 ½ years ago when I finally accepted God’s calling to be a husband and father:

1. Maricel and I are going to build a house of faith. Our home will be grounded on the word of God, and we will remain an active part of the family of Bible Baptist Church here in Las Vegas until such time as God calls us elsewhere. God has blessed me with multiple opportunities of service and leadership in that small church, and that’s where I will continue to serve and to lead until the Lord says otherwise.
2. I will lead my home as God has commanded in His word. He has blessed me with a soon-to-be-wife who has already surrendered to God’s leading and accepted me as her spiritual head and Biblical authority in our home. This is not a responsibility that I take lightly. Therefore, I vow to guard my home and my family with zealous fervor and conviction. That means every single thing that enters my home via electronic media or through the front door will be examined and vetted by me. And, if necessary, I will give my life for my family.
3. Our children will be home schooled, either by Maricel or by a paid Christian tutor. We don’t care what it will cost or how much we have to sacrifice. That’s how important it is to both of us. We will have complete control over every aspect of their upbringing and education. If necessary, Maricel is willing to not work outside the home in order for us to carry out this objective. (It’s yet another reason that I fell in love with her. She and I are already on the same page about so many important details like this.)
4. I will be more bold in my testimony for Christ outside my home. I have already made the comment multiple times to my bosses and co-workers, “Praise God that He was watching over me,” or “I’m thanking God that he spared me.” I even told the company’s regional manager, when he came to my store later that week to see how I was doing, “I wasn’t afraid to die. I know where I’m going to spend eternity. Right now, I’m thankful to be alive and still serving the Lord.” I have never been shy at work about my faith, but that incident has given me an even stronger desire to be more vocal when the opportunities present themselves.
5. I will continue voting for politicians like Trump and Vance who are willing to make a stand for truth, justice, and the right. You can blather all you want about why you think our founding fathers weren’t Christian, but you’re wrong. America IS a Christian nation, and it once was blessed immensely by God BECAUSE our founding fathers based their values, principles, and judgments on His word. That is historical fact, and it’s being recognized once again by the current administration. I plan to use my vote to keep this ball rolling in the right direction. You don’t like it? Then leave. I recommend China. I hear the work camps are hiring for the holiday rush, and the pay is pretty decent. Not only that, I admire a president that’s willing to actively round up every last illegal alien and send them back to their own country. I don’t care if it’s a pedophile sex trafficker or an eighty year old grandmother who’s never even jaywalked. If you’re here illegally, you’re breaking the law. Period. You don’t belong here. God bless, and I wish you the best back in your own country. Have a great day!
6. I am not ashamed to stand up and speak out against sin. Yes, I have a heart and a burden for the lost, and I will do everything I can to reach them with the gospel. Like Charlie, I’m willing to sit down and have a conversation with the transgender, the sodomite (remember, I used to be one), the pro-choice feminist, and the atheist. However, I will not affirm any of their delusions and fantasies, and I will actively fight to protect my family, my community, and MY country, from any of that wicked ideology. You can call me the same names you called Charlie: homophobe, racist, misogynist, bigot, etc. Doesn’t bother me. I’m none of those things, and neither was he. I know what I believe, and my beliefs are based on God’s holy word. I’ll pray for you, I’ll plant the seed, and then I’ll move on. It’s up to you whether you listen and accept it, or you reject the truth and damn yourself to hell.

          If there’s one thing that is obvious from those four deaths – the two children at Annunciation Academy, Iryna, and Charlie – it’s that none of us is guaranteed our next breath, let alone tomorrow. None of those four woke up on their last days anticipating that it would be any different than the day before. I certainly wasn’t expecting to be staring down the barrel of a gun two weeks ago when I woke up on the morning of Labor Day. I can’t speak for certain about the two young children or Iryna, but Charlie knew for sure where he was going to spend eternity, and he had no fear of death. And, as I said earlier, I was also ready to see my Lord  and savior face to face that Monday night if God had decided it was time for me to come home.
           Can you say the same? Do you know where you will spend eternity when you die? This life is momentary, a mere breath and then gone. Every single one of us is an eternal soul born into a mortal body, and we are born with a sin nature that is at enmity with God. We are all the descendants of Adam and Eve, and thus born under the curse of sin. This has condemned each of us to hell unless we choose God’s plan of salvation that He has so graciously offered to all mankind. It is through the shed blood of His only begotten son, Jesus Christ, who willingly gave Himself up to be crucified on the cross at Calvary 2,000 years ago. Only by acknowledging your helpless, condemned state as a sinner, and recognizing that nothing you can – or ever could – do will get you to heaven, and then by accepting Jesus as your Lord and savior, and making Him the Lord of your life, can you be saved from eternal damnation in hell. Heaven and hell are the only two options after this mortal life, and it’s up to you to decide and choose where you want to go. Will you spend eternity in the glorious light and beautiful presence of Almighty God, or in absolute darkness, and fire, and excruciatingly painful torment in the depths of hell with the devil and his angels?
            This is the gospel that Charlie opened all of his debates with, and now I share it with you. What will you do with Jesus?
 
“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
John 3:16 (KJV)
 
“Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the LORD thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”
Joshua 1:9 (KJV)
 
“Now therefore fear the LORD, and serve him in sincerity and in truth: and put away the gods which your fathers served on the other side of the flood, and in Egypt; and serve ye the LORD. [15] And if it seem evil unto you to serve the LORD, choose you this day whom ye will serve; whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the flood, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land ye dwell: but as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD.”
Joshua 24:14-15 (KJV)