Immediately after Charlie Kirk was assassinated, certain people claimed he was divisive. I, like many others, took great offense. A few days later, I began to read Avi Snyder’s book, Never Ashamed: Stories of Sharing Faith with Scoffers and Skeptics. One section in his book had me sit up straight and say aloud, “Yes, Lord. Charlie Kirk was, indeed, divisive.”

The section subtitle is The Fruit of Biblical Division. We know the Word tells us “the Fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, humility, self control (Galatians 5:22-23 CJB).” Avi Snyder wrote, “Yes, God uses His Word to save. But He also uses His Word to divide. In fact, division is one of the primary fruits of proclamation. That’s why Yeshua said, “I did not come to bring peace, but a sword” (Matthew 10:34). He’s not talking about a physical sword, of course. The sword that He mentions is the sword of taking sides, either for Him or against Him.”

If you ever thought this harsh, Jesus was warning us of what was to come, in fact, is here now. What happened and continues to happen to families and friendships over who voted for whom? Or because of who took IT into their bodies and who didn’t? Who stands with God that abortion is murder and who says it’s a woman’s right to murder—slaughter the baby she carries? Or who stands for good and who for evil? Who calls good evil and evil good? Satan wants us to choose to be accepted by people, knowing that, in reality, it causes us to choose him over Almighty God, the Ancient of Days. Knowing what the just and righteous eternal penalty is for doing that. It’s why Jesus warned us to love Him above everything, including our own life, and above anyone and everyone, even our closest family members: He knew this Spirit of the Age was coming.

That scripture is one far too many Christians, sadly, and non-Christians choose to ignore—out of fear of disapproval by one or more people. They will accept only a “culturally appropriate” Jesus Who accepts sinners AND their sins, as though He went to the cross not to free them from the bondage of sin but to be free to sin, which is completely antithetical to the Truth and Almighty God’s Holiness and Goodness.

Continuing from Snyder, “Division is biblical and unavoidable because the gospel denies us the option of remaining neutral. Indeed, God warns that if we ‘are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I will spit you out of my mouth’ (Revelation 3:16 ESV). Once we’ve heard and understood, we have to make a choice.” When Messiah Jesus spoke to the people, His words divided—sifted, if you will. It was the same for the apostles and disciples during and after His time in this world that God has judged for destruction. Charlie Kirk knew this. Understood it. Made a choice to follow and trust his Savior and King by dividing the Word rightly, which always leads to sifting “wheat from chaff”.

Again from Snyder: “Though it’s not a fact that we readily want to admit, scriptural evidence drives us to the conclusion that division is one of the dominant fruits of effective proclamation. We mustn’t disparage that truth or disapprove of the way God chooses to work. Whenever the Word of God is openly proclaimed and accurately understood, polarization always occurs. Division is part of its very power…. Division comes about because the content of the gospel message itself either convicts us of our sin or arouses our self-righteousness….

“The gospel must be communicated in love and with compassion. Why? Because the message itself is so cutting that it hardly needs any additional sharpening from us…. ‘Christ in us’ is by no means a guarantee that everyone will love us. But it is a guarantee that we’ll provoke a response. It is a guarantee that our very lives will divide. Whether declared with our lips or demonstrated by our lives and our love, the living Word divides. That’s part of its power. That’s one of its fruits.”

Why was and is it that so many could not and cannot grasp what Charlie Kirk was about? It was and is because He was about His Father’s business. And though it took a while for me to understand, the Word clarifies that only those Born Again who have Holy Spirit indwelling can understand the things of the Kingdom and their King. A fact so simple that I and many others miss it. I still don’t recall who said it, but it’s accurate: “To expect anyone who is not Born Again to behave as those who are is heresy.” And yet, I and many others still expect it, when it is impossible. Illogical. Non-biblical.

Only a saved person can hear the voice of their Savior and know that it is He. God gave us free will and forces no one to accept Him. The Father Who loves us greatly gives each one a chance, many chances, to repent, be saved, and be Born Again. But He IS Holy. Righteousness and Justice are the foundation of His Throne; grace, mercy, and truth attend Him. He told us the truth about Who He Is and His Kingdom ways, and gives us numerous opportunities to reject Satan’s world and join His Kingdom. To this end, He gave His only begotten Son. His Son gave His life and blood to buy us back from a brutal slave-master, a doomed world, and a desperate eternity. That is, if we receive this precious, undeserved gift of great grace and love and mercy.

“If the world hates you, understand that it hated me first. If you belonged to the world, the world would have loved its own. But because you do not belong to the world – on the contrary, I have picked you out of the world – therefore the world hates you. Remember what I told you, ‘A slave is not greater than his master.’ If they persecuted me, they will persecute you too; if they kept my word, they will keep yours too. But they will do all this to you on my account, because they don’t know the One who sent me. If I had not come and spoken to them, they wouldn’t be guilty of sin; but now, they have no excuse for their sin.” – John 15:18-22 CJB

Understand this that is found in God’s prophetic Word: The more His gospel is shared and proclaimed, the more many hearts will harden and sin will increase. Part of this hardening of hearts is because Satan and those influenced by him, knowingly or unknowingly, keep pushing for people in this world to be inclusive, while worshiping themselves. In contrast, God is clear that His Way is exclusivity of holiness as He Is Holy and the only One worthy of worship, and this exclusivity is walked out through humble love and worship for Him and selfless agape love for others. Anything we do or say or pray or write while using His Name, that is not out of this love, is not counted by Him as for His behalf, only for ours.

OUR GOD IS HOLY. Satan wants us to forget that. Many choose to comply. Some go so far as to proclaim Almighty God is wrong in His behavior, especially for what is found in Romans 1:20-32 CJB, which cannot be more forthcoming or straightforward for anyone seeking Almighty God’s Truth. Romans 1 – CJB – Bible Study Tools | Bible Study Tools

God tells us who He will – and will not – share eternity with in Galatians 5:19-21 CJB: “And it is perfectly evident what the old nature does. It expresses itself in sexual immorality, impurity and indecency; involvement with the occult and with drugs; in feuding, fighting, becoming jealous and getting angry; in selfish ambition, factionalism, intrigue and envy; in drunkenness, orgies and things like these. I warn you now as I have warned you before: those who do such things will have no share in the Kingdom of God!”

Also in Revelation 22:11-15 CJB: “Whoever keeps acting wickedly, let him go on acting wickedly; whoever is filthy, let him go on being made filthy. Also, whoever is righteous, let him go on doing what is righteous; and whoever is holy, let him go on being made holy. Pay attention!” [says Yeshua,] “I am coming soon, and my rewards are with me to give to each person according to what he has done. I am the ‘A’ and the ‘Z,’ the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End. How blessed are those who wash their robes, so that they have the right to eat from the Tree of Life and go through the gates into the city! Outside are the homosexuals, those involved with the occult and with drugs, the sexually immoral, murderers, idol-worshippers, and everyone who loves and practices falsehood.”

“THE VALLEY OF DECISION is not about you deciding for God—it’s about HIS decision regarding you!” – Jamie Walden [Link for “The Valley of Decision: You Are In It!” provided below.]

Throughout the Old Testament and New, God always demonstrates separating what is His from what is not. One familiar example: The wheat and the tares found in Matthew 13:24-30 CJB. There is one distinguishable, immutable quality that reveals which is wheat and which are tares: At full maturity, tares, which have no fruit and will never produce fruit, stand with heads held high, while heads of wheat are bowed.

Corrie ten Boom wrote in her book, Each New Day, about a woman given a dangerous foreign assignment who said, “I am afraid of only one thing—that I should become a grain of wheat not willing to die.” Messiah Jesus told us in John 12:24, “Yes, indeed! I tell you that unless a grain of wheat that falls to the ground dies, it stays just a grain; but if it dies, it produces a big harvest.” Charlie Kirk prayed in earnest the words found in Isaiah 6:8, “Here I am, Lord. Send me.” How many of us can say the same? Does our life—both inner and outer—reflect this? Please be sure to read about some of the FRUIT of Charlie’s Memorial and life: Atheists, Muslims, and lapsed believers the world over … come see the people who were drawn to Christ by what they saw at Charlie Kirk’s memorial service | Not the Bee

Last quote from Snyder’s book: “The proclamation of the Word always produces fruit. Always. The fruit of saving faith. The fruit of biblical division. The fruit of vindicating His righteousness while increasing our compassion for the lost. The fruit of progressive sin, increased accountability, and greater grace, all abounding to the glory of His name. The fruit of keeping our hands clean and our consciences clear. The fruit of being conformed into the image of His Son. The fruit of joy and peace.”

God has us in an interesting position: Ezekiel 33:8-9 warns that if we warn a wicked person to repent so he doesn’t die in his wickedness and the person ignores our warning, the wicked man’s blood is on his own hands. But if we do not warn the wicked person of his eternal fate, he will die for his wrongdoing, but God will account for his blood on our hands. At the same time, we are also commanded to be wise as serpents but gentle as doves. In Matthew 12:36, God warns that we will be held accountable for every careless, idle word we ever spoke. I tremble at this. I couldn’t be more serious about it.

Again, God made certain to demonstrate repeatedly that He sifts and separates that which is His from that which is not – especially people – He Is Holy. Choose this day whom you will serve. To assist with this, I ask you to Please watch, listen, and heed Jamie’s messages regarding the sifting we’re in now – and its inevitable escalation – in these three videos, preferably in order: YESTERDAY’S MANNA: STARVED TO DEATH and THE ACCELERATION: WHAT DO WE DO? AND, IF YOU CLAIM TO BE CHRISTIAN: (1189) THE VALLEY OF DECISION: YOU ARE IN IT! – YouTube

I debated whether or not to include the following heartfelt comments from Pastor Rich Bitterman regarding the assassination of Charlie Kirk then realized it may not speak to all but will speak to some. Even if only one person needs to read this now. Here it is.

AThe bullet tore the air in half.

A folding chair rattled. A Bible dropped. A young man slumped sideways beneath a white event tent, eyes wide with the weight of eternity.

It was supposed to be a conversation. A “prove me wrong” segment. But this time, rebuttal came not with words, but with a rifle.

Charlie Kirk didn’t get to finish his sentence.

I got the news just before prayer meeting. I contemplated this death as I prepared to lead the saints in prayer. But I didn’t feel like praying. Not tonight. My hands were still. My mouth was ready. But my soul was pacing. Angry. Grieving. Tempted.

Tempted to grow quiet.

Tempted to sit this one out.

Tempted to wonder if any of this, faith, boldness, public gospel witness, is still worth it.

Because hatred in this country isn’t simmering anymore. It is boiling.

Europe is trembling. Israel is burning. Rockets lit the sky over Gaza again. And now, here on American soil, the blood of a Christian apologist paints the pavement of a university quad.

What do you do with that?

What do you say when courage gets gunned down in daylight?

Charlie Kirk was no perfect man. None of us are.

But he had backbone where most of us don’t anymore. He was a believer. Unashamed. Unafraid. He understood that real conversations only happen when truth is welcome at the table. And the truth he carried most was Christ.

He brought the gospel into public space on purpose. Because the gospel isn’t supposed to stay in church basements and private Bible studies. It is meant to confront. It is supposed to offend. It was not made for safety.

The Word became flesh and they nailed Him to a tree.

So of course they came for Charlie.

Of course they reached for a gun.

This is what evil does when it runs out of arguments. It doesn’t reason. It kills.

That’s the part that catches in my throat. Not just the sadness, but the strategy of hell behind it.

The Enemy wants us afraid.

He wants us to see what happened to Charlie and backpedal.

He wants the rest of us to whisper, to soften the message, to believe the lie that faith should stay private.

But Christ never whispered.

He preached in temples, on hillsides, in courtrooms, at dinner tables.

And when they told Him to be quiet, He picked up His cross.

Not a symbolic one.

A real one.

Heavy. Bloody. Splintered.

When Jesus said, “Follow Me,” He didn’t hand out maps. He handed out crosses.

That’s what I remembered tonight.

I sat in our prayer space, surrounded by saints who had brought prayer lists and worn Bibles. And I realized I didn’t want to lead them in mourning. I wanted to lead them into battle. Not with banners or fists, but with open Bibles and tear-stained prayers.

The kind of war that kneels in gravel beside the wounded, hands them living water, and refuses to leave. The kind that speaks both mercy and judgment without flinching. The kind Charlie died for.

This world is not a friend to grace. But grace isn’t fragile.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?”

Paul didn’t leave that question unanswered.

“Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword?”

—Romans 8:35

He piles up every fear you and I carry and then sets them on fire.

“No. In all these things we are more than conquerors.”

That means bullets don’t win. Slander doesn’t win. Prison bars don’t win. Death doesn’t win.

You can lose everything in this world and still walk into glory with your head lifted high. Because the love of God in Christ Jesus isn’t suspended by headlines or gunfire.

There are two worlds unfolding right now.

The one you see.

And the one you don’t.

One is filled with chaos. The other is filled with crowns.

I believe that when Charlie Kirk’s body slumped to the concrete, his soul stood upright in heaven. Not limping. Not silenced. Not stunned. But crowned.

He didn’t fall.

He crossed.

The great cloud of witnesses gained another voice.

And I wonder if Stephen met him there.

The first martyr.

The man who got stoned for preaching what the crowd didn’t want to hear.

The man who, in his final breath, saw the heavens open.

The only time in all of Scripture we see Jesus standing at the right hand of God, rising to receive one of His own.

I like to believe He stood again.

Are you afraid?

Do you feel the tremble in your spirit?

Do you wonder if it’s still worth it to speak boldly, to carry your Bible, to preach the gospel in a world that doesn’t just disagree but wants you gone?

You’re not alone.

You’re not weak for feeling that.

But you are called to something stronger than silence.

Don’t let fear become your theology.

The cost is high. But the reward?

The reward is Christ. And He’s not a concept. He’s a King.

Heaven is not empty.

It is filled with scarred saints who refused to bow to fear.

Men who were stoned.

Women who were burned.

Children who sang while the flames climbed.

And every last one of them arrived.

There is no difficulty that can cancel the promise of God.

There is no persecution that can derail your destination.

There is no sniper’s bullet that can separate a soul from Christ.

Your life is not measured by how long you live on earth, but by how much of it was spent pointing to heaven.

Paul said, “I have fought the good fight… I have kept the faith.”

Then he looked toward the reward.

Not a monument. Not a mention in history books.

But a crown.

Handed to him by the One with nail marks still in His hands.

So let me say this clearly.

We do not mourn like the world mourns.

We do not write eulogies dripping with sentiment.

We sing songs of resurrection.

We carry the banner of a Kingdom that does not tremble.

Charlie Kirk did not die for nothing.

He died carrying the same message you and I must now carry forward.

The cross stands tall.

The tomb is still empty.

And the gospel has not lost one ounce of power.

So pick up your cross.

Wipe your eyes.

And keep going.

The crown is worth it.

The King is coming.

And there’s still time to speak.

Even if they shoot.

Lord, give us courage.

And if not safety, give us joy.

For we carry not just the message, but the marks.

And You are worth every bruise.

-Pastor Rich Bitterman

I add this: Charlie Kirk is a martyr for Messiah Jesus, but not the first during this time. Mainstream news doesn’t cover it, but every week, thousands upon thousands of our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus are martyred for their faith. Every day. Congo, Nigeria, China, Iran… so many other places we never give much thought to. How often do we think about the fact that these are our brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus? Do we pray for them? Do we ask our Father and our Lord to give them crossings from this world to God’s Kingdom like Stephen’s so they magnify and glorify Him at such times?

We talk about people being in “information bubbles.” I say that too many who call themselves Christians, especially in the USA, exist in one as well; my hand is raised. God is sifting and separating. As Jamie Walden warns in his videos, the sifting will get increasingly more challenging, difficult, and painful. Jesus warned us. But He also told us what to do so we stand unashamed before our Almighty God and Father, a Bride spotless and without wrinkle.