The Kirk Memorial and My X Back-and-Forth with Fr. Calvin Robinson

The Memorial Service was truly an evangelical spectacle, shaped by the best of Calvary Chapel meets Billy Graham.

It’s good to be back to some normalcy. When I arrived back in the U.S. last week, I began to feel tiny cycles of headaches and congestion. I immediately sought the trusted opinion of the medical community in my congregation, and it appears I have contracted a COVID strain. Nevertheless, I am better, though my hearing has not returned. I will be specializing in lip-reading for the next few weeks.

If you were at Church yesterday, you witnessed me leading worship, trying desperately to hear the congregation respond. One of my wonderful pianists, who plays with an extra measure of umph, was exactly what I needed to keep the tempo. She played loud enough for even a deaf man to leap for joy.

Charlie Kirk’s World

As many of you have followed my writing, I have dedicated a considerable amount of time to the events following Charlie Kirk's death this past week. I have been following Charlie for quite some time. The combination of wit and popularizer style led Charlie to become one of the most effective leaders of our generation. As I described in his Memorial Service, it’s very clear that the Charlie-effect will have greater ramifications than the death of other Christian leaders. Just this morning, I led a discussion on how to prepare for marriage in an age of selfishness, and instead of my traditional 10 high schoolers, over 20 people showed up. We had to add four extra tables. Thanks to the Panera Bread crew for adjusting to the multitude.

Charlie’s life spoke to the struggles of the youth of our nation, to their sense of despair, as they sought to understand the discourse on gender fluidity and fought to keep their faith in institutions that ran contrary to traditional values. For many, Charlie was their voice. And now, many new Charlies will take up that microphone.

The Memorial Service was truly an evangelical spectacle, shaped by the best of Calvary Chapel meets Billy Graham. At the end of the day, I argued that the most significant event in American political history (certainly numerically) has the face of Protestantism written all over. You may not enjoy the flavor. You may prefer a more subdued Puritan experience with your white walls, but what you got were fireworks, which Charlie loved at his TPUSA events.

When Calvin Met Calvin

In response to what I watched, I articulated the following:

Fr. Calvin Robinson, whom I never had the privilege of meeting, although we offered a reverential nod when we saw each other in D.C. a couple of weeks ago, decided to interact with me. I suspect that on a good day, Calvin and I would be decent buds. But Calvin is somewhat of a Marian fan boy, and I stand with Luther, which means I generally exorcise these things from my presence. He also said, once, tweets have it, that Calvin, the Genevan Calvin, was a bit of a heretic. I am insulted that he would decapitate the Reformed icon with one swoop. I assume we are all iconoclasts of some sort.

Still, Rev. Robinson views me as a bit of a schismatic. He believes that I should have joined the Protestants and Catholics together chant. But I demur. I love Romanists, or Papists, as my forefathers referred to them, but I don’t like any of the Marian baggage. In fact, if you take away the indulgence system, which has persisted since the days of Tetzel’s Bitcoin campaigns in the 16th century, and if you remove the Vatican II stuff, and the purgatory dogma, the relic obsession, the meritorious doctrines, the eucharistic theology of the mass, and few dozen other things, I, too, would be a Catholic. But, I am too catholic to be Catholic. I prefer the big world to the confined walls of the Vatican. I submit to no Pope in doctrine or ex cathedra pronouncements.

That said, Calvin did not take my point well. Further, he did not take my commitment to Protestantism well either. I am, sir, as Protestant as Bucer’s birthday parties. I take my beer dark as Luther’s nightmares in a prison cell. I am so Protestant that I believe that only Protestantism can save America. Take it from our mutual friend, Yoram Hazony, who has argued the same way multiple times. You came to his #natcon, so I suspect you’d show him some respect for his statement.

It was the Protestant faith that built this country, and it is the Protestant faith that shaped the contemporary flavor of evangelicalism. I may not like it, but I will dance to it in honor of Charlie Kirk. Chris Tomlin may not be playing nine verses of St. Patrick’s Breastplate, but I will sing Holy Forever like it were my last song on earth. I will go with my evangelical tribe over Romanism any day, because at the end of the day, we are the ones presenting an uncompromising Jesus.

And here is my point:

When Marco Rubio started preaching, I was with Marco Rubio. But I was with Marco because Marco, a Roman Catholic, was being as evangelical as Billy Sunday in his speech. When JD Vance (peace be upon him) was talking about the Lord Jesus, I can assure you he was not echoing his priest’s 5-minute homily; he was repeating the sounding joy of ol’ time religion.

Yes, indeed, we live in Protestant America, dag gumit! I don’t want Papist leading these memorial services for our heroes because I want the full Christ proclaimed boldly, in political and religious fervor. I want 'Amazing Grace' hummed by the masses, with 'How Great Thou Art' verse fragments permeating the ambiance with its familiar refrain.

Even Romanists have to borrow from the Protestants! And that’s my point, Calvin! Catholicism can’t run from the evangelical hippies. We are all Charlie Kirks!

Notations

My sermon from this Sunday is a continuation of my series on Ecclesiastes, but it was also incredibly pertinent to current events. The sermon emphasized the importance of embracing the sovereignty of God and the fear of God as the beginning of wisdom, in order to make sense of the complexities and cycles of human life. I warn against being overly righteous or self-sufficient, and encourage the congregation to surround themselves with the company of righteous people as a way to read the world rightly.

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Great to be with Nathan Shearing on his podcast, which was laid back but filled with meaningful topics for our day:

In this episode, Nathan Spearing sits down with Uri Brito, Presiding Minister of the Communion of Reformed Evangelical Churches (CREC)—the denomination that includes leaders like Doug Wilson and Pete Hegseth. Together they reflect on the recent martyrdom of Charlie Kirk and what it means for Christians today. The conversation covers how men, families, and churches should respond in times of national upheaval: from worship and discipleship to marriage, child-rearing, and public witness. Pastor Brito lays out practical steps for raising sons and daughters in the faith, building strong households, and engaging publicly with boldness. They also discuss why young men are drawn to Orthodoxy, the need for strong Protestant voices, and how social media can be used strategically for kingdom work.