A Lion has Fallen
September 20, 2025
Last week, our nation watched as Charlie Kirk was struck down by an assassin’s bullet. Many have asked, “Who was this man?” Many then discovered the YouTube treasure trove of his pointed campus debates and dialogue. Millions in the world now have come to know that Charlie was a man compelled to stand in the public square and lovingly shine the light of logic and truth against the deluded culture of darkness and deception that has spread across our land. He did this in the name of our Lord, Jesus Christ. He embodied the words of the Apostle Paul to the church in Corinth:
For the weapons of our warfare are not of the flesh but have divine power to destroy strongholds. We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ…
2 Corinthians 10:4–5, ESV
As a result of his slaying, many have come to be deeply moved by Charlie’s tenacious pursuit of the hearts and minds of America’s youth, a pursuit which was rivaled only by his pulsing passion for the good news of our Lord Jesus Christ and his devotion to his wife and children. He loved Christ. He loved his family. He loved his nation. He spoke truth with love.
Charles James Kirk, 1993 - 2023
What is a lion?
The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the righteous are bold as a lion.
Proverbs 28:1, ESV
This proverb links the confidence and aggression of the righteous man or woman with that of the lion. A lion is unafraid, confident and skilled. A lioness is strong in the face of all opposition.
At Coram Deo Academy, our goal is to partner with Christian families and churches to raise up lions who, like Kirk, will boldly stand where many seem timid and afraid. It is good to imitate the faith and actions of faithful martyrs and saints (Phil. 3:17). Jesus Christ, the ultimate and True Lion, was unafraid of being slain that he might set us free from sin, Satan and death.
Sadly, the term “rhetoric” has come to mean empty or exaggerated language with little substance, employed to manipulate the hearers. Charlie exemplified Christ-centered rhetoric that followed in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul as he stood before King Agrippa wearing shackles:
“…Agrippa said to Paul, ‘In a short time would you persuade me to be a Christian?’ And Paul said, ‘Whether short or long, I would to God that not only you but also all who hear me this day might become such as I am—except for these chains.’”
Christian rhetoric is the Spirit-empowered art of persuasive communication. It pursues constructive discourse and the better understanding of all who hear regarding the nature of reality. It seeks to rightly cause the hearer to feel in their bones a deep moral obligation of how one ought to rightly respond to its logic. Employing rhetoric as a Christian will always require the boldness of a lion and the willing acceptance of the persecution that our Lord promised would be the result.
The God-centered boldness and God-centered humility of our Lord is the model that all true disciples must aim for. May God give the member families, teachers and staff of Coram Deo Academy empowering grace as we seek to raise up lions who will go forth to herald the good news of King Jesus and defend the faith which was delivered to us by those who have gone before (Jude 3). May all true saints among us refuse to love their earthly lives so much as to cower at any mortal threat. May we all join Luther in singing:
Let goods and kindred go
This mortal life also
The body they may kill
God’s Truth abideth still
His kingdom is forever
Dan Baber
Board Chairman
Coram Deo Academy
Tri-Cities, Washington, USA
chair@coramdeo.academy