Charlie Kirk’s death became a catalyst for spiritual awakening for many, including Jenny McCarthy and Donnie Wahlberg to publicly embrace deeper faith in Jesus Christ.

JENNY MCCARTHY

Charlie Kirk’s assassination directed author and actress Jenny McCarthy’s full surrender to Christ. The significance of his loss hit hard and brought home shared experiences about the cost of “putting yourself on the line,” she told Culture Apothecary host Alex Clark in December. McCarthy added, “I personally understood what it was like to get threats.”

“I’ve been threatened my whole career particularly since I’ve gone ‘all in’. in favour of medical freedom, and parental rights.” “And I know the courage it takes to stand in front of people, to tell ‘your’ truth, to go on shows, to get beat up, to get trolled.” “So, I had respect for him.” Tearing up, McCarthy said, “When [Kirk] was shot, I was so broken that I prayed, and prayed, and prayed. It was just such a dark day.” “It is still a dark time for so many people.” Yet, “look at the mass awakening. Look at how many people came closer to God, including myself.”

DONNIE WAHLBERG

Illustrating just how deep that transformation goes, Donnie Wahlberg shared a video of the two being baptised in a birthday Instagram montage on 17 August. He then captioned this with:

“Looking back over the past year of my life, the Lord has been renewing my mind, rebuilding my spirit, rearranging my priorities, and recentring my focus; recharging my energy, reshaping my heart, refining my faith, restoring my joy and redeeming my life!

“I don’t know where I would be without Jesus, but I know where I will be with Him! All the glory is His!”

Wahlberg also took time to collaborate on Forrest Frank’s open verse challenge for the song Jesus Is Alive in May. Unlike McCarthy, Donnie’s double down with God began three months before Kirk’s assassination. Sharing about that awakening, the New Kids on the Block co-founder, former Blue Bloods and now Boston Blue actor, told the George Janko podcast, “I’ve been on and off, really wanting to commit my life to Jesus. I would do it, but I’d be like, I didn’t have the resources. “I grew up in a Catholic Church, and I was like, I’ll just go to church and figure it out. But I was missing something.” Talking faith, family and boy band life, Wahlberg said, he was missing a connection. “I just kept trying to do it myself. When I got famous at like 19-20 years old, it instantly became this thing where I was held up on this pedestal to everybody. A success story, people looked to him for answers, Wahlberg recalled. Ever the people-pleaser, Wahlberg confessed, so, “I’ve literally walked around for the last 30 to 38 years thinking I have all the answers.” “It’s been so difficult in the last year to realise I don’t have them all. “I know God’s doing all the work, but I finally got to a point where I was like, I can’t do it anymore without Him.”

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