VERO BEACH — “Andrew Breitbart used to say, ‘Politics is downstream from culture.’ Well, Christianity should be driving culture,” Rob McCoy, senior pastor of Godspeak Calvary Chapel and co-chair of Turning Point USA Faith, told some 1,300 people Feb. 12 at the 22nd annual Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast.
“We should be driving the politics.”
He spoke to an enthralled crowd of about 1,300 people at the 22nd annual Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast early Thursday.
McCoy, of Thousand Oaks, California, was Charlie Kirk’s longtime personal pastor, officiating Kirk and Erika Frantze’s wedding and delivering the opening remarks at Kirk’s memorial service after he was assassinated Sept. 10 in Orem, Utah.
Kirk’s legacy was also the central theme in McCoy’s impassioned plea to the church and pastors, demanding they end their silence on politics, calling it agnosticism.
Kirk, McCoy said, was a “modern-day Moses.” He recounted how he turned from a vilified figure to a leader, praising his Turning Point movement for being built “on nothing more than the spoken word” and how he invited “detractors” to the front of gatherings and treated them with civility.
McCoy spoke about the difference between a spiritual “revival” and an “awakening,” stressing that while America has seen many revivals, it has lacked an actual awakening where the converts are disciples who change the culture and, therefore, the politics.
The three branches of government, he claimed, echo Isaiah 33:22.
According to McCoy, Kirk had a profound effect on 18- to 30-year-olds, more than any pastor has, and this age group, particularly men, is the largest segment in the Evangelical church. This shift, he said, has been “the largest revival in modern history. “
McCoy also shared a personal story of how his mother asked one of her friends where she could get an abortion in San Diego. Her friend instead secretly planned a baby shower, which saved his life: McCoy was the baby his mother was carrying.
The story, he said, shows God can turn “your trash into treasure.”
Os Guinness
Many of McCoy’s ideas come from the author and social critic Os Guinness — the great-great-great-grandson of iconic brewer Arthur Guinness — who also spoke at the prayer breakfast. Guinness’ writing and editing work largely focuses on the intersection of faith, history and modern Western culture, analyzing how Christian ideas can affect a free society.
Guinness claimed that the U.S. is at a moment of potential decline and that its future depends on the spiritual renewal of the biblical principles with which it was founded, referring to the American Revolution. He spoke about how nations and superpowers go through life cycles.
“They’re born, they rise, they flourish, they decline and they fall,” said Guinness.
From a secular perspective, he insisted, there is an “ironclad pairing” between decline and fall, and he asks people to instead use the biblical pairing of exile and return, reasoning that a renewal can be achieved only through a return to those foundational biblical principles.
Since the United States is marking its 250th anniversary this year, Guinness called 2026 “the last best chance for the last best hope,” as well as a baseline and a benchmark.
January Littlejohn
January Littlejohn, a parent advocate at Do No Harm and licensed mental health counselor, closed the program. Littlejohn gained national prominence after suing the Leon County School Board for allegedly “socially transitioning” her 13-year-old daughter in 2000 without parental consent.
Littlejohn shared her daughter’s story with the crowd, expressing her concerns about what is allowed to go on in schools. She acknowledged that while they have made progress, “this war is far from over, and laws alone will not save our children.”
John Bona and his wife Carol founded the Vero Beach Prayer Breakfast in 2004 after hurricanes Frances and Jeanne tore through the community.
Prominent past Prayer Breakfast speakers include Bill McCarthney, Marco Rubio, Pat Boone, Phil Robertson, Jim Kelly, Tim Tebow, Kirk Cameron and Anne Graham Lotz.
Eve Pierpont is TCPalm’s freelance entertainment writer. You can contact her at eve.pierpont@tcpalm.com.
This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Prayer Breakfast speakers urge Christians to drive culture, politics
Reporting by Eve Pierpont, Treasure Coast Newspapers / Treasure Coast Newspapers
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
