WASHINGTON — The pastor who inspired Charlie Kirk’s final book on the Sabbath opened up about how he managed to persuade the late conservative icon to practice the Christian tradition.

David Engelhardt, pastor of Kings Church in New York City , met up with Kirk for lunch in the summer of 2021 when the Turning Point USA founder was visibly worn down from his demanding work regimen.

“Charlie was under duress, stressed out and said he was having a hard time sleeping,” Engelhardt recounted to The Post of their meeting. “I just said, you need to start observing the Sabbath, you need to start taking 24 hours — block it out and just hang out with God, hang out with your family.”

“We kind of squabbled back and forth lightly,” he added. “A couple of months later, he told me he had fully in

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