My pastor posted this on his facebook page yesterday.

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php...4ovLhUuPL7su-E

church website is here http://yorkspringsfoursquare.org/

All of you have heard about the horrible shooting at the church in Texas by now.
I want you to know a couple of things.
First, there is no place I would rather die than in York Springs Foursquare Church. It feels strange to say that, but in truth there have been thousands of our faith-family members since the earliest days of Christianity who died in their church, and if I had my choice there is no other place I would rather be.
Getting killed in church is almost normal, if you look at the New Testament, or North Korea, or the modern Middle East. I never want this to happen, but I am under no illusions that it doesn't.
The Bible is full, cover to cover, of people who died in their faith.
Second, most people know the Bible tells us to turn the other cheek, to forgive, and to expect persecution.
We believe this.
We do this.
Let me tell you a short story about it.
When our church was first announced publicly, before we even opened, a group of locals broke into our future building and vandalized it with satanic symbols.
We forgave them.
I baptized one of them on our opening Sunday
service. We believe in forgiveness and in
overcoming evil with good. We have seen the
value of forgiveness and we practice it.
Third, we are a safe place. We have a duty to protect the innocent just as we have a duty to forgive the guilty.
We don't believe in revenge, and we believe only God has the right to judge a person's soul. But he gives us a duty to protect the innocent.
If something like what happened in Texas were to happen in York Springs we would put up a fight, and we are armed.
If an attacker kills someone, as Christians we will forgive. But that doesn't mean we wait passively for him to stop, and then forgive when he is done.
We have a duty to protect.
We will not wait passively for the killing to stop. We will stop it.
Our church has been blessed by God with a large number of men and women who love Jesus and have valid Pennsylvania Licenses to Carry Firearms (LTCF). Many of these people have told me that they carry their firearm(s) to church, and it is likely that others are doing so too.
Since yesterday I have reached out to a number
of people and specifically asked them to start carrying their firearms here if they aren't already. Most of them already were.
We have never had any violence in our church, there has never been a threat of violence, and each of these men and women are responsible, God-fearing, law-abiding people. They carry firearms based on the extremely unlikely scenario in which they might be necessary. They keep them concealed so as not to draw attention away from worship or alarm anyone.
I myself have a valid LTCF, and have preached with a concealed pistol on my person every Sunday of our church's existence. I am not a cowboy, I do not tell people about it, and I prefer to let concealed remain concealed. I am not here to make a political statement or to make a reputation for myself or to prove a point.
I didn't want to post this at all, but our volatile
national crisis has made it necessary.
The firearm is not for intimidation, persuasion, or revenge. It is not a sermon illustration, a point to prove or a way to get what I want. It is a last resort to protect the innocent from violence by stopping the threat.
And that is all.
It is better to have a gun and never need it, than to need it only once, but not have it.
If I am arrested someday for my faith, I will go without resistance to my sentence and forgive those who do it.
But if God puts me in a position to protect a person from certain violence, I will prevent that violence. It is my Christian duty.
It is our Christian duty.
We are a safe church.
You are welcome here, and you are safe here.
We teach the Bible, we are friendly, and we believe in expanding God's kingdom. Our children's department is our most important value. We believe in serving one another, giving sacrificially, and making an impact in or community. You are safe here.
See you sunday.