God and guns go hand-in-hand according to a Chicago-area pastor who hosted a Second Amendment Sunday in his church – that included a cake decorated with an edible chocolate Glock emblazoned with the phrase, “Blessed Are the Peacemakers.”
“Jesus was not a pacifist,” said John Kirkwood, pastor of Grace Gospel Fellowship in Bensenville, Ill. “The idea that the gun is evil – that’s a myth that’s been perpetrated by the left. It’s sad to me as a pastor to see that.”
Kirkwood said he has been disturbed by a series of incidents involving school children punished for playing cops and robbers, a student who was punished for chewing his pop tart into the shape of a gun, and a boy whose cupcakes were confiscated because they were decorated with plastic green army men.
“The one that really got to me was the cupcake story,” Kirkwood told Fox News. “Political correctness is the bonfire of the sanities.”
“To make a decision like that – in the midst of a war – that’s a 1960’s hippy ‘spit on our returning soldiers’ kind of decision,” he said, referring to the cupcake confiscation. “That really burned me up.”
And when he saw a story about a St. Louis-area church that sponsored a toy-gun buy-back program – Pastor Kirkwood decided to spring into action.
The Illinois pastor decided to spend two Sundays preaching about what the Bible says about gun ownership.
“I sent out lesson plans to my Sunday school teachers to talk about the Biblical perspective for self-protection and to answer the critical questions – should a Christian own a gun? Should a Christian be a pacifist,” Kirkwood said.
“As with many of our founding documents – there are biblical underpinnings for them,” he said. “We talked about the biblical perspective on the value of life and the duty and the directives in Scripture that call us to defend life.”
And the church also had some fun with Second Amendment Sunday. The children participated in games – including a pop-tart eating contest.
“The child who chewed the pop tart into the best looking firearm won a prize,” the pastor said.
The winners received toy guns.
They also had treats – like “combat cupcakes” – decorated with plastic green Army men – and a chocolate cake decorated with a large edible chocolate Glock.
“The cake was to honor our veterans,” he said. “We are a church that supports our troops. We have a corner of the church where we post pictures of church members who are serving the nation. There’s a sign that reads ‘Blessed are the Peacemakers.’”
Kirkwood said he is proud to be a church that preaches God and country.
“I actually believe in peace through strength and I believe that is a Biblical value – not just Ronald Reagan’s,” he said.
Pastor Kirkwood said he was inspired to dedicate pulpit time to the issue after reading a column written by Doug Giles – titled “Christian Parents Should Have Their Kids Play with Guns.”
“I just think all this recent political correctness is ridiculous,” he said. “I’m hoping to stand on the wall and blow the shofar for pastors around me that are sitting this one out.”