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About Us |
This is a testimony about Crown of Thorn's founders, Gary and Lynn Kittleson, and their family:
"In 1990 we were living like a tribe of wild Indians. We were putting on war paint and dancing to the beat of the drums every weekend. I was the leader and probably should have been called "chief sinner". I eventually led my tribe into an ambush. We were in the valley of doom, surrounded by the enemy, and in a heap of trouble. We lifted up our eyes and there on a high hill was this awesome warrior on a white stallion. He had on buckskins flowing in the wind, drenched in blood. He had been up there all this time watching us. We just never looked up. We called out to Him for help and in an instant, He came down that hill like the sound of thunder. The earth shook and so did we. He rode straight into the battle and the enemy scattered. He circled us on that white stallion and we all became soaked with His blood. He stopped and we talked and we got to know Him as He told us who He was. We called him "Chief Cornerstone". Then He said mount up and follow Him. We looked beneath us and realized we were all on a white horses like His. Then He took us for a ride through the desert. I thought we were going to die, but those horses we were on wouldn't stop and we finally got out of that place. He took us through some valleys, up on a mountain then to a large pasture where He wanted us to stay. Then one day a friend invited us to check out a new pasture which we did and saw it was good. This awesome warrior who had saved us owned this new pasture. Also one evening His being just moved through my being with such power and gentleness there was no question about it. He wanted us to mount up and follow Him. Of course the warrior in this story is Jesus Christ, God our Savior, the enemy is sin, and the pasture is a church. In 1991 He showed us a single thorn from a Honey Locust tree and said why don't you twist up a crown of thorns. I wore a head bonnet like that once. So we did, and now it has turned into a business. It was God's work and for His purpose and we had joined Him. So when we were in the valley of doom thinking we were somebody and finding out we were nobody, Jesus saved us and called us somebody, then formed us into a mini body and brought us here to a church to plug into a bigger body so we could all work together to be His body-such is the Kingdom of God-Praise God. Knowing God is the adventure everyone wants but will never know unless they life up their eyes and see Jesus, that awesome and powerful warrior with gentleness that is irresistible. Be glorified O Son of God."
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