Independence Day?

I really look forward to celebrating a holiday (with the exception of Labor Day) where people actually commemorate the real reason for the time given to observe.

On New Year's, it's about the glorification of drunkenness... Valentine's Day, giving a card to that one person you fight with every other day of the rest of the year... St. Patrick's Day, drunkenness again... Easter, it's bunnies and chocolate... Memorial Day, drunkenness and Indy 500... Thankfully my birth month is free of "day off" holidays... But who really celebrates Mother's Day or Father's Day anymore with anything more than a phone call and/or a card?

Then we come to July 4th, the remembrance of our nations independence... Say it with me, a celebration of drunkenness, and to mix it up a bit, there's explosives thrown into the mix... August is another month off, getting us ready for Labor Day, which I mentioned above - that is, ironically, the only holiday of the year actually celebrated properly, while it would be more accurately named "No Labor Day"...

Then there's Halloween, which has some measure of debate surrounding it, however, the celebration of candy isn't exactly glorifying death if those who believe the holiday is about ghouls and goblins are right, now is it?

Then, we come to Thanksgiving, which only has debate involved if you're willing to believe the revisionist historians who would rather recognize the revised Mayflower Compact than the original, and ignore the reason why the original settlers came to America in the first place... Hint, it wasn't for the turkey and stuffing OR the football games... (sorry Packers fans)

And we cannot forget Christmas, which is undoubtedly a celebration of all things materialistic, not only in America, but around the world... Families do gather to talk about peace on earth and goodwill toward men, but it has nothing to do with the birth, death and resurrection of the God-man Jesus Christ... Once again, another holiday is centered on us... How we can be happy, contented, fulfilled, loved... Without any thought of the sacrifice that was made to give us the right to act so selfishly...

This Independence Day, consider the men and women who have fought to defend your right to celebrate any day of the year, not just holidays, in any fashion you would choose... This is a freedom you have, that is certainly fleeting...

And consider the One who gave His life as a ransom for your own. Jesus Christ died and rose again to satisfy God's wrath for the sins you've committed... And unless you repent of those sins, and trust in Him for your salvation, you will spend eternity wishing you had redeemed those holidays with thanksgiving a praise for the One who gave you life and every good thing you have...

Personally, I cannot wait (figuratively speaking of course) what a beautiful day that will be...

Look to Him, not to yourself, for forgiveness... He is rich in mercy, not willing that any should perish... But the times of ignorance He has overlooked, and now commands that everyone everywhere repent of their sins.

My Family's Christmas Letter

Greetings to you Family and Friends...

If it's all the same to you, we'd like to take this opportunity to thank God that this year is over.

As most of you know, Benjamin is back home from Iraq, and to pre-empt most of the follow-up questions; he doesn't have to go back. He's very excited to be back home in order to accomplish all of the projects he's had in mind since he left at the end of LAST year.

The greatest "stay-at-home-mom-in-the-world" Rachel has decorated our new home here in Santee California so that Jonathan and Hannah and all their little friends have a place to play no matter WHERE they are in the house. She has continued to ensure that Jonathan is on his A-game academically, incorporating a charter school curriculum into his home-school experience. All the while, helping Hannah learn to talk, sing, walk and clean up a toy room like a champ.

The world's biggest goof-ball Jonathan experienced his first team sport this year. Playing for the Santee Grasshoppers T-ball Team, he was one of the star runners and fielders. He is currently working his way toward his Bobcat Badge in Cub Scouts, as he and Benjamin plan and design the look and feel of his Pinewood Derby car in order to have it ready for the big race in January.

And boy is Hannah's blonde hair getting long. Honoring Benjamin's request to let her grow it as long as she possibly can, while at the same time, having fun with pig-tails, Rachel has helped her blonde locks to stay tangle-free, and as curly as possible. She's learning to talk one word at a time, and is quickly teaching Benjamin her words so that he'll understand her when she wants something.

Just this past week, we had Benjamin's Mom, Dixie, and Step-Dad, Mike out to our humble home for a visit - taking them up to San Francisco to see the Golden Gate Bridge as well as Mike's sister and her family. Dixie got a lot of great pictures that you can see on Facebook, and Jonathan learned a bit about slight-of-hand from Mike's nephew.

In 2010, we are looking forward to a family cruise to the Mexican Riviera, taking Rachel's Mom, Sally with us to thank her for all she's done to help us over the years. We are truly blessed to have her in our lives. Rachel is hoping to have an announcement for you all in the next couple of months, so stay tuned for that possibility - we'll keep you posted. And as we find out what Benjamin is going to do next with his life so that he doesn't have to go away again, we'll let you in on the secret as well.

To those of you who were here for Rachel, Jonathan and Hannah - Benjamin wants to let you know how much he sincerely appreciates every phone call, and stop-by. Perhaps Rachel was able to convey to you how much it meant to her, but Benjamin won't - mere words cannot accurately express the thanks.

To our church family and Pastor John in particular - thank you for walking along side our family, literally and virtually (online). This time apart could have been unbearable without the fellowship of the Body of Christ that you all provided when it was most needed.

As is written in the Christmas greeting image above...

We pray that you know the saving grace of the

Savior, Jesus Christ, this and every year...

May God richly bless you...

-The Kittlesons; Benjamin, Rachel, Jonathan & Hannah

p.s. - For a full-sized copy of the image at the top of this message, go to the following address:

www.BenjaminKittleson.com/Christmas2009.jpg

Why do we celebrate Easter?

An interesting question... And, unless you're a Christian, you may tend to believe its because spring is the time for renewal and re-birth, etc... IF you are a Christian, you understand that it is a celebration of the resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, three days (Jewish days mind you - Friday was day one, Saturday day two - "he rose on the third day") after His crucifixion at the hands of those who opposed His ministry, and that is why it's observed on "Easter Sunday." Some, more fundamental-types prefer to refer to the day as "Resurrection Sunday" and this blogger is more than happy to be counted among them...

In order to get to the root of WHY Jesus went to the cross in the first place, I feel its necessary to define some terms that Christians throw around occasionally, but we might not always explain - while at the same time, there may be Christians out there who don't even understand the meaning of certain terms that directly apply to them, however, they are all found in the Bible, and are directly applicable in the lives of Believers...

My friend Shai Linne wrote a wonderful prose about the Atonement that Christ's sacrifice makes available to all mankind that I will now use to help illustrate...

Who is God?

God is the universe’s Creator and Sustainer plus the only Savior, there is no one greater... He's triune, holy, omnipotent, omniscient, absolute, loving, sovereign and righteous are a few of His attributes...

How do we know this?

Well, we know this from the Bible - Where God has revealed Himself- anything else is just an idol...

What’s the Bible about?

Man’s complete ruin in sin - and what God has done in Christ to bring us to Him again...

What is sin?

Sin is the breaking of God’s law... Plus our condition, which means from birth we all got flaws...

What’s the result?

The result is by nature we’re God’s enemies - and must pay the penalty unless God provides the remedy...

What's the remedy?

The remedy is the cross of Christ - where He suffered all the strikes for the lawless type... I’ve been rescued by the Lamb, I’m convinced that He’s risen - and blessed is the man whose sins are forgiven!

And now a bit of an explanation of what happens in the event and application of atonement for those sins listed above...

Regeneration

The Holy Spirit’s true work in His love - to the elect, who receive new birth from above...

Expiation

Expiation means God’s removed my filthiness - the old testament type was the goat into the wilderness...

Redemption

We’ve been freed from slavery to sin - and His very own blood is the price He paid, my friend...

Propitiation

Propitiation means since the Lamb has died - His work is finished- God’s wrath is satisfied...

Adoption

Adoption means God is now my Father - I got the hottest Poppa and by the Spirit holler "Abba!"

Reconciliation means there’s no more enmity - God is now a friend to me, we’re no longer enemies...

Justification- God declares us righteous...

Sanctification- we’re being made into His likeness...

Glorification- that’s what happens at the finish - When God conforms believers perfectly to Christ’s image!

So now we've talked about the need for atonement, and the event of the atonement, so now we'll talk about how the atonement is applied to us...

God’s grace is magnificent, He slayed His innocent Son - through faith and repentance we get the benefits...

What is faith?

Faith is a gift from God- when we receive this we trust and treasure the person and finished work of Jesus...

Repentance?

Repentance is turning from your sin and trusting Christ as the Spirit cleanses you within...

What is grace?

Oh, grace is unmerited favor - Our inheritance major ‘cause we cherish the Savior... Right, and if I may quote again, we were doomed with Satan - but believers get Jesus’ righteousness through imputation...

Imputation?

God takes Jesus’ righteousness amount through faith He credits it into the Christian’s account...

Anything else?

Well, I guess this overview must suffice - but none of this is possible apart from union with Christ...

And finally, once you know the ways of the Lord than the only thing that you can say is "Soli Deo Gloria!"(For the Glory of God alone...)

(Click the Title of this blog entry to be whisked away to Shai Linne's blog to get your hands on more God-glorifying lyrics...)

When you find something great...

You just gotta' share it with the world...

Happy Independence Day everyone - find someone whose fought for our freedom and thank them with a salute or a hug...  Then thank God - wait...  thank God first, then find yourself a veteran...

-Benjamin

as a post script to this post, I want to make sure I give credit to the artist of these illustrations...  His name is Richard Gunther, a friend of Ray Comfort's - I highly admire his work, therefore, you will, no doubt, be seeing more of his work from time to time here on my Blog...  Great job Richard, you are blessed...

Good and Merry

So this is the time of year that, more and more over the past few years, certain people have decided, seemingly out of the blue, that they are going to be offended at the very mention of the term "Christmas."

It's interesting to me though, that while I was growing up in the 70's and 80's, not all that long ago really - nobody really seemed to give a second thought to the idea that there was anything else to the 25th day of the month of December, which came the same day each year...

Lately, according to the ACLU and other Godless organizations such as the Freedom from Religion organization, the words "Merry Christmas" are offensive to people, and therefore should not be included in advertising and general public conversation, and on, and on, and on...

Here's where the irony kicks in for me - I don't believe in aliens, however, the fact that most people living in Roswell New Mexico believe in them, doesn't drive me to the point of suing people who do, or attempting to pass legislation that says they can't dress like space creatures and hand out their literature trying to convince others that they're right...

Just because there's no scientific proof for alien life, and the Bible basically tells us that Earth is the only place that Jesus was sent, and that we humans are the only beings that He died to save, doesn't mean that we cannot get along...  It doesn't mean that I think they're out of their minds or stupid, it simply means that they've been lied to, and they've believed the lie...

So...  I've decided this year...  that I am offended...  You see, the Bible says that there is none that is "good" except one, and that is God.  There is no one who does "good" - no not one...  Therefore, when someone tells me "Good" Morning, or "Good" Luck, or "Good" Day - I'm going to take offense, I mean, if none of us is "good" then what do any of us actually know about the concept of a "GOOD" morning, or day, etc...?

Even though I've never really met anyone who was sincerely offended at the mention of the word "Christmas" in their presence - that is unless they were supposed to be offended because of the people they were around, or the place where they worked.  There must be something to it if it's all that anyone can talk about this time of year, and if every store you go into is pandering to those who would apparently prefer the word "Holidays" rather than Christmas...

What do you think?  Is there anything that offends you?