03/01/2007
Evelyn Muriel (Mooney) Kyle April 24, 1924 – February 28, 2007.
Evelyn M. (Mooney) Kyle 82 years old was born in Myrtle Point, Oregon in Coos County. She is the daughter of Cyrus W. Gano and Gladys C. Mitchell (both deceased). She breathed her last breath in Keizer, Oregon.
She married Joseph E. Mooney November 12, 1948. (deceased in 1971) they had 3 children, Michael (Mike), Margaret (Peggy) and Kathleen (Kathy). Evelyn worked at Salem’s Bureau of Land Management for many years. After her 1st husband Joe passed away she took over his real estate office for several years. She then worked with a title company, and then retired from the Oregon State Veterans office. She reacquainted herself with a high school sweetheart and married Howard Kyle on November 23, 1997 where they together lived in Keizer.
Evelyn enjoyed collecting match book covers for about 61 years. She also collected post marks from all over as well. She enjoyed doing crafts such as knitting, crochet and quilts. She loved to travel and had many exciting trips, most loved was the Fiji Islands. She was a loving wife, mother, grandmother & great-grandmother. She was involved in the following clubs and organizations: life member of the Eastern Star, she enjoyed all Shriner functions and was a member at Jason Lee Methodist Church.
She is survived by her husband Howard Kyle; children: son Michael and wife Christy, daughter Margaret and husband Loran, daughter Kathleen; grandchildren: Randy and wife Meredith, Brandon, Jacquellynn & husband Stan, Michelle and Andrea; great-grandchildren: McKenzi and Madison.
Also surviving are 5 step children and 10 grand children.
She lost her battle with cancer on February 28, 2007.
Per her wishes, her ashes will be taken to Mt. Hood by her family. She was very loved by her family and friends.
She will be greatly missed, but will rest in the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ.
No flowers please. Donations can be made to Shriner’s Children Hospital: transportation fund Portland or Willamette Valley Hospice.
There will be a memorial service on March 5th @ 2:00PM at Virgil T Golden Mortuary in Salem, Oregon. Memorial gathering to follow the service.
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02/21/2007
My grandma is literally on her death bed.
She had faced cancer a while back, it went in remission and now it has come back. This time taking her completely.
She has asked that I perform her memorial service/funeral. I was honored. It has been one of those interesting things that God has done to allow her to hear the Gospel and even for some of my family to hear the Gospel.
I pray that I would be in balance as I share her life with others and share His life with others.
Because she is pretty agreeable to most anything, I pray that God will allow her perceived profession to be true. I don’t want to rob her from her own desire to either believe Jesus or not believe.
I pray also for my other family members as they were listening in as I shared more scripture about Heaven and Jesus with her. Afterwards they all came to me individually and said thanks for sharing the Story with them. (I shared the Bible Story in about 15 minutes with all of them, including the Gospel — how could you not include the Gospel?!) I went them to see Jesus for who He is and not what people perceive him to be.
Lord save her.
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02/12/2007
As I have been trying to figure out my place in the church, I get haunted from the ghosts of my past. These are my ghosts … ghosts I let float around in the corners of my mind and life.
One of the pastors at church this morning stated to me that “sounds like you haven’t put the past behind you . . .”
It reminded me of what another pastor friend told me a long time ago, before entering into the paid ministry. At the time I didn’t think I was cut out for it because I looked at my past and evaluated it against the one who led me to Christ (Craig) and thought, “there is no way I stack up.” My friend then asked me, “do you believe Jesus forgave ALL your sins?” … I thought, and thought … and thought, then recognized how I hadn’t let my past go. Jesus did cleanse me, redeem me and redirect my eternity. That was the same week I responded to God’s call on my life to lead people in the capacity of being a pastor and then experienced some of the best years of my life in ministry.
I find my self in a similar position as I had been in before. I am no longer in the ministry in the capacity I had been in before. I have no title, no set hours, no huge continuous responsibilities. I have desired to get back into ministry (though no clue as to if that will be full time right now). But I know I have valuable things that God has allowed me to experience that would help others. At our church now I have had the privelege of being able to speak to men, help my wife teach the children, speak at a youth retreat, and preach a couple of times at our church … but no specific ministry outside the family.
My hesitation in moving towards a ministry arena is that others would look at me as trying to gain a position that I shouldn’t have because of my past (my ghost). It’s not that I am looking for a title or “fame”, but to be plugged into one specific area of the body would be very nice. At times, I felt like my part in the body was an ice pack … one that has some sort of reason, but never in one place long enough to determine what it’s function is. It is also not that others are looking at me that way. I have not had one person speak any negative thing to me regarding ministry or pursuit of ministry.
I think I have been waiting for the “writing on the wall” or for the coach to call me up to the game … but really, even though the church leadership should be seeking leaders, I still need to make a step forward by letting it be known I want to be used and to share in what capacity. A couple of scriptures pop up in my head about it being ok to desire leadership … as well as those that teach will be judged more strictly.
In recent posts you can see that I have been teetering on the idea of challenging men, but specifically training leaders. An obvious arena would be that of men’s ministry. At this moment in our church it is non-existent.
I am ready for the task. I am a leader, I should be leading. God help me to be bold and humble like your Son. Jesus take the ghosts from me and fill me up with your Ghost.
Jesus, ministry, sin, truth
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02/06/2007
(The following is something my beautiful wife wrote recently to those at church involved in children’s ministry. She was worried it sounded corny, but I think it portrays her true desire to express her love for God.)
Friday night at 11:00 was the time slot she had chosen for the 48 hour Pursuit of Prayer. What would it be like to have an “appointment with God, all alone just her and God? As the time neared the excitement grew in her heart. “Why wait for an appointment?”, she thought to herself. How silly! Why don’t I just praise my Lord this way all the time?
She dreamt of what the room would look like. Having read the book “Red Moon Rising” she had an idea. But still, her imagination was filled with hope of something even more than she’d dreamed. How had God planned out this room – this “date” with God! This is like dating my husband, she thought. I’m with him all the time we talk, share dreams, hope, love. But meeting him somewhere for a date was different. Kind a like when we first met! Ooo! Her palms were sweaty. How sweet to feel those feelings again. She found these same exciting feelings rising up, thinking about meeting her God in the prayer room.
The day had arrived, it was “date night”. All day she was thinking about the date. Her mind was filled with praises and her heart was even more attentive that usual to hearing what God was laying on it. Praising Him for each moment and challenge, the “same old, same old” didn’t feel so “old”. It felt new and purposeful, even fueled with more passion than she had felt in along time. The time was here 10:45pm. She pulled out of her driveway and headed for the church. All the way there she was singing loudly…and praising with words that flooded the van. The smile would not fade and the sweet tears wouldn’t stop. She even arrived at the church early…that was definitely a miracle. As she sat there she thought of what it would be like in the room she would soon enter. She dreamed of dancing with her king.
When she enter the building it was quiet….hmm…she couldn’t praise quite so exuberantly as in the van, but God would hear her praises just as loudly as if she was yelling. So she signed in, removed her shoes and entered the room. Surveying the room she removed her coat and began whispering praises. People flooded her mind that needed Him. She grabbed the marker and penned them all over the paper in the room. Several minutes had past. “I should have signed up for a longer date”, she thought to herself. She was walking around the room hands in the air, as she always dreamed, uninhibited by what people would think if they saw her. Her hands were open and the praise again poured out as did the tears. But of complete joy for how good God is. Her heart was full and she drank in the scriptures she poured through. More people came to her mind. She scribbled them on the paper on the wall again, knowing that these request and praises might again be brought to Him if she left them here. Wow! Times almost up. Urgg! She didn’t want to leave. Well, she thought, it’s not like I have to stop. She wept and hugged God as she danced with Him across the room and back. No Amen, let’s continue she thought.
Out in the van, it was like she just drank a triple shot mocha, wide awake and ready to serve! Mind full of people who were alone and needing him her mind chased those people. She began to drive. Dan, the guy at Circle K, she had prayed for him for years. Would he still be working there?! Entering the store she noticed he wasn’t working. But she lifted him to God. On the way home she continued to talk with God and decided to not wait for “date night” but to dance with her King each day and dream those dreams of loving Him uninhibitedly, putting into action all that He had purposed her for.
1 Thessalonians 5:16-19 “Rejoice always; pray without ceasing; in everything give thanks; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. Do not quench the Spirit“
prayer, wife
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01/21/2007
I find that …
…I suck and God doesn’t.
I truly have no business being in a relationship with God. He doesn’t need me. I offer him nothing that he can’t get from someone or something else. There is not a single talent I possess that tilts his love towards me. There is nothing I have acquired that would benefit him. If I were in a sports line-up, he would have no need to pick me for his team. I couldn’t twist God’s arm to do anything. I couldn’t blackmail him with any evidence of sin on his part. I couldn’t bribe him with money to be my friend. Even if I lived to a ripe old age, there is no wisdom or life experience I could impart to him that he would help him to grow.
In fact, in much honesty, I am a weight for him. I am more like one of those guys who calls at midnight an rambles on about some major issue that seems to trouble my mind, but in reality is a bunch of nothing that is simply consuming my mind. I am actually probably more like the guy that finds you out, schmoozes you, borrows money or things from you and then leaves immediately not to come back until he repeats the same cycle of seek, schmooze, borrow and flee.
What is in me that attracts God to me. The straight up answer is … nothing.
So, why do I have this relationship with Him (as one-sided as it seems to be)? The concept of “total depravity” seems to be an understatement in light of what the Bible says
“There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands, no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.”
“Their throats are open graves; their tongues practice deceit.”
“The poison of vipers is on their lips.”
“Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness.”
“Their feet are swift to shed blood; ruin and misery mark their ways, and the way of peace they do not know.”
“There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
In fact, we also were “enemies of God.”
I don’t get it. I just don’t understand why God loves me. I know he has over-the-top in incredible, loving, momentous ways shown and demonstrated his love for me, but I don’t get why he does it.
What is someone to do with this kind of bold love staring at them?
Embrace it. Believe it. Accept it. Reciprocate it.
Bible, Jesus, sin
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01/12/2007
OK … I have been praying for a while for a majore project to do that could help guys out at my church. I had hoped that it would be able to meet a need. I have also been wanting to do a podcast as well (two kinds really). One kind that is pretty much a humurous commentary on glocal culture (global and local) that is much like a morning radio show … except I need a few others to help out in that, because I only have so many voice impressions I can do and who really wants to listen to Kermit the frog comment on the war in Iraq?
The second podcast relates to my goal. I would like to be able to create a weekly podcast that is somewhere between 10-15 minutes long. Each segment would be an overview of an entire book of the bible. I mean GENERAL … focusing on main people, themese verses within the bible … also focusing on how Jesus is the hero. I also wanted to do a segment on each of the major sections in the bible (penteteuch, gospels, etc.) Ifigured roughly about 80 segments … but I don’t want to do it all on my own and would definitely need help from others. (no, not Kermit).
I am hoping to have enough of a framework done by Spring ’07.
I think it will be fun.
Bible, podcast
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12/21/2006
There may begin to be a fight over the use of the Bible as what people swear on (in court and when “swearing in” a new official etc.) Read article here for more information.
Is it really necessary that we use a Bible to “swear” someone in? Is it necessary that we use any “religious book” to swear someone in?
A basic argument is … why the Bible? As Christians I can see an importance for it of course, but what do I care if someone who isn’t a follower of Jesus, lays hands on the Bible stating symbolically that they will rot in very hot places if they don’t live up to the “swear”? It neither makes them a follower of Jesus nor gives them brownie points in God’s eyes.
To me, what is funny is that the Bible states in James 5:12 “But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath. But let your “Yes,” be “Yes,” and your “No,” “No,” lest you fall into judgment.”
Our word should be good enough.
Maybe we could just say “cross my heart, hope to die, stick a thousand needles in my eye”?
By the way, who the heck invented that phrase? A bit grotesque in my opinion.
Bible, truth
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12/12/2006
Surfing the web, I found this web site from a church that had the following statement … would you classify this as racist language? Would you go to a church like this? How do you see their priorities as a church … what seems to be the dominant theme of their church? Is it faith … or race?
Quickly read through this and then click to link to the church website at the bottom. Normally this kind of stuff doesn’t bother me, but this got me thinking … what if?
===============
We are a congregation which is Unashamedly White and Unapologetically Christian… Our roots in the White religious experience and tradition are deep, lasting and permanent. We are an American people, and remain “true to our native land,” the mother continent, the cradle of civilization. God has superintended our pilgrimage through the days of slavery, the days of segregation, and the long night of racism. It is God who gives us the strength and courage to continuously address injustice as a people, and as a congregation. We constantly affirm our trust in God through cultural expression of a White worship service and ministries which address the White Community.
Trinity United Church of Christ adopted the White Value System written by the Manford Byrd Recognition Committee chaired by Vallmer Jordan in 1981. We believe in the following 12 precepts and covenantal statements. These White Ethics must be taught and exemplified in homes, churches, nurseries and schools, wherever Whites are gathered. They must reflect on the following concepts:
Commitment to God
Commitment to the White Community
Commitment to the White Family
Dedication to the Pursuit of Education
Dedication to the Pursuit of Excellence
Adherence to the White Work Ethic
Commitment to Self-Discipline and Self-Respect
Disavowal of the Pursuit of “Middleclassness”
Pledge to make the fruits of all developing and acquired skills available to the White Community
Pledge to Allocate Regularly, a Portion of Personal Resources for Strengthening and Supporting White Institutions
Pledge allegiance to all White leadership who espouse and embrace the White Value System
Personal commitment to embracement of the White Value System.
The Pastor as well as the membership of Trinity United Church of Christ is committed to a 10-point Vision:
A congregation committed to ADORATION.
A congregation preaching SALVATION.
A congregation actively seeking RECONCILIATION.
A congregation with a non-negotiable COMMITMENT TO AMERICA.
A congregation committed to BIBLICAL EDUCATION.
A congregation committed to CULTURAL EDUCATION.
A congregation committed to the HISTORICAL EDUCATION OF AMERICAN PEOPLE IN DIASPORA.
A congregation committed to LIBERATION.
A congregation committed to RESTORATION.
A congregation working towards ECONOMIC PARITY.
For more infromation … link here –> http://www.tucc.org/about.htm
culture
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11/29/2006
I am such a baby sometimes. When I am sick at least, maybe some other times as well. That’s what my wife tells me and I am pretty sure it is true. I went to work today thinking that I was a little sick, and when I got to work I knew I was for sure sick. BUT I would just push through it. I had 4 meetings to attend, the first was canceled because not enough people could make it because of the STORM (not really a storm with maybe 1/2 inch of snow, but was because of mostly ice). I canceled the rest of the meetings and rescheduled for later. So I thought I would be able to go home early enough to really relax and rest … nope. I ended up staying till after 2:00 trying to clear out emails and finish up a project. Came home and slept for a couple of hours. Now I feel crabby. And the inside of my nose hurts.
I know I should go in to work tomorrow, but I have one on one meetings with 4 people tomorrow and I don’t want to cancel on them (especially since I just snet out an email stating the importance of meeting!)
I was asked what some of my thoughts are on a men’s type ministry. I am not certain. A potential schedule is to meet with some guys once a week (maybe on Sunday during one of the services) for about 4 weeks. I would want to call it the Men’s workshop. We would address issues throughout the year: things specifically that will enhance their relationship with God and others, as well as develop their leadership skills. Topics like: how to study the Bible, how to connect with other men, how to lead a project, how to lead like Jesus: looking at Jesus and how he treated others and led them.
I like the idea, but am not totally sold in it for some reason.
Probably the first topic may be something like: how to study the Bible. Originally, I had thought about doing a preaching class that would incorporate how to study the Bible and how to study within the context of the genre (like narrative, epistles, wisdom literature, etc.). I figured that this would kill two birds with one stone: learning how to study scripture within it’s context and the potential of relaying the same information to others.
But I really do like the concept of training up men to be good leaders. (see previous post).
I think I am rambling as I am sick. I better stop now before I say stupid things I might regret, on the other hand, I might say incredible things. Hmmmm….
Things I will be praying about:
Am I ready to be a leader like this?
What topics are NEEDED among guys?
Also, to continue the rambling, I would still love to either publish a booklet on the commands of Christ, or teach a class … or both! Why? The reason that I like this topic is because I was reading in Matthew where Jesus is leaving his disciples and he gives some final sayings, one of which is “teach them to obey everything I have commanded…” Why not study what Jesus commanded?
In the greek language the verbs are in certain “moods” called tenses — the imperative is a mood that commands: Do this, write that, etc. So I have an incredible program that allows me to pick out all the greek verbs in the imperative sense within a range of texts (the Gospels). So I have done this, and I have narrowed out all the ones that were “imperatived” from others and tried to just limit it to the ones Jesus himself said, that would be applicable to all believers. (Because there were some instances that Jesus would command something to an individual person that wouldn’t really be applicable to us.) I then would categorize these various commands so that we can wrap our brains around them, and ultimately obey them.
OK, ’nuff said — gotta go chill.
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10/23/2006
Hypocrite … those are one of those words that no one wants to hear about themselves. But when I say it (in response to a recent message at church) I have to say, regretfully, I feel that way.
If I were to look back over the past month or so, I don’t see myself spending a ton of time with Jesus – personally. My day, as most others do, goes like this:
wake up
get ready
check e-mail
work (which is pretty much checking and responding to e-mail!)
home for event of some sort
stay up late
check e-mail
go to bed
get up early
Though it seems like a do a lot in the day, I do not spend a lot of time with Jesus. There was a time I used to take hour long lunches and would often spend time with Jesus on at least part of that time, and then at least one of my breaks (usually the first). A while ago, someone even challenged me stating “I don’t see you reading your Bible anymore”. So not only I notice I am not spending time with Jesus, but others are as well.
Hypocrite
Even though I do not spend time with Jesus, I seem to find time to minister to others and “dispense” “wisdom” … but right now, at this moment, I wonder if I should be doing that. I mean, where is it coming from? I don’t think I could have stored it all up for rainy days. Do hypocrites do that? Probably.
So I find myself needing to ask, what mask am I putting on … have I fallen back into a trap of being good in front of others because that’s what I am supposed to do?
I think I know the answer. It is still in Jesus. Jesus still loves me and cares for me, and his Word even states that it doesn’t come back void … or how I put it … “when we dispense the Word, it has affects in someway.” I also know that I try to help with the right reasons, not to show off, but to really help. It just seems the right thing to do. But I get so busy doing things I need to do.
AHA! As I write this, I know exactly what needs to happen. Jesus was obviously busy and could easily have spent every waking (and sleeping moment) attending to the needs of others. But, even Jesus withdrew and spent time with the Father. Even when he was busy. I simply need to do it. I want to spend time with Jesus, but don’t. Not because I don’t need it, but simply because I do not purposefully plan a time and a place (like Jesus, he often would go alone somewhere, sometimes early in the morning). He also spent time developing others to further propel the ministry forward.
Ok, so first, I need to spend time with Jesus focused on him and away from distractions. Not focusing so much on an amount of time nor a certain study (another blog for that one), but just me and Jesus. Second, if there is anything that I am doing, that is not my own specific responsibility and someone else can do, can I train them to do it? I think this would be true for in the church as well as in the work. Not that I need to burden someone else with my stuff, but more like pay attention to the strengths that He has given me and operate in those, and then shore up my weaknesses with someone elses strength.
Bible, sin
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