The Lamplighter

V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 4 A P R I L 2 0 1 0

INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:

From Pastor 2
Light Afflictions?
Brian’s Desk 23
Are they servants of Christ? I am a
17
For this light momentary af- These are the Apostle Paul’s
better one—I am talking like a “LIGHT, momentary, afflictions”?
Delta Lake 2 fliction is preparing for us an eter-
madman—with far greater labors, Being beaten so many times he
Summer Camps nal weight of glory beyond all com- far more imprisonments, with count- lost count, doesn’t seem “light”
parison, 18as we look not to the less beatings, and often near death. to me! OFTEN near death does-
Why Believe 3 things that are seen but to the 24
Five times I received at the hands n’t seem “light” to me! Living in
Moses? Pt. 3
things that are unseen. For the of the Jews the forty lashes less one. constant danger of being mur-
Wednesday things that are seen are transient,
25
Three times I was beaten with dered, hardly seems like a small
3
but the things that are unseen are rods. Once I was stoned. Three thing to most sane people! Is this
Prayer Meeting
times I was shipwrecked; a night a case of: One man’s light affliction
eternal.
Easter Day 4 and a day I was adrift at sea; 26on is another man’s heavy burden of
(2 Corinthians 4:17-18 ESV) frequent journeys, in danger from adversity?
Poem
rivers, danger from robbers, danger
From the Church 4 from my own people, danger from I don’t believe that Paul was in
Library You have, no doubt, heard the any way minimizing his own afflic-
saying: “One man’s junk is another tions or those of others. Rather,
Easter Service 4 man’s treasure.” The sentiment I believe that Paul’s perspective
Schedule behind the saying would seem to towards his afflictions was seen
be that one person’s perspective through the lens of eternity. In
Alliance Women 5 toward an object may be very other words, he was not looking
Ministries Update different than another’s toward at the SIZE of his afflictions, but
the same object. For instance, at the MEANING of his afflictions
Birthdays/ 5 many of us would probably in the light of eternity! Paul’s
Anniversaries choose to visit a “rummage sale” confidence in the sovereignty of
in Beverly Hills, rather than one God and the goodness of God
Awana 5 on “Skid Row”! greatly determined how he
Updates viewed adversity in his life. Isn’t
This same sentiment comes to that why he could say some of
Church Lockup 5 my mind when I read about the the things he did in Romans 8?
Schedule Apostle Paul’s “LIGHT, momen-
tary affliction.” What exactly did 18
For I consider that the sufferings of
Quizzing 6 the Apostle Paul consider this present time are not worth
News “LIGHT” affliction in his life? comparing with the glory that is to
Paul actually writes about his light be revealed to us. (Romans 8:18)
VBS 7 momentary afflictions in 2 Corin- Gentiles, danger in the city, danger
Information thians 11. In this chapter, the in the wilderness, danger at sea, 28
And we know that for those who
great apostle ends up having to danger from false brothers; 27in toil love God all things work together for
Spotlight on 8 defend his ministry from those and hardship, through many a good, for those who are called ac-
Leadership who considered themselves sleepless night, in hunger and thirst, cording to his purpose. (Romans
“super apostles”. Rather than often without food, in cold and 8:28)
Mother-Daughter 8 backing up his apostleship with exposure. 28And, apart from other
Tea the signs, wonders, and miracles things, there is the daily pressure on 35
Who shall separate us from the
that took place at his hands, Paul me of my anxiety for all the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or
Bulletin Board 9 verifies his apostleship through churches. 29Who is weak, and I am distress, or persecution, or famine,
his many sufferings as a true ser- not weak? Who is made to fall, and or nakedness, or danger, or sword?
vant of Christ. Here is his partial I am not indignant? 30If I must
listing: boast, I will boast of the things that
show my weakness. (continued on last page)
(2 Corinthians 11:23-30)
 PAGE 2

From Pastor Brian’s Desk

Raptor Project
Evangelistic Outreach Event to
Our church will be be held on Friday, May 21,2010
hosting an evening
Our church will be hosting an
with Jonathan
evening with Jonathan Wood
Wood and his and his Raptor Project, “the
largest traveling collection of
Raptor Project, birds of prey in the world” on
Friday night, May 21. Come
“the largest hear Jonathan’s Christian testi-
traveling mony as he talks about and
demonstrates his birds of prey.
collection of birds There will be two free shows,
6:30 and 8:00 PM with those
of prey in the
early to arrive getting the
“neat seats” up front.
world” on Friday
night, May 21st.
As an evangelistic outreach
event, we are asking each of
our church families to invite an
unsaved friend, relative or
coworker. We are asking you
to begin now to pray about
whom you will ask to come.
God has given us this unique
opportunity to impact our
community for Christ through
Jonathan’s passion for the
preservation and rehabilitation
of birds of prey.
Jonathan’s Raptor show is seen
in over 500 presentations an-
nually, including the New York
State Fair. Please plan now by
marking your calendars and
praying about how you can be
a part of this outreach oppor-
tunity.
LIFE 2010
The students are gearing up
for LIFE by having a spaghetti
dinner on Sunday, April 25
right after the second service.
They are also collecting cans
and bottles (drop off at white
house barn) and are available
for Rent-A-Teen immediately.
Odd jobs can include window
washing, yard work, painting,
or just about anything that
needs to be done. Please help
support the youth and our
youth leaders, Tina and Jeremy
to attend the Alliance LIFE
conference in July. Thank you.

Summer Camps at Delta Lake

It is not too soon to be thinking about sum-
mer camp at Delta Lake in Rome, NY!
The following is a list of the camps:
Family Camp: July 2 - 10
Costs for Explorer, Pioneer & Trailblazer
Camps: $287 if registered by May 15th. After
that $307.
Cost for Adventure Camp: $308 if registered
by May 15th. After that $330.

Explorer Camp (Grades 9 - 12): July 25 - 31

Pioneer Camp (Grades 6 - 8): July 18 - 24

Trailblazer Camp (Grades 3 - 5): July 11- 17

Adventure Camp (Grades 9—12): July 18 - 24

THE LAMPLIGHTER - APRIL 2010

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 4 PAGE
Why Believe Moses? Part 3
Part 1 of this series established the
often overlooked fact that Jesus
Christ personally endorsed every
word of Moses (John 5:46-47). Part
2 explored whether the language
found in Genesis could be treated
as an allegory, thereby allowing
billions of years of geologic history
to be read into the text. We noted
eons of time are extremely needful
for evolutionary theory, which fully
explains the eagerness during the
last 150 years to posit an immense
age for Planet Earth. Also noted
was the fact Moses had ample op-
portunity while editing Genesis to
sneak eons of time into the text,
but he obviously refrained from
doing so. He even allowed the six
day creation to appear all over
again in a wholly separate document
— the Book of Exodus!
At this point, everyone should be
on the same page. (If not, please
read Parts 1 & 2 in previous issues).
There is one final historical fact for
any truth seeker to affirm. Follow-
ing the Hebrew exodus from Egypt
and their crossing of the Red Sea,
the Great Creator commanded
Moses to ascend Mount Sinai where
he was to receive a set of ten ex-
plicit instructions. The fourth in-
struction read as follows: For in six
days the Lord made heaven and earth,
Wednesday Prayer Meeting
For you have been called for this pur-
pose, since Christ also suffered for you,
leaving you an example for you to follow
in His steps... I Peter 2:21
In this Easter season, as we remem-
ber Christ's suffering, death and res-
urrection for us, we should also re-
call how important prayer was in His
life. Jesus modeled a lifestyle of
prayer.
Following the Last Supper, Jesus told
Simon Peter that He had prayed that
his faith may not fail (Lk 22:31, 32),
despite his coming denial of Christ.
In His farewell discourse, Jesus in-
the sea, and all that is in them, and
rested the seventh day: wherefore the
Lord blessed the sabbath day, and
hallowed it. (Exodus 20:11)
Herein resides the irrefutable con-
firmation that the events of crea-
tion occupied the time span of a
literal, six day, human work week,
because nothing else fits — not
long ages, not millions of years, not
huge time gaps. Should there be any
doubt, try substituting an arbitrary
amount of time into the fourth
commandment and note how the
entire commandment breaks down.
When the very Finger of God
ceased etching atop of Mount Sinai,
Moses carried down two stone
tablets, one of which contained the
fourth commandment, precluding
Genesis from ever being inter-
preted as an allegory!
After constructing the wilderness
tabernacle, Moses placed the two
stone tablets within the ark of the
covenant. Above this gold covered
cabinet emanated the Divine Pres-
ence (the Shekinah Glory). This
Presence continually communed
with Moses through out his remain-
ing decades on earth. (Ex 25:21, 22)
Following the up-taking of Moses
into the bosom of Abraham, his
successor Joshua recorded: Since
structed His disciples regarding
prayer, to ask the Father for anything
in His name (Jn 14:13, 14; 15:16;
16:23, 24). And in John 17, Jesus offers
His high priestly prayer, or what could
be called the true Lord's Prayer. His
communication with His Father in-
cluded requests on behalf of His disci-
ples.
In the Garden of Gethsemane, in His
agony, Jesus repeatedly prayed for the
Father's will to be done (Matt 26:39,
42; Mk 14:36; Lk 22:42). While there,
He also admonished the weary disci-
ples, saying, Keep watching and praying,
that you may not enter into temptation;
3
by Todd Carsten
then no prophet has risen in Israel like
Moses, whom the Lord knew face to
face. (Deuteronomy 34:10)
Dear reader, perhaps it's time for a
long pause and a needful deep
breath. Maybe it's time to reevalu-
ate some personally held creation
beliefs to check whether they
square with the special revelation
Moses provided in Genesis and
Exodus. Accordingly, there is no
shame in jettisoning a biblically
weak creation belief when a
stronger one becomes fully appar-
ent.
Those still desiring to challenge
Moses' special revelation may do
so. Your thesis should be submitted
as a white paper suitable for review
by highly seated, tenured experts
within Christ's Department of Old
Testament Prophets and Patriarchs.
E-mails can not be accepted. Said
department reserves the right to
promptly shred erroneous creation
concepts, thereby limiting wanton
spread of spurious doctrine. Sub-
missions should utilize Martin Lu-
ther's useful guideline for biblical
scholarship: Be careful of pretending
to know more than the Holy Spirit.
the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.
(Matt 26:41; Mk 14:38; Lk 22:40, 46).
“Jesus modeled
And in the dark moment of Calvary,
Jesus offered words of forgiveness a lifestyle of
from the Cross (Lk 23:34) - the very
forgiveness that brings us life in Him. prayer.“
Jesus' passion for prayer indicates
that we should be as passionate as
He.
Prayerfully Yours,
Larry Petry
 PAGE 4
Easter Day
By Dorothea Dyer
Come early to the garden,
Before the break of day
Hear that the Lord is risen
That the stone is rolled away
Find the tomb is empty
And it lies cold and bare
Know that the Lord is risen
And He is no longer there
The deadline for
Come early to the garden
Seek Him not among the dead
the May issue of O day of Resurrection
He is risen as He said
the Lamplighter is Though centuries have come and gone
We celebrate His way
Sunday, April 18th. As we gather all together
Alleluia! Easter Day!
Please submit your
articles to the
church office.
From the Church Library
While I was busy trying to
stay warm in Florida, y'all
were busy donating wonder-
ful books: Thank you!
Devotional Commentary (the
perfect companion for your
daily Bible reading) by F. B.
Meyer [220.3 Mey].
With the Word (a devotional
commentary) by Warren
Wiersbe [220.3 Wie] Both
of these book go through the
Bible chapter by chapter with
pertinent and inspirational
comments. Additionally, we
have Heart Aflame, Daily
Readings from (John) Calvin
on the Psalms [223.2 CaL]
On the fiction shelves you
will find new books by Bev-
erly Lewis, Lori Wick, Tim
LaHaye and others.
Relating to our VBS program
for this summer, we have an
excellent collection of books
and videos from Answers in
Genesis and the Institute for
Creation Research. The gen-
eral call number is 231.2. Take
a look at the videos What
Really Happened to the Dino-
saurs and Dinosaur Mystery
Solved, which are geared to
the whole family and which
defend the creation account of
origins. Other titles in this
series for the family include A
Geologist Looks at Noah's
Flood and Long War Against
God.
Good reading - and viewing!
Jean Palmer

THE LAMPLIGHTER - APRIL 2010

 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 4 PAGE 5

Alliance Women Ministries Update

Thank you for your generous giving during
the months of January and February!
Through the Sunday School offering, LaFay-
ette Alliance Women were able to send
$645.82 toward “Pass the Salt”, the 2009-
2010 AWM National Project.
The goal of this project is to enable our work-
ers to reach more people for the Kingdom by
providing funds to help carry out ministries
that will build relationships with lost people.
Once these relationships are built, then the
gospel can be shared with them.
There are numerous projects proposed. You
can view the entire list at:
http://www.alliancewomen.org/adobe09/
givingform0910.pdf
Each month our Alliance Women Ministries
group sends funds to the Northeastern Dis-
trict to help with various ministries. There will
be an offering can available in the foyer on the
first Sunday of each month. You can also des-
ignate “AWM” on your offering envelope if
you prefer. Here is a brief summary of what
we will be giving toward in the next two
months:
April: “Pass the Salt” National Project
May: International Worker Outfit (the sug-
gested amount to send in is $3 per Alliance
Woman in the church. Remember, if you are a
woman, you are an Alliance Woman!)
Would you please consider giving to AWM in
order to help our International Workers
spread the Good News of Jesus Christ?

Awana Updates Birthdays & Anniversaries

There will be No Awana on April 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010 1 – Eva Flora Calderon
due to the April vacation week in
2 – Daphne Stowe
schools. It will resume on
Wednesday, April 28th. 3 – Ellen Coulter
4 – Chris Warner

The Awana Awards Program will be held here at 5 – Rebecca Lloyd

LaFayette Alliance Church on Wednesday, May 5, 7 – Jessica Estey
2010 at 6:30 pm.
8 – Robert Downs, Ralph Maloney
9 – James Phillips, (Geoff & Mandy Lloyd)
11 – (Steve & Diane Smith)

Church Lock Up 12 – Mikayla Negley

14 – Aline Coye
16 – Lee Bodah, Harlie Jayne Walker, (Steve & Debi Kenyon)

Schedule 19 – Don Donath

20 – Chris Buff

This is a reminder for church officers who are on 22 – Gary Booher

the lock up schedule for the month of April: 23 – Dorothy Grace
24 – Megan Livingston, (Norm & Marge Shaver)
April 4 Clayt Estey
April 11 Joe Kolceski 25 – Ben Standford
April 18 Carl Olcott 26 – Christopher Simmons
April 25 Clayt Roberts Sr.
28 – Melanie Palmer
29 – Patti Bowe
If you are unable to be at church on the day you are
scheduled for lock up, please arrange to change with 30 – Teresa Hoy
someone on the schedule.
 PAGE 6
Quizzing
March Madness Scramble
On March 19th and 20th we hosted the March Mad-
ness Scramble Quizzing Tournament with teams
coming from all over NYS and Eastern Canada.
The praise and worship on Friday started us out
on a great note and was followed by a thought
provoking performance by Greg Stultz on the life
of Saul, through his conversion. The juniors then
joined the seniors in a get to know you 20 ques-
tions type game. The game was followed by
brownies and ice cream for all. Quizzers headed
to their host families homes around 9:00 p.m.
Saturday morning started out with another great
time of praise and worship, followed by the contin-
ued dramatization of Paul by Greg Stultz. Then off
to the quizzes! The juniors quizzed in one room
while the seniors had four rooms going on at the
Thanks to all the
same time. Marie coached Joel’s team (Wild
Beasts), who were an exciting group of youngsters
host families and
and ended up in 1st place. Joel also went home
to the ladies who with a 2nd place trophy. Beca Lloyd finished in 6th
place. For the seniors, Nick Murgia finished in 2nd
provided cookies place and Sam Benedict finished in 14th. Aaron
Fleming’s team finished in first place and Nick’s
for the March finished in 3rd place. One fun thing that was new
this year was letting some of the juniors quiz on
Scramble! senior teams after the juniors were finished in the
morning. There were a few open spots on some
teams and the juniors had a blast quizzing with the
big kids. Beca Lloyd and Joel Fleming ended up
quizzing with the second place team and took
home medallions for their efforts.
Please check out the church website under Minis-
tries, Quizzing, March Scramble, where we are
posting the video of Greg Stultz’s dramatization of
Paul’s life, the top team quiz and one of the top
fifteen quizzes.
Thank you to all the families who hosted our quiz-
zers Friday night and fed them breakfast Saturday
THE LAMPLIGHTER - APRIL 2010
morning. All
the quizzers
and coaches
were com-
menting on
what nice
families they
stayed with
and how
much they appreciated your hospitality. Thank you
to all the ladies who baked cookies for us and to
Dee Butler for setting it up.
Our final quiz meet is Saturday, March 27th at the
Syracuse Alliance Church. At that quiz the final
results will be decided and we will know what
Juniors and Seniors will head to Districts on May
1st, to represent our zone. Please be in prayer for
those quizzers as they prepare for Districts. Also,
please continue to pray for our program and the
interest of other quizzers for the fall and that new
churches will join in the competition. When we
teach our children to diligently learn God’s word,
we prepare them for the future.
February 27th quiz notes
In Junior’s, Joel is back in 1st, but only by 10 points
leaving Beca close behind in 2nd. Chris continues
to hold 3rd place. Amanda had a great day sliding
up to 4th place. Joel’s team holds 1st place and
Beca’s team is in 2nd place.
In Senior’s, Noah Schadt, our newest quizzer had
a great day. He was top quizzer for the day and
moved himself up into 4th place overall. Noah
helped his team, captained by Sam Benedict, move
into first place, knocking Nick’s team down to
second. First place team will be hotly contested at
our last quiz. As always, our stats are posted on
the church website.
Marie Murgia, Junior Coach
Georgia Phipps, Senior Coach
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 4 PAGE 7

Do Not Miss
An Up Close and Personal Event

Jonathan Wood and The Raptor Project

with Eagles , Hawks, Falcons and Owls

May 21, 2010

6:30 & 8:00 PM

Free Admission

315 677-9810
www.lafayettealliance.org

VACATION BIBLE SCHOOL

July 26th-July 30th 6pm-8:30pm
Pyramids. The Sphinx.
Sun. Sand. Mys-
tery. Intrigue. Journey
with us as we travel to
Egypt in Answers in
Genesis’s VBS, The Egypt
File: Decoding the Mys-
tery of Life. It all begins
July 26-30 so mark it
on your calendar now.

We will be starting our

decorating soon so I hope
you will join in. We use a
lot of paint in our deco-
rating and would appre-
ciate any leftover paint
(any color) you may have.

Please begin praying for our VBS program and consider where
God is leading you to help this year. Watch the bulletin for
more VBS news in the coming months.

In Christ,
Sherry Negley
 PAGE 8

Beginning in July, Spotlight on Leadership Boards

each month we

will focus on 1-2 Deacons

families in our

church as a way

for everyone to

become more

familiar with

each other.

The Deacons have charge of the benevolent ministry of the church and care for the temporal needs of the
people and related spiritual needs. You will see them around the church distributing bulletins, coordinating
ushering and setting up communion each month. If you are experiencing a financial need (or know someone
who is), these are the men to see!

(from left to right) Joe Kolceski, Bruce Stowe, Clayt Roberts Jr., & Matt Coulter

Mother Daughter Tea

Ladies, circle May 15th on your calendar for our Mother
Daughter Tea. It will be at 1:00 pm in the Fellowship Hall.
Not every woman is a mother, not every mother has daugh-
ters, but every woman is a daughter. This is an opportunity
for ladies of all ages and walks of life to come together. 1
Timothy states that we should treat older women as mothers
and younger women as sisters. A fun, social situation gives us
a chance to strengthen those bonds as well as an opportunity
to share Christ with each other and our community. Keep an
eye out for further information about this fun-filled event.

THE LAMPLIGHTER - APRIL 2010

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 4 PAGE
Home School Used Book Sale
SATURDAY MAY 8th 10am – 1pm
Auburn Alliance Church
630 N.Seward Ave.
REGISTER BY APRIL 24
$10-table $5-½ table
FOR INFO OR TO REGISTER
headdoo@clearwire.net
Call (315) 253-3672
Good Friday Communion
Please Note:
Communion will be on Good
Friday, April 2nd, not on
Easter Sunday, April 4th for the
month of April. The Deacons
Offering will be received on
Easter Sunday when the Wel-
come Cards are collected.
Women’s Seminary Class
"Wimpy theology makes wimpy women."
John Piper
There has been some discussion and interest
in a Women's Seminary (theology) class. If
would be interested in this type of class, you
can call the church office at 677-9810 or send
an email to church@lafayettealliance.org ex-
pressing your interest. This class would not
start until the fall. It would have the same type
of format of Pastor Rob's Men Seminary Class,
with reading and discussion.
9
Katie Wells Updates...
The best way to stay up-to-date with Katie
is by visiting her blog:
www.missionarykatiewells.blogspot.com
You can read her updates as soon as they
are posted, see her quarterly newsletter,
and even comment on her posts!
You can link to her blog from the home-
page of www.lafayettealliance.org
Senior Ministry Luncheon
Attention all Seniors— This month we will have
a luncheon on Thursday, April 1st here at
church at noon. Join us for a meal together and
a great time of fellowship.
Emily Ramsdell, from Child Evangelism Fellow-
ship will be sharing with us. Her husband, Jim,
will be ministering to us with music.
Please bring a dish to pass. Feel free to invite a
friend and enjoy a relaxing, fun time.
WANTED
Looking for old (unused) offering
envelopes. If you have some and
you don't know why you're hold-
ing on to them, you can bring
them to Larry Petry, or drop
them off in the office for him.
And, if you need offering envelopes, contact
Larry, or drop a note in the offering plate.
LaFayette Christian & Missionary
Alliance Church

P.O. Box 150

6069 Cherry Valley Turnpike
LaFayette, New York 13084
Phone: (315) 677-9810

Rev. Robert Gates, Senior Pastor

rfgates@twcny.rr.com

Brian Mandigo, Associate Pastor

blmandigo@twcny.rr.com

Ellen Coulter, Office Administrator

ecoulter@twcny.rr.com

Our mission is to know Jesus Christ; exalt Him as Savior, Sanctifier, Healer, Coming King,
and complete His Great Commission.

We’re on the web!

www.lafayettealliance.org

Light Afflictions?
(continued from page 1)
36
As it is written,
“For your sake we are being killed
all the day long;
we are regarded as sheep to be
slaughtered.”
37
No, in all these things we are more
than conquerors through him who loved
us. 38For I am sure that neither death nor
life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things
present nor things to come, nor powers,
39
nor height nor depth, nor anything else
in all creation, will be able to separate us
from the love of God in Christ Jesus our
Lord. (Romans 8:35-39)
Recently, I came across a video enti-
tled The Story of Zac Smith, that I
would encourage all of you to watch.
It is a wonderful reminder that Chris-
tians DO INDEED view afflictions
differently because of our understand-
ing of the sovereignty and goodness
of God. The video can be viewed on
LaFayette Alliance Church homepage
under the “LINKS” heading.
After watching it, I trust that your
prayer will not only be for this young
man and his family, but for yourself:
“Lord, let me be so confident in your
goodness and sovereignty, that I will be
able to face all of my afflictions the way
this young man is doing—all to the glory
of Christ!”
In the Light of Eternity,
Pastor Rob