The Lamplighter
V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 6 J U N E
INSIDE THIS
ISSUE:
From Pastor Bri-
ANCIENT WORDS AND THE MODERN MIND
2
an’s Desk
More than one hundred years
ago, Mark Twain penned these
Starlight 3
words about the Bible: “It is full
And Time
of interest. It has noble poetry in it:
Wednesday Pray- 3 and some clever fables; and some
blood-drenched history; and some
er Meeting
good morals; and a wealth of ob-
From the Church scenity; and upwards of a thousand
4
lies.”
Library
Prayer for 5 To Mark Twain, the Bible was
nothing more than an ancient
Husbands
book that could not possibly be
Birthdays/ 5 taken serious by the modern
Anniversaries minds of his day—including his
own! In all honesty, I ques-
Church Lockup 5 tion whether Mark Twain
Schedule ever actually read the Bible
beyond a few verses and
Quizzing 6 stories. He simply seems to
News have repeated (in his own
way!) what many liberal
AWM Summer 7 ―experts‖ were saying about
Renew the Bible in his own day.
Spotlight on 8 At the same time that Mark
Leadership Twain wrote the above
words, the great British
Summer Worship 8 preacher, Charles Spurgeon
Schedule wrote these words concerning
the Bible: “Many books in my li-
Bulletin Board 9 brary are now behind and beneath
me. They were good in their way
once, and so were the clothes I wore
Shipment to 10 when I was ten years old; but I have
Gabon—July 2010 outgrown them. Nobody ever out-
grows Scripture; the book widens
and deepens with our years.”
For Mark Twain, the Bible was
nothing more than an ancient
book with a few inspirational
thoughts and stories here and
there. For Charles Spurgeon, the
Bible was indeed an ancient
book, but because it was (and is!)
the Word of the living God, it
was also a book that will always
2 0 1 0
speak to the modern mind. That
is, the Bible will ALWAYS be
contemporary to the human
condition.
The Apostle Peter saw the Scrip-
tures as more than a collection of
―quaint stories‖ only appropriate
for Sunday-School children. Pe-
ter saw that it was the very
Scriptures that the Holy Spirit
uses to bring about our regener-
ation (bringing spiritual life to the
spiritually dead!):
“Since you have been born again,
not of perishable seed but of imper-
ishable, through the living and
abiding Word of God; for „All
flesh is like grass and its glory like
the flower of grass. The grass with-
ers, and the flower falls, but the
Word of the Lord remains forev-
er.‟” (1 Peter 1:23-25 ESV)
James states: “Therefore put away
all filthiness and rampant wicked-
ness and receive with meekness the
implanted Word, which is able
to save your souls.” (James 1:21
ESV)
For Mark Twain, the Bible was a
silly book; for Peter and James,
the Bible is a saving Book! I
choose to stand with the millions
who throughout history have
found the testimony of Peter and
James to be indeed true—
savingly true!
Summer has finally arrived (well
almost)! This is a time when
people will busy themselves with
much-needed vacations and time
with family and friends. Let’s
make sure that our much-needed
rest also includes being refreshed
and renewed in God’s Word
during the summer months!
The same Apostle Peter
who wrote the above
words, also wrote these
words:
“Therefore, putting aside all
malice and all deceit and
hypocrisy and envy and all
slander, like newborn babies,
long for the pure milk of
the Word, so by it you
may grow in respect to
salvation, if you have tasted
the kindness of the Lord.” (1 Peter
2:1-3 NASB)
While you cannot grow into
salvation, you can certainly grow
in your salvation! My prayer is
that this summer will be a time of
not only physical and emotional
refreshment, but also a time of
spiritual growth in the Word of
God! Remember, the Bible is the
ONLY book that is ancient, and
yet it will ALWAYS be contempo-
rary in leading you into becoming
the person God wants you to be!
Have a GREAT Summer!
Pastor Rob
 PAGE 2
From Pastor Brian’s Desk
LIFE
Our Alliance Youth Confer-
ence, Collide, is July 6-10 in
Louisville, Kentucky. We are
continuing to raise the funds
The theme for for our group. Since would like
to work for our support,
LIFE 2010 is please let us know if you have
any odd jobs (raking, weeding,
COLLIDE . . . painting, clean-up, etc.) we
could do. Thanks to all who
what happens have given us the opportunity
so far to earn our way. Our
when your next planned fundraiser will be
a Pizza Drive sometime in
world meets June.
God’s world? What is LIFE?
Imagine thousands of students
authentically experiencing God
and being inspired to expand
His Kingdom. Imagine worship-
ping and growing closer to
Christ. Imagine connecting
with new friends, serving to-
THE LAMPLIGHTER - JUNE 2010
gether and helping church
plants. Imagine tons of semi-
nars and workshops, awesome
concerts and incredible experi-
ences. That’s what LIFE is all
about.
The theme for LIFE 2010 is
COLLIDE . . . what hap-
pens when your world
meets God’s world? I am
personally excited with the
LIFE 2010 theme and am look-
ing forward to God meeting
each of as we ―collide‖ from all
over the USA and from around
the world in Louisville to hear
from Him!
Jason Ostrander
National Alliance Youth Direc-
tor
Our LIFE team consists of
Tina and Jeremy Culver,
Nathan Roberts, Nate
Phipps, Jesse Blum, April
Aungier, Maggie Titus,
Julia Martin, Patricia Mar-
tin, Amber Vanderwerff,
and Brittany Wentworth.
LIFE financial update
So far in 2010 we have we
have received over $2100
toward our goal of around
$7500. We also have some
previous fund-raising funds that
will be available for LIFE. Our
need at this time is about
$2400.
Thank you for supporting us!
 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 6 PAGE 3

Starlight and Time by Todd Carsten

Following the three part series entitled, Why
Believe Moses?, some readers may still won-
der whether Moses' six day creation scenario
allows adequate time for distant starlight to
reach Planet Earth. Admittedly, the issue of
starlight is the least understood aspect of
Moses' record. However, in the same breath
all questioners should admit nearly every
aspect of the starry heavens is thoroughly
perplexing for everyone, astronomers and
laymen alike.
Although the behavior of starlight passing
through gravitational fields of adjacent stars
may serve as an astrophysicist's bread and
butter, it hardly serves as most folk's cup of
tea. So let's simply gain a better understand-
ing of the related entities known as space
and time. Theoretical physicists prefer com-
bining them into one entity known as space-
time. It's a valid combo since time is a fourth
dimension accurately describing an objects
location since everything is always moving.
Space and time are simple, no?
Everyone readily comprehends history pro-
ceeds in one direction only, that being for-
ward. But a surprising and previously un-
known aspect of time progression surfaced
during the 20th century. We discovered time
in the universe can progress either faster or
slower. In other words, time can warp! This
is not some weird sci-fi dogma propagated by
Spock, rather it is both a mathematically and
an experimentally supported fact of modern
science. Excuse this author briefly — Hey
Spock, kindly twist the time warp knob in the
direction of postponing my birthday.
To better explain time warps, equations for-
mulated 75 years ago by Professor Einstein
predicted time progression can be altered
when a clock experiences a gravitational field,
or is exposed to a hypervelocity. Following
the invention of ultra-accurate, cesium atomic
clocks, modern day physicists obtained exper-
imental proof that under special conditions,
time warps are for real. In our daily lives we
are not aware of such time warps, but in the
unique realm of outer space, it's an entirely
different matter. Bottom line, clocks located
in various corners of the universe (so to
speak) are no longer in synch with earth-
time, nor even in synch with one another! In
other words, earth-time is readily knowable
but universe time is unknowable.
Regarding the subject of space, none other
than Job, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Zechariah, and the
Psalmist all proclaimed the Creator stretched
out space. Such stretching language indicates
deep space was once in closer proximity to
our planet which essentially shortens the
distance starlight must transit. In the end,
simply recall the transit time for starlight is
variable since time can be warped, and space
can be stretched. Neither time nor space are
the sacred cows we always assumed them to
be.
(continued on page 4)

Wednesday Prayer Meeting

"Then some children were brought to
Him so that He might lay His hands on
them and pray..." Matt 19:13
June is one of those times of transi-
tion - from the end of school to the
start of summer. Our young adults
are home from college, hopefully
finding jobs, and we are challenged
adjusting to a new schedule.
Our youth are finishing school and
looking forward to being "off" for a
couple of months and not working.
Soon there will be opportunities for
vacations, having fun at camp and
VBS, and just "hanging out."
In all the activities of family life,
there's always the need to pray for
our children. Here are some Scripture
prayer suggestions to pray for your
kids:
I pray that my children may grow in
the grace and knowledge of our Lord
and Savior Jesus Christ (2 Pet 3:18).
Lord, help my children not to be like
many others around them, but let
them be alert and self-controlled in all
they do (I Thes 5:6).
Father, please help my children devel-
op servants' hearts, that they may
serve wholeheartedly, as if they were
serving the Lord, not men (Eph 6:7).
God, please help my children to devel-
op a desire to see Your glory declared
among the nations, Your marvelous
deeds among all peoples (Ps 96:3).
The Wednesday Night Pray-ers “June is one of
would consider it a blessing if you
would like us to join you in praying those times of
for your children - younger and old-
er. You can put your request(s) on a transition -
Welcome card, or send a note to the
church office. If you don't want it to from the end
appear on the Prayer Sheet, just
of school to
make a note of that.
the start of
And, as always, we invite you to join
us Wednesdays at 7 pm in the But- summer.”
ternut Room as we pray for the
church and the needs of its members.
Prayerfully Yours,
Larry Petry
 PAGE 4
From the Church Library
Spingtime—We evaluate our My personal favorite is Mrs.
roles as moms and dads as we Cowman’s Streams in the De-
observe Mother’s Day and sert [242 Cow] which is a devo-
(continued from page 3) Father’s Day. Books to help tional classic with updated
our reflection include Charles wording. Peter Jeffery compiled
There is one more crucial aspect to God's
Swindoll’s Man to Man… His Enjoying God Always [242 Jef]
creation that fully settles the matter. The
Most Significant Writings for in order to point us to our need
opening verses of Genesis plainly state the
Men [call number 248.7 Swi]. of the Lord Jesus in everything
physical continuum of time, space, matter, and
His subjects include integrity, we do. This book is recom-
light were all literally spoken into existence
commitment, stress, anger, and mended for younger Christians
out of nothing. The Psalmist also confirms this
prayer. or for use in family worship.
fact: "By the word of the Lord were the heav-
ens made, and all the host of them by the Good reading!
The deadline for breath of his mouth." (Psa 33:6) Therefore, it Greg Lewis wrote The Power Jean Palmer
is paramount for Bible believers to deduce of a Promise Kept: Life Stories
the July issue of
that Our Creator does not experience space- [248.7 Lew]. The theme is
the Lamplighter is time constraints. In other words, the Eternally ordinary men with an extraor-
Existent One is not a slave to created space; dinary God.
Sunday, June 20th. nor is He a slave to created time. Instead,
these created entities are His servants. Only
Please submit your we earthlings habitually possess insufficient The library has an ever-
\
amounts of matter, space and time. growing collection of devotion-
articles to the
al calendars—thought-
church office. provoking readings for each
Bible believers may now cease insisting creat-
day of the year. Women Who
ed starlight requires more earth-time. In reali-
Loved God, by Elizabeth
ty, starlight possesses plenty of Creator-time.
George [242 Geo] has a daily
There is a far more profound question for an
reading on women of the Bible.
earthling to pose when viewing the starry
night sky — "When I consider thy heavens,
the work of thy fingers, the moon and the
stars which thou hast ordained; What is man
that thou art mindful of him?" (Psa 8:3-4)

THE LAMPLIGHTER - JUNE 2010

 VOLUME 1, ISSUE 6 PAGE 5

Dear Lord, I pray for my husband, from head to toe,

 His Mind - That he will have the
mind of Christ and think as the Holy
Spirit would lead him and not flesh.
(1 Corinthians 2:16)
 His Eyes - That you would keep his
eyes from temptation and that he will
turn his eyes from sin. (Matthew 6:13,
Mark 9:47)
 His Ears - That he will hear Your
still small voice instructing him. (1 Kings
19:12, Psalm 32:8)
 His Mouth - That his words will be
pleasing to You. (Proverbs 19:14)
 His Head - That he will look to You as
 His Neck - That he will humble himself
Lord of his life. (1 Corinthians 11:13)
before You and be strong, courageous,
and careful to do everything written in
Your Word so that he will be prosperous
and successful. (James 4:10, Joshua 1:8,9)
 His Heart - That he will love and trust
You with his whole heart. (Deuteronomy
6:5, Proverbs 3:5)
 His Arms - That you will be his
strength. (Psalm 73:26)
 His Hands - That he will enjoy the work
of his hands and see it as a gift from You.
(Ecclesiastes 3:1)
 His Feet - That You will order his steps
and that he will walk in Your truth.
(Proverbs 4:25)

Birthdays & Anniversaries

June 2010
2 – (Brian & Stephanie Ness)

Church Lock Up 3 – Jerry Patterson

4 – Alysia Johnson, (Greg & Linda Brown)
5 – Barb Compton, Ben Doolittle, Audrey Hubbell, Barb Olcott, Nathan Roberts,

Schedule (Jerry & Beve McNeill)

6 – Tom DiStefano, Norm Shaver, Rick Sullivan, (Tim & Sherry Negley),
(Clayt & Janneke Roberts)
This is a reminder for church officers who are on
7 – Samuel Adams
the lock up schedule for the month of June:
9 – Ashley Brown, (Bob & Ruby Loomis)
June 6 Matt Walker 10 – Anne Carrano
June 13 Bruce Stowe
June 20 Mike Gettman 11 – Marty Andrews, (Jim & Joyce Phillips)
June 27 Larry Petry 13 – Nathanael Phipps
14 – Anna Dow, (Lyle & Lee Bodah)
If you are unable to be at church on the day you are 15 – Nancy Avery, Lynn Vanderwerff, Jonathan Woodford, (Doug & Sarah Doolittle)
scheduled for lock up, please arrange to change with
16 – Kelsey Gates
someone on the schedule.
20 – (Don & Nancy Donath)
22 – Greg Brown, Shirley Wood
24 – (Ken & Audrey Hubbell), (Clayt & Betty Roberts), (Bob & Marylou Standford)
25 – Samuel Johnson, (Tom & Espie DiStefano)
26 – Brian Mandigo
27 – Hannah Blum (Bob & Carolyn Downs)
28 – Jeremy Culver, (Dick & Shaun Standford)
29 – Nick Standford, (Joe & Kathy Grabowski)
 PAGE 6
Quizzing
Senior News—Districts
Seniors had six rounds of preliminary quizzing. At
the end of preliminaries one of our teams finished
in second place. Following the preliminaries, the
top 15 quizzed against each other three times to
determine who will go to Internationals to repre-
sent our district. At that point Sam Benedict was
in second place, Nick Murgia in fourth and Caleb
Benedict in sixth. Also making the top fifteen from
LaFayette were Noah Schadt, and Aaron and Tay-
lor Fleming.
During the first top 15 quiz, quizzers from West-
field jumped to an early lead. It wasn’t looking
good for our quizzers. Once the second top 15
quiz was underway, Nick Murgia and Sam Benedict
started to make a move. Sometime in the begin-
ning of the final quiz Nick made his move and cata-
Unbelievably, we pulted himself into first place. Sam was just be-
hind, but still in jeopardy of being passed. It is hard
are sending three to describe, but all six of our quizzers worked
together to help keep Sam in position, by getting
of the five quizzers the jump on questions, so that others couldn’t get
it and pass Sam. It was exciting to see.
from our District
Going down to the last few questions, Taylor
to Calgary, Fleming and Caleb Benedict also had a chance to
make the team. Taylor fought for a jump and got
Canada for this it, but unfortunately got an error and was out of
the running. Caleb was the only one left with a
year’s chance to make it, but he’d have to get the last
jump and get it right. He somehow got the last
Internationals! jump and then had to figure out what the question
and answer were after just hearing ―undiv―. He
came to the microphone, stopped and thought,
using some of his 30 seconds to answer and then
said ―undivided devotion to the Lord―. Everyone
held their breath waiting for the quiz master’s
ruling and when he said ―correct‖, the place went
wild. Everyone swarmed around Caleb, hugging
and high fiving him. Then everyone was going to
Nick and Sam to congratulate them. This is the
second year in a row
that one of our quiz-
zers made it on the
very last question.
What is even more
amazing is that Caleb
is just a 7th grader and
it’s his first year quiz-
zing! (See his testimo-
ny about why he quiz-
zes under testimonies
on our quizzing minis-
try page.) FYI: Sam and Caleb are Jessica Estey’s
younger brothers.
THE LAMPLIGHTER - JUNE 2010
In the end, Nick finished in first place, Sam in third,
and Caleb was in a tie for fourth place! Unbelieva-
bly, we are sending three of the five quizzers from
our District to Calgary, Canada for this year’s In-
t e r n a t i o n a l s !
Now the hard part comes as they have months of
studying to prepare for the July 20th-24th competi-
tion. Also each quizzer needs to raise about
$700.00 to go. Please be in prayer for them.
Georgia Phipps
Junior News—Districts
To start off with this month we want to thank
everyone for praying for our quizzers. Our team
(Joel Fleming, Beca Lloyd, Chris Lloyd and Amanda
Negley) was well prepared and did an awesome
job at Districts.
District weekend started Friday evening April 30th,
at Westfield Baptist Church in Westfield, NY,
where those of us not held up by crawling traffic
on the Thruway were directed to the beach for a
cookout on Lake Erie. After some games and a
brief coaches meeting we left for hotel or guest
homes for the night.
Saturday, May 1st started early with worship at
8:30 a.m. The juniors first quiz was at 10:10 a.m.
which left them some time to review. They wast-
ed no time in taking the lead winning the first quiz.
They continued their lead in the second and third
quizzes, making them the first place team and earn-
ing them a trophy to display in the church. Joel
Fleming had an outstanding day, quizzing out in
each quiz, taking the first place trophy. Beca Lloyd
also did well, bringing home the 4th place prize.
Amanda and Chris both answered a question to
help win the team trophy. Each of the quizzers
worked hard as team players and their efforts
showed.
What a great way to end the season. Please con-
tinue to keep this program and the people in it in
prayer over the summer. We will be studying the
Gospel of John next season, so anyone interested
in joining us can review that material in prepara-
tion.
Marie Murgia
VOLUME 1, ISSUE 6 PAGE 7
 PAGE 8

Beginning in July, Spotlight on Leadership Boards

each month we

will focus on 1-2 Elders

families in our

church as a way

for everyone to

become more

familiar with

each other.

The Elders work with the Pastors in providing spiritual vision and direction, for the growth of all people and the
ministries of LaFayette Alliance Church. Assisting with visitation, praying for the sick, and serving communion are
just a few of their additional responsibilities.

(top row) Mike Maloney, Ralph Maloney, Carl Olcott (bottom row) Jim Phillips, Clayt Roberts Sr., Marty Andrews

THE LAMPLIGHTER - JUNE 2010

VOLUME 1, ISSUE 6 PAGE 9

VBS 2010 Church Directory

July 26th-July 30th
The new directories are available
6pm-8:30pm on the back table in the foyer.
Please take only one per family.
You can also view the directory on
Come and join o u r w e b s i t e
www.lafayettealliance.org. (The
us for our Dec- username and password are the
same as the for the prayer sheet.)
orating Day on
Saturday, June
12th from 9
am— noon

Senior Ministry Luncheon

Reminder
Please Note:
Submissions to the Lamplighter
need to be in file format; either
email or on a CD. Email would be
the preference. Thank you!
Attention all Seniors— Mark your calendars for
our annual chicken barbeque luncheon this
Thursday, June 3rd at noon. Plan to join us for
this special event and enjoy the fellowship.
Please bring either a side dish or a dessert to
pass.

Baby Bottle Boomerang YARD SALE

Remember to be filling your baby
bottles with coins, bills, or a check
- and return it on Father's Day-
Sunday, June 20th.
Come help support Alliance Women’s Min-
istries on SATURDAY, JUNE 12th from
8:00 am—2:00 pm at Joday Gates’ house.
You can pick up a donation kit in the black
mailbox outside the
2’s & 3’s room if you
are ready to clean out
your attic or garage!
 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 blmandi-

go@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

SHIPMENT TO GABON - JULY 2010 INSTRUCTIONS

There will be a shipment going out from Middleburg Heights, Ohio in July. It will be able to accommodate your packages for the Hospital in Ga-
bon, Africa, where Dr. David Thompson and his wife Becki work along with Dr. Renee Valach--our newest Northeastern District international
worker. Renee will be speaking about the work in Gabon at Delta Lake Family camp in early July.
I am not sure the exact dates the shipment will go out, so if you have packages, send them as soon as possible.
First of all I want to thank you all so much for your participation in getting needed items to the Bongolo Hospital !
I e-mailed the Bongolo staff to ask what they needed at this time and this is what they replied :
Centrum-like multivitamins for adults and children Antacids like Tums or Rolaids (with calcium)
Cold, flu and cough medicine Masking tape (they have NONE)
Medium sized Playtex heavy-duty cleaning gloves Cotton balls
Rolled sheet bandages are especially needed
(The shipment which was sent in January just arrived at Bongolo a couple of weeks ago. Because of the very muddy, slippery roads, a large truck
delivering the shipment overturned a few miles from the Hospital. Fortunately, no one was hurt and nothing destroyed!)
The boxes should not be any larger than 24 in. x 24 in. x 24‖ (or a total of 72 in. with width+length+height) , unless you have special permission.
Please try to limit different types of items to 3-4 things per box. If possible, put each type of item in its own plastic bag for easier sorting at the
hospital. The boxes should be sent to :
ARK Transportation
c/o Gabon Shipment:: Bongolo Hospital
17830 Englewood Drive
Middleburg Heights, OH 44130
**If you are sending a package for a certain missionary or department, add: Attn: and the name of the missionary or department.
Please e-mail Gabon's shipment coordinator, Linda Chae (linda.chae@att.net) and a copy to me, Coleen Lofgren (colie mark @northlc.com ) with
the following information:
Your Name and church Detailed list of contents of EACH box
Contact Phone Number Monetary value of Each item in each box
Contact e-mail address Total amount for each box.
Number of boxes being sent Size of each box in inches (length x height x width). Please pack items as compactly as possible since we
are charged per cubic foot.