feb 2010 lamplighter newsletter, lafayette alliance church

8/8/2019 Feb 2010 Lamplighter Newsletter, LaFayette Alliance Church

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/feb-2010-lamplighter-newsletter-lafayette-alliance-church 1/10

myself. In fact, our relationship

blossomed out of pity! Jody

found out that I was doing my

laundry with raspberry shampoo!

As an act of kindness (and

mercy) she bought me some

laundry soap, and the rest is

history.

We dated on and off through our

college years. However, our

senior year we both pretty much

went our own directions. After

graduation, I moved back to

Phoenix, and Jody moved back to

Marshalltown. Any future rela-

tionship seemed pretty well out

of the realm of possibility.

In 1985 I accepted the role of

pastor for a church in Kansas. In

my time of candidacy with the

church I was asked if I had any

prospects for marriage. My an-

swer was that I had hoped to be

married within a couple of years

(to whom?)! I moved to Kansas

in May of 1985. Four weeks later

I got to thinking about Jody (I had

never really stopped). I knewthat as a wife, God would never

provide me with anyone better

than Jody. She was most defi-

nitely committed to Christ. So

after more than a year of not

seeing Jody (or dating her), I

called her up on the phone and

asked if she would marry me. To

my surprise and delight, she said

YES!

(Continued on back page)

“Many women have done excel-

lently, but you surpass them all.

Charm is deceitful, and beauty is

vain, but a woman who fears the

LORD is to be praised”

Proverbs 31:29-30 (ESV)

This February seems like a good

time to follow the lead of the

writer of Proverbs 31 in cele-

brating the goodness of God by

providing for me a wonderful and

godly wife. Why this February?

· February 14th is Valentines

Day! Need I say more?

· Jody's birthday is February 7th!

· 2010 is a significant year for us.

I met Jody as a freshman in col-

lege 30 years ago. This is also the

year that we will celebrate 25

years of marriage!

If there were ever two people

you would NOT expect to see

married, it would probably be

Jody and I. We are both VERY

different. I grew up in Phoenix,Arizona. Jody grew up on a farm

in Marshalltown, Iowa. Through-

out my growing-up years, we

moved a lot as a family. Jody

grew up in home that has been in

her family for well over 100

years. Our personalities are also

very different. Perhaps the best

“symbol” of our differences has

been the thermostat. We never

seem to find the same tempera-

ture mutually comfortable.

Whether it is the house thermo-

stat, or the refrigerator thermo-

stat, we can never seem to leave

it at just one setting. No doubt

about it—we're different!

And yet, I am thankful (most of

the time) for those differences!

We simply do not grow as per-

sons or as Christians when eve-

rything is done our way!

As I already stated, Jody and I

met as freshman in college (note

the attached freshman pictures).

I followed the lead of my pastor

and decided to attend school in

Iowa. It was certainly NOT love

at first sight between Jody and

Pastor Rob (1980)

A Woman Who Fears the LordI N S I D E T H I S

I S S U E :

From Pastor

Brian’s Desk

2

Why Believe

Moses? Pt. 1

3

Wednesday

Prayer Meeting

3

Too EarlyPoem 4

Church

Library

4

Battalion 4

New Sunday

School Class

5

Birthdays/

Anniversaries

5

Church Lockup

Schedule

5

Katie Wells

Update

8

Bulletin Board 9

Haiti Earthquake

Giving Update

7

Quizzing 6

The LamplighterF E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 2

Jody (1980)



P A G E 2

“Nowhere is

Scripture given

the place of

prominence or

uniqueness that

it demands of

itself.”

From Pastor Brian’s DeskSpiritual Discernment

“Hold fast the pattern of sound

words which you have heard from

me, in faith and love which are in

Christ Jesus. That good thing

which was committed to you,

keep by the Holy Spirit who

dwells in us.” 2 Timothy 1:13-14

“Take heed to yourself and to the

doctrine. Continue in them, for in

doing this you will save both

yourself and those who hear

you.” 1 Timothy 4:16

“Guard what was committed to

your trust,” 1 Timothy 6:20

I preface my article with these

scriptural admonitions in order

to highlight the fact that we as

pastors are to “keep” that

good thing, scriptural truth,

which was committed to our

trust and to guard it diligently.

In other words, we are to be

concerned with preaching andteaching sound doctrine and to

warn the congregation of

those who would distort or

pervert the gospel of Christ

(Gal 1:7).

The Shack is a currently popu-

lar book that includes distor-

tions of the scriptures and the

Christian faith that should be

exposed. Tim Challies, editor

of Discerning Reader web site

and author of The Discipline of

Spiritual Discernment, has

written an excellent review of

The Shack. His multipage in-

depth review is available on

the table in the foyer for you

to pick up.

Some brief quotes from his

review regarding specific scrip-

tural points are listed below in

order to help you see the

areas of contention that Tim isdealing with in this book:

On the doctrine of revelation

“Young (the author) consis-

tently down plays Scripture at

the expense of personal ex-

perience … Nowhere is Scrip-

ture given the place of promi-

nence or uniqueness that it

demands of itself.”

Salvation

“Though the cross is central to

the Bible and central to the

Christian faith, it appears only

sparingly in The Shack. A per-

son who is unfamiliar with the

Christian faith will not be able

to glean from this book a bibli-

cal understanding of what the

cross was for and what Jesus'

death accomplished. Nor will

he understand how God saves

us and what He saves usfrom.”

The Trinity

“... while Young's portrayal of

Jesus may be based on some

fact, his portrayal of the Father

and the Holy Spirit in human

form is sinful and expressly

forbidden within the Bible.”

“While the author affirms the

equality of each of the mem-

bers of the Trinity, he denies

that submission can be present

in such a relationship.”

Distinctions

“...it seems that within The

Shack the distinctions are lost

and the persons and roles

begin to blend together.”

Presence of God

“One of the most disturbing

aspects of The Shack is the

behavior of Mack when he is in

the presence of God. When

we read in the Bible about

those who were given glimpses

of God, these people were

overwhelmed by His glory ...

But in The Shack we find a

man who stands in the very

presence of God and uses foul

language … , who expressesanger to God (which in turns

makes God cry) (92), and who

snaps at God in his anger (96).

This is not a man who is in the

presence of One who is far

superior to Him, but a man

who is in the presence of a

peer. This portrayal of the

relationship of man to God

and God to man is a far cry

from the Bible's portrayal.”

All of these statements, and

many more, can be seen in

their context with quotes from

the book and from the Bible in

the full article. I would strongly

encourage those who have

already read the book or are

considering doing so, to pick

up this article from the table in

the foyer.

Let us use discernment when

choosing and reading books or

when evaluating someone's

teachings. Jesus warns us of

false teaching and the need for

discernment when He says,

(continued on page 5)

T H E L A M P L I G H T E R - F E B R U A R Y 2 0 1 0



Why Believe Moses? Part 1 by Todd Carsten

P A G E 3V O L U M E 1 , I S S U E 2

The answer to “why believeMoses?” was given by Jesus Christwhile addressing unbelieving Phari-

sees some 2000 years ago — “For had you believed Moses, you would have believed me, for he wrote of me.But if you believe not his writings, how shall you believe my words?” John 5:46-47

Similarly, there is the account of therich man and poor Lazarus whereinChrist finally admonishes — “If they do not listen to Moses and the Proph-ets, they will not be convinced even if someone rises from the dead.” Luke 16:31

Essentially, Christ warned listenersin these two separate instances of the need to fully respect the writ-ings of the prophet Moses. In otherwords, Christ gave Moses His sealof approval.

Amazingly, some Christians todaycontinue to struggle with key writ-ings of the prophet Moses. This is

surely a shocking statement butlook no further than disbelief in theopening chapter of Genesis! Al-

though we do not know howMoses came to learn of the eventshe revealed in Genesis chapter one,we readily realize only the CreatorHimself knew a thing about it sinceno earthling was around until thecreation events were nearly over.Recall, not even Adam and Eveknew what occurred prior to theirappearance in Eden unless informedof the actual events and their timingby the Creator Himself.

Friend, this is a staggering realiza-tion in light of the smorgasbord of

man-made schemes devised sincethe early 1800’s superimposingvarious pet theories over Moses’creation account. There are todayfour major alterations of Moses’account in Genesis: 1) day-age the-ory (the Genesis 24 hour days be-come metaphorical); 2) gap theory(inserts a supposed geological gapafter verse one); 3) theistic evolu-

tion (surmises God used evolutionto create); 4) progressive creation(Hugh Ross’ version of day-agetheory).

Sparing the reader a further analysisof the above schemes, suffice it tosay that each is a corruption of what Moses actually revealed inGenesis. In this light, let us recallthat Jesus Christ knew for certainthat Moses’ writings were accuratesince He Himself was present at thecreation — “For by Him [JesusChrist] were all things cre-ated” (Col. 1:16).

Accordingly, we Christians must be

extremely careful when handlingthe Genesis creation account, say-ing only what Moses revealed (andChrist endorsed). As Martin Luthersimplified Genesis matters for theChristians of his era: Be carefulabout pretending to know morethan the Holy Spirit.

you are walking.

One type involves going fromhouse to house, asking for prayerrequests and then praying with thepeople on-site. Another way is bywalking (or driving) through theneighborhood and praying - withyour eyes open - for everyone on

those streets.

Actually seeing your prayer targetcan inspire you with better ways topray, so that your prayers will be

more effective.

Two of the C&MA's core values

are:

· Lost people matter to God.

· Prayer is the primary work of the

people of God.

So, keep praying for your neighbors

and your neighborhoods!

And, as always, we invite you toparticipate in the prayer time atchurch on Wednesdays, 7 pm inthe Butternut Room. If you have

prayer requests, please put themon the back of a Welcome Card,contact the church office or email

me at [email protected].

Prayerfully Yours,

Larry Petry

"You have heard that it was said, 'Youshall love your neighbor, and hate your enemy.' But I say to you, love your enemies, and pray for those who per-

secute you."

Matthew 5:43, 44

Now for some of us, a few of thoseneighbors could also be perceivedas our "enemies" or "persecutors."

In this month the world dedicatesto its own idea of "love," a true waywe can show that is by praying forour neighbors - whichever side of

the fence they fall on.

One method of doing this is calledPrayerwalking, or "praying on-sitewith insight." It is intercessoryprayer that is targeted for the place

Wednesday Prayer Meeting

“Lost people

matter to God.

Prayer is the

primary work

of the people

of God.”



P A G E 4

The deadline for

the March issue of

the Lamplighter is

Sunday, February

21st. Please submit

your articles to the

church office.

Too EarlyBy Dorothea Dyer

It is too early to get out the seed catalogsIt is too early to think about Spring.

It is too early to look for the song birdsAnd all of the joy that they bring

It is the month of FebruaryStill several months of Winter to goA lot of cold weather aheadAnd mountains of ice and snow

If we would skip FebruaryWe will lose Ground Hog DayValentine’s Day and President’s DayWill be lost along the way

If it is snowing and blowingIt is a good thing to recall

That when it comes to FebruaryIt is the shortest month of all

And as we go forwardWe really can be sureThat for the month of FebruaryThe word of the month is “endure”

with four other American

missionaries. When the Wao-

dani found their culture in

crisis, they asked Steve toreturn to live among them and

teach them how to interact

with the encroaching outside

world. Find this book among

the biographies. [B Sai]

Speaking of finding this mis-

sionary biography, where

would you look for The Pil-

grim's Progress by John Bun-

yan? Answer: this book is

fiction and so look for it

among the fiction books:

[F Bun]

Good reading!

Jean

Palmer

Have you seen the new -

empty - bookcases! If you

have grown accustomed to

the present organization of the books, watch for the

inevitable shifting, allowing

room for growth in all sub-

jects.

Teen gals, we've added Danae

Dobson's Let's Talk: Good

Stuff for Girlfriends about

God, Guys and Growing Up

[249.6 Dobd]. Danae's goal is

to help you make sense of the

stuff you face in life: "it is

possible to be a Christian and

still be cool".

A new-to-us title that I am

eager to read: End of the

Spear: a true story, by Steve

Saint. Saint brings us back to

the group in Ecuador known

to us as the Aucas - "savage

killers" - who are really the

Waodani people who killed

Steve's dad, Nate Saint along


From the Church Library

Battalion

It doesn't seem possible, butThanksgiving, Christmas, andNew Years have come andgone. Now Battalion is begin-ning another year. January istypically a slower time for usas we continue with our stud-

ies and prepare for our nextactivity. Currently we are inour Skit Production Unitwhich everyone seems to behaving a great time with.Many thanks to Valerie Car-sten, who is helping us withthis unit. And, a special thanksto all the young men andleaders in Battalion who sent

me such a beautiful card when Iwas out of commission a while ago.

But, I am back in the saddle now,and preparing for our Father/SonWinter Retreat at Path of LifeCamp outside of Binghamton in

Port Crane, NY. We look forwardto sledding, a winter hike withwinter fire building, survival shelterbuilding, and just a great time of fellowship!

Respectfully Submitted,Ken Hubbell

LaFayette Alliance BattalionMembers

Proverbs 27:17 Iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another.



From Pastor Brian’s Desk


(Continued from page 1)

“Then if anyone says to you, ‘Look, here is

the Christ!’ or ‘There!’ do not believe it. For false christs and false prophets will rise and show great signs and wonders to deceive, if possible, even the elect.” Matthew 24:23-24

Until He comes may we give attention tothe reading and to the doctrine of scrip-ture, and not be among the deceived.

For the true gospel,Pastor Brian

February 2010

2 - Dee Butler, Meghan Camilleri

3 - Randy Ortlieb

4 - Jeff Kline

5 - Jonathan Roberts

6 - Emily Malara, Maggie Titus

7 - Jody Gates

8 - Gerald Browning

9 - Kyrie Kline, Joan Simmons, Hans Smid

10 -(Eric & Patti Reed)

12 - Allison Livingston

13 - Nicholas Kolceski

14 - Rick Brown, Adele Greeley

15 - Dan Johnson, (Bill & Linda Bitler)

17 - Ben Johnson, Cathy Lang

18 - Steve Smith

19 - Madison Brown

22 - Alex Stowe

23 - Rachel Coulter, Molly Livingston

25 - (Han & Elly Smid)

28 - Nate Malara

Birthdays & Anniversaries

Church Lock Up

ScheduleTh.is is a reminder for church officers who are onthe lock up schedule for the month of January

February 1 Mike GettmanFebruary 8 Larry PetryFebruary 15 Mark JohnsonFebruary 22 Dick Standford

If you are unable to be at church on the day you arescheduled for lock up, please arrange to change withsomeone on the schedule.

NEW SUNDAY SCHOOL CLASS

Pastor Brian's Sunday School Class

What's The Difference? - Manhood and Wom-anhood Defined According to the Bible

John Piper’s ten, 30-minute DVD sessions willlead our class in discovering what the Bibleteaches about true manhood and womanhoodand the impact of living out God’s design inthe context of our society, the church, and inour marriages.

The class will be a combination of a 22-30 min-ute DVD teaching by John Piper followed byinteractive discussion of the topic. Our first

class will be in mid-February (be watching thebulletin for more specifics) and will meet in thedouble room off the gym. Session topics willinclude secular feminism and culture, the role of men and women in the church and in the home,Biblical headship, God's design and complemen-tarity, and recovering Biblical manhood andwomanhood.

New Sunday School Class"...Personal study of the Word in daily reading andmeditation is necessary for growth in godliness. Al-though God plainly promises the Spirit's work inconjunction with gospel preaching, there is also agreat feast to be had in daily consumption of theWord. Whether you read through the Bible in ayear to gain an appreciation of the broad sweep of history of redemption or narrow down your studyto a deeper perusal of shorter passages, the primarymeans of God's grace to you will be found in hisWord.” - Elyse Fitzpatrick

Jody Gates will be starting a new class using thebook Continue to Live in Him: Colossians and Phile-mon. The class will begin on February 7th. See Jodyif you would like a book.



P A G E 6

“After the final

quiz, awards were

handed out. Nick

Murgia took first

place! Sam

Benedict got the

trophy for tenth

place.”

QuizzingWhat an awesome weekend we had at Winterna-tionals at Sacandaga Bible Conference Center.There were fourteen teams from Eastern Canada,Metro NY, and our District, totaling fifty nine quiz-

zers. We took three teams, eight quizzers andcombined our teams with three quizzers from Syra-cuse Alliance. Teams quizzed six times Saturday inpreliminaries. Then, based on how they did in pre-liminaries, Sunday teams quizzed to determine whowas the number one team.

Saturday night they held a “Quote Off”. Anyquizzer who wanted to participate was givenverses, like in a spelling bee. There were overtwenty quizzers who participated. Then when it’sdown to eight quizzers they move to the quiz seatsand have to jump to advance to the top two. Aquizzer from Metro was the first to advance. Nick Murgia and a few other quizzers each had three

successful jumps and needed just one more to ad-vance. Nick got the jump and quoted his fourthverse and moved to the head to head portion withthe Metro quizzer. The first one to get four right,or the one ahead after seven questions would winit. Nick got off to a quick start getting the first fewquestions. He ended up having the most rightwhen they got to the seventh quote. It was veryexciting and fun to see all the kids congratulatingNick!

Sunday morning we had a wonderful time of worship. Larry Petry (son of our Larry), gave a


wonderful message from I Corinthians 13. Thenwe had an activity that broke us into groups of seven or so. We were given a slip of paper with astory about a person that we might find hard to

love. We were asked to come up with practicalways we could show God’s love to those people.Then we shared our results. It was really a greattime of seeing how we can really apply God’s Wordto our everyday lives.

Sunday afternoon was the last quiz was for theChampionship. Even though we didn’t have a teamin the top three, it was still exciting. During thematch at every timeout there was something excit-ing going on. One team from Canada made upsongs for each of the teams and would sing thesongs during the timeout. During one timeout, ateam of Americans stood and started to sing theCanadian National Anthem. So we all stood and

those who knew it sang along. The Canadian’sloved it. During the next timeout we all stood andsang our National Anthem. It was very moving.I’ve never seen anything like it. A first-time teamfrom Canada ended up winning the tournament.

After the final quiz, awards were handed out. Nick Murgia took first place! Sam Benedict got thetrophy for tenth place. Our teams finished in sev-enth, eleventh and thirteenth places. Although wedidn’t have the results we had hoped for, the kidsall had a blast and want to attend next year.

“Team Broken Jars of Clay”Sam, Caleb, Nate, and Noah

“Team Borne Supremacy”Heidi, Nick, and Colton

“Team Puppet Rulers of America”Nathan, Taylor, Andrew, Aaron, and Jeremy

Nick (right) accepting 1st place trophy




CAMA Services - As a congregation, we have sent $1,309 to CAMA Services to help with the relief effort inHaiti. CAMA is partnering with the Haitian Associations of the C&MA, the Southeastern and Metropolitan Dis-tricts, and sister organizations such as World Relief and Samaritan’s Purse to respond with immediate humani-tarian aid. But CAMA’s help will not stop when these critical needs are met. It will remain involved in long-termrebuilding and development efforts, demonstrating the love of Christ through practical expressions of compas-

sion and care for years to come.

Dominican Republic Missionaries – The DR Church has responded positively and has appointed a commit-tee to oversee the relief response to Haiti. They have connections with at least 20 Haitian Churches that iden-tify themselves with the C&MA. They plan to wait a week or so to begin transporting items into Haiti after the

immediate rush of help has ceased from the secular world. Their desire is to minister through word and deed.

If you would like to give toward the Relief effort, you can give directly through the church. Please designate yourmonies to either “CAMA – Haiti Relief” or “DR – Haiti Relief”. We will keep you updated on the relief

effort and the amount given.

Haiti Earthquake Giving Update



P A G E 8

Together let us

encourage the

local Christians in

San Fernando,

Bolivia as we reach

the rest of their

village and all of

eastern Bolivia for

Christ!

Katie Wells UpdateGod is moving in so many ways, seen and unseen! Iam always humbled and amazed that God woulddesire to use me to advance His kingdom!!! Yet Ineed to always remember that the “how” and

“when” are in His hands! James 4:13-17 convictsme! Whenever I see anyone from church, I amasked when I will return to Bolivia. In June I said Iwould return in October… In October I said Iwould return in January, and now in January I real-ize I AM NOT IN CONTROL OF WHEN I RETURN! God is. It is a matter of relinquishingcontrol… not that I ever had it, but it is an emo-tional and spiritual surrender. In telling others myreturn dates in the past I may have given a date,followed by “God willing”, but really I meant “Katie-willing”. How often do we make plans and ask God to bless them… or tell God to bless them…BUT THEY ARE NOT GODS PLANS. I continueto learn that God’s ways are so much better than

mine. I can nearly hear God now telling me…”Now listen Katie, it’s not really about the money…because that is coming, it’s about this other issue Ihave to work on in the mean time IN YOURCHARACTER, or IN BOLIVIA… IT’S JUST NOTREADY YET.” Well, perspective is good to have.God is hammering out the pride in my character,and refining me as we speak, I can feel it.

From January 21st until February 20th I will be takinga course through JAARS (a Wycliffe support minis-try) in Waxhaw North Carolina called InterculturalCommunication Course. It will cover subjects suchas interpersonal skills, crisis management, multicul-tural teams, world view, language and culture acqui-sition and spiritual vitality. The hope of this courseis to prepare missionaries to be spiritually fit, rela-tionally mature, culturally sensitive and technicallycompetent. God is working in my character…when it was suggested by my mission that I attendthis class, I was reluctant… I thought I could teachit, not have to take it!

It is exciting to think about God’s timing! Iam so humbled and amazed to see how He is rais-ing up more people from LaFayette Alliance Churchto partner with me in my ministry to San FernandoBolivia! I want you to feel ownership of this minis-try too! So here are a few pictures in and aroundthe church (my new home) in San Fernando!!!!!

Sweetpeople inthe SanFernandoChurch.


This is the front of the church, where the “street”is. This picture was taken from the backside. I amnot sure what the cement box on the ground is.Behind the center vertical wall, and towards theback of this building (front of this picture) “myhouse” is being built. Yes, it’s under the same roof as the church. This picture was taken in September.

I am told that since this picture was taken, “myhouse” (the rooms I will live in) are nearly finished.

“My house”/ few rooms will be behind this“sanctuary” wall. These are the only churchpews.

Thank you for those who have been praying for mysupport raising and sacrificially giving!!! I hope thatevery one else at LaFayette Alliance will catch thevision for this little town in the woods of EasternBolivia and join my team of faithful supporters!Together let us encourage the local Christians inSan Fernando, Bolivia as we reach the rest of theirvillage and all of eastern Bolivia for Christ!

Thank you so much for your encouragement andsupport.

WITH JOY!

Katie Wells Joshua 1:9




Womens Discussion Group

Ladies Bible Study Volunteers Needed I am sending out a plea for help in Children’sChurch! We need workers for February, March,

April, May and June! We are flexible; you canvolunteer for 1 week, 2 weeks, or a wholemonth. I appreciate any help. Maybe you haveteens that need volunteer hours? Thanks somuch for all of you who already have helped thisyear! God Bless! Please contact Stephanie Dow if you are able to help.

Chris Buff will be leading a new Bible study,

Overcoming Fear and Discouragement (Ezra,Nehemiah, Esther) starting on Monday, Febru-ary 8th, from 7:00 –8:30 pm. If you are inter-ested and would like a book, please sign up onthe Butternut Room door. The books will beapproximately $7.

Senior Ministry LuncheonAttention all Seniors— This month we will have aluncheon on Thursday, February 4th here at church atnoon. Join us for a meal together and a great time of fellowship.

Please bring a dish to pass. Feel free to invite a friendand enjoy a relaxing, fun time.

This month we will be hearing from Pastor Brian ashe shares his thoughts on “Senior Servants.”

There will be a new womens discussiongroup focusing on a woman’s role in be-ing a complement to her husband: pri-marily in areas of marriage and family.Please sign-up on butternut room door.Books are $11. The class will start onFebruary 11th from 6:30-8:30pm. We willmeet on the second Thursday of eachmonth. If you have any questions, pleasecontact Beth Ortlieb @ (607)749-2450.

Want to Support Katie Wells?

If you wish to support Katie Wellsthrough our church, a fund has al-ready been established. Simply includeyour gift in your offering, clearly des-ignating the monies to “Katie Wells—

SAM”.

New Church OfficersWe welcome the new officers who were elected at theAnnual Meeting on January 20, 2010:

Bill Bitler, Governing Board SecretaryMike Gettman, Treasurer

Larry Petry, Financial SecretaryMarty Andrews, ElderMike Maloney, Elder

Matt Coulter, DeaconClayt Roberts Jr., Deacon

Pat Buff, TrusteeEric Reed, Trustee

Mark Johnson, TrusteeMatt Walker, Trustee

Diane Smith, Head Deaconess



ner in our relationship with each

other and more importantly with

Christ. Jody continues to inspire me

with her devotion to Christ and her

daily discipline in maintaining that

relationship. I thank God for my

precious wife. She has been both an

inspiration to me as well as the in-

strument God has chosen to confront

so much of my own natural selfish-

ness. She most definitely deserves

her due as a woman who fears the

Lord and loves her family—especially

me as her husband.

I close with these words:

“An excellent wife who can find? She

is far more precious than jewels. The

heart of her husband trusts in her,

and he will have no lack of gain. She

(Continued from page 1)

On November 9th, 1985, we were

married in Iowa. Here we are just

about 25 years later (and with four

great kids!).

Marriage is NOT easy. Bringing two

sinners together under one roof will

either aid your sanctification, or it will

tear you apart. I'm thankful that ithas been the former and not the

latter for us.

In the four pastorates we have

served, I never had to bring with me a

reluctant partner in ministry. While

Jody has always recognized my head-

ship in our home, she has done so

with vital input and as an equal part-

does him good, and not harm, all the

days of her life.” Proverbs 31:10-12

(ESV)

Thank you, Lord! Trusting You for

another 30 years with the one I love

and trust!

Pastor Rob

A Woman Who Fears the Lord

We’re on the web! www.lafayettealliance.org

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

LaFayette Christian & MissionaryAlliance Church

P.O. Box 1506069 Cherry Valley TurnpikeLaFayette, New York 13084Phone: (315) 677-9810

Rev. Robert Gates, Senior [email protected]

Brian Mandigo, Associate [email protected]

Ellen Coulter, Office [email protected]

feb 2010 lamplighter newsletter, lafayette alliance church

Documents