July 1999July 1999
GONE FISHING, AGAIN...
"The kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away. This is how it will be at the end of the age. The angels will come and separate the wicked from the righteous and throw them into the fiery furnace, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth."
(Matthew 13:47-50)
YOU KNOW, THE WORLD IS REALLY A "FISHERMAN'S PARADISE"
It was still dark, almost two hours still dark. "I'm going fishing, honey. See you tonight." I kissed Cindy's sleeping lips and was quickly out the door, then across the yard to the bayou. In my mind it seemed like all one motion from rolling out of bed to zipping down the bayou in my outboard. Five minutes later, I woke up again, this time in the middle of several crab boats, shrimping skiffs, and oyster flats, all scurrying to escape civilization at the lower end of the bayou. Men shouted loudly over the noise of engines, all eager to get away to the vast expanses of coastal marsh and bays where they and their ancestors before them have made their living.
Weaving my way through the crowd of slower fishing boats, I was soon out in front and again skimming down the winding bayou toward the Gulf of Mexico. Another fifteen minutes and I could smell breakfast cooking at camps and on shrimp trawlers as I passed Mud Lake. Soon, I made the turn out of the bayou and into Grand Pass towards Lake Mechante. I spotted the boat I was looking for, noted its direction, and calculated where I thought it would be in about two hours... just about the time for picking up the nets after the first "drag" of the day.
I turned back through Grand Pass, and scatted across Sister Lake toward Big Bayou DuLarge. With the Gulf in sight I slowed, then cut the engine, and drifted into a little bayou, a small "cut" coming out of the marsh. I let the boat quietly drift against the reeds. With the sun just peeping up over a thousand square miles of saltwater marsh, I sat back to consider the unusual beauty of the marsh, the vastness of this land that is not exactly "land," the unique lifestyle of our bayou people... and the eternal lostness of just about every person I had passed on my way out. I considered that of the thousands of people working and living along the bayou... from just south of Houma, to the little old mission church building, and then on to the last settlement... I knew of hardly a handful of genuine followers of Christ. My mind drifted in prayer and to thinking about the possibilities of actually reaching the often reclusive people of Bayou DuLarge.
A redfish splashed after minnows just in front of my boat, waking me from my thoughts. About an hour and a half later I was headed back toward Lake Mechante with several specks and a few nice "reds" in my ice chest. I had packed all my fishing equipment the night before... rod and reel, bait, ice chest, Bible... but I had forgotten to bring something for breakfast. "No big deal out here," I thought to myself as I navigated back through Grand Pass.
As I again entered the huge salt-water lake, I scanned the horizon, and sure enough, there was Gary Lirette's little trawl boat about three or four miles away. Even from this distance I knew from the seagulls diving behind his boat that Gary had already picked up his nets and was "picking" his catch of shrimp, sorting out the thousands of little crabs and "trash fish" that get caught in the net along with the shrimp. Seagulls have a lot of easy meals during shrimp season.
In a few minutes I was tied up alongside, and yep, there was a big pile of shrimp and "trash fish" dumped all over the front deck of the boat. Crabs of all sizes scampered everywhere, looking for safety. I hardly knew Gary, but he was friendly enough. His blue eyes smiled through the smoke of his smoldering cigar stub. The diesel engine of the boat was so loud that we both had to holler just to be heard. Gesturing toward the coffee with his three-fingered hand, Gary gave me a half-full can of Vienna sausage, and then went back to picking shrimp on the deck. I sat back in the cabin eating "breakfast," secretly praying, asking God for some opening, some way to start up a conversation about Jesus, even over the loud engine noise. The diesel exhaust began to make my eyes burn.
Of course, Gary knew that I was the Baptist "preacher," but we had hardly met. He had grown up down the bayou and, just like his ancestors, he was a peaceable, religious person, believing in the sacraments of his religion for a hope of Heaven. Gary was ten years older than me.
I went out on the deck and sat down on a little stool to help. As I began to help pick out the dead "trash fish," it occurred to me that this was really a lot like the passage of Scripture where Jesus said that the Kingdom of God is like a fisherman who catches both usable and
"Yes!" I said. "And that's the way
it's going to be when Jesus comes back. The dead will come back to life, some to eternal
life, others to eternal death." |
This all began in the spring of 1984, not long after Cindy and I came to Bayou DuLarge. Gary is now married and is a faithful leader in our church, one of the "anchors." His wife teaches a Sunday School class of young children. Some of Gary's family members have trusted Christ, and one of his first-cousins is also a leader in the church. I may have told you about Gary Lirette before; I don't remember, but this is just one part of the story of Bayou DuLarge. There are many more folks like Gary here. We've reached a few, but so many others need the Lord. These we are reaching out to with our witness for Christ. Please pray that our people will be bold in witnessing, even within their extended families where there is often misunderstanding and sometimes opposition to a Christian witness.
Please pray about this... And also, dear friends, please pray that our situation with our building will be properly straightened out. Pray that this hindrance to our people's witness will be taken away, and that we can again have a right relationship with our former sponsoring church, our association of churches, and the LBC. It has been over four years now that this situation has hampered our witness to many people here on our bayou. Please pray that God will intervene and that we can go back to life here without this constant obstruction to the work of reaching our people. It is long overdue for men to set aside whatever grudges they may hold against our people.As a "mission-type church," we are not allowed a vote in the LBC, and we are apparently unable to effect any change on our own (except for by legal means, which Scripture instructs us not to do - 1Corinthians 6:1-11). Our "denominational servants" have apparently reinterpreted our official LBC missions policies and historic practices to the point that even as a Southern Baptist congregation, we have no rights to our own property and designated funds. If this is so in our case, then it is also true in others... any LBC mission church congregation in this state may now have their own designated funds, property, and building confiscated by their sponsoring church. And according to what has happened to us, the LBC Missions Department and Executive Director will not intervene to even state that this totally contradicts official LBC missions policies.
My friends, all of this CAN be corrected, this can all be healed. It only takes LBC executives to just stop withholding the truth about what has happened and about what LBC policies clearly state. I don't want to be unreasonable about this at all, but these men are paid with our gifts to the Cooperative Program through the LBC. I don't think it is improper for our people to expect LBC executives to uphold OFFICIAL LBC POLICIES and historic practices and agreements. I don't think it unreasonable for our people to expect LBC executives to operate with Christian integrity and compassion and fairness. There is far, FAR MORE at stake here than just our building. There are at least two areas of grave concern...
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Secondly, our people are suffering the destruction of their witness as Baptist Christians on this bayou. This is because of the way that this situation has been and continues to be handled by men in positions of responsibility. Our bayou people need the Lord; they do not need to be
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The solution to this situation that has been suggested by LBC executive leaders goes something like this:
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We are only interested in the TRUTH. Our people just can't figure out why this is so out-of-the-question to other Baptists who are in positions of leadership and authority. We have clearly stated that if the truth reveals we are wrong about something we have said or done, then we will try to do whatever is necessary to satisfy those offended. We do not presume perfection! But no one has shown us any evidence of our having done anything contrary to LBC policies. All we have been offered is that if we will admit to being wrong overall, get rid of our pastor, give up our claim to our building and designated funds, stop telling the truth about what has happened, and submit to dictatorial rule from outside of this congregation, then we "might" be able to get our building back. How biblical is that? What does this approach have to do with historic Baptist voluntary cooperation? What church in Louisiana would go along with the pastor of another Baptist church angrily threatening to arrest anyone who resisted his efforts to take over their church? This is EXACTLY what has happened to our congregation, yet because we are a vulnerable mission-type church, this is supported by LBC executives!
In this picture taken on June 25, you can see
weeds growing in our empty parking lot and outside baptistery. Today, July 21, is the
first time the grass has been mowed in over a year. |
Missionary Family News...
Well! This is definitely an interesting time for our family. Jeremy is home from Mexico, and he brought his fiancé, Elienai, with him. They will be married on July 31, and of course, you are invited! We are delighted with Elienai (we call her "Nena"). She is a precious and dedicated Christian young lady. Cindy is all excited about the wedding, just doing the mother sort of thing, I suppose. I try to stay out of the way.Joshua is doing well with getting his sawmill business going when he is not working offshore, and Jeremy has been helping him some for the past couple of weeks. Joseph's eye surgery went very well, but has not had his foot surgeries yet. Cindy has been up and down physically; that's just normal for her. The insurance company did not approve her surgery, so she continues to need a lot of pain medication 24 hours a day.
Our early garden really produced well. We put up lots of vegetables and gave away much more. We have begun a little family orchard with oranges, lemons, kumquats, grapes, and peaches. We have been able to put up plenty of seafood.
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Mission and Church News...
Our first Contenders Conference was held on March 30-31. We were blessed to hear great messages from former Roman Catholic priest, Richard Bennett; Director of Proclaiming the Gospel Ministries, Mike Gendron; and all the way from Belfast, Northern Ireland, the Director of Take Heed Ministries, Cecil Andrews. We are already planning our next Contenders Conference as well as another Bible Conference for later this year. And we are actively involved in encouraging and assisting other churches in planning and conducting similar meetings. A planning booklet is available called "Conducting a Bible Conference in Your Church." Call us; it's free!We continue meeting in homes for worship and Bible Study. Although some folks do consider us foolish because we refuse to compromise what we know to be right, other people are being challenged to consider the importance of the purity of the Gospel and obedience to God's Word. God is faithful, and He is growing His church here, not only in spite of but in many ways because of the troubles we have been going through.
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SBC News...
I was able to attend the recent SBC annual convention in Atlanta. I am not really a crowd person and have never liked going to conventions of any sort. This was only the second time I have ever registered as a messenger to the SBC. No one challenged the validity of our church's privilege to send an official messenger. I had the necessary credentials of our church having contributed to the Cooperative Program this past year (and every other year, too). In the first business session I walked up to the microphone and presented a motion that was seconded and then referred to the SBC Executive Committee. From what I gather, they are supposed to deal with this motion over the next year and report to the convention at next year's annual meeting in Orlando. I will attach a copy of that motion for you to read. In effect, this motion instructs the Executive Committee to investigate any involvements of SBC agencies and employees who have been using Cooperative Program funds in ecumenical ventures.If the Executive Committee thoroughly studies and reports on this matter, I believe that this could have a great impact on correcting some serious problems and rightly dealing with ecumenism within the SBC. For over four years we have been supplying information on this issue to several SBC leaders and Executive Committee members.
OK, here is the motion I made at the Convention...
I move that the Executive Committee of the Southern Baptist Convention be commissioned, according to the Bylaws of the Convention, to study and make recommendations regarding the expenditure of Cooperative Program funds or assets as pertains to any SBC supported employee's, entity's, or agency's cooperative involvements with organizations which include participating individuals, groups, denominations, or conventions whose professed beliefs are in conflict with or could "risk possible compromise of the historic distinctives or the unique witness of Southern Baptists to the world," particularly as expressed in Resolution #13, "ON SOUTHERN BAPTISTS AND ECUMENISM," from the 1996 SBC convention in New Orleans, Louisiana.
Submitted by:
Jerry Moser, messenger, Bayou DuLarge Baptist Mission Church
ECT News...ECT has become an international scandal within evangelical circles. There is now an ECT-Ireland, drawn up on the foundation of the heretical ECT-I and ECT-II documents and endorsed by more than 120 evangelical and Roman Catholic leaders. Another ECT group is forming in South America with a recent formal meeting in Ecuador to draft a foundational document, again guided by the ECT in the U.S. According to the ECT's authors, the Vatican has given guidance to the ongoing ecumenical work of the ECT through Cardinal Edward Idris Cassidy, the Pope's leading ecumenical strategist.
"ECT+5; A Biblical Response"
was the theme of the annual meeting of the ExCatholics For Christ organization, held March 26-27 in Dallas, Texas. The focus of the meeting was to confront the ECT and call for public repentance by each of its evangelical endorsers, including four prominent Southern Baptists. Cindy and I attended the conference. It was a somber but encouraging time, and all boiled down to the same biblical action that our church took on February 10, 1995... for which we were evicted from our home and our congregation was disassociated and locked out of their own building by our former sponsoring church.Just before the conference, I communicated with Dr. Richard Land and Dr. Larry Lewis. On behalf of the conference leadership, I asked them to defend their endorsement of the ECT. They each declined in no uncertain terms. Baptist Press and the LBC's Baptist Message reported on Dr. Patterson's response to ECT+5, my response to Dr. Patterson, and also on part of my exchange with Dr. Land, who is president of the SBC's Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission. (Rather ironic, don't you think? I mean, ETHICS... what is ethical about the way these men have handled their responsibility for this situation?).
One thing that Dr. Paige Patterson had to say about the ECT+5; A Biblical Response conference's call for repentance by ECT endorsers was that... "Repentance is the appropriate response to sin." AMEN TO THAT! BUT then Dr. Patterson went on to say... "On the other hand, those who demand repentance on the part of leaders who signed ECT are misguided. ...ECT+5 conferees have confused the issues of sin and cerebral judgment." In defense of ECT endorsers, Dr. Patterson said that endorsing the ECT was "in my judgement, an error, but not a sin demanding repentance." (emphasis added)
Yikes, a new document ! ! !
Believe it or not, another document (not created by the ECT consortium) has been published called "The Gospel of Jesus Christ; An Evangelical Celebration (EC)." Although this is a good re-statement of the Gospel, the document is signed by 15 of the 20 evangelicals involved in ECT. This creates a HUGE contradiction, since the ECT clearly promotes the sacramental system of Roman Catholicism as a form of true biblical discipleship, while the EC actually denies the validity of sacramentalism. What's going on here? Well, one of the key drafters of this new document revealed his underlying motivation... the EC was developed for the purpose of healing the wound that ECT created in what he termed "the evangelical church." Thus, the EC provides a means by which ECT endorsers may circumvent the biblical mandate for them to publicly REPENT for their promotion of the perverted doctrines of the ECT. The fact is that none of the ECT endorsers have repented and many are closely involved in creating yet another heretical ECT document (because it too will be founded upon the original ECT statement). WOW!
About this new EC document, Dr. Albert Mohler, President of Southern Baptist Seminary, had this to say...
"I did not sign the (EC) document because I am concerned that evangelicalism is now confused by the existence of several statements purporting to deal with the gospel...." The confusion "is the direct result... of the ECT statements and related public controversy." "I believe that the ECT statements effectively confused the nature of the gospel...." AMEN TO THAT TOO!
Yes sir-eee, sports fans... things have definitely been "interesting"!!!
Quotes Regarding ECT...
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| So, how do we keep going?Our spiritual policy is really very simple... we
trust the Lord. Our financial policy is closely associated; we operate as the Lord
provides resources. We do not solicit funds from the public, and we do not sell anything.
Through the generous donations of church members here and other supporters who give as the
Lord leads them, we are able to continue in the mission work and ministries that the Lord
has entrusted to this church. We do not relate specific financial needs unless someone
requests that information. We send out a "NeedsLetter" periodically to those who
specifically request to be on that mailing list.
We maintain no operating reserve. We do not borrow money, thus, we are able to put everything the Lord gives to us directly into supporting genuine ministry. As we have resources, we are able to send out publications, assist with conferences, travel to denominational meetings, etc. We like to take every opportunity to say "thank you" to all those who faithfully support the work that the Lord has entrusted to us. This work begins with evangelism and discipleship here on this mission field, and extends literally around the world through informative publications and our website on the World Wide Web. Among those who endorse this ministry are churches, pastors and other individuals, Bible study and Sunday School classes, SBC and LBC leaders, and others. We will be glad to send you a list of references. If you have questions or wish to know about specific needs, please write or call. |
OUR READERS WRITE... Louisiana pastorI was pastoring in Alabama when the ECT controversy first came to light, and I was not familiar with Catholic controversies until I came to pastor in New Iberia where the Catholics are prolific and lost. Add me to your newsletter list. Belfast, Northern Ireland Greetings in the name of the Lord. You have a great website. It is good to see people like you exposing the ECT document. Keep up the good work. Louisiana pastor Thank you for sending us your newsletter. I agree with you on your stand against ecumenism. It appears that charismatic inroads have been plowed and paved for the sake of numbers. I'm with you brother! Toronto, Canada Praise God for raising workers to witness to His Truth. May the Lord bless you and strengthen you. SBC leader What a mess!!!! I'm following everything you pass along. Keep up the good work. I regret that you are bearing so much of the frontal assault alone at this time. |
See if you can you find the leader who is teaching false doctrine...
Adrian Rogers, SBC Leader, 1996
"It is better to be divided by truth than to be united in error. It is better to speak the truth that hurts and then heals, than falsehood that comforts and then kills. Let me tell you something, Friend, it is not love and it is not friendship if we fail to declare the whole counsel of God. It is better to be hated for telling the truth, than to be loved for telling a lie. It is impossible to find anyone in the Bible who was a power for God who did not have enemies and was not hated. It's better to stand alone with the truth, than to be wrong with a multitude It is better to ultimately succeed with truth than to temporarily succeed with a lie. There is only one Gospel and Paul said, "If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed."
Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ, c. 65 AD
Beloved, when I gave all diligence to write unto you of the common salvation, it was needful for me to write unto you, and exhort you that ye should earnestly contend for the faith which was once delivered unto the saints.
Karol Wojtyla, the present Roman pope, January 1999
"...only in the Catholic Church is found the fullness of the means of salvation established by Jesus Christ (the sacramental system).... Our Lady of Guadalupe, Mother of America, pray for us!"
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BAYOU DuLARGE BAPTIST MISSION CHURCH 2567 Bayou DuLarge Road, Theriot, LA, 70397 Jerry Moser, pastor |
| jovm@cajun.net | www.pinn.com/ect |
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ECT endorser Larry Lewis (still an employee of the
SBC)