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Are You Ready To Die? · Bible Tract Echoes Podcast

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[SPEAKER_00]: Hey friend, welcome back to Bible Tract Echoes.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm Michael McCurray, your host.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for taking up your time and joining me right here today.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You know, Bible Tracts Incorporated We are about many things.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We're about the word of God to all the world.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We do that in a multitude of ways, but of course it's in our name.
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[SPEAKER_00]: One of the main ways we do that is through Tracts.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Now I want to tell you right now about a moving gospel tract.
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[SPEAKER_00]: One that will grab your attention.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It shares the life and legacy of a man named Sergeant James Dunkley.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He was a decorated marine and army soldier who lived with one powerful conviction.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He was this ready to die.
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[SPEAKER_00]: but realized James's courage was not rooted in pride or bravado or machismo as a boy, he had placed his trust in Christ and lived without fear of death because he knew where he would spend eternity.
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[SPEAKER_00]: His story is one of strength, sacrifice, and unshakable faith.
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[SPEAKER_00]: His story is a compelling witness for anyone, but it would be especially powerful around veterans' day.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We've redesigned this tract and included
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[SPEAKER_00]: a wonderful picture of this handsome young man.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'm going to share this gospel tract with you and we give it away for free, but I want you to hear what it says inside and maybe you're listening right now.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And you're not ready to die.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Here's what James Dunkley and his story sounds like.
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[SPEAKER_00]: His wife called him her Renaissance man.
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[SPEAKER_00]: James Dunkley was first a marine sergeant and later an army sergeant.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He was a patriot, a military man, a loving husband, a devoted father, a counselor, and a confidante young people.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He was a meddled black belt and karate, a martial arts and self defense teacher.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He loved young people, they loved him.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He brought joy and laughter wherever he went.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But death held no fear for James.
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[SPEAKER_00]: His motto was, ready to die.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But why was he unafraid of death?
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[SPEAKER_00]: The answer started with a decision.
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[SPEAKER_00]: As a boy, James memorized Romans, three, twenty-three.
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[SPEAKER_00]: For all of sinned and come short of the glory of God, one morning he came to his mother saying, I'm a sinner, and I know that I'm going to hell.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I need Jesus.
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[SPEAKER_00]: That day he repented of his sins and asked Jesus to be his Savior.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He received what God promises in Romans chapter six, verse twenty three, the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ, our Lord.
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[SPEAKER_00]: At age fourteen in Bible camp, He decided on the motto ready to die.
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[SPEAKER_00]: At age seventeen, prompted by some parents, he started a self-defense class for teens who were being bullied in school.
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[SPEAKER_00]: On the first night of the course, he told them that the only way to be a fearless fighter was to be unafraid of death and to be ready to die.
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[SPEAKER_00]: James used the biblical example of his hero King David David was a fearless warrior who was not afraid of death pain or loneliness He told him that they could be a fearless warrior like King David if they knew this secret to overcome fear as well But what was James a secret to overcoming fear Matthew ten twenty eight says and fear not them which kill the body
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[SPEAKER_00]: but are not able to kill the soul, but fear him, which is able to destroy both soul and body in hell.
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[SPEAKER_00]: James' message was what he had learned, that fear has three sources.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The fear of death.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The remedy for death, though, is salvation in Christ.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The Bible says, as we've already alluded to, the wages of sins death, but the gift of God as eternal life
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[SPEAKER_00]: who Jesus Christ our Lord.
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[SPEAKER_00]: One source of fear, the fear of death, sank in the fear of loneliness.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The remedy, though, for loneliness is the promise of God's presence.
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[SPEAKER_00]: God says, I will never leave thee nor forsake thee.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And we may boldly say, the Lord is my helper, and I will not fear what man shall do unto me, Hebrews thirteen, five and six.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Thirdly, the third source of fear, the fear of pain.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The remedy for pain is having God's strength.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength that my heart and my portion forever.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Psalm seventy-three twenty-six.
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[SPEAKER_00]: A warrior who has no fear of pain, death or loneliness is a valiant soldier, one who can go into battle on afraid because he is ready to die.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Christ is willing to give a person that source of strength.
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[SPEAKER_00]: When nine eleven happened, it changed the world in James' life.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He was nineteen.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He joined the Marine Corps of Following January.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He wanted to fight terrorism and keep his family in country safe.
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[SPEAKER_00]: In September of twenty-two, James was married.
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[SPEAKER_00]: By January of thirty he was in Iraq and shortly later in battle.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He was a Marine scout reporting on enemy positions, and he was in most of the significant firefight.
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[SPEAKER_00]: This time, he came through unscathed with his unit, receiving a special medal, the presidential unit citation.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Returning home that May, he's soon informed his family that he and his wife were expecting a baby, becoming a father excited them, but there was also sadness.
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[SPEAKER_00]: His unit would be in Afghanistan when the baby would be born in March.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But James did not make Afghanistan as he had a different and more personal battle, to fight.
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[SPEAKER_00]: His infant son was born on Christmas Day three months early, weighing only two pounds Joshua was in intensive care from his nine months.
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[SPEAKER_00]: James was able to be stationed near Joshua, so he could be there with him, helping him fight for life.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Based on God's word, James had a certainty that if Joshua had died, they would have been together again in heaven.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The certainty gave James and his wife the strength they needed
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[SPEAKER_00]: to see Joshua through his battle for life.
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[SPEAKER_00]: That Thanksgiving James penned these lines.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Besides the normal things that everyone is thankful for, I am thankful for the things that most people are not.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Rain, hurt, pain, and death.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The Lord has shown me the beauty of these things.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Until you are truly happy with the bed, you can never really appreciate and be thankful for the good.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Now James is four years and the Marines were done.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He was home with his family.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But he felt that his job as a soldier was not done.
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[SPEAKER_00]: After much consideration of prayer, he reinlisted in the army.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Once again, he was sergeant, James dunkly back in Iraq.
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[SPEAKER_00]: This time serving as a sniper, and then as a squad leader.
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[SPEAKER_00]: During Operation Beach, Yellow, the enemy opened fire, and in the ensuing firefight, James was shot through the heart.
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[SPEAKER_00]: In an instant, he stepped from the presence of the enemy into the presence of the Lord.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The men serving with him were devastated.
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[SPEAKER_00]: They said they was always calm and cool under fire, concern about its men and always used humor to break the tension.
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[SPEAKER_00]: James was prepared to be with his Lord because he was sure as eternal destination death held no fear for him.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He told his wife that if anything were to happen to him, no one was to wear a black and his funeral.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He was going to be rejoicing in heaven, and he didn't want anyone on earth sorrowing for him.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Over a thousand people came to his funeral.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The church was filled with people, young and old, military and civilian, all the people who were befriended, counseled, led, taught, and loved by them.
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[SPEAKER_00]: All of these lives were touched by a man who was ready to die.
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[SPEAKER_00]: James' purpose in serving his country's best expressed in his own words, the one thing I believe in above all else is love.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I love my Savior, my family, my freedom and my friends.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Most people of you love as a word of emotion I view love as an active commitment.
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[SPEAKER_00]: My active love is my service and the military, protecting and preserving all the things I believe in most, so that my children, family and friends can enjoy true freedom.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I've seen war first hand and have met people that have never known any of the freedoms we take for granted, and I never want that for the people I care for a most, Semper Fi.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But are you afraid?
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[SPEAKER_00]: You see, the people that wrote this gospel track say this, as the parents of this young soldier, we would like to share with you the same message we shared with our son many years ago.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You don't have to be afraid or lonely.
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[SPEAKER_00]: God loves you very much and has laid out a plan of hope.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You can be ready to die, like our son.
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[SPEAKER_00]: If you understand and accept God's message, you must start where James did, knowing your center.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Each of us has made choices that have fallen short of what God would have us to do.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Lying, cheating, stealing, anger, jealousy, and moral sexual behavior cursing God and other sinful acts all come easily to people.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Because we're sinners, and God is holy, God has to separate Himself from us.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But because of God's love for us, He created a plan to restore our relationship to Him, that plan was Jesus Christ.
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[SPEAKER_00]: He was sent to earth to die His payment for our sins, and to live again that we might have eternal life with Him.
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[SPEAKER_00]: John three, sixteen says for God's soul of the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that who, so ever believe in Him, should not perish, but have everlasting life.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Now that our sins are paid for by Christ's death and resurrection, what we have to do is believe.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Believe what Christ did for us was real.
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[SPEAKER_00]: In my faith, accept His amazing gift of love, a gift given to us by Jesus Christ.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Tell Him that you want Him to change your sinful ways.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The Bible says in Ephesians two, eight and nine, for by grace are ye save through faith, and that not of yourselves it is the gift of God, not of works, less any man should boast.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We know that we will see our Son again in heaven, but we want to see you there also.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You can receive Jesus Christ as your Savior and be forgiven right now.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You can do this by turning your back on your sinful ways in placing your faith in Jesus and the sin payment he made for you when he died on Calvary's cross.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Christ conquered death, pain and loneliness so you could conquer the fear of them and have eternal life.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You can talk to God right now.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You can tell him in your own words that you know you don't meet his standard of holiness.
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[SPEAKER_00]: that you're sorry for all the wrong things you've done and that you want to follow him.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Ask him to forgive you.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Tell him that you believe Jesus is God and thank Him for paying the penalty for your sin by spilling his blood on the cross.
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[SPEAKER_00]: By dying and living again, Jesus conquered death so that you too could conquer death.
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[SPEAKER_00]: If you're willing to ask God's forgiveness, you've accepted His payment for your sin.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You're now a member of God's family.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You may ask what's the next step?
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[SPEAKER_00]: How does this a decision to accept Christ's offering effect to me?
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[SPEAKER_00]: You're now a child of God.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You're freed from the power of sin to take you to hell, and now you can serve God with all of your being.
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[SPEAKER_00]: How do you serve God?
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[SPEAKER_00]: Learn his Bible.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Understand it, apply it to your life.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It's our instruction manual for living.
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[SPEAKER_00]: As a scripture says, and that He, meaning Christ died for all, that they which live should not henceforth live unto themselves, but unto Him which died for them and rose again, therefore of any man being Christ, He is a new creature.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Old things are passed away.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Behold all things are become new.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Friend, if you're listening right now and you'd like to order this track, wonderful.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You can do so on our website, bibletracksink.org.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But if you're listening right now and you don't know Christ is your savior, or maybe you just pray to prayer.
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[SPEAKER_00]: And you accepted Christ.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I want to welcome you to God's family.
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[SPEAKER_00]: But maybe you have more questions.
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[SPEAKER_00]: I'd love to hear from you.
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[SPEAKER_00]: You can text me at three, zero, nine, three, one, six, seven, two, four, zero.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Again, that's three, zero, nine, three, one, six, seven, two, four, zero.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Thank you so much for listening to this edition of Bible Track Deck.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Those were please, please, don't go anywhere without making a decision.
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[SPEAKER_00]: The decision to follow Christ becomes child or decision to use gospel tracks.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We have just a short time before a veteran's day.
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[SPEAKER_00]: It would be a great time right now to go to our website order.
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[SPEAKER_00]: This track titled Ready to Die.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Do so today Bible Traxxing Done.
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[SPEAKER_00]: As we sign off, let me encourage you, come to our open house, October, fourth of this year Saturday, October, fourth, go to our website, babaltrexink.org.
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[SPEAKER_00]: For more information, if you'd like to text me for more info, text me, three, zero, nine, three, one, six, seven, two, four, zero.
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[SPEAKER_00]: We'll talk to you next week here on Bible Check, Echoes, thanks for listening.
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[SPEAKER_00]: Have a great day for his glory.
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[UNKNOWN]: Thank you.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Thank you for tuning in to Bible Tract Echoes, the radio ministry of Bible Tracts Incorporated.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Want to see our gospel tracks and other resources?
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[SPEAKER_01]: Visit us online at BibleTracksInk.org.
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[SPEAKER_01]: That's BibleTracksInk.org or follow us on social media to learn how you can partner with this ministry.
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[SPEAKER_01]: Thanks again for listening.
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[SPEAKER_01]: May the Lord richly bless you as you live for him.