Thanks for your prayers and for visiting,
Bro. Tracy
I will be preaching at Providence Baptist Church this Sunday and would appreciate your prayers. It is our home church and I always look forward to preaching at home. Please continue to pray for a Call to the World Ministry. God has been bringing many to the web site and has opened many doors in the preaching of His Word! Praise the Lord!! Thanks for your prayers and for visiting, Bro. Tracy
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“Moreover, brethren, I declare unto you the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye have received, and wherein ye stand…For I delivered unto you first of all that which I also received, how that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures; And that he was buried, and that he rose again the third day according to the scriptures: And that he was seen of Cephas, then of the twelve: After that, he was seen of above five hundred brethren at once; of whom the greater part remain unto this present, but some are fallen asleep.” 1 Corinthians 15:1, 3,4,5,6 Simply put, what you have just read is the Gospel! If someone was to ask you what the Gospel is you can lead them to this wonderful section of scripture. Take some time today to meditate on this powerful truth and allow yourself a quiet moment to thank God for making it so plain and easy to understand. Don’t miss four very important words from our verses, “According to the scriptures” “For the Son of man is come to seek and to save that which was lost.” Luke 19:10 Picture yourself in a deep dark forest. The underbrush is thick making each step a challenge. The trees are massive in height and width, their limbs act as a canopy blocking the sunlight. Day after day after day you have labored trying to find your way out. You are heavy laden and burdened and your soul is restless. You are weary from the darkness and the weight of every plan that you devise to save yourself ending in futility. You are thirsty and your hunger runs deep into the very depths of your soul. You begin to cry out, “Help, I am lost”. Again, with a strained voice, you implore, “Help me I cannot find the way.” Unbeknownst to you, there was one who was sent and he hears your cries. He tells you, “Follow me I know the way.” And so, you turn from the direction you were going and you trust in the one who heard your cry. His way is easy and it leads you out of the darkness of the forest and into the light. Jesus Christ is the seeker and the Saviour. Jesus Christ is, “The way, the truth and the life: no man cometh to the Father, but by me” (John 14:6.) Jesus Christ is the light, “Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life” (John 8:12.) Spiritually speaking, man is like the lost one in the forest we just read about. Without Jesus Christ as your Saviour, everyone is dead in their trespasses and sins; they are in darkness. Life is not life until one is born again. Life is not life until Jesus is the Lord of your life. Praise God that He sent His Son, the Seeker and the Saviour. Because of the victory won by and thru Christ our words can echo those found in I Corinthians 15:55, “O death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Praise God for that! “But now the righteousness of God without the law is manifested, being witnessed by the law and the prophets; Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all that believe: for there is no difference: for all have sinned and come short of the glory of God” Romans 3:21-23 Many often say, “I can’t come to God until I clean myself up” or they say “I can never be good enough to go to heaven, so I am not going to try.” In my own life I remember asking myself, “Who can ever be good enough to get to heaven?” The answer is that no one on their own is ever able to get themselves saved and into heaven. There is something about man and our can do attitude which is a good attitude to have as long as it is not applied to the saving of our souls. We learn from our verses that only in Christ can anyone be declared righteous. Paul writes, “Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all that believe.” Too many times people want to brag and boast of their righteousness. It gives off a sickening smell that cannot be missed. Isaiah 64:6 teaches us “But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousness are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities like the wind, have taken us away.” Paul wrote in regard to the righteousness of any, “Where is boasting then? It is excluded. By what law? Of works? Nay: but by the law of faith. Therefore we conclude that a man is justified by faith (emphasis mine) without the deeds of the law” (Romans 3:27-28). I have met sinners and saints alike who think so highly of themselves that they constantly suffer from altitude sickness. The sinner needs to be saved and the saint will eventually be taught a tough, but loving lesson from God. No one has a right to brag or boast when it comes to being justified it is made possible only when we place our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ that we are declared righteous. No boasting-No bragging- Just praising the God of heaven for His redemptive plan offered to whosoever through the Saviour the Lord Jesus Christ. We need to get our heads out of the clouds and our faces on the ground in reverence and thanksgiving for the mercy and grace of God. Elias was a man subject to like passions as we are, and he prayed earnestly that it might not rain : and it rained not on the earth by the space of three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth brought forth her fruit. James 5:17-18 One can know true purpose when the set themselves to being a man or woman of prayer. A life of prayer will be a life of love fueled with the desire to come up close to the Lord in the prayer closet while straining and contending on the behalf of another. A life of prayer will be a life of labor that brings riches beyond that of monetary gain and earthly fortune. The ground will be fertile beneath you from your tears and sweat. The fragrance from such a life will be as the sweet smell of honeysuckle rising through the air on a summer morning. A life of prayer will be filled with passion and substance. Such a life will not be lived out in the presence of man, but in the secret place before the Almighty. Ones steps will be bold in Christ Jesus for He made the way on Calvary’s dark hill that enables us to come. The barrier was broken through His precious blood and the violent victory that He won on the cross. Come now to the throne! Come now to the Father! Come now! “Blessed is the man that walketh not in counsel of the ungodly, nor standeth in the way of sinners, nor sitteth in the seat of the scornful.” Psalm 1:1 Who will you follow or better yet what will you follow? In this world of quick schemes that promise much, but in due time, will often lead the believer away from a Christ centered life we must be sober and on guard. Our verse today is far better than any self-help book or cheap advice that is often given out by the newspaper or internet. I am amazed at how many watch or read and take the advice from a well-known personality instead of going to the tried and true source of truth and wisdom-The Word of God! I am saddened by the lackadaisical approach that many in the body of Christ take when it comes to Biblical truth versus worldly ways. It is and always has been about the choices that we make. God's word often times gives us examples and illustrations of two different roads or two different paths, and teaches us what we can expect to find on those roads and paths that we choose to take. My friend, the house is only as strong as the foundation that it is built upon, and so it is in the life of a Christian. When we choose to follow and obey the commandments of the Lord, our lives will be built on bedrock and not a sand pile. We must ask ourselves who is it that I am walking with and in doing so where will it lead me. We also must consider who we are standing with and do we stand for the things that they stand for? Our text speaks of not standing in the way of sinners, yet we must remember that we are to be a light in this dark and lost world, so we don’t want to sequester ourselves away from the world. We must not take ourselves out of the world, but we should be Christ like so we can share the wonderful Gospel to the world. Jesus didn’t walk the path of sin in hope that a soul would be saved. Dear Christian where you walk, where you stand and where you sit will have a mighty impact on the body of Christ. You will either bring glory to God or shame. Our choices not only affect us but those who are close to us and those who God brings in to our lives. Choose wisely this day who you will follow. “For the preaching of the cross is to them that perish foolishness; but unto us which are saved it is the power of God.” I Corinthians 1: 18 I recently read, “Winston Churchill paid a great tribute to the young men in the Royal Air Force who guarded England during the war, saying, “Never in the history of mankind have so many owed so much too so few.” I also read that the Battle of Bastogne represents one of the bloodiest actions in World War II. A monument there pays tribute to the heroism of the US 101st Airborne Division: “Seldom has so much American blood been shed in the course of a single action. Oh, Lord, help us to remember!” But when thinking of the cross of Christ, we can say: “Never in the history of the universe has mankind owed so much to One.” Upon the cross was won the greatest victory ever. The power of God, through the blood of Christ, is still sufficient to save the most violent, vile and sinful person at this very moment. There is no sin that is out of reach of the blood of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Bible says these glorious words, “And you hath he quickened, who were dead in trespasses and sins” (Ephesians 2:1). Those words should ring through our hearts forever more, as a reminder of who we once were and who we are and where we stand today in Christ Jesus. If I may say- there are times when tears of joy flood my face when I think of being saved. I celebrate the Saviour! O the preciousness and the power of the One! I am certain there will be many who will read this that have been saved many more years than me. With that said it has never gotten old to me! The joy is like a candle that never finds its end! I praise God and lift His Mighty name! Many good men and women have done many wonderful things for their fellow man that has been celebrated down through the ages and I in no way am I minimizing those wonderful things, but there has never been such an act of sacrifice and obedience as that which our precious Saviour accomplished in His finished work on the cross. So much is truly owed to One! I pray that you squeeze every ounce out of every minute, out of every second, out of every moment and every day for the cause of Christ. Be filled with the Holy Spirit while feeding on God's Word. Be still and know that God is God. Seek His face, seek His direction and seek His will for your life. Hunger and thirst after righteousness and look to do good in a world full of evil and hurting people. Pray while believing and believe while praying. I pray fervently that you will desire to make your life count for the Lord Jesus Christ. In all things give thanks. Paul said, "I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus" (Philippians 2:14.) Make God's purpose your purpose and you will live a life of purpose. Build and root your life in the Words and the life of the Lord Jesus Christ and your life will be built and rooted on a solid rock and not upon the shifting sand of the flesh, the world and the devil. Proclaim, promote and present the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Accumulate over the course of your life a legacy that points directly to the God of Heaven and in doing so God will be glorified and you will be minimized and many will be reached with the glorious Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to thank all of you who come to this website! Thank you for your prayers and your kind comments. May God be glorified in all that is said and done through A Call to the World Ministries! Thanks for Visiting, Bro. Tracy Killinger “By grace are you saved, through faith” Ephesians 2:8 Charles Spurgeon wrote: “Know the Gospel. Know what the Good News is and how it talks of free forgiveness, of change of heart, of adoption into the family of God, and of countless other blessings. Especially know Christ Jesus the Son of God, the Saviour of men, united to us by His human nature and yet one with God. And thus the He was able to lay His hand on both be the connecting link between the sinner and the Judge of all the earth. Endeavor especially to know more and more of Christ Jesus. Endeavor especially to know the doctrine of the sacrifice of Christ, for the main point which addresses saving faith itself is this: “God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself, not imputing their trespasses unto them” (2 Corinthians 5:19). Know that Jesus was” made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree” (Galatians 3:13). Drink deep of the doctrine of the substitutionary work of Christ, for therein lies the sweetest possible comfort to the guilty sons of men, since the Lord, “made Him to be sin for us…that we might be made the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians 5:21). Faith begins with knowledge.” Saving faith is not a shot in the dark. It is not hope based on hope, but it is hope based on knowledge and that knowledge is the Word of God. We should be able to communicate why it is we believe that we are saved. Too many people are a question mark when they should be an exclamation mark. What joy is there in the life of one who says they hope they are saved? Why would any one of us share the Gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ if we walk around in fear of our own future destination? My friend it was nailed on the cross and can be nailed down in our own lives. “Faith begins with knowledge.” If you have no assurance of salvation click on the “Decision and Destiny” page and based on God’s word you will have true knowledge of salvation. If you are saved be an exclamation mark and share the Gospel! My son, if sinners entice thee, consent thou not. Proverbs 1:10 The company you keep will in time corrupt the character you possess if the company you keep possess a corrupt character. It doesn't matter how old you are or how long you have been saved you must choose wisely the company that you keep. What choices have you made lately? |
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