... Study Bible Resources for Living in God's Covenant, Celebrating God's Feasts,
and Growing to Maturity in the Kingdom of God
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About Pastor Tom Marxen
If I had to choose a scripture that defines my life and the nature of my Christian ministry, this would be the one...
Amos 7:14-16
Then Amos said to Amaziah, I was no prophet [by profession]! Neither was I a prophet's son; [but I had my occupation] I was a herdsman and a dresser of sycamore trees and a gatherer of sycamore figs.
And the Lord took me as I followed the flock and the Lord said to me, Go, prophesy to My people Israel .
Now therefore listen to the word of the Lord: .....AMP
I have been employed as worker, manager, and grower in fruit orchards for over 30 years. I've worked on several farms in Pennsylvania and Minnesota working at each farm for 3-8 years at a time. One gets to know every tree on the farm and becomes intimately familiar with many aspects of the land specific to the place where you are set to work. Pastoring (or shepherding) is similar in all aspects except that you become intimate with people's hearts and the land of their life.
Only recently, has it become apparent to me that the Lord has been teaching me and preparing me for the work I have begun to do at and with His Present Glory Church Fellowship. As the scripture in Amos says, (to paraphase), I am a keeper of fruit trees, I have not been raised or trained as a "christian minister" through seminary study or career choice, but the Lord has raised me up according to His plan, taught me some lessons about living and raising Good Fruit and set me over some in a small flock to care for and raise up into their own maturity and fruitfulness.
Fruit is produced not for the benefit of the producer - either trees or individuals, but rather fruit is produced for the benefit of feeding others and reproducing new plants capable of producing yet even more fruit for food.
The purpose of this website is to make available some of the lessons, perceptions, and treasures the Lord has given to me over the years. The perspective and focus of Your-Study-Bible-Online website is on the Covenant relationship of life in the Kingdom of God. The Bible is the book of the Covenant and it must be seen and understood from this perspective if it is to make sense to us. I am also developing a personal website @ www.fruitfulland.org and www.true-identity-theft.org where I will be posting more Christian teaching articles and resources outside of the prespective of covenant relationship.
I also offer many books and resources that I have found valuable and interesting on my websites.
The Lord has given me a particular love for the people of Israel and those we call "Jewish". I have an understanding of the reconciliaton of the two houses of Israel and I love to celebrate the three seasonal "Feasts of the LORD" . The Old Testament is not "old" and outdated to me, but it is rich with vibrant pictures of our lives and the condition of our hearts, our strengths, weaknesses and the unsurpassed lovingkindness, justice, and ever burning Love of God that continually saves, corrects, and heals us.
The scripture from Amos also says to "Go prophecy to my people Israel".
" Israel" means not only "Christian believers" and/or "Jewish people" but it also includes all those alive in the world that may still be "strangers to the covenants of promise" (Eph 2:12-14) in other words, everybody. After all the Bible says that Jesus died a substitutionary death for the "sins of the whole world (1John 2.2)" so everyone is included.
"Prophecy" is simply speaking God's own words out of your mouth. It is not about fortune or future telling, but rather about speaking the living Truth. The same powerful life giving truth the God began to speak at Creation as recorded in Genesis. He is still speaking today through a people born of His Spirit and created for just exactly this work.
Much of the Truth I have to share comes from my knowledge of the earth and how it produces good food. This is all a picture and an example of the operation of the Spirit of God in our hearts and our lives after we have been born from above and exchanged our carnal life for the Life of Christ. The Land of the Lord is a good Land and it produces the Fruit of the Spirit - Our hearts born from the Spirit are born of the seed of the Lord Jesus Christ and they are good. Seed produces after its own kind - always.
The Good Land is us, born again believers in the Lord Jesus Christ and we are His Fruitful Land - Jewish believer, Gentile believer, and the Stranger yet to be connected to the Covenants and Promises of God.
Gal 5:22-23 the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control. Against such things there is no law. (NIV)
If God has no law restricting these things in us, what is the problem? - perhaps there is an enemy at work hidden in pockets of darkness and death, or perhaps we have not yet fully realized WHO WE ARE in Christ.
Search the pages, links and information offered here and proceed further into Life and Liberty than perhaps you thought possible. After all, there is no law against these things!
Shalom, Tom Marxen
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Statement of Faith
We believe that the Holy Bible is the inspired, infallible, and authoritative source and foundation of Christian doctrine and precept, and that it is, indeed, the supernatural and powerful Word of God that is our necessary and perfect weapon of warfare
We believe that there is one God, eternally existent in three persons, who operate as The Perfect Family Unit: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. We believe that as Colossians 2:9 says, the fullness of The Godhead bodily dwelleth in The Lord.
We believe that man was created in the image of God, but as a result of sin is lost and powerless to save himself.
The person who physically dies in his sins without the operation of consecration and sanctification that results from accepting and turning our hearts and lives over to the Lord will be eternally lost. Yielding to His power separates us from those things, spirits, and behaviors that are not of God and which cannot enter into the Kingdom. Without this separation through Christ, a person is fused and bonded to these ungodly spirits and must go with them into the destiny that is prepared for the devil and his angels. (Matthew 25:41)
If someone is not separated from these ungodly spirits, which is a matter of knowing your true identity in Christ, you must go where these spirits will go. You will be hopelessly and eternally lost in the lake of fire where there is no further opportunity of hearing the Gospel or repentance. The lake of fire is real. The terms "eternal" and "everlasting" used in describing the duration of the punishment of the damned in the lake of fire carry the same thought and meaning of endless existence as used in noting the duration of joy and ecstasy of the saints in the presence of God. (Hebrews 9:27; Revelation 19:20; Revelation 20:15)
Man is a created being, made in the likeness and image of God. But through Adam's transgression and fall, sin came into the world. The Bible tells us in Romans 3:23 that "All have sinned and come short of the glory of God." In Romans 3:10 it says, "As it is written, there is none righteous, no not one." Jesus Christ, the Son of God, was manifested to undo the work of the devil, and He gave His life and shed His blood to redeem and restore man back to God. (Romans 5:12; Romans 3:23; Romans 3:10; 1 John 3:8)
We believe that the only hope for man is to believe on Jesus Christ, the virgin-born Son of God, Who died to take upon Himself the punishment for the sin of mankind, and Who rose from the dead so that by receiving Him as Savior and Lord, man is redeemed by His blood.
Salvation is the gift of God to man, separate from works and the law, and is made operative by grace through faith in Jesus Christ, producing works acceptable to God. (Ephesians 2:8)
We believe that the plan of God is to live in and through man, and that accordingly as we accept Jesus Christ as Lord, Savior, Redeemer, Deliverer of our own lives and offer Him our hearts as His home and our bodies as His temple, that this fullness of God that is in Him, is also in us, pressing out for expression of His very life and nature, His very spirit, word and way.
We believe this is what we were created for; we are fashioned to continue to have the fruit of this presence of God developing in us, being transformed by The Renewing of The Mind (Romans 12:2), by the washing of water by the word (Eph 5:26)
We believe that we become one with God and with one another through the union that results from His Love.
We believe that Jesus is the Head and we are cells and members of His body (Ephesians 5:30). The Head is connected to the body. The body can do nothing apart from The Head.
We believe that the Church is the Body of Christ and is composed of all those who through belief in Christ have been spiritually regenerated by the indwelling Holy Spirit.
Our God is One, but manifested in three persons—the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. (Philippians 2:6; John 14:21-26)
God the Father is greater than all, and He is the Source of the Word (Logos) and the Begetter. (John 14:28; John 16:28; John 1:14)
The Son is the flesh-covered Word, the One Begotten, and has existed with the Father from the beginning. (John 1:14; John 1:18; John 1:1)
The Holy Spirit proceeds forth from both the Father and the Son and is eternal. (John 15:26)
We believe that the Holy Spirit indwells those who have received Christ for the purpose of enabling them to live righteous and godly lives. We believe that all the gifting of the Holy Spirit and all the Grace of God, His Counsel, and His Nature needs to be recognized and accepted by the Church in order for the complete cleansing and perfecting of the Bride of Christ to be accomplished
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We believe that Jesus will return and is returning and appearing in His own perfected Body and Bride, that is, the Church.
We believe all born-again believers have been commissioned to share the complete Gospel with the entire world. (Mark 16:15) Further we have also been commissioned to "go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit and teaching them to obey everything I (Jesus, the Christ) have commanded you."(Matthew 28:19)
