The Ministry Vol 11 No 04

This issue of The Ministry presents the first eight messages given during the 2005 fall term of the full-time training in Anaheim, California. The general subject of this series of messages is entitled "The Overcoming Life as Portrayed in Song of Songs." This general subject is based upon an intrinsic revelation in the Scriptures related to our overcoming and our love relationship with the Lord. This is demonstrated in Romans 8:37--the "theme verse" of this entire series of messages, which says, "In all these things we more than conquer through Him who loved us." The Greek word translated "more than conquer" is hypernikao, which literally means "super-overcome" or "more than overcome." Hence, we more than overcome through Him who loved us. According to this verse, the ones who are really loved by God become super-overcomers, more than conquerors. There is a deep, sweet, rich, essential, intrinsic, organic, and experiential connection between love and overcoming. In Song of Songs the lover of Christ overcomes in four stages: in the first stage (1:2--2:7) she overcomes the attraction of the world by being captivated by Christ; in the second stage (2:8--3:5) she overcomes the self, which secludes her from the presence of Christ, by becoming one with the cross of Christ; in the third stage (3:6--5:1) she overcomes the old creation (the physical things) by living in the ascension of Christ in resurrection after her self has been dealt with by the cross; and in the fourth stage (5:2--6:13) she overcomes the flesh, the natural man, the old man, by living within the veil, requiring a deeper experience of the cross. Last of all, we present a concluding set of testimonies from some who participated in the recent gospel move in the Russian-speaking world.

This issue of The Ministry contains a complete record of the six messages given during the Memorial Day weekend conference held in St. Paul, Minnesota, May 25-28, 2007. The general subject of the conference was "Caring for the Present Need in the Lord's Recovery," and the main burden of the conference can be summarized by the following four statements: (1) We must walk in the truth of the economy of God, realize the recovery of the Lord, and stay away from death and division. (2) We need to know the present truth, uphold the absoluteness of the truth, and be constituted with the truth for the church as the pillar and base of the truth. (3) The ground of oneness is the processed and consummated Triune God applied to our being, and the essence of the genuine oneness is life and light. (4) We must receive the Lord's mercy to be His overcomers who bring in a new revival to turn the age in the Lord's recovery by arriving at the highest peak of the divine revelation, by living the life of a God-man, and by shepherding people according to God in the vital groups for the building up of the Body of Christ. Last of all, we include a report concerning the International Blending Conference in Buzias, Romania.

This issue of The Ministry contains a complete record of the twelve messages given during the 2006 summer training on the Crystallization-study of the Body of Christ, held July 3 to 8 in Anaheim, California. The crucial truth and burden embodied in these twelve messages may be summarized in four statements: (1) The divine economy is God's plan to dispense Christ into His chosen people to produce, constitute, and build up the organic Body of Christ. (2) The unique oneness of the Body of Christ is the oneness of the Spirit--the mingling of the processed Triune God with all the believers in Christ. (3) The overcomers see the Body, know the Body, care for the Body, honor the Body, do the work of the Body, and keep every principle of the Body. (4) The overcomers live out and work out the New Jerusalem by the mingling of God with man for the oneness of the Body of Christ. These messages are being published immediately following the training in order that they may benefit the saints participating in many video trainings that are held throughout the earth. The Announcements section includes fellowship concerning the use of the Bower House property in London, UK.

This issue of The Ministry contains the last nine messages given during the 2006 spring term of the full-time training in Anaheim, California. The general subject of this series of messages is "Knowing and Experiencing the Intrinsic Constitution of the Building of God." The processed and consummated Triune God Himself is the constituent of God's building. When this processed and consummated Triune God as the constituent is dispensed into us, wrought into us, and built into us by being mingled with us, the result is not simply the constituent but a constitution. This constitution issues in a unique kind of being--a redeemed, regenerated, transformed, tripartite human being mingled with and one with the processed and consummated Triune God to be a real God-man. The intrinsic significance of 2 Samuel 7:12-14a--a prophecy concerning the building of God--is that the Triune God is working Himself in His processed and consummated Trinity into our being to make us His abode and to make Himself our abode. This is the focus of the messages contained in this volume. The all-inclusive life-giving Spirit as the extract of the processed and consummated Triune God in His economy is the constituent. God's central work is to dispense this constituent into every fiber of our being, saturating us, permeating us, constituting us, sonizing us, Christifying us, divinizing us, and deifying us so that although we remain human and therefore creatures, we become Triune God-constituted men, whose being is a constitution of the processed and consummated Triune God as the constituent. Now we, in our being, become this constitution, and as such we are part of the building of God. Last of all, we include a report concerning the Lord's move in Ivory Coast, a French-speaking country of West Africa.

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains a complete record of the twelve messages in our crystallization-study of the books of Joshua, Judges, and Ruth that comprised the July 2021 Semiannual Training, which was released via webcast from Anaheim, California. The Key Statements on the following page embody and summarize the crucial truths and main burdens covered in these twelve messages.The Reports and Announcements section contains "An Update concerning Europe," a "Summer 2021 Mass Distribution Update," and important information concerning upcoming conferences and trainings hosted by Living Stream Ministry plus a website link to information on similar events in Europe.

This issue of The Ministry contains a complete record of the nine messages given during the International Training for Elders and Responsible Ones, held in Whistler, British Columbia, Canada, October 5-7, 2006. The general subject of the training was "Shepherding the Flock of God." These messages are a continuation of the training given in the spring of 2006 (see The Ministry, Vol. 10, No. 5). The burden of these messages is not about the technique of shepherding but about what we are in our person and how we behave in the church. This is according to Paul's word to the elders in Ephesus in Acts 20. He said, "Take heed to yourselves and to all the flock" (v. 28). We first need to take care of ourselves, to be shepherded in our own person before we take care of all the flock. Messages 1 and 2 show us that our shepherding must be according to the plan of God and the word of God, according to the teaching of the apostles, and according to God. These form the basis of our shepherding. Messages 3, 5, and 7 show us that our shepherding is in our living by the grace of God, in an organic way according to His initiation and with our cooperation, and in dealing with peculiarity. These are the conditions of our shepherding. Messages 4, 6, and 8 show us that our goal must be to shepherd the saints into the faith of the truth, into a life of living through dying, and into a life of prayer for the organic practice of the God-ordained way in the vital groups. Finally, in Message 9, if the elders are constituted with the basis, the conditions, and the goal of shepherding, the flock of God will be shepherded to know the Body of Christ. May the Lord speak to us His light-shedding and life-imparting word. Last of all, we include letters and reports concerning the recent gospel move in the Russian-speaking world.

This issue of The Ministry contains a complete record of the twelve messages given during the 2007 summer training on the crystallization-study of the Epistles of John, held July 2 through 7 in Anaheim, California. The crucial truth and burden embodied in these twelve messages may be summarized in four statements: (1) The fellowship of the eternal life, the flow of the eternal life within all the believers, is the reality of living in the Body of Christ; (2) We know the Triune God by experiencing and enjoying Him as the One who dwells in our spirit and desires to spread into our heart; (3) By the anointing of the all-inclusive compound Spirit, who is the composition of the Divine Trinity, we know and enjoy the Father, the Son, and the Spirit as our life and life supply; (4) The Son of God has given us an understanding so that we might know the true One, the genuine and real God, and be one with Him organically in His Son Jesus Christ, who is eternal life to us. These messages are being published immediately following the training in order that they might benefit the saints participating in the many video trainings that are held throughout the earth. The Reports and Announcements section includes a presentation of the Lord's burden for His move in Europe and an announcement about the upcoming gospel feast in South Korea.

This issue of The Ministry contains the first group of eight messages given during the 2004 fall term of the Full-time Training in Anaheim, California. The general subject for this line of messages is the intrinsic significance of the Lord's recovery for the building of the church as the house of God and the city of God. The word recovery means a restoration or a return to a normal condition after damage or loss has been incurred. The principle of recovery is to bring us back to the beginning (Matt. 19:8), to God's beginning, back to what is normal in God's eyes. We do not want to be in an abnormal situation of division, confusion, or denominationalism or in a situation filled with idols and impurities. We want to be recovered back to the enjoyment of Christ as our all-inclusive good land so that we can be filled with Him in His unsearchable riches and be built up to be the living temple, the house of the living God (1 Tim. 3:15). This is the Body of Christ for His expression. We also want to be built up as the kingdom of God to represent God for His dominion on this earth, as pictured by the city of Jerusalem. God's recovery begins with our exercised spirit. God wants to recover the spirit of man for His economy. We can exercise our spirit to contact God, worshipping God in our spirit with Christ as our reality. Thus, we are here to build up the church as the house of God and the kingdom of God. Last of all, we include a report concerning the Lord's move in the French-speaking world and an update concerning the distribution of the ministry in Poland.