This issue of The Ministry contains the final 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. With the first message of this volume, six crucial words are introduced which are related to the intrinsic situation and need in the Lord's recovery. The first three words--purification, education, and reconstitution--are related to the ministry of Ezra, who not only enriched the recovery but, in particular, purified the recovery. The other three words--separation, protection, and expression--are related particularly to the ministry of Nehemiah with its pure, absolute, and aggressive leadership. The ministry of Ezra with the elements of purification, education, and reconstitution make up the intrinsic need in the Lord's recovery today. The leadership of Nehemiah comes after the ministry of Ezra. Nehemiah principally took the lead to build up the wall. The wall is the intrinsic significance of the city. To build up the wall and the temple is to build up the church as the house of God for the expression of God. To build up the wall with the city is to build up the church as the kingdom of God for the dominion of God. Both of these aspects of building up the church as the house of God and as the kingdom of God were so that God could have a corporate man in His image to express and represent Him with His dominion. These are for the full accomplishment of the economy of God, that is, to build up the Body of Christ, to usher in the kingdom of Christ, and to consummate the New Jerusalem. Last of all, we include reports concerning the distribution of the ministry in Romania and in Poland.

This issue of The Ministry includes the first nine messages given during the 2004 spring term of the Full-time Training in Anaheim, California. The general subject of this series of messages is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. What is typified by the experiences of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob is realized in the New Testament, especially in Galatians 3--6. Abraham's experiences represent the experiences of God the Father (3:8, 29), Isaac's experiences represent the experiences of the Son (4:28), and Jacob's experiences represent the work of the Spirit in discipline and transformation (cf. 5:16; 6:8; 5:22-23). The experiences of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob culminated in God's people, Israel. God's goal always was and still is to have a corporate people to express and represent Him on the earth. The existence of such a people--Israel in the Old Testament and the Israel of God in the New Testament--depends upon certain kinds of spiritual experiences had by all the people of God. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are the foundation of the nation of Israel. Their experiences were not merely for themselves. Their experiences were to gain a corporate people, all of whom know God and experience Him as the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. Last of all, we include a report concerning the 2005 Chinese-speaking perfecting conference in New Jersey.

This issue of The Ministry contains the messages given during the Spring 2005 International Training for Elders and Responsible Ones, held April 10-12 in Anaheim, California. The general subject of this training was the churches, the ministry, and the work. The Body is the governing law of the life and work of the children of God today. The church, the ministry, and the work are on the ground of the Body. The basic principle of the churches is the Body, the basic principle of the ministry is the Body, and the basic principle of the work is the Body. The churches are the Body expressed locally, the ministry is the Body in function, and the work is the Body seeking increase (Acts 13:1-2; 21:19). Concerning this subject, in fellowship with a few co-workers on December 15, 1995, Brother Witness Lee said, "I ask you to render to this work the highest cooperation. When I say 'the highest cooperation,' I mean that you must dive into these things, as I did, day and night. Second, you have to experience them. Third, you have to live a God-man life. Fourth, you have to be an overcomer to keep every principle of the Body." May the Lord enlighten us concerning every principle of the Body! Last of all, we include a report concerning the Lord's move in Israel.

This issue of The Ministry contains a complete record of the twelve messages given during the 2004 winter training on the Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Timothy and Titus, held December 20-25 in Anaheim, California. The crucial truth and burden embodied in these twelve messages may be summarized in four statements: (1) God's economy--His household administration--is to produce and constitute the Body of Christ by dispensing Himself into our being to make us the same as He is in life and nature but not in the Godhead. (2) The church of God is the house of the living God, the pillar and base of the truth, and the great mystery of godliness--God manifested in the flesh. (3) We must be inoculators, those who inoculate others against the decline of the church, by exercising our spirit and remaining in the healthy teaching of God's economy. (4) We must be inoculators, those who inoculate others against the decline of the church, by being a man of God with the breath of God. 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. Because of the particular nature and length of this issue, the usual section of reports concerning the Lord's move throughout the earth has been omitted. We have, however, included a calendar, giving the dates and locations of the seven Living Stream Ministry conferences and trainings--the seven annual feasts--for 2005. One cannot measure the benefits derived during these feasts from the Lord's rich speaking in His ministry and the mutual blending and building up of the saints and the churches in the Lord's recovery from every continent.

This issue of The Ministry contains a complete record of the nine messages given in Auckland, New Zealand during the International Training for Elders and Responsible Ones in October 2004. The general subject of these messages is the uniqueness of the Lord's recovery (see The Ministry, February 2004, and June 2004). The burden for these messages can be summarized in the following fellowship from Message One, from excerpts of Practical Talks to the Elders by Witness Lee: We don't know how long the coming days will be; only the Lord knows. But for as long as the Lord tarries, the recovery will be on this earth...With these future days and future new ones especially in mind, I feel there needs to be a basic vision or basic knowledge of the Lord's recovery. Just five years ago a distraction came in which confused some dear ones who were concerned for the Lord's recovery. Since such a thing could happen in the past right before our eyes, how can we have the assurance that such a thing will not be repeated in the future? Thus, while the Lord still grants me the days, I would like to do as much as I can to put things clearly into writing. Then the dear ones who are in and who will be brought into the Lord's recovery can have a clear view about what it is. (pp. 51-52) God is unique. His plan is unique. His work is unique. His way to carry out His work is unique. And the very instrument used for His way is the ministry. Thus this ministry is also unique. In the New Testament, there is the unique Christ, the unique way, and the unique focus to carry out the unique circumference, the church, by the unique ministry. (p. 57) In the Lord's recovery...we are doing one work, carrying out one ministry. We are serving one Lord, worshipping one God. We are in His unique plan, in His unique economy, in His unique work, in His unique way. We minister His unique focus. (p. 60) If we are not in the focus and if we do not experience what we preach to others, we face two perils. One, sooner or later there will be divisions. Two, if we don't practice the focal points, the saints have no way to practice them. The things we teach will eventually become doctrines in the Lord's recovery. There will be no reality. The recovery will be just empty. If we don't care for the Lord's recovery by paying heed to all these unique points, then we will care for the spreading of our work. To care for the spread of our work is dangerous. It will produce different works to build up different ministries. Then division will result...I am fearful and trembling of these two perils: the peril of different works being produced to cause division and the peril of emptiness. (pp. 62-63) May the Lord speak to us in these messages to show us the uniqueness of His recovery. May the Lord keep us secure in this vision, and may He keep His recovery from division and from emptiness. Last of all, in the sections regarding reports and announcements, we include a schedule of the upcoming conferences and trainings in Europe for 2005.

This is a special combined issue (July/August 2005) of The Ministry. It contains a complete record of the messages given in Anaheim, California, during the 2005 Summer Training on the Crystallization-study of 1 and 2 Thessalonians and Song of Songs 7--8. Ten messages were given on 1 and 2 Thessalonians and two messages were given on Song of Songs 7--8. The relationship between these books is remarkable: At an intrinsic level, the crystals in Song of Songs 7--8 interface beautifully with those in 1 and 2 Thessalonians. In Song of Songs 7 we see the type of the deified lover of the Lord becoming His co-worker, working with Him for His Body. This matches what is revealed in 1 Thessalonians concerning Paul and the brothers as patterns [1:5]...Song of Songs 8 expresses in type the longing of the lover of the Lord to be raptured, hoping to be transfigured and praying for the Lord to make haste to come. This matches, in spirit, what is revealed particularly in 1 Thessalonians, which ends every chapter with the mention of the Lord's coming back (1:10; 2:19; 3:13; 4:15-17; 5:23). The crucial truth and burden embodied in these twelve messages may be summarized in two sets of statements. The first set of four statements concerns the books of 1 and 2 Thessalonians: (1) we need to see a vision of the church in God the Father with His life and nature and in the Lord Jesus Christ with all He is and has done; (2) faith as the nature and strength of the work, love as the motivation for and characteristic of labor, and hope as the source of endurance are the structure of a holy life for the church life; (3) to walk in a manner worthy of God, who calls us into His kingdom and glory, is to live God and express God in our daily living by walking according to the mingled spirit; and (4) in order to live a holy life for the church life, we need to cooperate with God's operation to establish our heart blameless in holiness and to sanctify us wholly, with our spirit, soul, and body preserved complete. The second set of two statements concerns Song of Songs 7--8: (1) as we become the same as Christ in life, nature, expression, and function, we are qualified to work with Him for His Body; (2) as we trust in the Lord helplessly, depend on Him as our love and strength, and listen to His speaking, our hope is to be raptured through the redemption of our body, and our prayer is--"Come, Lord Jesus!" We include reports concerning the Lord's move in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, and Hungary, and concerning the need for a property in London. The Announcements section contains dates and locations for upcoming Living Stream Ministry trainings and conferences.

This issue of The Ministry contains a complete record of the messages given during the Memorial Day weekend conference held in Houston, Texas, May 27-30, 2005. The general subject of the conference was entitled "The All-inheriting Vision of the Age," and the main burden of the conference can be summarized by the following four statements: 1) the vision that the Lord has given His recovery is an all-inclusive vision--the all-inheriting vision of the age; 2) the governing vision of the Bible is the Triune God working Himself into His redeemed people for the producing and building up of the Body of Christ consummating in the New Jerusalem; 3) the goal of God's economy is the enlarged, universal, divine-human incorporation of the consummated God with the regenerated believers; and 4) to live and serve God according to the vision of the age in the ministry of the age is to live out and work out the New Jerusalem. Last of all, we include a report concerning the Lord's move in Grenada.