The purpose of this monthly digest is to help to encourage and assist in the daily reading of the ministry in the Lord’s recovery. Its two specific goals are: (1) to help the saints to enter into the riches of The Collected Works of Witness Lee and (2) to provide ministry content for the churches in their corporate weekly pursuit. The Collected Works of Witness Lee comprises one hundred thirty-nine volumes arranged chronologically by year. In this digest we will focus primarily on specific topics from many of these volumes and introduce selected readings on these topics to saints who do not have access to the printed volumes. It is our desire to help the saints get into the riches contained in The Collected Works of Witness Lee topic by topic. This publication will help the saints and churches develop a taste and deepen the desire for reading the ministry in a consistent way. It is intended to supplement and not replace the Recovery Version of the Bible, the Life-study messages, The Holy Word for Morning Revival, and The Ministry of the Word magazine. Each issue of Ministry Digest will be divided into four sections with four messages in each section. The first issue begins the following four sections: 1. The History of the Lord’s Recovery 2. Words for New Believers 3. Maturing in Life 4. The High Peak of the Divine Revelation

In this issue we will continue the four lines of ministry that began in the first issue of Ministry Digest (vol. 1, no. 1). The first line—The History of the Lord’s Recovery—continues with chapters 13 through 16 of The History and Revelation of the Lord’s Recovery, which are in volume 2 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1981. These chapters speak of the “national defense” and “public security” in the Lord’s recovery, the revelation that we have received from the Lord, the raising up of the work in Taiwan, and the trials of the churches in Taiwan. The second line—Words for New Believers—continues with chapters 8 through 11 of Lessons for New Believers, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1959. These chapters speak of meeting, how to meet, and various kinds of meetings. The third line—Maturing in Life—continues with chapters 13 through 16 of The Way for a Christian to Mature in Life, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1955. These chapters speak of watching and being ready, the filling of the Holy Spirit, the way to be filled with the Spirit by giving the Lord the ground, and paying the price to buy the oil. The fourth line—The High Peak of the Divine Revelation—continues with chapters 1 through 4 of The Dispensing, Transformation, and Building of the Processed Divine Trinity in the Believers, which are in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994–1997. These chapters speak of the dispensing of the processed Divine Trinity in the believers, the transformation of the processed Divine Trinity in the believers, and the [6] building of the processed Divine Trinity in the believers. Chapters 2 and 3 were spoken by a brother during the same conference based on Brother Lee’s outlines.

The purpose of this monthly digest is to help to encourage and assist in the daily reading of the ministry in the Lord’s recovery. Its two specific goals are: (1) to help the saints to enter into the riches of The Collected Works of Witness Lee and (2) to provide ministry content for the churches in their corporate weekly pursuit. The Collected Works of Witness Lee comprises one hundred thirty-nine volumes arranged chronologically by year. In this digest we will focus primarily on specific topics from many of these volumes and introduce selected readings on these topics to saints who do not have access to the printed volumes. It is our desire to help the saints get into the riches contained in The Collected Works of Witness Lee topic by topic. This publication will help the saints and churches develop a taste and deepen the desire for reading the ministry in a consistent way. It is intended to supplement and not replace the Recovery Version of the Bible, the Life-study messages, The Holy Word for Morning Revival, and The Ministry of the Word magazine. Each issue of Ministry Digest will be divided into four sections with four messages in each section. The first issue begins the following four sections: 1. The History of the Lord’s Recovery 2. Words for New Believers 3. Maturing in Life 4. The High Peak of the Divine Revelation

The purpose of this monthly digest is to help to encourage and assist in the daily reading of the ministry in the Lord’s recovery. Its two specific goals are: (1) to help the saints to enter into the riches of The Collected Works of Witness Lee and (2) to provide ministry content for the churches in their corporate weekly pursuit. The Collected Works of Witness Lee comprises one hundred thirty-nine volumes arranged chronologically by year. In this digest we will focus primarily on specific topics from many of these volumes and introduce selected readings on these topics to saints who do not have access to the printed volumes. It is our desire to help the saints get into the riches contained in The Collected Works of Witness Lee topic by topic. This publication will help the saints and churches develop a taste and deepen the desire for reading the ministry in a consistent way. It is intended to supplement and not replace the Recovery Version of the Bible, the Life-study messages, The Holy Word for Morning Revival, and The Ministry of the Word magazine. Each issue of Ministry Digest will be divided into four sections with four messages in each section. The first issue begins the following four sections: 1. The History of the Lord’s Recovery 2. Words for New Believers 3. Maturing in Life 4. The High Peak of the Divine Revelation

In this issue we will continue the four lines of ministry that began in the first issue of Ministry Digest (vol. 1, no. 1). The first line--The History of the Lord's Recovery--continues with chapters 17 through 20 of The History and Revelation of the Lord's Recovery, which are in volume 2 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1981. Chapters 17 and 18 speak further of the trials of the churches in Taiwan due to the dissension of a group of younger co-workers and the lessons learned from these trials, including the danger of a misplaced emphasis on "spiritual pursuit." These two chapters are then followed by a positive recounting of the advance of the Lord's recovery in Japan and the beginning of the Lord's recovery in the United States. The second line--Words for New Believers--continues with chapters 12 through 15 of Lessons for New Believers, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1959. These chapters speak of various meetings related to prayer, the exercise of gifts, the study of the Bible, ministry, and the preaching of the gospel. Following this, the biblical view of the church is contrasted with natural and religious concepts related to the church. Then the expression of the universal church in localities is presented. Finally, the expression of the oneness of the church is contrasted with the causes of division that damage the oneness. The third line--Maturing in Life--continues with chapters 17 through 20 of The Way for a Christian to Mature in Life, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1955. The first two chapters speak of maturing by turning our heart to the Lord and by being filled by the Spirit and of our need to turn to the Spirit for the transformation of our soul. The final two chapters in this section speak of the freedom, liberty, and glory that issue from walking according to the Spirit. The fourth line--The High Peak of the Divine Revelation--includes chapters 1 through 4 of a new title, The Divine and Mystical Realm, which are in volume 4 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994–1997. These chapters examine the inadequate theologies of traditional Christianity that have limited our understanding of the Spirit, who is Himself the divine and mystical realm that is our spiritual provision. It then develops a fuller understanding of the mystical realm of Christ's heavenly ministry that is carried out by Christ as the life-giving Spirit. As such a Spirit, Christ is both consummated and pneumatic so that He can bring us all into His divine and mystical realm. Last, eight aspects of God's organic salvation, which is carried out in the divine and mystical realm, are presented.

In this issue we will continue four lines of ministry. The first line--The History of the Lord's Recovery--contains chapters 15 through 18 of The Recovery of the Church according to the Pattern on the Mountain, which are in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1950–1951. This section includes topics related to the spirit and the mind and being conformed to the image of God's Son. The second line--Words for New Believers--contains chapters 45 and 46 of Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, Volume 4, and chapters 47 and 48 of Crucial Truths in the Holy Scriptures, Volume 5, all of which are in volume 4 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1932–1949. These chapters cover topics related to the service of the new covenant, the believers and sins, obtaining the reward, and entering into the kingdom of the heavens. The chapter on entering into the kingdom of the heavens is quite lengthy, and it will be continued in subsequent issues of Ministry Digest. The third line--Maturing in Life--contains chapters 21 through 24 of The Kingdom, which are in volume 2 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1972. These chapters cover the principles of the kingdom and the path from rejection to glory. The fourth line--The High Peak of the Divine Revelation--continues with chapters 38 through 41 of God's New Testament Economy, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1984. This section contains four chapters on the New Jerusalem that cover the throne in the New Jerusalem and the application of the New Jerusalem to the believers, including its entry, constitution, and existence.

In this issue we will continue four lines of ministry. The first line--The History of the Lord's Recovery--contains chapters 2 through 5 of Fellowship concerning the Urgent Need of the Vital Groups, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1991–1992. These chapters contain fellowship concerning the practice of the group meetings in the God-ordained way, the practice of the vital groups with much consideration, prayer, and labor, and practical fellowship concerning the group meetings. The second line--Words for New Believers--continues with chapters 15 through 18 of Basic Principles of the Experience of Life, which are in volume 3 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1963. The chapters in this section speak of dealing with the Spirit, the anointing, and transformation. The third line--Maturing in Life--contains chapters 1 through 4 of The Way to Practice the Lord's Present Move, which are in volume 5 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1985. These chapters speak of the need of the present world, the divine truths in the Lord's recovery, and the blessing on the Lord's recovery, and of going by rising up by being filled with the consummated Spirit essentially and economically. They further speak of the Word and the Spirit for the meetings and of our need to be experienced in the Word and filled with the Spirit for the increase and the meetings. The fourth line--The High Peak of the Divine Revelation--continues with chapters 3 through 6 of The History of God in His Union with Man, which are in volume 4 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1991–1992. These chapters focus on God's history in time through His restoration of the judged universe and creation of man, through His saving of man from his fall, through His working on His saints from Abel to Noah and His judging of the world from Cain to Babel, and through His working on His elect from Abraham to Joseph.

In this issue we will continue four lines of ministry. The first line--The History of the Lord's Recovery--contains chapters 13 through 16 of The Kernel of the Bible, which are in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1977. This section includes messages on aspects of what Christ is, the way Christ builds His church, the way to produce the church, and the church as the Body of Christ and the fullness of Christ.The second line--Words for New Believers--contains chapters 2 through 5 of The Fulfillment of God's Purpose by the Growth of Christ in Us, which are in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1970. These chapters cover how to take Christ as our life, the way to have the growth of Christ within us, enjoying Christ by calling on the name of the Lord, and being saved and renewed by Christ as life.The third line--Maturing in Life--contains chapters 19 through 22 of Perfecting Training, which are in volume 1 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1980. These chapters contain messages on being unloaded to live Christ, being active-passive to live Christ, being reduced to live Christ, and vessels open to the Lord.The fourth line--The High Peak of the Divine Revelation--contains chapter 16 of Crystallization-study of the Gospel of John, which is in volume 4 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1994–1997, and chapters 1 through 3 of The Christian Life, which are in volume 2 of The Collected Works of Witness Lee, 1991–1992. These chapters cover an intrinsic interpretation of John's writings, the definition of the Christian life, the contents of the Christian life, and the all-inclusive Spirit.

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the complete record of the twelve messages given during the semiannual training held December 24 through 29, 2018, in Anaheim, California, as the first part of the crystallization-study of Numbers. The banners in the following section embody and summarize the crucial truths and main burden in these twelve messages. These training 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 sections contains "An Update concerning Europe," "A Burden for the Spread of the Lord's Recovery in the United States," "Announcement concerning The Collected Works of Witness Lee and Ministry Digest, a New Publication," and "Announcement concerning the 2019 North America College Training." Also included is information concerning the upcoming conferences and trainings hosted by Living Stream Ministry and a website link for information related to similar events in Europe.

Protestant Periodicals in Transition: From the Twentieth Century to the Digital Age demarcates the field of religious periodical studies by offering a range of historical and contemporary case studies from different Protestant traditions drawn from various regions of the world. Taking religion, periodicals, and their cultures seriously, this volume focuses not only on content but on the people, processes, networks, technologies, and economics involved in periodical publishing. Case studies explore the role of the Protestant magazine in defining, policing, and extending the boundaries of religious communities, of engaging with and influencing the surrounding society through political activism and lifestyle advice, and adapting to and sometimes spearheading technological changes to keep relevant in changing times.