This issue of The Ministry contains a complete record of the eight messages given during the 2006 International Training for Elders and Responsible Ones, held March 31--April 2, 2006 in Anaheim, California. The general subject of the training was "Taking the Shepherding Way to Preach the Gospel and Revive the Church." Three important matters in the ministry will bring in a genuine revival: the high peak of the divine revelation, the God-man living, and shepherding according to God. This third matter--shepherding according to God--is the subject of this entire volume. Shepherding touches the heart, burden, and concern of the ministry. Shortly before he passed away, Brother Lee wrote down six points that were intended for the Elders' Training of April 1997. These points which all relate to shepherding include: 1) not lording it over God's allotment, 2) be willing to be a slave to the saints, 3) humble yourself under the saints, 4) elders should shepherd one another and love one another to be a model of the Body-life, 5) take care of the saints in everything and in every way for the dispensing of Christ into them, and 6) contact and visit the saints and invite them to your homes for meals. May the Lord grant us grace to take the shepherding way to preach the gospel and revive the church. We also include reports concerning the Lord's move in Poland and in the Czech Republic.

This issue of The Ministry presents the last 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." Four stages of the overcoming life are portrayed in the Song of Songs. In Messages 1 through 8 of this series, the first two stages of overcoming were presented: In the first stage the Lord draws us to pursue Him so that we can be fully satisfied and fully delivered from this world, and in the second stage the Lord calls us to be delivered from the self through our oneness with the cross by the power of His resurrection. In Messages 9 through 16, the last two stages are unfolded. In the third stage we are called to live in ascension as the new creation in resurrection and to overcome everything of the old creation. Finally, in the fourth stage we are called to live within the veil, entering into God as our sanctuary to become the same as God in life and nature and to become the sanctuary of God, the building of God, and the bride of Christ as the Shulammite, the duplication, enlargement, and full expression of Christ for Christ's satisfaction. In this stage we are qualified to work together with Christ, and we have a hope and a longing to be raptured. Last of all, we include both a report concerning the Lord's move in West Africa and an announcement concerning the upcoming international blending conference in July 2007 in Accra, Ghana, West Africa.

This issue of The Ministry contains a complete record of the nine messages given during the 2005 International Training for Elders and Responsible Ones in Moscow, Russia, in October 2005. The general subject of the training was the vision of the Lord's recovery and its application. The burden for these messages can be summarized in the following four statements: 1) the true vine--Christ the Son with the believers in the Son as the branches--is the organism of the Triune God in the Son for His multiplication, spreading, and glorification in the divine life; 2) we must stay on the way of life, the line of life, in the maintenance of life by enjoying Christ as the tree of life in the flow of life for God's building in life by our growth in life; 3) the kingdom of God is constituted with God's life as the realm of the divine life for His ruling, in which He reigns by His life and expresses Himself as the Divine Trinity in the divine life; and 4) the intrinsic significance of the golden lampstand is the highest peak of the divine revelation, the subjective experience of the golden lampstand is the God-man living, and the organic maintenance of the golden lampstand is Christ's shepherding in His heavenly ministry. We also include a report concerning the Lord's move in Ghana and Nigeria, West Africa.

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the eight messages of the international training for elders and responsible ones hosted by Living Stream Ministry in Anaheim, California, on April 12-14, 2024. The general subject of this series of messages is “Being a Vessel unto Honor, a Fully Equipped Man of God, by Being Empowered in the Grace Which Is in Christ Jesus to Fully Accomplish Our Ministry in the Unique Ministry of God’s Economy.”

This issue of The Ministry presents the first nine messages given during the 2005 spring term of the full-time training in Anaheim, California. The general subject of this series of messages is "Noah, Daniel, and Job--Patterns of Living an Overcoming Life on the Line of Life to Fulfill the Economy of God." In order to see the significance and intrinsic revelation of these three men in the Old Testament, we need to consider Ezekiel 14:14 and 20 which says, "Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in the midst of it, they would deliver only their own souls by their righteousness, declares the Lord Jehovah" and "Though Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the midst of it, as I live, declares the Lord Jehovah, they could not deliver even a son or daughter; they would deliver only their own souls by their righteousness." The Triune God esteems these three men--Noah, Daniel, and Job--because they are patterns of living an overcoming life on the line of life to fulfill the economy of God. To present such patterns is the best way to foster, nurture, and cherish others in living a holy life for the church life and to promote, develop, and cultivate their growth in the divine life for the building up of the Body of Christ. We need such patterns of living an overcoming life. Last of all, we include a report concerning two recent trainings in West Africa.

This issue of The Ministry contains a complete record of the twelve messages given during the 2005 winter training on the Crystallization-study of the Building of God, held December 26-31 in Anaheim, California. The crucial truth and burden embodied in these twelve messages may be summarized in four statements: (1) The building of God is the processed Triune God wrought into us so that under His continual dispensing we become His enlargement, expansion, and corporate expression. (2) The three tabernacles--the type of the tabernacle, the reality of the tabernacle, and the consummation of the tabernacle--reveal the goal of God's economy to have a corporate people to be His dwelling place for His expression and representation in eternity. (3) The intrinsic element of the work of the divine building is to minister the building and builded God into others for the building up of the Body of Christ. (4) The desire of God's heart is the building of God into man and the building of man into God for the building of a great corporate God-man, the New Jerusalem. These messages are being published immediately following the training in order that they may benefit the saints participating in the many video trainings that are held throughout the earth. The Reports section includes an update on the purchase of the Bower House property in England and highlights on how the new facility is being used to carry out the burden of the work in Europe. In the Announcements section we include the 2006 schedule of European and Middle Eastern events as well as a calendar, giving the dates and locations of the seven Living Stream Ministry conferences and trainings--the seven annual feasts--for 2006. 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 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 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.

At a time of heightened neoliberal globalisation and crisis, welfare state retrenchment and desecularisation of society, amid uniquely European controversies over immigration, integration and religious-based radicalism, this timely book explores the role played by faith-based organisations (FBOs), which are growing in importance in the provision of social services in the European context. Taking a multidisciplinary approach, the contributions to the volume present original research examples and a pan-European perspective to assess the role of FBOs in combating poverty and various expressions of exclusion and social distress in cities across Europe. This significant and highly topical volume should become a vital reference source for the burgeoning number of studies that are likely follow and will make essential reading for students and academics in social policy, sociology, geography, politics, urban studies and theology/ religious studies.