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 on October 8-10, 2021. The messages were provided via webcast from Anaheim, California, and the mutual fellowship, prophesying, and studying by groups were practiced locally in the various churches that participated. The general subject of this series of messages is “Meeting God’s Need and Present Needs in the Lord’s Recovery.” We must see that God has His need. No matter what our human needs or the churches’ needs are, God’s need is much greater. To see God’s need, we need to realize that God has a will, a good pleasure, which is His heart’s desire. God’s good pleasure, that which makes Him happy, is the fulfillment of His eternal purpose to have His eternal habitation for His eternal expression. In order for His will to be done on earth and for His eternal purpose to be fulfilled, God needs our cooperation. He has placed His almighty power under the limitation of the human will; hence, only when He has gained a people who will cooperate with Him by being totally responsive to Him will He have an unhindered way to accomplish His will. God also needs to recover the earth from His enemy by man’s dealing with Satan and subduing and conquering the rebellious earth. Moreover, God needs the “family of Noah” to build the church as today’s ark to terminate the present crooked and perverted age and bring in God’s kingdom. God needs the man-child, the overcomers in the church, as His dispensational instrument for His greatest dispensational move to end the age and bring in His kingdom. To be constituted as overcomers, we must realize that through regeneration we have been made a new creation. As such, we need to walk in newness of life, to serve in newness of spirit, and to be renewed daily. Furthermore, we daily need to labor on the all-inclusive Christ as the good land by seeking and enjoying Christ in every situation. Especially as elders and responsible ones, we should enter into Christ’s wonderful shepherding in His heavenly ministry by enjoying and ministering Christ to shepherd the church of God as a slave of God. In meeting the Lord’s need, prayer is our most direct and intimate cooperation with Him. Prayer is to absorb the elements of the soil of Christ [4] as the good land and to express what God has spoken within us by our contacting and fellowshipping with Him. The best prayer is to pray to God as a friend, as portrayed in Abraham’s glorious intercession, his intimate conversation with God. This kind of intercession expresses God’s desire and carries out His will. The Announcements section at the end of this issue contains a list of upcoming conferences and trainings hosted by Living Stream Ministry and a website link for information related to similar events in Europe.

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains a complete record of the twelve messages given by webcast from Anaheim, California, as the December 2020 semiannual training on the crystallization-studies of the books of Job, Proverbs, and Ecclesiastes. The key statements in the following section embody and summarize the crucial truths and main burdens in these twelve messages. The Reports and Announcements section contains an update concerning Europe, reports from regions across Europe, and the winter 2020 mass distribution update. Also included is information concerning upcoming conferences and trainings hosted by Living Stream Ministry and a website link for information related to similar events in Europe.

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 of the Word contains the six messages from the Memorial Day weekend conference, which was a web-hosted video teleconference held on May 28-31, 2021. The subject of this series of messages is "Knowing the Truth, Being Absolute for the Truth, and Proclaiming the Truth in the Present Evil Age." The key statements in the following section embody the crucial truths and the main burden of the conference. The Announcements section at the end of this issue contains a list of upcoming conferences and trainings hosted by Living Stream Ministry and a website link for information related to similar events in Europe.

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 on April 16-18, 2021. The messages were provided via webcast from Anaheim, California, and the mutual fellowship, prophesying, and studying by groups were practiced locally in the various churches that participated. The general subject of this series of messages is "Vital Factors for the Recovery of the Church Life." The ultimate goal in God's eternal economy is the building up of the church as the Body of Christ to consummate the New Jerusalem, the bride of the redeeming God. In the age of the church, there needs to be an understanding, experience, and application of various vital factors for the strengthening and full recovery of the church life. A factor is an element that actively contributes to the production of a result. In this series of messages, we will see eight vital, critical, and strategic elements that actively contribute to the recovery of the church life.

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the six messages from the Thanksgiving weekend conference, which was a web-hosted video teleconference held on November 26-29, 2020. The subject of this series of messages is "The All-inclusive, Extensive Christ Replacing Culture for the One New Man." The key statements in the following section embody the crucial truths and the main burden of the conference. The Announcements section at the end of this issue contains a list of upcoming conferences and trainings hosted by Living Stream Ministry and a website link for information related to similar events in Europe.

This issue of The Ministry of the Word contains the eight messages given during the international training for elders and responsible ones held in Anaheim, California, on April 5 through 7, 2019. The general subject of this series of messages is "The Development of the Kingdom of God in the Christian Life and the Church Life." The kingdom of God is a wonderful person--the Lord Jesus Christ, who as the Sower sowed the seed of the kingdom into the soil of our heart. This kingdom seed, which is Christ Himself as both the King and the kingdom through the word, needs to grow and develop in our inner being to become God's ruling realm. The kingdom is the realm of life for the divine life to move, rule, and govern so that life may accomplish its purpose. The kingdom that is developing is not only divine life but also Christ Himself as a wonderful person expanding within us. Before there can be the manifestation of the kingdom with the Lord's coming, there must be the reality of the kingdom inwardly and the practicality of the kingdom in the Christian life and the church life. In our Christian life, we live the kingdom life by living a hidden life. Because the kingdom has been sown as a seed into us, the development and manifestation of the kingdom must come from the hidden growth of the roots within the soil. The kingdom life is a life in the depths, a life that can "take root downward and bear fruit upward" (Isa. 37:31). The principle of the kingdom people is that they live a hidden life, not performing their righteous deeds before men. Messages 1 and 2 emphasize the Christian life, particularly the inward reality of the kingdom that is developing and the matter of learning to have a life hidden in God so that the kingdom life may deepen in us. The kingdom is the reality of the church, and the church is the practical expression and representation of the kingdom. Apart from the kingdom life, we cannot live the church life. The genuine church is the kingdom of God in this age. Today the believers live the kingdom life in the church. Messages 3 through 6 focus on various aspects of the kingdom and the church. Message 3 directly concerns the kingdom and the church. Message 4 is on relationships in the kingdom. In particular, it is on the seriousness of living a forgiving life so that we will have no issues before the Son of Man that will cost us the kingdom reward. In Message 5 we see the need for shutting up the gates of Hades through the exercise of the keys of denying the self, taking up the cross, and losing the soul-life. Message 6 focuses on the responsibility of the church to engage in spiritual warfare, mainly through prayer, because of the conf lict between the kingdom of God and the kingdom of Satan. The responsibility of the church is to bring the kingdom of God to the earth in glorious manifestation. Message 7 is concerned with our being watchful in life and faithful in service. For life, we need oil, the Spirit of God, even His filling, that we may be enabled to live the virgin life for the Lord's testimony. For service, for work, we need the talent, the spiritual gift, that we may be equipped as a good slave to accomplish what the Lord intends to accomplish. Message 8 concludes this series by releasing a burden on proclaiming the gospel of the kingdom throughout the entire inhabited earth and discipling the nations. The gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole inhabited earth for a testimony to all the nations before the end of this age. We have the authority, commission, and position of our resurrected Christ to disciple the nations for the spread and development of the kingdom of God. The Announcements section at the end of this issue contains a list of upcoming conferences and trainings hosted by Living Stream Ministry and a website link for information related to similar events in Europe.

WE WERE READING FROM A LITTLE JEWISH HISTORY BOOK WHEN WE CLOSED OUT THE JULY ISSUE; SO WE WILL JUST BACK UP A LITTLE AND PICK UP THE LAST PARAGRAPH WE READ: AND THEN CONTINUE ON. AS WE DEAL WITH THE SEVENTY WEEKS OF DANIEL, IT IS NECESSARY THAT WE COME TO A FIXED POINT IN TIME AND AGREE, THIS IS WHERE JESUS WAS CUT OFF (CRUCIFIED). THEREFORE I FEEL THAT THIS LITTLE HISTORY ACCOUNT OF THE CRUCIFIXION HELPS ESTABLISH WHAT I ALREADY BELIEVE; SO LET US CONTINUE READING.

Jonathan Edwards has been recognized as the most influential evangelical theologian of all time. Before his death at the age of fifty-four, he had sparked a new movement of Reformed evangelicals who played a major role in fueling the rise of modern missions, preaching revivals far and wide, and wielding the cutting edge of American theology. He has never gone out of print, and Christians today continue to flock to seminars and conferences on him. In this biography of the great preacher and teacher, historian Douglas Sweeney locates for us the core and key to Edwards' enduring impact. Sweeney finds that Edwards' profound and meticulous study of the Bible securely anchored his powerful preaching, his lively theological passions and his discerning pastoral work. Beyond introducing you to Edwards' life and times, this book will provide you with a model of Christian faith, thought and ministry.

CONTENTS: Introduction Stephen J. Chester Conversion Studies, Pastoral Counseling, and Cultural Studies: Engaging and Embracing a New Paradigm Lewis R. Rambo Response to Rambo Phillis Isabella Sheppard Observations on "Conversion" and the Old Testament J. Andrew Dearman Response to Dearman Rajkumar Boaz Johnson The Conversion of Simon Peter Markus Bockmuehl Response to Bockmuehl Michael J. Gorman Zacchaeus's Conversion: To Be or Not To Be a Tax Collector (Luke 19:1-10) Wyndy Corbin Reuschling Response to Corbin Reuschling Elizabeth Musselman Palmer Towards Individual and Communal Renewal: Reflections on Luke's Theology of Conversion Frank D. Macchia Response to Macchia D. Christopher Spinks Was Paul a Convert? Scot McKnight Response to McKnight Eric James Greaux Sr. Romans 7 and Conversion in the Protestant Tradition Stephen J. Chester Response to Chester Mary Veeneman Ambrose, Paul, and the Conversion of the Jews J. Warren Smith Response to Smith George Kalantzis I Thank Christ Jesus our Lord: 1 Timothy 1:12-17 Eric James Greaux Sr.