The Bishop of Mars--a woman--is kidnaped by hostile elements along with an agnostic German engineer and they are ordered to make love. The woman, a nun, refuses to break her vow of chastity and the hostile elements resort to force. By the co-author of Rama Revealed.

In this issue of The Ministry, Brother Lee once again reminds us that all the believers are fruit-bearing branches in the vine and grains of wheat falling into the ground to bring forth more grains. This is our burden, our obligation, and the commission that the Lord has given us. We need to change the concept that we have from our background by tradition and not wait for big speakers or gospel campaigns. Rather, we must go out to contact people once a week. For this purpose, we must learn the truths concerning God, Christ, the Spirit, sin, repentance and faith, calling on the Lord, and the assurance of salvation. Then we must learn how to present these truths to unbelievers as the seed of life for their salvation. The next three messages are a continuation of the Crystallization-study of Revelation, given in the summer training of 1999. Message Seven shows us the Lord’s need of the overcomers and how the fulfillment of God’s eternal purpose, Christ’s satisfaction, and the defeat of God’s enemy all hinge on the overcomers. Message Eight strongly charges us that if we are to enter into the Lord’s joy and receive the Lord as our exceeding great reward in the next age, we need to win Him and faithfully enjoy Him today in this age. If we do not faithfully enjoy and experience Christ as the reality of His promises today, we will not participate in their fulfillment in the kingdom age; the principle is that what we are will become our reward. Message Nine presents the main subject of the book of Revelation, which is Christ as the center of God’s administration according to God’s eternal economy. We not only need to see that God has a governmental administration, but we also must learn to live in a practical daily way directly under the rule of God and under the administration of His throne. Last of all, we include reports concerning the Lord’s move in Mexico and in Sri Lanka.

In this issue of The Ministry, Brother Lee stresses our need to realize that we are branches in the vine for bearing fruit and grains of wheat for bringing forth many grains. According to its history, the church in general has had the concept that we must do a work of preaching. In the Lord’s recovery, however, our concept must be radically changed. We should not put our trust in the preaching work; rather, we must stress fruit-bearing. For this, we must abide in Christ, be willing to die, be pruned, and then go to contact people by imparting Christ to them with and in brotherly love. In this way, we will see the increase of Christ and the spread of the kingdom of God through our remaining fruit. The following messages continue the Crystallization-study of Revelation, given in the summer training of 1999. Message Four presents a full revelation of Christ in His coming back concerning His person and His work. The Lord’s coming back is also related to the prophecy of the four “sevens,” which include the seven seals, the seven trumpets, the seven bowls, and the last seven years of this present age. Message Five speaks of the intrinsic significance and the subjective experience of the golden lampstand. The lampstand with its golden nature, form, and seven lamps signifies the Triune God—the Father, the Son, and the Spirit. The lampstand also signifies the church as the reproduction of Christ and the reprint of the Spirit. Such revelation needs our subjective experience so that we may become the reproduction of the lampstand, the expression of the Triune God. Message Six presents a full view of Christ as the Son of Man walking in the midst of the golden lampstands. He is the High Priest girded about at the breasts with a golden girdle, cherishing the churches in His humanity and nourishing them with His divinity. Last of all, we include reports describing the Lord’s move in the Ukraine and in Armenia and among the elders and responsible ones in a recent training in Ventura, California.

“This is a space trip that no reader will want to miss.”—Playboy Years ago, the enormous, enigmatic alien spacecraft called Rama sailed through our solar system as mind-boggling proof that life existed—or had existed—elsewhere in the universe. Now, at the dawn of the twenty-third century, another ship is discovered hurtling toward us. A crew of Earth's best and brightest minds is assembled to rendezvous with the massive vessel. They are armed with everything we know about Raman technology and culture. But nothing can prepare them for what they are about to encounter on board Rama II: cosmic secrets that are startling, sensational—and perhaps even deadly. “Offers one surprise after another.”—The New York Times “A masterpiece . . . one of the year’s best hard SF epics.”—The Houston Post