I am not here including the letter which I wrote to Brian
(with a copy to Norman), but this is the personal reply to me from Norman after
reading his copy. This is between us and I may share more with you as lead by
the Spirit. No one else has seen or read these letters, but I do sense, because
of our book, "DESIRE AND FAITH" and the radical understanding I shared with you
in our dialog, this letter from Norman to me is vital for you in understanding
the fellowship Norman and I shared personally with one another, and was rarely
seen by others.
The
Worldwide
Evangelization
Crusade
C.T. Studd,
Founder
___________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
Office of
Norman P Grubb
GENERAL
HEADQUARTERS
BOS1707 -FORT WASHINGTON , PA 19034-8707
215-646-8489
Nov. 28,
1985
Yours came yesterday, with a
copy of Brian to you and now your reply. Thank you for including me in copy of
your reply.
First, I appreciate the
tenderness of Brian's attitude and letter to you. That's the right type of
interchange. I think I see his problem that our contacts with you, and in your
writings, are the total right presentation of your Spirit-seeing of yourself and
Christ, but you are not occupied in giving, as it were, a Rom. 6-8 Paul's
explanation of the 'how', so what you say or are brings a direct confrontation
with you as the Christ-you with no explanations, and the consequent shock or
negative reaction, until anyone knows you actually to be what you are saying you
are. But I see that to be right for you. It is God's way with you, and not
unlike Jesus Himself in his total 'ruthless' claims to who He was and what those
who follow Him therefore also are, as in those tremendous John chapters 3-11.
John just states, as also in his letters, while Paul explains. And you are more
the John.
Therefore, love, my first
reading of your present reply to Brian hit me square in its totalness of who you
are, and your relationship to sin, false self, Satan, and I wondered whether it
might read as if you are "the very Christ", though I saw you were also saying
"I am the True Vine in branch form".
But my second reading carries
me right along with you, and I see you don't say more than what is TOTAL FACT
WHEN WE TRULY "know". It has rather, and rightly, an atom bomb effect; but
the Spirit needs His present John writers as well as Paul, and I take that to be
your Spirit-value and indeed glory among us. So thank you,
darling.
Indeed, just because your
letter is so ruthlessly total and only receivable (as you say) by co-see-ers, I
would love to see our INTERCESSOR boldly print part or all of it (maybe too long
for all). I say that because I have that same "ruthless" spirit, and have
lived in trouble for it like you, and the Spirit has at least 'got it thru'
sufficiently to bring about, first our Union Life upbuilding in so many, and now
even more total and ruthless our INTERCESSOR marching army: and it really is
because I was "ruthless" enough in my sharings and thus startling enough (though
I never really meant to be) to produce these beginnings of our Twentieth Cent.
Reformation: and in some way your present letter is a total saying of it, with
a totality and ruthlessness which will certainly disturb and offend and bring
attacks from believers in general. Therefore and for that reason, I would love
to see us put this in print, and I am suggesting that to Brian and
Fred.
So thank you, love, and for
your spontaneous obedience to the Spirit (which you can't help) in writing
it.
Love as
ever,