Editor’s Note
by Editor(s)

In this issue of The Intercessor we continue celebrating twenty-five years of the magazine and its mission to present the total truth of our union with Christ by reprinting some of our favorite articles which we believe best exemplify that mission.

Several of the articles included re-count the history of the Boone Total Living Center and how a word of faith became a reality. In "Further Reflections of a 12-year old Scribe," Scott Prewitt’s handwritten note describing his excitement as a young boy over the original purchase of property in Boone for a retreat center is reproduced. Scott has added updates through the years, as the retreat center came into existence and a team of folks moved to Boone, just as he and his family envisioned. And in "Cookout in Boone," Pat Mace details her vision of what "Boone" would mean not only in the lives of those who would move here, but for the spread of the total truth. Written in 1985, the year the first Intercessor was sent out from Boone, Pat describes a cookout–and what it took to make it possible for Norman to be there–on the very property that Scott wrote about.

Our lead article, "Free at Last" is a wonderfully practical look at how to handle the constant attacks of Satan to pull us into unbelief. Norman discusses the difference between temptation and sin and the opportunity temptation gives us to reaffirm our union with Christ.

The reviews of two books present further historical perspective on our heritage. Elliot Coatney reviews The Cambridge Seven, the story of the seven young Cambridge graduates who gave up position and fortune to dedicate their lives to the mission field. Among these was C.T. Studd, the most famous cricket player of his day, who joined Hudson Taylor in China, spent years in India, and finally gave the last years of his life to evangelization in the Congo. His son-in-law was Norman Grubb, who joined Studd in Africa and carried on the mission after Studd’s death, expanding the Worldwide Evangelization Crusade into hundreds of foreign fields with some 1500 missionaries. Page Prewitt reviews Norman’s autobiography Once Caught, No Escape, which tells the story of this totally laid-down life. Page speaks of her personal friendship with Norman and the life changing impact he had on her life.

Page has continued to share the great light she received from Norman with others through the years, exemplified by "How It Really Works," a transcription of a talk given to urge her listeners to move by faith beyond the children and young men stages of 1 John to the fatherhood level, knowing that Christ will walk out His sacrificial life through us in difficult circumstances. And in "APastor Writes to Page Prewitt," she responds to a discouraged pastor with a clear and concise explanation of the lie of independent self.

Another letter that captures the heartbeat of the total truth is Steven Prewitt’s "The Simplicity of Seeing," a beautiful and moving letter to a friend. In addition, we have chosen one of the thousands of letters Nor-man wrote, this one discussing the paradox of union with Christ, which can only be understood by faith.

In "God’s Great Purpose by Us" Norman exhorts those who have ears to hear to see their "summit" calling as "sent ones" to spread the revolutionary truth of Galatians 2:20 to the world. Pat Mace echoes this battle cry in "A Call to Arms," urging Christians to understand the seriousness of sin–Satan through our members–and fight for the truth and against his hold in our own lives and the lives of others. In an individual life this struggle is very real in "God’s Promises," the anonymous account of an alcoholic’s recovery through taking the truth for himself and how sharing his story can benefit those God puts in his path.

Finally, we include "A Tribute to Norman"–his own account of death as a necessary foundation for a resurrected life for others. We believe Norman was a shining example of the "mighty works of God through a human channel." It has been our privilege to share his revolutionary words and the words of so many these twenty-five years, and we look forward to continuing to publish the truth of who we really are in the pages of The Intercessor.