Life Action

Del's Legacy

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Recently, Sue and I prayed together at the gravesite of LAM's founder. We took time to thank the Lord for the spiritual heritage of Del Jr., and then we prayed for the Lord to multiply the vision and mission of the ministry he birthed under God's leadership.

Not to be overly mystical, but the sun was shining brightly on the words inscribed on the gravestone. It was as if a spotlight from heaven did not want us to miss a single word of his legacy:

He knew God

He loved God

He walked with God

He believed God
He lived and died for the Glory of God

2 Chronicles 16:9


Del's legacy is broad in scope. It extends to every outreach and every heart that has been touched since 1971.

A couple of weeks ago at The Lodge, a pastor's wife shared how she came to Christ in 1976 in Buffalo, New York, when Del was leading a summit. How often could that story be told?

For those of us who came to Christ through his ministry, it can never be told enough. Even yesterday, in St. Cloud, Florida, numerous others came to Christ. They are now extending the legacy to others. It never stops.


Quips and Quotes

I have thought much about how I want this 20th anniversary occasion to impact my life. There were numerous "quips and quotes" of Del's that percolated in my heart and, to this day, serve as philosophical underpinnings of our DNA. Some of my favorite are as follows:

If knowledge is not accompanied with brokenness and obedience and the power of His Spirit, then it destroys more than it builds and helps.


We're looking for better methods, and God's looking for better men, and once He gets them, He may touch down.

If revival depended on me—my prayers, my faith, my obedience—would America ever experience revival?

As long as God is on His throne, revival is as possible as the sun rising tomorrow morning.


The only thing that is going to stop the onslaught of God's judgment in America is a genuine revival in the Church.


It is the simple step of obedience in the things your flesh doesn't want to do that smashes pride, opens the door for grace, brings cleansing, and fills with the Spirit.

Every little compromise that you are justifying in your life today will end up being your destruction tomorrow.

The moment you start neglecting Jesus, everything else in your life will fall apart.



A Final Charge


Perhaps Del's most fervent plea to those of us who remained behind came at a banquet in South Bend in 1989 where many local friends and supporters gathered. We have put together a nice media version of that moving charge. Here are some excerpts that inspire me to pick up the torch:

Our desperate cry [as a ministry], for the last 18 years, is that God will spark that divine flame that will sweep across this nation like a prairie fire, consuming everything in its way, until God's glory is once again lifted up and this nation becomes a nation under God.

It's possible that, though we are already experiencing God's judgment, and greater judgment could come, God wants to avert judgment, and He's simply looking for one person who will pay the price in prayer and in faith and in commitment, whatever it takes to get a hold of God and not let loose.

God is looking and calling for a man or a woman who will be that intercessor, that agonizer in prayer, that exerciser in faith to believe God for the revival we need in America.
Would you say, "Lord, use me; I will pray, Lord; I will believe You; I will lay hold of You and not stop until You have poured out Your Spirit, revived Your Church, awakened this nation, and turned it back to God"?


A Final Prayer . . . for Revival


Within a couple of days of Del's home-going, with a burst of remarkable energy and surprising clarity, Del sat up and issued his final prayer. Since our prayers outlast us, I have every reason to believe this prayer is still echoing, not just in our hearts as those who are carrying on the message of revival, but in the heart of God:

"Lord God, send Your glory back to Your church. Send Your fire, God; turn the hearts of Your people back to You, that they may know that You alone are God."


I wonder what my final audible prayer will be? What is in my heart so abundantly, that out of it my mouth will speak? When I only have enough energy to cry out one final burden on my heart, what will it be? Will it be self-centered? Or is the passion for God's glory burning deeply enough in my heart that when I have only one prayer left, it will be for His fame to be on display in the world?

Our answers to those questions may well determine whether America experiences another great move of His Spirit in revival.

Comments

  • #1
  • December 3, 2009
  • Kenny Corn

I never had the honor of meeting Del yet God has used him in my life in a very deep and spiritual way. May we all carry Del's passion and plea for revival in our nation and our world and accept Del's challenge to be a "group of people who would unreservedly yield themselves to seeking and obeying God". (From: "Ablaze With His Glory" by Del)
  • #2
  • December 4, 2009
  • Dawn Wilson

From the moment I met Del in 1971, I knew that he was a uniquely gifted man, intent on seeing this nation experience revival. The adventure of those first years in Life Action gave direction to my young life as Del modeled how to walk with God. There was no pretense. He was the most authentic Christian I'd ever met, and he taught us to live out godly priorities, not just talk about them. My first reaction to Del was that he was a hard man to please; but then I discovered that it was his passion for holiness that drove him to root out hypocrisy and compromise. I also want to praise his godly wife, Judy--a True Woman--who taught me how to trust God in all circumstances. She, too, walked the walk.
  • #3
  • December 6, 2009
  • Todd Zulick

The LORD made me alive in Christ Jesus in October 1980.I have had the privilege to be in many crusades with Del Jr.praying and preaching. Even today I hear him and use his sayings. The two sayings that stand out are 1)Obedience brings blessing, Disobedience brings conflict. 2)When he preached truth he would often say "OH ME" showing that he was a man of repentance who knew if revival will come it starts with him as an individual.And each of us. I thank the LORD that Life Action and Revive Our Hearts, Nancy Demoss ministies carry the mantle of Del Fehsenfeld Jr. Holy Spirit led cry and truth that lead to revival. May we all PRAY and OBEY and be what Del desired, a church body "Ablaze With His Glory" to His Glory.
  • #4
  • December 8, 2009
  • Eddie Crain

I first met Del in April of 1980, when I joined the Red Team in Baltimore, Md, where they were doing the America program. I traveled for the next year, doing all nighters, on after another. I drove the truck and ran spotlight for the singers. Del was a man, I believe after God's own heart. In Aug of 1981, I had to go to Del and tell him of the sin I had allowed to take over my life. It was a sad night at the ranch that Friday night, when I stood before Life Action Ministry and told what I had done. After I read Psalms 51 to the group, Del got up and proved to me and other's, not that we needed proof, but that he was truly a man of God. The ministry asked that my future wife move back to Michigan, so they could minister to us, and help us in rearing our soon to be, new baby girl. We did move back to Niles Michigan, and God turned ashes into beauty. I'll never forget the man of God, Del Fehsenfeld Jr, We miss you Del and can't wait to see you again!!
  • #5
  • December 28, 2009
  • Len Phillips

As a new Christian and a Life Action team member for two years in the early years, I never met a more intense man of God than Del Fehsenfeld Jr. A true Christian and a man who loved God more than life itself. He was truly a joy to be around. A great preacher and teacher and his love for his team members was indescribable. His wife Judy, was a treasure also. A sweet spirited woman who as a mother and a wife, displayed all the qualities God expected of her. I truly miss them and look forward to that grand re-union "up there"