"Thanks Nancy!"

Leslie Basham: There’s no question. We want the Revive Our Hearts radio program to be God-centered and God-glorifying. There’s also no question that God has used one particular lady to touch many of our lives in a special way. So today we’ll thank Him specifically for using Nancy Leigh DeMoss.

This is Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss on Wednesday, August 30th. Revive Our Hearts is celebrating five years of being on the air. That’s five years of hard work for lots of people, but nobody has felt it as much as Nancy. That’s why many people have called to say, “Hi,” and “Congratulations,” and “Thank you.”

Female Caller: Hi, Nancy.

Male Caller: Hey, Nancy.

Male Caller: Hello, Nancy.

Female Caller: Hi, Nancy.

Male Caller: Hi, Nancy.

Female Caller: Happy Anniversary, precious Nancy.

Leslie: Now, normally at this point, I would turn over the reins to Nancy, but today I’m going to ask her to sit back and allow us to bless her. Let’s be clear about this. We’re not into “Nancy” worship. No, we’re worshiping the God who made her and gave her some wonderful gifts and abilities. Gifts that have blessed each of us in some way or another over the past five years. But it’s all because of His grace and all of the glory goes to Him. Let’s start with a quick greeting from one of Nancy’s mentors.

Vonette Bright: Hi, Nancy. This is Vonette Bright with Campus Crusade for Christ. You are a very special protégé, and you’ve been so disciplined and obedient in following God’s direction. I congratulate you on five years of ministry with Revive Our Hearts. Love you, dear.

Leslie: I forgot to mention that most of this is a surprise to Nancy so that makes it even more fun. Here’s another older saint who’s meant a lot to Nancy over the years.

Evelyn Christensen: Happy anniversary, precious Nancy. This is Evelyn Christensen telling you that, oh, Nancy, I’m so deeply grateful for your brave leadership and bringing such clear and powerful and biblical teaching to the Christian world today. And Nancy, I’m also grateful to God for working through you to bring repentance praying and revival to so many Christians. We love you dearly, Nancy. Bye.

Leslie: It occurs to me that we can thank God for the influence of these godly women in Nancy’s life because indirectly we’re blessed by their faithfulness through Nancy. And not just godly women either.

Ray Ortlund: Hey, Nancy. This is Ray Ortlund, your pastor during your college days. Ann and I are so thrilled at God’s obvious hand on you for these five years of broadcasting and growing Revive Our Hearts. Amazing girl. Go!

Leslie: Three important mentors in the life of Nancy Leigh DeMoss. Incidentally, they’ve each been guests on Revive Our Hearts at some point in the past. You can click on links to those interviews at www.ReviveOurHearts.com.

Not too long ago Bob Lepine from FamilyLife Today spoke with some pastors’ wives and missionaries who are also close friends of Nancy’s. He asked them what makes Nancy Leigh DeMoss and her teaching unique. In order of their responses, we’ll hear from Kim Wagner, Maria Johnson, Holly Elliff and Kathy Helvy.

Bob Lepine: You were all students of the Word, teachers of the Word, but something about the ministry of Revive Our Hearts and the way that works was different—has been different. Can you put your finger on what that is? I mean what’s the difference between knowing God’s Word, being able to teach God’s Word, understanding it, and what happens through Revive Our Hearts?

Kim Wagner: Well, because Nancy has presented in a biblical framework for women specifically to address women’s needs, women’s issues, but what Scripture says about being feminine and the role that we’re to take in that.

Maria Johnson: And it’s not just knowing the Word.

Kim: No.

Maria: I knew the Word, but I think what’s different, too, is relationship. It’s not Bible knowledge. It’s relationship with Christ, and His strength and His power. He said He was meek. That is not weakness. It’s strength under the control of the Holy Spirit, and that’s the difference for me in the learning—the application of how to apply—how to live as Christ would have me live.

My message to women is now we can be the women God wants us to be. It’s not easy and it’s not natural, but it is possible by the power of the Holy Spirit. I’ve been learning that—the Lord’s been teaching me that—through Revive Our Hearts. Through Nancy’s teaching and the guests she has on.

Holly Elliff: I think one thing that makes Nancy’s message unique and what makes it hearable by women who maybe are strong women is in 2 Corinthians, chapter 3, verses 4-5, it says: “Such confidence we have through Christ toward God. Not that we are adequate in ourselves to consider anything as coming from ourselves, but our adequacy is from God.” (NASB)

I think that is the strength of Nancy’s message. Her adequacy is from God and anything God is producing through her life is coming because she has submitted herself to the Lord and to His Word. Then He pours His life through her in a way that other women can hear and understand, and it is applicable to their everyday life.

Even though Nancy’s not a wife and a mother, she has surrounded herself with women who are wives and are mothers, and she really has a handle on understanding what women struggle with, what that’s going to look like in their everyday life, the questions they’re going to have, the struggle they’re going to have with applying that to loving their husband or training their children. So I think God is pouring His adequacy through her to the lives of other women.

Kathy Helvy: I can’t tell you how many times I’ve sat in the audience as Nancy’s been recording thinking, “How did she know that?” She’s not a mother. She’s not a wife, and yet it was just on.

I remember the first time I heard Nancy speak was at a huge conference and she spoke on brokenness and she got up after several other speakers. There were 5,000 of us sitting in the audience, and up comes this little gal, this petite little gal, and I remember sitting back in my seat thinking, “Oh, time to check out what does she have to say?” She was just so unassuming, and yet she got up and then she started to speak with that confidence that Holly was talking about. She had my attention and everyone else’s in the building.

As the years have gone by—the last five years—the thing that stands out to me about Nancy’s teaching, for me personally, that I think is so unique is that she—you know how you hear the word “they speak the truth in love”? I think sometimes I hear people speaking truth and they’re really good at it. And sometimes I hear people speaking out of love, but she does both.

She takes the Word of God, which is truth, speaks it with love. I think that is just really a unique combination for anyone, let alone for us women who take things to the emotional grid. We need to know there’s love behind it.

I think it was in Anne of Green Gables. Anne had this friend. Was it Diana? Do you remember the part where they would talk about being a wise women and they would remind each other, “What would the wise woman do?” I just think over the years, Nancy’s been my wise woman. She has gotten up and told me what a wise woman would do. She has taught me through her life and through her love for the Lord and the love for the Word. I want to be a wise woman.

I’ve been taught the Word all my life, but I don’t think I’d really loved it. I hadn’t been motivated to really obey it. Really. With everything that was in me. She came along and has helped me over the years, just motivating me and challenging me to do the right thing. To not just read the Word of God, but to do the Word of God.

She just will be endeared to me forever because as I’ve learned to love God’s Word and apply it (like Nancy’s so fond of saying) to our life experience—in other words, prove God’s Word true—I have done that. And as I’ve proved it true, it comes back around to me wanting to be in His Word more. It becomes this wonderful, biblical cycle.

Leslie: Again, we heard from several of Nancy’s close friends. We see their faces here in the studio quite a bit during Revive Our Hearts recording sessions.

In case you’re just tuning in, we’re celebrating five years of God’s faithfulness through the radio ministry of Nancy Leigh DeMoss here on Revive Our Hearts. If she were here right now, she would want to make sure we give God the glory, not her. And we do. We’re thankful for the many means He’s used to get His Word into our lives, including Nancy.

Many listeners like you have called to express your gratitude as well. Let’s listen to a small sampling. and then I’ll tell you how you can get a copy of the Revive Our Hearts Anniversary Book Set.

(phone calls)

Woman 1: I am just calling to say I thank God for your ministry because Revive Our Hearts has taught me how to live out Christianity in a practical way in every area of my life. And that is a blessing to me because in the end God gets glorified.

Woman 2: God bless you, Nancy. God bless your staff. God bless your ministry. I’m a mom without a job, and I don’t have the funds to send as I would want to, but one thing that I do is pray that whatever you set your hand to do for Him, it will always prosper. I pray that for you. And then I’m telling you, you don’t know what you’re doing—there’s a huge ministry and a great work.

It truly has touched my life in so many ways. Way here in Boston, Massachusetts, somebody is being touched. So continue on with your work because it truly has been a lifeline to me. Thank you, Nancy, and to your staff and to everyone that’s involved in your ministry. Thank you.

Leslie: Those are just a few voices out of thousands who are thankful for what God is doing through the ministry of Nancy Leigh DeMoss and Revive Our Hearts. Since Revive Our Hearts is celebrating five years of being on the air, we’re packaging together five of Nancy’s books in what we refer to as the Revive Our Hearts Anniversary Set.

The set includes A Place of Quiet Rest (about spending time with the Lord daily), Lies Women Believe and the Truth That Sets Them Free (about how you can fight the natural tendency to listen to what the culture spouts off rather than what God says on a number of topics), and what we call The Trilogy—three books on Brokenness, Surrender, and Holiness.

All of these are available to you for a gift of $50 or more when you contact us online at ReviveOurHearts.com, or when you call us at 1-800-569-5959.

That last caller said she prayed for Nancy and for Revive Our Hearts. That means as much or more to us than any money you might give. In fact, why don’t you sign up as a Revive Our Hearts prayer partner? Click on “Make a Difference” at our website.

While you’re praying, pray for a smooth transition on Monday to our longer program length. Not only has the workload increased on Nancy, but there are a lot of logistical details that have to be worked out too. We truly believe this is for the best and ask you to pray that God would be glorified. Thanks for listening. Be sure to drop an encouraging note to Nancy at ReviveOurHearts.com, and join us tomorrow for more of this week-long celebration of five years of revived hearts.

Revive Our Hearts with Nancy Leigh DeMoss is an outreach of Life Action Ministries.

*Offers available only during the broadcast of the podcast season.