First Person with Wayne Shepherd

Dr. Mark Jobe talks with Wayne Shepherd about his tenure as President of Moody Bible Institute and his decision to follow God's call back to the church.  (click for more...) 
Website:  www.moodybible.org/news/2026/presidential-transition/
Also:  www.moodyradio.org/bold-steps
Dr. Jobe reflects on his seven years leading Moody, a role he didn't seek (it came as an unexpected call, and his wife encouraged him to pray about it) and accepted out of obedience rather than personal ambition. He describes balancing the full-time presidency with continuing to pastor New Life Community Church, a multi-site congregation with 25 locations and 44 services across Chicago plus 10 international sites, alongside a nonprofit serving at-risk youth. He calls the dual role a "beautiful marriage" that kept him connected to the city while leading the institute.
He's now stepping down to return full-time to pastoring, church planting, and evangelism, calling it a deepening of his calling rather than a demotion. Much of the conversation covers his urban, multiethnic ministry in Chicago, the rise of "cultural Christians" and lapsed Catholics seeking faith again, strong recent growth in conversions and baptisms (over 1,100 people in 24 months), and his direct approach encouraging unmarried couples living together to marry. He closes by citing Proverbs 3:5-6, underlined in his father's Bible, as the scripture that has most guided his life and decisions.
The interview ends noting Jobe will leave his Moody office at the end of the month, with listeners encouraged to pray for his successor as the institute's 11th president.
       NEXT WEEK:  David McCullough on George Washington and 1776
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Dr. David Zanotti, CEO and Chairman of The American Policy Roundtable and host of The Public Square, joins Wayne Shepherd in conversation about America's 250th.   (click for more...)  
The conversation centers on a recently published book, An Oration, which Zanotti co-authored with political philosopher Dr. W.B. Allen. The book revisits an 1837 Fourth of July speech by John Quincy Adams — delivered at age 70, for 90 minutes without a microphone — in which Adams argued that American civil government was founded on biblical principles rooted in the teachings of Jesus Christ. Zanotti describes Adams as the most credible eyewitness to the founding era, having personally known the Founding Fathers, served in every branch of government, and later spent 17 years in Congress advocating for the abolition of slavery.
The interview also touches on how the book addresses modern debates around Christian nationalism, theocracy, and separation of church and state — using Adams' own words as the authoritative response. As a practical application, Zanotti encourages listeners to read the Declaration of Independence and engage in civic life as an expression of Christian faith. He concludes by announcing a groundbreaking ceremony for "Declaration Hall" — an education and media center to be built on the campus of the American Mission Center in Ohio — scheduled for July 4, 2026, the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence.
                                                  NEXT WEEK:  Mark Jobe 
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Dustin Garrett once found himself in a jail cell considering suicide when a grandmother's witness broke through and he cried out to Jesus. He tells his story to Wayne Shepherd.  (click for more...)         
Dustin grew up in the Chicago suburbs in a broken, substance-abusing family, with his only Christian influence being his grandmother. By age 15 he was a full-blown heroin addict, eventually dropping out of school, cycling through theft, drug charges, and jail. At around age 20, while in the suicide ward of a jail going through heroin withdrawals, he cried out to Jesus — a faith rooted in his grandmother's persistent witness. After years of struggling without discipleship or community, his father gave him an ultimatum at age 22, leading Dustin to a two-year gospel-centered recovery program at a rescue mission in Peoria, Illinois. It was there — through men who opened the Bible with him and required him to memorize Scripture — that his life truly transformed. Against all odds, he went on to attend Bible college in Kansas City, and today, at 42, he has been walking with the Lord for about 20 years. He works in Christian healthcare ministry, serves as a worship leader at his church, and is a husband and father of two.
                            NEXT WEEK:  Dave Zanotti of The Public Square
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Ben Olsen was a professional actor when God called him into a helps profession and now he serves as a leader of the Global Center for Coaching.  (click for more...) 
Website:  www.GlobalCenterforCoaching.org
Ben Olsen shares how he grew up in a faith-filled home centered on community and participation, placed his faith in Christ at age 10, but drifted away during his teens. He pursued acting professionally for about 16 years — including six years in New York doing primarily Shakespeare — before a defining moment where he felt God calling him to make a clear choice. After returning to his faith, he found his theater background being redeemed when a Christian school invited him to teach theater.
Over the following 25+ years, Ben worked in various "helps professions" — addictions recovery, wilderness therapy, and pastoral counseling — before enrolling at Western Seminary. There, a coaching class instantly clarified what he had been doing all along. He pivoted fully to coaching, eventually took over the seminary's coaching program, and has since spun it off as the independent Global Center for Coaching. The organization offers accredited online training for both those seeking a professional coaching credential and those who simply want to sharpen their relational skills. Ben emphasizes that, unlike counseling, coaching is forward-focused and treats the client as the expert of their own life, with the coach's role being to help people discover what God has already placed within them.

                                              NEXT WEEK:  Dustin Garrett
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Dr. Bill Thrasher joins Wayne Shepherd in conversation remembering those who have given their lives in the service of their country and thanking God for the sacrifice of Jesus on our behalf. (click for more...)
Website:  www.VictoriousPraying.org
This week’s First Person is a Memorial Day weekend episode featuring host Wayne Shepherd in conversation with Dr. Bill Thrasher, a longtime professor at Moody Bible Institute. The discussion weaves together two themes: honoring military sacrifice on Memorial Day and reflecting on the sacrifice of Christ. Thrasher shares his personal faith journey — from a "cultural Christian" upbringing to his conversion at a 1965 Billy Graham crusade and deeper spiritual growth through a Campus Crusade-connected fraternity brother in college — and expresses gratitude for mentors who shaped him, including pastor Ben Haden, theologian Charles Ryrie, and radio preacher Stephen Olford. The theological heart of the conversation centers on Paul's charge to Timothy to "remember Jesus Christ," with Thrasher drawing on Oswald Chambers to caution against burying faith under busyness, and exploring the doctrines of propitiation and redemption as reasons for gratitude. The episode closes with Thrasher leading a prayer of thanksgiving for religious freedom, spiritual mentors, and the liberating work of Christ on the cross.
               NEXT WEEK:  Ben Olsen of the Global Center for Coaching
Send your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company:
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