Greg Wheatley, host of the online music platform Sound of Majesty, joins Wayne Shepherd and gives a brief biographical sketch of two great composers. (click for more...)

Website: www.soundofmajesty.org

In this edition of First Person, Wayne Shepherd interviews Greg Wheatley, host of SoundofMajesty.org, about the life, faith, and musical legacy of Johann Sebastian Bach, with additional insights into Felix Mendelssohn. Wheatley explains that Bach, a devout Lutheran, viewed all his work as done for the glory of God, often signing his compositions “Soli Deo Gloria.” They discuss Bach’s monumental St. Matthew Passion, highlighting its theological depth and intricate craftsmanship, originally written for Good Friday worship. The conversation also explores how Mendelssohn revived Bach’s music nearly a century after his death, sparking renewed appreciation for his genius. Throughout the discussion, Wheatley emphasizes that classical sacred music, though sometimes perceived as complex, remains spiritually accessible and deeply moving for listeners today.

NEXT WEEK: Phil Callaway

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Pastor Josh Moody of College Church in Wheaton, IL talks with Wayne Shepherd about his love of Scripture and how to make it a regular part of life. (click for more...)

Website: www.GodCenteredLife.org

In this First Person conversation, Pastor Josh Moody, senior pastor of College Church in Wheaton, Illinois, reflects on his journey from England to pastoral ministry in the U.S., his deep appreciation for Jonathan Edwards, and his passion for helping believers engage Scripture as the living Word of God. Moody recounts formative influences from his parents’ example, a transformative mission trip that awakened his love for the Bible, and his conviction that daily dependence on God’s Word is essential for spiritual life and perseverance. He discusses his book Bible Verses Every Christian Should Know as an accessible, interactive guide meant to draw readers into Scripture without guilt or pressure, emphasizing that faith, growth, and evangelism ultimately flow from hearing and responding to God’s Word.

NEXT WEEK: Greg Wheatley

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Kim Tschirret, Founder of Hope Reins, decribes how caring for horses helps children of abuse and trauma find hope, healing, and the love of Jesus. (click for more...)

Website: www.HopeReins.org

Kim Tschirret, founder and CEO of Hope Rains in Raleigh, North Carolina, shares how her own childhood trauma and healing journey in Christ led to the creation of a unique faith-based ministry that pairs abused and traumatized children with rescued horses. Founded in 2010, Hope Rains provides free, weekly mentoring sessions where children build trust, communication, boundaries, and leadership skills through guided interactions with horses, which serve as a bridge to healing through Jesus. With 38 acres, 17 rescued horses, dozens of staff and volunteers, and a three-year discipleship-oriented pathway, the ministry has served more than 2,100 children, offering safety, restoration, and hope while demonstrating how God redeems both broken lives and broken stories.

NEXT WEEK: Pastor Josh Moody

Send your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company:
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Dan Hawkins is interviewed by Wayne Shepherd about being led of God to leave his successful family construction business to lead Village Ministries International. (click for more...)

Website: www.VillageMinistries.org

Dan Hawkins, CEO of Village Ministries, shares his journey from leading a successful family construction business to answering God’s call into full-time ministry after a life-changing short-term mission trip to a former Soviet state. Village Ministries, founded in 1990 and based in Yukon, Oklahoma, focuses on equipping rural and often persecuted pastors through Bible distribution, theological training, and spiritual care, particularly in areas where many pastors lack even a single Bible. The ministry’s core training resource, Foundations Building into Faith, now translated into 35 languages, teaches pastors how to accurately study Scripture and encourages multiplication through discipleship. Serving in more than 20 countries, Village Ministries relies on volunteer teachers, missionaries, and local partners to reach unreached villages, offering hope, biblical literacy, and encouragement to believers who may otherwise remain isolated from Christian resources and training.

NEXT WEEK: Kim Tschirret of Hope Reins

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Businessman and investor Doug Cobb joins Wayne Shepherd in conversation about his goal of assisting in the completion of the Great Commission. (click for more...)

Website: https://finishingfund.org, https://www.douglasfcobb.com

In this First Person interview, Wayne Shepherd speaks with Doug Cobb, founder of the Finishing Fund and author of The Sprint to the Finish, about the accelerating global effort to fulfill the Great Commission. Cobb explains how his background in business and venture investing uniquely prepared him to help fund and launch first-time gospel engagement among unreached people groups, noting that fewer than 100 such groups remain worldwide. He describes three biblical “finish lines” of the Great Commission—believers in every people group, Scripture in every language, and a gospel presence in every place—and highlights remarkable progress through collaboration, technology, media, and prayer. Throughout the conversation, Cobb shares powerful stories of first believers, emphasizes prayer as foundational spiritual warfare, and challenges listeners to participate by praying, giving, and “going,” whether across the globe or across town, as God brings the unreached into everyday reach.

NEXT WEEK: Dan Hawkins, Village Ministries

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Michele Altman gave her life to Christ after childhood abuse, drug addiction, and prostitution. Now the Founder of Cornerstone of Grace for women, she tells her story. (click for more...)

Website: www.Cornerstoneofgrace.org

Michele Altman shares a powerful testimony of redemption, describing a childhood marked by loss and abuse that led her into years of drug addiction, prostitution, and repeated brushes with death. Though raised with an early knowledge of God, Michelle spent years believing the lies spoken over her—until a decisive moment when she cried out to Jesus and experienced dramatic deliverance and freedom. Grounded in her restored identity in Christ, she now lives a life of daily surrender and obedience to God’s will. That transformation gave birth to Cornerstone of Grace, a Wisconsin-based residential ministry she founded to provide a safe, faith-centered environment for abused, homeless, and trafficked women and their children, equipping them through counseling, discipleship, and practical support to discover who they are—and whose they are—in Christ.

NEXT WEEK: Doug Cobb on finishing the Great Commission

Send your support for FIRST PERSON to the Far East Broadcasting Company:
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Joining Wayne Shepherd, Abdu Murray recounts his conversion from Shia Islam to Christianity and discusses his book, Fake ID, about AI and gender ideology. (click for more...)

Website: https://embracethetruth.org

YouTube: www.youtube.com/@AbduMurrayOfficial

In this First Person interview, Abdu Murray recounts his nine-year journey from devout Shiite Islam to Christian faith, describing how rigorous study, thoughtful dialogue with Christians, and a deep search for truth led him to conclude that Christianity uniquely answers both intellectual and existential questions, particularly through the self-sacrificial love of Christ demonstrated on the cross. He explains the personal cost of conversion, including challenges to identity and family relationships, while emphasizing the spiritual closeness to God that often comes through suffering. Murray also discusses his book Fake ID, arguing that the combined forces of “AI mania” and gender identity ideology are contributing to a cultural “reality collapse” by eroding objective truth and authentic human personhood. He contends that both trends push society toward seeing humans either as machines or self-created gods, ultimately denying God as Creator, and concludes that the only stable anchor for truth and identity is the Christian understanding of personhood grounded in the image of God as revealed in Scripture.

NEXT WEEK: Michele Altman

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A former U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot, KJ Johnson is interviewed by Wayne Shepherd about his testimony and role as Director of Chicago's CS Lewis Institute. (click for more...)

Website: www.cslewisinstitute.org/chicago/

Karl “KJ” Johnson, Lt.Col., USMC (Ret.), a former U.S. Marine Corps helicopter pilot with a 20-year military career, shares how God redirected his life toward intentional spiritual discipleship after recognizing a personal lack of being deeply discipled despite growing up in a Christian environment. Raised in Chicago with strong faith influences from his mother and grandmother, Johnson drifted spiritually during college and early military years, but recommitted his faith after marriage and fatherhood, developing a hunger for Scripture and Christian thought. His transformative experience came through the C.S. Lewis Institute, where structured, relational discipleship—focused on heart and mind—provided mentoring, community, and theological depth that reshaped his life and calling. Now the director of the C.S. Lewis Institute in Chicago, Johnson leads a yearlong, interdenominational discipleship program emphasizing intentional commitment, mentorship, and holistic spiritual formation, equipping believers from all walks of life to grow in Christlikeness and live out their faith in tangible ways.

NEXT WEEK: Abdu Murray, author of Fake ID; How AI and Identity Ideology Are Collapsing Reality and What to Do About It

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