Phil Reaser (Extended version)
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I'm Wayne Shepherd. Welcome to the extended version of our first-person interview with Phil Reeser. Phil is a longtime friend whose life and testimony is a powerful story of the power of Christ to redeem a soul. In addition to our radio release, this version of our interview gives you even more insight of how God guides those who commit their lives to Him. Well, Phil, I admit that we have known each other for a long, long time. Yes, we have. Do you remember the circumstances that we met in?

I think I first witnessed your face in a classroom in Wheaton College Graduate School. That's right. And you came there to talk about who knows what because I wasn't paying much attention. So...

Wait a minute. I wasn't addressing the class. I was a student, wasn't I? I mean, come on. Yeah, you were a student, but also you spoke to one of our classes, I believe. Okay. I don't remember that. That was a long time ago. Anyway, yep, it was from grad school. Well, God has used you in the meantime all these years. You've been a radio guy all these years. You were a radio guy before you came to Christ, right?

A long time, yeah. I retired from radio in 2021 after 61 years in radio. Is that right? Wow. Yeah. Yeah. And I want to take you way back, though, to the beginning. And, of course, the beginning with Christ is the turning point, the real important part of your life. So shall we start there? Yeah.

We can. Let me do just a quick buildup, if I may. Grew up in a Christian home. My dad was a Lutheran pastor, so I had that in back of me. And at seven years of age, I went to a Christian family retreat with my family. And I'm only seven years old, but I'm listening to this testimony from Frank Laubach.

who was the fellow who founded the the Laubach literacy movement or something that's what became global it was a big big thing he gave a testimony that really captured my seven year old heart and

and talking about how much he loved his love relationship with Jesus, and how he walked with him and made a practice of thinking of him and remaining constantly with him, keeping in mind constantly that Jesus is right there with him. And he talked so lovingly about this relationship that it just grabbed my attention and

I had a lot of little hurts in my little life. And so this really appealed to me, to have this loving relationship with Jesus. Unfortunately, I got off the track in my teen years.

But after that Frank Lohbach experience, listening to him, I remember going home and praying very from the depths of my heart, a little seven-year-old heart, that God would allow me to walk with him. And sorry. Phil, it's emotional for you after all these years. Yeah, it is. Why? Why?

Because it was so powerful and so real. But I wanted to grow up to be a man after God's own heart and to love and enjoy him as Frank Laubach did. And you'll find out later, the Lord never forgot that prayer.

He remembered that prayer, asking that I could come to know him and love him in the right way like that. But in my teen years, I got off track again and became the prodigal son. Okay, after college, I taught school. I majored in elementary education, so I taught sixth grade for three years.

Then decided I wanted to go into radio because I grew up in the 50s learning to, I mean, really enjoying the antics and the crazy stuff that I'd hear. The radio personalities in Top 40 Radio back then were just outrageous personalities.

And I thought, what a fun way to make a living. And after my second year, I think it was, in radio or in college, I had to drop out for lack of funds and work. And so I got my FCC engineer's license, which you needed back then. Right. And back then, that helped you get a job. So I

I put an ad in a magazine or whatever I did and got this job in Lewistown, Pennsylvania. So I worked for about a half a year or so during that year off from college after getting the license. And so that was my first dip into radio. And I was a nervous wreck. I was terrible. You were a DJ?

Yeah, yeah, the evening DJ. And so then we went back to school. I helped get the campus radio station on board because it was really lacking at that point. It really did well there to some degree. And then afterwards, after teaching again, I went back to radio. I went to CBN in Virginia Beach. I worked there for a year and a half.

in their radio division. I left CBN and then worked at several radio stations where I got offers, and the Lord was just sort of opening doors, and I sort of went through them and found that I was very uncomfortable really doing secular radio anymore and found it much harder to be entertaining because I had been pretty much off-color. I became a shock jock. It was just so far from what my little boy heart had been. Hmm.

Of course, in the world's eyes, that works. And I did that for quite some time. Along the way, I got a couple of Billboard Magazine Radio DJ of the Year awards. Then in 1977, I was in Memphis at a station there.

And I was at home, I think I was probably high at the time because I'd gotten into drugs to some degree and rather regular. That shock jock lifestyle led to a certain... Yeah, sex, drugs, and rock and roll is the old phrase and just another tired version of that.

In my own life. But Billy Graham came on the TV when I was sitting there staring at it. And he, at one point, and I always had a great respect for Billy Graham because we used to listen when I was a little kid. And I was always very moved by his program and people coming to the Lord. And when they'd sing Just As I Am, you know, it always choked me up.

Well, he quoted 2 Corinthians 5.9 one time at that time in Memphis. And basically he was saying, and here's Paul talking to Christians, and I realized that when he said this. He said, remember, we're all going to stand before the judgment seat of Christ to give an account for what we've done in our body, whether for good or for evil. And I thought,

Wow, that really stunned me because I thought, well, if that's what he's

If that's the way it's going to be for Christians, I'm in major trouble here. And that really got me thinking. And at that very same time as I was thinking about that and got struck by that, during this program that was going on, and I heard the voice of the Lord, and I was certain it was God. I wasn't quite sure who God was anymore, but I felt...

He was saying, "Phil, it's time for you to decide what you're going to do with me." And I felt he was giving me a wake-up call, giving me a chance to get back on track. And so, being as slow as I am, I thought about getting back on track.

For like two years. But finally, I'm back in Cleveland, Ohio for the second time, working at a station there. And I was sitting in my apartment, a high-rise apartment downtown, a very nice place and rather expensive. But I was blowing the money that I made. And it was good money, but I was just like the prodigal son, you know. Mm-hmm.

And so I really had nothing going, but I heard this voice again, and the same voice I heard in Memphis. And he said, Phil, if you died tonight, the world would be better off. And that struck me deeply.

obviously, in a very profound way, and I knew it was God speaking to me and whoever he was. I was really struck by it, and he went on to talk to me. It seemed like 10 minutes, and he said, Phil, look at your friends. Look at what you've done in your life. What have you done to build my kingdom or give me glory or to be a blessing to others? He said, Phil, you've been living like a leech. Mm-hmm.

That's exactly what he said. And I knew how true that was. So when he was done speaking with me, that moment to me was like a loving, loving father trying to reason with his wayward son. That's incredible. And that's what it was. And so it was so obviously appealing to me, and it just drew me in. And when he finished speaking,

And I forget what all else he said, but those things I remembered. I went into my bedroom, and I got down on my knees, because I knew that I really had, with God saying, the world would be better off without you, and him telling me to get it together two years before, I knew there's only one thing I could do, and that's to surrender, to surrender to God, whoever he was.

So I spent the afternoon praying and crying and asking him to show me who he was. And the things I asked, and I said, Lord, if you're a moose, and even if you're a moose and you want me to bow to the ground every time I see a moose, if that's what the truth is, I want it.

And I didn't care if it was Buddha or Muhammad. I didn't care. I just wanted to know the truth and give my life. I knew it would be foolish to become religious if it wasn't truth. So I ended up saying, God, if you'll forgive the mountain of sin. I'd led a life really for a number of years in debauchery and just promiscuity.

And I said, Lord, if you'll forgive me the mountain of sin that I bring to you now, and if you'll show me who you are, and show me how you want me to live, and help me to do it, because I know I can't do it myself. And if you'll do these things, God, I give my life.

to you. I just surrendered, and I sent men at every cell in my heart and body. I meant it with all my heart, and I got up from that prayer, and he didn't reveal himself to me really at that point, but I got up feeling like this huge weight had been lifted from my shoulders because I had done, I knew I had done all I could do at this point.

I didn't know anything else to do, you know, but to surrender to the truth. And if it was a God up there who was there and cared how I live, it was his turn. He would have to do something because I had nowhere else to go for a week or so or maybe a week or two.

I kept saying, Lord, I'm trusting you. You didn't have to go through the whole thing again, but I so meant it. And I said, God, whoever you are, if you're up there, I'm trusting you. The ball is in your court. That's what I kept thinking. God, the ball is in your court because I don't know what else to do. It was about, I don't know, a week or two later. I'm sitting on my living room sofa and I'm reading from a Bible about

I think it was one of those living paraphrases, living Bibles. And where I'd gotten that, I don't know, but it was there, and I was reading in the New Testament of

The red letters, because I knew enough, you know, I grew up at PK, you know, so I knew the red letters. They're really important. Those are the important ones, yeah. Yeah. So I was reading where Jesus was talking about the kingdom of God. And I don't even know exactly where that passage was, but it was one of those passages where he was talking about God, about the kingdom. Yeah.

And suddenly to my right, I know this sounds spooky or creepy to some, but right to my right, I saw a mass. And I didn't see any person, but I knew there was a being there. There was something, somebody, something there. And at that moment, I heard that same voice again that I'd heard in Memphis before.

And just two weeks earlier, when I was at the foot of my bed, the voice said, Philip, I'm the one you've been seeking. Follow me. And I knew it was Jesus. And I can't tell you how I knew all of a sudden, but I knew it was Jesus. I was so stunned by that. It was so real to me, and it still is to this day. And I think, why me? Why do you?

It's the first time in my life that I felt like I was on the right side of the fence with God. I was on God's side. I was so excited, but then I was overwhelmed, really. But I still had this Bible in my lap, and I said, Lord, I need to know how to live. I don't know how to live because I've been so far off the track. And I said, what do I do with this book?

I said, you know, I had friends and relatives and people saying, you know, it's all, a lot of it's just oral nonsense, you know, handed down from generation to generation. And, you know, and so many people just sort of discrediting Scripture. And the Lord said to me, I said, what do I do with this book? And he simply said this, and these are powerful words to me. Take me at my word. And I...

Because I knew I needed a plumb line. You know, I needed to have some way of knowing, you know, the path. And so I, at that point, I was so overwhelmed by this experience that the almighty God, the son of God had just after all I've done, that he would appear to me in a sense and invite me to follow him.

I was so excited, Wayne, that I jumped up out of my chair and I was laughing hysterically and crying hysterically at the same time because I was so overwhelmed with the relief of being right with God. Yeah, I was 37 years old and it was absolutely amazing, the most amazing thing I'd ever seen.

So, Phil, when we left your testimony, you had this dramatic encounter with the Lord, gave your life to Him, surrendered fully to Him, decided to go back to school, and pick up the story there. Well, I went to, actually, after I came to the Lord, I had a little honeymoon with Him, and it was so amazing to me. I spent my time praying, spending time with the Lord,

And trusting him, learning to trust him, like Proverbs 3, 5, and 6. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Lean not on your own understanding. And I had none, so I had to. So in all your ways, acknowledge him, and he'll direct your path. And so that's where I was. And I went to another retreat. First thing I wanted to do was go to a retreat someplace and really soak in more faith.

of the Word. And I ran into a lady by the name of Marian Elliott, and she seemed to be such a godly woman, and I appreciated her so much. And so at the end of that week, I shared my story with her. In fact, okay, I've just come to the Lord. I've been a disc jockey forever, and I was a mess, but I've come to the Lord, and I'm out of money. I've spent it all. I've wasted it like the prodigal son.

I don't have enough money to stay where I am. I don't have enough money to move out where I am. I had no answers. And I said, I don't know what to do. And this lady looked at me in such a godly, precious way and just said, here's what to do. I know this sounds odd, but she said, this is what to do. I want you to go home, write down a list of the things that you need from God at this point.

write them on a piece of paper, put them in a Bible that you're not using, if you have another one, and put it in next to the 91st Psalm. And I want you to read that 91st Psalm and trust and embrace the promises that are in that Psalm. And she said, leave that list in there for 21 days.

which happens to be the length of an egg's hatching, I believe. And I think that's part of the symbolism there. But she said, leave it there for 21 days. She said, after, in 21 days, leave it there for 21 days and expect great things. That's exactly what she said. And I did what she said. I made the list, put it in there. And to make a long story short...

In far less than like two weeks rather than 21 days, I was on the campus of Wheaton Graduate School, enrolled as a graduate student, and I can't even tell you hardly how it ever happened. So that was a step of faith.

You're telling me. And it was a challenge for me because I was scared to death of graduate school because I was not a good student. And so I thought, I'll never make it through this. But I knew the Lord wanted me to go there, so I did. And this is how it happened. A gal called me after I was at that retreat, not the same lady who talked to me about Psalm 91, but another gal, and she said,

well, how are you doing? I said, well, I still don't know what I'm doing, but I'm trusting the Lord. I'm just trusting.

And she said, well, you know, there's Wheaton. I thought, Wheaton? And I thought she was – I never heard of Wheaton. And I thought she was talking about a grain factory that I could go to and get a job. And I said, what do we have in Wheaton? And she said, it's an evangelical Christian college, and it's a great place. And she said, why don't you call them? And I said, call them?

Well, I'm a lousy student. I have absolutely no money, and how am I going to get there? I don't have any. I have no clue for that because I have nothing going for me here. She said, well, just call. So against all logic, I called Wheaton.

And I talked to, I got a hold of an admissions director at the grad school. I talked to him, and then I gave him my story. I said, I was told that I should call you. I gave him my story that I'd been a disc jockey and blah, blah, blah. And here I am now. And I said, so I don't know why I'm calling because I'm a lousy student. I have no money, and I don't know how I'd make it through anyway.

And he said, and he didn't flinch a bit about this. He said, well, you know, we have a great Bible program here, Bible department. And I knew I would need to take that for the required courses, you know, before the rest of the communication stuff. And he said, well, let me call. You would need to talk to somebody who's in charge of the broadcasting. That would be a good idea. So he put

Myrna Grant on the phone. And I told her the same thing. I don't know why I'm calling. I'm a former disc jockey. And I just came to the Lord and I've got no money. I've got no brains. I don't know why I'm coming.

And she said, well, let me talk to someone. And so she leaves the phone. And this all happens in like a 20-minute period. And so on the phone comes Jim Engle, who is in charge of communications over the broadcasting thing.

And he heard that. I told him the very same story. You know, got nothing going for me. I don't know why I'm calling. And then Myrna Grant came back on the phone and she said to Phil, Mr. Reeser, she said, we believe the Lord wants you here.

One reason is this is a closed campus day when they're doing all the maintenance and so on before school. School starts in a couple of weeks, and none of us are supposed to be on campus today. And here they were, all three of them, in this department, not in the same office, but they all congregated in the office during that 20 minutes. They just felt convinced and

And somehow, by God's grace and the miraculous work he can do, I graduated with honor from Wheaton Graduate School two years later, which is so astounding. Imagine that, huh? No kidding. And when I saw that on the diploma and saw this award thing, I thought,

I just felt the Lord was saying, Phil, this is for following me. This is for being obedient. And it is something that I was really afraid, very much afraid of. After graduating, went down to CBN and then off to several other stations and

But finally, I'm back in Cleveland. And the third time I'm there, I got a call from one of the engineers from CBN who knew me. And I'd gotten to know him. And he said, you know, there's an affiliate radio network that you are on.

And he just thought the world of your work and the morning show that I was doing. And he said that he would love to hear from you. So he said, give him a call. I did, having no idea why. He said, I'd love to have you up here. And I'll fly you up for a month to get a feel for it and see if you'd like to stay. And if you would, we'll move you up. And if not, I'll fly you back home. So it was such a deal, you know, I took it.

And while I was up there, though, I learned of a Bible school, Alaska Bible Institute in Homer, Alaska. I knew that I still needed some heart surgery. I wanted to learn how to really flesh it out, flesh out God's Word. And I felt this Bible school was probably because that's all they use is the Bible. And I felt I needed that. And so I ended up going there. But how I got up to

ABI was another miracle. I had gone, I did take his offer. I went back home, got my stuff. I went back to Alaska and worked there for about a year and a half. Then I got an offer to go back to Indiana and took a job, which I felt the Lord wanted me to take, help a friend of mine. At a certain point, I felt like

Still felt this need to go to that Bible school that I had learned about in Alaska. So I took a walk one day. This is the most miraculous thing that's ever happened to me, except other than Christ speaking to me. You've given us a lot to think about. Yeah. I know. I know. But, you know, that's why it's so overwhelming to me because I think, Lord, how did you do it? Why? Why?

And so, but anyway, so I take this walk, and Lord, I feel like I'm sort of getting stagnant here spiritually, and I don't feel right. I really need a spiritual shot in the arm. So I think I should be at that Bible school, and if I should be...

I need to know what to do. Do you want me to just stay here? And if you do, I'll stay here and just do what I'm doing. Please let me know because I don't want to go up there when it's not what you want. So I asked him to let me know. So again, I started trusting the Lord. I'm going to trust you with this, Lord. I don't know what you're going to do, but I'm going to trust you. I got home. This was an all-afternoon talk I had with the Lord about my situation. I went back to my apartment, went upstairs,

came in the door. In less than five minutes, my phone rang, and I got a call from the guy I had been working for up in Alaska at the Bible school. I hadn't talked to him since I left there, only because we're both very busy. He said, Phil, how you doing? I said, okay. All of a sudden, I'm thinking, oh my word. Is this a coincidence? I don't think so. He

He said, I'm just calling to see how you're doing. And I wanted to know if you might be interested in coming back to work here. And I said, I'd sure have to pray about it. I know if I did come up, I would want to go to the Bible school. So I'd have to work part time for you.

He said, great, that'd be fine. Well, I still wasn't positive because I wanted to make sure I wasn't just doing what I wanted to do. And then I watched this documentary, which really sounds stupid, but I watched this documentary on the ladybug. And the ladybug...

They say in this thing, and it really struck me, that the ladybugs, whatever they do to be born and created, however, in the forest. And so at a certain time, they all instinctively know when to leave the moist forest and go out into the fields and eat the aphids and whatever else they do for fun. But I'm sitting in my prayer chair there in front of the TV and watching.

after watching this riveting documentary. And I was praying, and my eyes were shut, and I was praying. I said, Lord, I still feel like I should go, but I don't want to go if you don't want me to, and I just feel like something's got to happen. As I'm praying, I feel a little tiny thing on my left arm, and I open my eyes, and

And, of course, it was a ladybug. That place at that time was new. I had never seen a bug, a fly, anything in any kind of bug. And here's this ladybug out of nowhere. And as I saw that, my eyes were sort of aghast. And that voice, that precious voice of the Lord said,

Phil, just as the ladybug knows when it's time to leave the forest, you know when it's time for you to go to Bible school up there and do that hard work. I was certain then the Lord was saying, I want, you know, it's time to go. It's time to go up there. I jumped up from my chair and I said, okay, the Lord wants me to go. And then suddenly in the midst of my joy, I'm thinking, Lord, I really don't want to test your patience here, but

I don't want people laughing at my testimony. And if I told them I'm going up to Alaska again because a ladybug landed on my arm, they'd put me in the funny farm. And so I said, please, if you're willing, give me some other further affirmation of all this. And so I was still going. Well, the Lord, now get this, the day this boss up in

Alaska, had given me a deadline. And so that time was shortening, and I only had a few days left for whether I should go or not because he had to fill the job one way or the other. I was still saying, Lord, I'm trusting you for this last thing. I'm sorry I'm being so, but I don't want to do what you don't want me to do. I only want to do what you want. There's the kicker. Here's the killer. The night before I have to tell

Dave, if I'm coming up to Alaska again, I come home from a studio job I had. I'm driving into my parking lot there, and right in front of me is a car with an Alaska license plate. And Alaska is written very boldly on their plates. And I felt the Lord say, Phil, okay, I'll write it out for you. Here's a sign, right? Right, right, that I want you to go to Alaska.

And I was so astounded by that. And I knew then. I knew that I knew that I knew. But I followed this. It's not done. I followed that car instinctively. I don't know why, but I had to follow this car and talk to these people. And I said, where are you from in Alaska? She said, Homer.

which is where I was going. And there's tons of places up there, lots of them. It's a big place, right. Two and a half times the size of Texas. And so I said, Homer, but I said, I've just been praying about whether I should go up there

to take a job in radio, this stranger looks up to me and says, with a big smile, she said, oh, Dave Becker. This is the name of the guy who had called me. Here's this stranger that God drops in front of me the day before I have to tell Dave if I'm going to come to work for him. How did God do that? And I know it sounds so outrageous that I don't know if anybody ever believes me, but this is what happened.

And God is my witness. He is the one who performed it. That really sent me through the roof with excitement. And I thanked her profusely. And I said, thank you so much. I ran up to my apartment and called Dave. And I said, Dave, I'm coming. And after being there and serving on the ABI staff for five years as a teacher and was teaching missions, I

I got a call from somebody here at WBCL in Fort Wayne. Their morning man, Jeff Carlson, had just been killed in a head-on collision.

Scott Suliff was the program director. He said, Phil, I just felt the Lord wanted me to call you to see if ask you to pray about whether or not you would come to fill his shoes. So I said, I sure will. And I prayed, prayed with my family. We all prayed.

And we felt, indeed, that the Lord wanted me to come here. Then I came and worked here at WBCL for 25 years and just then retired in 2021. And now I'm mentoring. I do a little voice work on the side, but basically mentoring men in the faith. And that's a great joy to me.

Let me take you back to Alaska because a benefit of being there in Alaska is you met your wife. Yes. Oh, that, right. Oh, yes, her. Let's not forget, Phil. Oh, her. Yeah, that is so funny because I had it right down here in my notes. I was going to say yes, and that was one reason the Lord had planned for me in Alaska, obviously, not only to go and get more immersed in God's Word and to learn to flesh it out, but he had...

the most incredible young lady waiting for me. Now, and I have to tell you, there's quite a number of years between us. I might as well, maybe it'll be a blessing to somebody. We got married. I was, at that time, I was 49 years,

and she was 27. There's 22 years between us. And you'd think, is that ever going to work? And I'll tell you what, she has been the most amazing, precious person

God-given gift to me that I, far beyond I could ever imagine. That's beautiful. And you have a wonderful family as a result. So there, that's another part of your story that has always been so encouraging and so amazing, Phil. You mentioned retirement, which happened a few years ago now, but retirement doesn't mean you're sitting around. You, you're very involved in mentoring. I want to explore that for a moment. What, what drives you to mentor, spiritually mentor others? Well,

Probably the fact that I, with all the struggles that I went through, I understood the need for it, how I craved. And there was a pastor in Cleveland who has passed on by now, but he sort of took me under his wing and mentored me. And he was a man of such faith. And of all my worries while I was waiting for the Lord to show me what to do after I resigned from the station, you know, he said,

He said, Phil, the Lord is not going to fail you. And I said, he said, even if he does, even if he would fail,

you'll be able to write a book about being the first person that God has ever failed. And you'll be able to make lots of money doing that. That's a new way of looking at it. Yeah, nothing to lose. So anyway, but that was so precious to me, his faith. When we have a strong faith,

And we can share with somebody who's just struggling to get strong in the faith. This pastor had the faith for me. He had so much faith that I sort of latched on to that. And that was such a huge encouragement. And to have somebody in your life who's willing to love you and encourage you

unconditionally, no matter what, no matter how tough things may go, but to be there for them and to keep encouraging them in the faith, keep looking up, that just works wonders with people who have any spiritual hunger at all. So that's what you want to be to someone else. You want to be that mentor. Exactly. And the Lord has, and I've never sought it, sought out people

And he is sort of, and I trust him to say he brings them into my life. Either they show up new at the church or something, or I have a church, or I meet them someplace or through somebody else and so on. And they express a desire for some help and so on. And so I sort of take them on my way and meet with them. I try meeting with people several times a week. Hmm.

Well, there are such great lessons from your life that we've learned here, Phil, about listening to God's voice, to surrendering, obeying Him in every step along the way. That's why I wanted your story to be told. So I really appreciate you taking the time to share it with us, Phil Reeser. Well, what a great privilege it's been. Thank you so much, Wayne.

You've been listening to an extended version of First Person and the testimony of Phil Reeser. There's more information about Phil in our program notes, so please explore those links. I'm Wayne Shepherd. Thanks for listening to First Person.