August 21, 1994
Summer was waning. Fall sports practice had begun at Clearfield High School. The Presbyterian Church of Clearfield had recently decided to launch an “outside the walls ministry” that would lead to the “TAGG Team”. The DuBois Ministerium was sponsoring a Billy Graham Crusade held at the DuBois Area High School.
A van load of Presbyterians from Clearfield plus a few carloads—like Lucas, Susan and me—attended the crusade. Lucas was 13. The date was August 21, 1994. How do I remember? The date was inscribed in the grey NIV Bible that was being used by Lucas at the time.
I do not recall who the evangelist was that evening. Both John Wesley White and Franklin Graham participated in the crusade. Lucas says it was Franklin Graham. I remember the bleachers in the gymnasium where the meeting was held because of weather. They were hard! And, it was hot and humid in the building. During the “altar call” Lucas turned to me and asked if I would go forward with him. “Of course, son,” I said. Now, I am not much for “decisional” evangelism or “accepting Jesus” because I believe in the sovereignty of God over all things, including salvation. But, I also recognize and understand the import of the words of Jesus:
The wind blows where it wishes, and you hear its sound, but you do not know where it comes from or where it goes, so it is with everyone who is born of the Spirit. (John 3:8).
The Spirit of God was calling Lucas then and there.
We clambered down the steps of the bleachers. To do so we had to climb over John Reilly who was seated at the end of a row next to Lucas. As Lucas and I stood together, the preacher prayed the “sinner’s prayer”, or a variant thereof. When our heads were unbowed, I noticed John was standing next to Lucas. Literature was passed out and instructions given. When we left the gym floor, I walked over to John and thanked him for coming down to support Lucas. He replied, “I am here for me.” John K. Reilly, Jr., President Judge of Clearfield County for twenty years was also being called by the Spirit.
A couple weeks later, I stopped into John’s chambers. On his desk was the Graham literature. He was faithfully going through the daily lessons. When he finished that literature, he called me and began borrowing Biblical commentaries. Over the next year he read through every commentary I owned. He was hungry for the Word. John had been a member of my Sunday School class for many years, a faithful attender. Now he was more engaged and inquisitive. He also went with Dick Bell and me to sit under the teaching of RC Sproul and Jim Boice in Johnstown at the PCA church. It was pretty obvious John was a new creation.
John Reilly died recently. He was lauded for his many earthly accomplishments. He was the first judge to succeed himself in Clearfield County serving for thirty years. Many remembered him leading the Shrine band and he was the first man ever elected Potentate of the Shrine from Clearfield. As a senior judge, he served throughout the Commonwealth. His was a life of civic service and virtue. He was a good man. But for me, I will remember August 21, 1994, the day of a supernatural work in his life.
The above quoted language from Jesus was an explanation to Nicodemus of how a man is born again. August 21, 1994, was the date a good man became a righteous man. It was the day a man of power and prestige acknowledged his brokenness and need of a Savior. It is the day when John and Lucas are forever intertwined as souls; a day they both made a public profession of the work of the Spirit in their lives. It was a once and for all acknowledgement of their status in Christ.
So, John Reilly has passed on to his eternal reward. Not earned by anything he did on this earth but fully bought and paid for by the Jesus he recognized as his Lord and Savior on August 21, 1994. His life changed eternally on that day. Here is the promise of that Savior:
So, everyone who acknowledges me before men, I also will acknowledge before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:32).
Today, that promise is a reality for John K. Reilly, Jr.
