Another Special Life in Christ

These testimony lives are not stories of "role models". Jesus is the role model!
These are lives wonderfully touched & changed by Jesus!

Lily Fishman Isaacs:

Born 20 September 1947 in Germany, her parents are full-blooded Polish-born Jews caught up in the German Holocaust for 5 years. Her parents ended up in the concentration camps. “My parents are Polish-born in a town called Chintztahov,” Lily says. “When WWII broke out, they were taken first to the ghettos in Poland and then transported to Germany. They spent five years like that. They were liberated from Belzenberger.”

Lily Isaacs’ parents suffered atrocities that make it a miracle she’s even here today. One day, the Germans rounded up all in that particular concentration camp and began separating them into one of two lines. “They separated my mother from her friend Sabrina,” she says. “Sabrina said to the German, 'She’s coming with me,' and pulled her out of that line -- which normally they would’ve been shot immediately-- but somehow she got through. Later on she found out that the line she was originally to go to was for the gas chambers.

“Simply because it happened to my parents and I never knew my grandparents who were all killed, I taught my children and my grandchildren never to forget what happened.”Her parents ended up in the concentration camps.

Lily's birth name was Lea (or Leia ?) Cirla Fiszman. The family immigrated to New York in 1949 (when Lily was 2), and Lily aspired to theater acting and spoke Yiddish until grade school.

Betty & I first heard of The Isaacs from a Christian Jew & his young daughter we met at the Crystelle Creek Restaurant with piano-bar on highway #321 (1654 East Pkwy, Gatlinburg, TN 37738) outside of Gatlinburg, Tenn. in June 2003.

Lily met Joe Isaacs in New York, and they married in 1969; a family of 3 children followed. Joe was the handsome son  of a Pentecostal preacher, one of 19 children; he was playing with the Greenbrier Boys, a Blue Grass band playing in Greenwich Village. Joe placed musical instruments around for the children. In 1971, Lily cried her way into what she later recognized was acceptance of Jesus as her savior under most unusual circumstances (the funeral of Joe's 27 year old brother, Delmer, at a little home-garage church, Shawhan Road Pentecostal near Cincinnati, Ohio), see below. The details of how The Hound of Heaven (Jesus) drew Lily into belief are in her excellent autobiography, You Don't Cry Out Loud: The Lily Isaacs Story (May 2014).

Her family rejected her for a time. Lily & family became The Isaacs, a current Christian singing group. Check her story on the group's website and the wrenching words of her "700 Club" appearance in August 2005 (following which the Club handled more than 600 calls from people wanting to claim Jesus as Savior) if you can find it on the internet. I did find (I looked, July 2015) this interview, HERE. Her father accepted Jesus as his personal savior before he died. We tremendously enjoyed their performance at a 26 March 2004 Gaither Family Reunion Concert at The Colonial Center, Columbia, S. C. (and again on 11 November 2005, same venue). As a bluegrass Gospel group, "He Understands My Tears" is a favorite that I listened to dozens of times in and around and after the time of my mother's death in 12/2011. We enjoyed this group on April 27th 2014 at a local church where Lily told the audience of her personal story of survival after mastectomy for breast cancer at about age 35 (details). Her book recounts the fascinating story of the vision her pastor's wife was given that the cancer was within a Holy Seal (encapsulated?). Daughter, Sonya's husband, Jimmy, wrote an award winning song, "I'm Gonna Love You Through It" about Lily & Joe's breast cancer experience, recorded by Martina McBride. There are other amazing divinely provided events in her life, such as the details of the money for her first trip to Israel.

Several years ago (about 1999), we had a Jewish couple visit our Sunday School class; and the husband told us of his experience of being almost inner-compelled to find out about Jesus. And they noted what a wonderful and advantageous situation it was to be a family in a congregation of "messianic" or "completed" Jews who practiced their God-loving faith and culture as Jesus following Jews. Also, as mentioned above, on 25 May 2003, we met a man and his young child at that restaurant outside of Gatlinburg who told of his conversion to being a messianic Jew...he originally was from California and gave the name of Barney Russell (I never got contact info). Note the Jews for Jesus website, the International Messianic Jewish Alliance website, Life in Messiah website, and the Discovering The Jewish Jesus TV program and website. And, you may also want to see Bernard Nathanson's story.

Hound of Heaven: In some cases, salvation is forced onto someone. I call these instances "Hound of Heaven" rescues. [Wikipedia note, HERE.] In addition to former Hells Angels biker, Barry Mayson, I consider the following as sometimes even more dramatic rescues: famous originally bad-ass heavyweight boxer, George Foreman; famous Gospel blue grass artist, Lily Fishman Isaacs; famous news commentator, Kirsten Powers; former bad-ass, rough-man bully, Kirk Martin; and, former druggie captured by murderer, Ashley Smith.

COMMENT: During the past 4 years (2009-2013), my pastor has focused on (1) Jesus' clarification of the earthly component of the Gospel as being all about right relationships ("righteousness"). And (2) he has amply demonstrated how the ancient mind, able only to understand through the "mindset" of suzerain thinking, has failed to lay down a record that rightly reflects His emphasis of the primary love and grace of God, our Father, for all (not His condemnation and punishment).

Update: We came to Gaither Fest in Gatlinburg on the 26th and ended up going to the above restaurant on the 27th & THEN recalling that it was the restaurant mentioned above. Today (5/28/2016), we became aware of Margaret Feinberg, Christian daughter of a Jewish father, who gave an inspiring talk on "joy" (her blog).

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(posted 27 March 2004; latest update 12 November 2005; latest addition 6 June 2016)

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You have just read a very brief example of the powerful, supernatural transformation of a person's life which is possible through the acceptance of Jesus as your savior. Are you tired of life as it now is for you? He will accept you just as you are right this second! Consider accepting Jesus now [check it out]!