Isaacs to pack em in at Sand Spring Baptist

 (Note: This story about one of my favorite music groups appeared in the July 8, 2015 edition of The Anderson News.)

One of the biggest names in Nashville will be performing Friday night, July 10, at Sand Spring Baptist Church.

The Isaacs, a world-renowned acoustic group, will be the headliner as part of the Sand Spring Gospel Concert series. Also performing will be The Shireys, another family group from South Carolina which has become a local favorite at Sand Spring.

The program begins at 7 p.m. There is no admission charge but a love offering will be taken.

The Isaacs have been traveling in full-time ministry since 1986, according to Lily Isaacs, who along with her three children – Becky, Sonya and Ben – make up the group that has won numerous Dove Awards from the Gospel Music Association. The Isaacs have also been nominated for several Grammys.

The Isaacs in concert in January 2014.

The Isaacs strive to bring a message of hope based on their own life experiences, Lily said in an e-mail. She was born in Germany to Polish Jewish survivors of The Halocaust. The family moved to New York when she was 2 years old. At age 35, she was diagnosed with breast cancer but beat the dreaded disease.

“I certainly hope that our ministry is an experience of hope,” Ms. Isaac said. “Through all of our personal trials and victories, we've tried to incorporate this message in song and testimony. Of course, this includes my my history with my parents as Halocaust survivors and my battle with cancer.”

Lily Isaacs is now a 31-year cancer survivor and her fight was the inspiration for perhaps the group's most well-known song, “I'm Gonna Love You Through It.” Written by Sonya Isaacs, her husband, Jimmy Yeary, and Ben Hayslip, the song was a major hit for country music superstar Martina McBride. The Isaacs perform the song extensively.

When the idea for the song came about, Lily says, “they called me and asked some very personal and soul-searching questions. The next day, (Sonya) sang the song to me. I was deeply moved and I know the song has been a great blessing to millions of people world-wide.”

The words to the chorus say,

When you’re weak, I’ll be strong

When you let go, I’ll hold on

When you need to cry, I swear that I’ll be there to dry your eyes

When you feel lost and scared to death,

Like you can’t take one more step

Just take my hand, together we can do it

I’m gonna love you through it.

While “I’m Gonna Love You Through It” is perhaps the most well-known song to originate with The Isaacs to make it big on the country charts, it is almost impossible to put the group in any one category. Their repertoire includes country and bluegrass the Isaacs often appear at the Grand Ole Opry. The group is most well-known for its work in the gospel music industry and is a regular feature on the Bill Gaither Homecoming series and the concert schedule is loaded heavily with appearances in churches.

The Isaacs in concert in 2014 at Sand Spring Baptist Church.

“I'm not sure we can be labeled as bluegrass or country or gospel, only,” Lily says. “We actually are more Americana, in my opinion. We've had many opportunities to perform in many different genres. I feel like this happens because we are not concerned about being categorized. We just write songs and arrange them the best way they sound. Our family writes songs about real life issues and that's gospel music to me.”

This week's schedule underscores Ms. Issacs' assessment. Sunday, the group was to have played at the Brooklyn Tabernacle in New York. Thursday, the Isaacs are scheduled to play at the Bill Monroe Memorial Park in Bean Blossom, Ind., before heading to Lawrenceburg on Friday.

The music is full of variety, from “I'm Gonna Love You Through It” to a spine-tingling version of the old hymn, “I Must Tell Jesus” to the bluegrass standard, “Daniel Prayed,” to a fun adaptation of the Bing Crosby-Andrews Sisters hit from 1944, “Accentuate the Positive.”

Recently, the group was asked to sing at the funeral for country star Jim Ed Brown.

“We befriended Jim Ed Brown by being on the Opry over the past 20 years,” Ms. Isaacs said. “He was a wonderful person and good friend. When the family requested that we sing at his funeral, we were humbled. We recorded (Brown's hit) “The Three Bells” on our “Naturally” CD and have had the opportunity to sing this song with him on the Opry stage several times.”

The Isaacs last appeared in Lawrenceburg when they packed the house at Sand Spring last January. Another full house is expected Friday.

“We always enjoy coming to Lawrenceburg, Ky.” Ms. Isaacs said. “We hope to have a wonderful time of praising God and enjoying fellowship.”

An old-school message to modern times

(This column was originally published in The Anderson News on June 24, 2015)

Tommy Bowden is a football coach. At least that’s how he’s known to the masses.

And even though he’s been away from the sidelines for more than six years, that success he had at Tulane and Clemson give Bowden an avenue to share his first love.

Bowden, who also spent a year as Bill Curry’s first offensive coordinator at the University of Kentucky, was in town over the weekend, speaking at Hope Community Church Sunday morning.

 Tommy Bowden speaks at Hope Community Church.

He was using a platform given by his enormous gridiron success to talk about his deep Christian faith.

“I have a big platform because of what I did,” he told those gathered to worship Sunday morning.

What Bowden did was forge a 90-49 record and take teams to nine bowl games in 11 full years of coaching. However Clemson and he parted ways midway through the 2008 season. Since then, Bowden has been working television – he’s now analyzing the ACC for Fox Sports South – and talking about what is his real life.

It’s a message that is as old-school as the single-wing delivered to a modern crowd.

“I believe in the inerrant and infallible Word of God,” Bowden said during Sunday’s worship hour.

It was a simple statement. But it forms the core of his message and one he learned from his famous father, Bobby Bowden, who was the second-winningest college football coach of all-time when he was let go at Florida State after the 2009 season.

“My father was my Sunday School teacher,” Bowden said later as we talked between Hope’s two main services. “I would see him at home reading the Bible. He was a great example. I had a great mentor.”

Part of Bowden’s message focused on life’s ups and downs. They hit his family hardest on the football field.

Tommy Bowden spoke of the Bible being one's guide.

Tommy Bowden, who never had a losing season as a head coach, shared a bit about his ouster at Clemson during the 2008 season. The Tigers were 3-3 when things came to an end. “They said I resigned to soften it, but my contract said if I resigned, I didn’t get the buyout,” Bowden remembered.

An ESPN report from the time said Bowden offered to resign after the team lost to Wake Forest but that he would be paid through the end of the season and receive a $3.5 million buyout.

Less than a year earlier, he

“You put two-and-two together,” Bowden smiled as we talked Sunday morning.

Bowden now lives in the Florida panhandle. In addition to his work with Fox, he also does some commentary for Raycom. He’s also busy as a speaker at Christian conferences and motivational gatherings.

“All of my stuff is faith-based,” he said. “I enjoy the church service more than any of (the speaking venues.)”

He also talked about his father, who lost his job after allegations surfaced that the Seminoles had used an ineligible player in 2006 and 2007. “He had a field named for him and a statue in front of the stadium and still got fired,” Tommy Bowden said as we talked.

But those dark times gave Bowden even more experience in the faith he shares. “We have got the most comprehensive safety net for people out there,” he said as we talked.

It was a fraction of the message Bowden had delivered just a few minutes before.

“Football was a huge, huge part of my life, but not the most important part,” Bowden said early in his message, a few moments after telling some jokes, including one about Hope member Freddie Maggard, Bowden’s quarterback in his one year in Lexington.

Bowden did not talk a great deal about himself other than some self-deprecating humor – “When I get home, I am the football coach and my wife is the athletic director. When you are coaching, you have one boss and that’s the AD,” he laughed. Instead, he focused on the timeliness of the message he shared, owing many of the nation’s troubles to pushing the Bible out of everyday life.

“As Christians, we have to have a little backbone and defend the Word of God,” he said during the service. “I want to hear pastor teach the Word of God, not water it down.”

He elaborated a few minutes later.

“I believe in a literal interpretation of the Bible,” he said. “I am not perfect, but that is what I believe. One of the problems is we have compromised the Word and watered it down.

“God wants us to have all of it, or none of it.”

Maggard, in introducing Bowden, said his former coach lived that way. He recalled a time when Bowden led several of the Wildcats in prayer. Not a mundane prayer where the right cliches had been uttered but a real talk with the one Bowden worships.

“I saw a man of God,” Maggard said.

Even though they had not seen each other for 25 years, Bowden’s influence was unmistakeable.

“You can have a lot of influence,” Bowden said. “It is all in your comfort zone.”

It was obvious Sunday that talking about his faith is in Bowden’s comfort zone. It flowed as naturally as talking about Bobby Petrino’s offense or Jimbo Fisher’s defense.

“I am not a Bible scholar,” Bowden told his audience.

Maybe not. There might not be a Master of Divinity by his name, but his message was an enthusiastic and passioned defense of the Bible and a challenge to make it work in ones life.

I had the privilege to meet and interview Tommy Bowden.

It was fitting that toward the end of Bowden’s message, he sounded like, well, a coach. Talking about Christianity’s influence, Bowden noted that each person in attendance had a part in making a difference. He referred back to the earliest followers of Christ.

“The 12 disciples were as ordinary as you can get, but they turned the world upside down,” Bowden said.

He left little doubt he believes the same principle applies to ordinary people today.