Sid Roth - Former Pimp's Amazing Encounter with Jesus
Sid Roth: Hello, Sid Roth, your investigative reporter here with Isaiah Reed. Isaiah, according to my notes, a newspaper said you were the most vicious pimp in Hawaii.
Isaiah Reed: That's true.
Sid Roth: How you don't look that way now.
Isaiah Reed: Thank you Jesus.
Sid Roth: For sure. I want to take you back: you were raised with a godly mother.
Isaiah Reed: Yes sir.
Sid Roth: But you kind of liked using violence, even as a youngster, and fighting, and gangs.
Isaiah Reed: Well, it was contrary to the lifestyle that I was brought up into and really it was a challenge to me to make a decision. I was kind of in a fork of the road in my life, we didn't practice, we practiced non-violence in our home. My father preached, and my mother preached still.
Sid Roth: How many generations of ministers were in your family?
Isaiah Reed: Five, five generations of preachers. And it was prophesized when my mother was 17 years old that I would minister the Gospel. Of course nobody asked me if that was going to be my choice but growing up in that environment and kind of being indoctrinated into that kind of Christian lifestyle, I even went to Catholic school and attended a Baptist church. So the community that I was aware of, not only in my family, but the community that I was aware of as a child concerning my boundaries was all in a religious format. I didn't know any other environment or lifestyle or culture at that particular time. But the long and short of it is, my sister was being bullied at a school and I asked the bully to leave her alone, and he wanted to beat me so I ran. You know, I ran for my life and he began to chase me, because I was fearful, I never had been in a physical altercation.
Sid Roth: Right.
Isaiah Reed: And I was about maybe twelve or so, and you know how young people are if they see you run you're going to get beat up, everybody wants to watch, so a crowd kind of was running after me, instigating and so on and so forth. Anyway I made it home but I had a cousin there who says no, you know, we don't run from nobody, you need to you know stand up and be a man and that kind of thing you know that macho thing and I was very afraid, very afraid. And I was more afraid of my older cousin than of the bully that was chasing me so I kind of stood my ground, and I just lunged at him really, and closed my eyes, and I guess out of the fear and out of terror I just grabbed a hold of him as tight as I could and I was strangling him. We ended up on the ground, but I was holding on, basically so he couldn't get up and hurt me, but I had overpowered him and strangled him and he was you know crying out "Uncle" let me go you know, enough, it's enough already. And they pulled me off but what took place, it changed me inside, with the accolades. Everybody was happy, everybody was proud of me, and I had never experienced that before where all the attention and all the praise came upon me for something that I had done, and that was the pride of life. And so when the pride of life came on me I had an appetite for it. And I'm not saying that my parents never praised me, or never encouraged me...
Sid Roth: No, no, I understand. But let me ask you Isaiah, then you went in the military. Did you get straightened out?
Isaiah Reed: Well, the military came from being involved in crime. I was doing drive by shootings, because I had an appetite for it so I got involved in gangs. And during that time, during the Vietnam era, they were taking you know incorrigibles, gang members, and that sort and giving us a choice, either go to prison or go to war.
Sid Roth: Oh, I see, you went in reluctantly.
Isaiah Reed: Yeah. And since I was under age, my father said send him somewhere as long as he don't come back home, because I had just become just too unbearable for my family. I mean by that time I had two young ladies and I'm living with my parents, pregnant, you know out of wedlock, that kind of thing, drive by shoots, already dabbling in narcotics, selling drugs.
Sid Roth: Your parents must have gone through a lot of grief with you.
Isaiah Reed: Oh yeah, a lot of grief. But one thing my parents did do, they stood on the promises of God.
Sid Roth: Yeah, I talked to your mother. She would really get in your face and say, my son is not a pimp , he's a preacher.
Isaiah Reed: Oh yeah, often and much, much as she could. And I really thank her, and thank God for that tenacity and that tenaciousness. And I think every parent, whatever your family situation, whether you're a parent, whether you're a spouse, whether you're a sibling, if you are the only one that has a promise or has something strong inside of you, a strong faith that you can stand on, on the confidence that is found in the Word of God, then you need to stand, because what it looks like is not what it is. And that's what mother- and the more she stood and the more she believed the worse I got. It seemed like the situation wouldn't change, but it would grow. I mean the military, you know I could put on a uniform, I could be a chameleon so to speak, I could do the military thing. Of course violence, during that time was what they were promoting to defend this nation, but I liked the violence on a more personal level as far as promoting my own, being more intimidating, you know learning how to shoot, learning how to operate in weapons, learning hand to hand combat.
Sid Roth: So that actually enhanced your desire. At the top of your career as a pimp, how much money were you making?
Isaiah Reed: Oh, I think if I was to just average it out, 27 million.
Sid Roth: What does someone do with 27 million dollars?
Isaiah Reed: Well, there's maintenance in that kind of lifestyle.
Sid Roth: You're talking about a year.
Isaiah Reed: Yeah. If you have a high...
Sid Roth: Did you hear that? 27 million dollars a year. I mean it would take a genius to figure out I think how to spend it. But give me a try: I'll be able to do it, Isaiah. We'll be right back after this word.
Sid Roth: Hello, Sid Roth, your investigative reporter here with Isaiah reed. He was known as the most vicious pimp in Hawaii. Isaiah, you were doing a drug deal that went bad with some Colombians. Tell me about that?
Isaiah Reed: I was living in Tokyo, Japan, just to kind of give you a little background and a friend of mine was taking care of the drug operation out of Denver, Colorado. And he wanted to retire, he felt as though, because we had made so much money that year, he felt as though we were very fortunate, we had all this money, we really didn't have any disease, because I was also a drug user, sleeping with the prostitutes. I sold flesh, but I also indulged in the flesh that I sold. So he feels that because we had got away so long, no really, no incarceration, been arrested but never convicted of anything. He thought it would have been a wise choice if we quit. I didn't know no other life style to live. I was living out of Japan, also operating out of Amsterdam where prostitution and drugs is legal, I said you know we have finally got our foundation, we don't need to quit, we have places where authorities really can't do anything to us, we aren't touchable at this point. But he was very adamant about it. He had picked up a Bible and he didn't want his mother to die with him still living this lifestyle.
Sid Roth: Right.
Isaiah Reed: And she was getting up in years. And anyway, the long and short of it is, I flew to Denver, first class, to convince him to stay in the lifestyle, so I bought a first class ticket to run into a bullet. And once again, he had the word, and he was going on. I said you've been talking to my mother, you stay away from that woman, you know, she's, you know she's contagious. And he said no, no, this has just been, and it was just a Gideon Bible out of the hotel. I didn't want to hear, I was just so adamant about living my lifestyle, so I said, well I'll go do the drug deal since I'm here. And we had done the drug deal with these Colombian associates of mine for many years. So it was nothing to be unusual, you know I was on my guard, I had my guns with me, you know the usual kind of a setting...
Sid Roth: Right.
Isaiah Reed: Anyway, at the conclusion of the deal, we get in the back seat of the car, I'm going to get them to take me to the airport so I can go back to Tokyo and as we were driving along, one of my friends took out a 38 automatic, put it to the base of my head, and shot me. The bullet went you know into my brain, through my ear canal. And I still have the bullet in my brain today, disintegrated my jawbone, cracked my skull, and then he shot me again, went through my nose, through the roof of my mouth down my throat, and landed in the top vertebrae of my spine. And then they began to stab me and stab me and stab me, and they stabbed me 16 times. And after I was murdered, after I was dead, they hid my body in an alley, and I stayed there a little over two and a half hours where I died. And how I got found, a car ran over me, and that's how they discovered...
Sid Roth: So you're shot twice, you're stabbed, you're bleeding to death and now a car runs over you for good measure. Someone really wants to see you dead. Okay.
Isaiah Reed: And you see I had already bled to death, I mean I was already dead, but when you die you don't go to sleep, the real you is on the inside. This is just an earth suit that you can survive in this atmosphere you know you can destroy the earth suit, but you can't destroy your essence, the soul. Bullets can't kill it, knives, drugs: disease cannot touch who you are on the inside.
Sid Roth: So, Isaiah, here's the question I have. They take you to the hospital, or they took you to the morgue where did they take you?
Isaiah Reed: Well, they took me to, you see when the paramedics came, they call back and they say dead on arrival, or you know he's dead, and then they bring you back where the, I guess the chief of surgery, or staff, whoever signs the death certificate has to look at it and certify that it is a death.
Sid Roth: All right listen. Let's go to Isaiah's mother.
Mother: the doctor says, we have you son here in the autopsy room, he was pronounced dead on arrival here at Denver general hospital and he began to describe some of the things that he was seeing inside of Isaiah. He was attempting to do the autopsy, and he said he had bled to death due to gun wounds, and he had been stabbed. And he began to talk, and I say, well I need to make contact with him, I need to make contact with him. At that time I didn't know they were monitoring me where I could be heard over the hospital, so I asked him if he would put the phone to Isaiah's ear...
Sid Roth: Okay. So now she knows what's going on, what the deal is. Isaiah, question, would you be in this chair today, alive, if it wasn't for what your mother did?
Isaiah Reed: No, definitely.
Sid Roth: All right, let's hear her prayer right now. Let's go back to that telephone call.
Mother: Lord you promised. You promised me that my son would be saved. You promised that I would see him saved. I cannot accept this phone call that he is dead, that is not my son because my son is saved and full of the Holy Ghost. Lord, you promised me a prophet and not a pimp. And I begin to call life, life, life, life back into that body. And I understand that as I began to call life back into his body, he began to breath again.
Sid Roth: Now Isaiah, after your mother prayed, you came to life.
Isaiah Reed: Yes.
Sid Roth: I mean they literally put it so you could hear, your spirit man, your dead body could hear, and is it true that you had the nerve to compliment the doctor that you came back to life? Did you do that?
Isaiah Reed: Yes, well I didn't you know I didn't want to be saved, and so when my mother started telling me about the power of God, and how the Holy Spirit raised me from the dead, and how she prayed and interceded and stood in the gap for me, I had heard that, you know all my young life, and here she goes again badgering me, and Bible beating me again, and so I didn't want to hear it, so I was looking for man's opinion and man's authority. So I asked the doctor, and the doctor basically said we didn't have anything to do with any...
Sid Roth: Well now, if he didn't have anything to do with it and you were dead, you had to come to the conclusion that your mother prayed and God performed a miracle. So did you immediately turn to Jesus.
Isaiah Reed: Oh no, uh uh... Id roth:. No!
Isaiah Reed: No, because that wasn't a good enough explanation for me, I couldn't, in order for me to turn to Jesus I had to admit that my life was a lie, and Jesus is the truth. And it's hard for any individual to admit that they are in error in any way, because of our pride and our arrogance, you know, Frank sinatra, I did it my way kind of attitude. And so I would rather be dogmatic going the wrong way than humble myself and submit to the truth. But thank God, my mother was even more dogmatic to the truth.
Sid Roth: She was tenacious. I'll tell you everyone needs a mother like Isaiah had. So he finds himself at a Christmas party, it was a long Christmas party, and this was what, about three years later?
Isaiah Reed: Yeah.
Sid Roth: And something highly unusual occurs. Don't go away, we'll be right back.
Sid Roth: Hello, Sid Roth, your investigative reporter here with Isaiah reed. Isaiah, what's going on in your life how long did it take them to just fix your face with all the stab wounds and bullet wounds?
Isaiah Reed: Well my total recovery took about two years of therapy, first the plastic surgery then because the gunshot was so close, this was powder burn and my eyes were full of you know the gunpowder I suffered from the explosion. And so I had a lot of trauma in my eye, and then my hearing, and you know my spine and just the whole thing. But my mother said when my God heals he made whole. If I could just take a moment for any parent, any family member once again, you must be tenacious about your home and your family and hold on to a promise that is found in the holy scripture and you have to receive it, you have to go further than your belief, but actually receive that it is done, receive that you have a promise, and I feel as though right now not only in America, but across this land and across the world that if families come together and begin to intercede for their family we would have a revival that would join in a revival of nations, of cities, and of communities. So never stop praying and never stop seeking the truth that is found in the word. And I just feel like the Holy Spirit is touching someone right now that has a son or daughter in drugs, or even murdered or have some kind of crippling disease, believe me, prayer works.
Sid Roth: Isaiah three years, we fast forward three years, you are at a long, three day Christmas party and all of a sudden one of your prostitutes, this is a Christmas party by the way, with his prostitutes, one of the prostitutes is having a problem. What happened?
Isaiah Reed: One of the prostitutes was tired of the lifestyle, and so she wanted basically to commit suicide. Now here we are using drugs, smoking crack, heroin, the syringes, you know the full blown atmosphere of our sin, and all of a sudden she is tired, she's finished, and the only way that she can see to end this madness is to end her life. And so she wants to jump off the balcony. I didn't care basically, I wanted to continue, she was just interrupting...
Sid Roth: The party.
Isaiah Reed: The party. And I had already stuck a syringe in my throat to shoot the heroin in my system. And Paul, the other drug dealer that was there says you know what, you need to deal with this situation because if she jumps off of the balcony naturally the police is going to come and we're all going to go to jail so to speak. So I offered Lisa some money. She didn't want the money, she said money doesn't answer everything, you don't love me and I'm tired of being a piece of meat. And she slapped the money out of my hand. That was a clue, because normally no prostitute will slap money out of your hand, so I asked Sheila, the other prostitute that was there to take Lisa into the bathroom to kind of, maybe two women could talk, or whatever. Sheila didn't want to have nothing to do with her. So then I said what I'll do maybe she wants some more drugs, so I gave her a whole thing of crack cocaine, just for herself, she could indulge in, you know, do whatever she wanted with it. She slapped the drugs out of my hand. By this time, rage came on me and I wanted to just knock her unconscious. And as I drew back to punch her in her face, I drew back my fist, and I was getting ready to punch her, all of a sudden out of my, out of me, the crook, the pimp, the drug addict came, let me pray for you. And Paul says pray, who you gonna pray to? He said it must be the drugs, give me some of what you're using, because I want some drugs that make you pray. And so anyway, Lisa calmed down. And of course I didn't know anything supernatural at that particular time.
Sid Roth: I mean that is the last thing you should have been doing.
Isaiah Reed: At all. I mean it so...
Sid Roth: It's crazy.
Isaiah Reed: Yeah, it's out of the...
Sid Roth: But you're crazy anyway.
Isaiah Reed: Yeah. And so when I said prayer, the Holy Spirit intervened, and I didn't know, touched the heart of Lisa, submerged her in his presence, and she was at peace. So I went back, it didn't even touch me, it didn't even move me, I went back to what I was doing. And so Paul thought that maybe she was running a scam. He said you know what, you know really make sure she's okay. I said look at her, she looks like a little angel or something. He says nah. I says okay, the word prayer worked, lets pray. He says no, no, I don't want to pray. I said well whose dope is it? If we don't pray you don't get no more drugs. He said, okay, lets pray.
Sid Roth: You're in control.
Isaiah Reed: Yeah. Its amazing people will rally around marijuana and cocaine, but they won't rally around Jesus. So anyway, he submitted to that, and so I hadn't prayed since I was a young person, a teenager, and I was asking you know one of the prostitutes and another dope dealer, I said, throw in some suggestions, what should I do? And so Paul says, why don't you close your eyes? I said close my eyes, I'm not going to close my eyes, the last time I closed my eyes I got shot in the head twice. The Bible says watch and pray, you know I'm in a room full of drug addicts. So anyway I said I do remember one thing, we used to hold hands. And so I said let us hold hands. And Paul, he was kind of resistant. He said, hold hands, you mean you got queer on me too. I said if you don't hold my hand you don't get no more drugs. So he says okay, and we hold hands. So anyway I don't have no religious format, I just talked like a pimp, like a drug dealer, so I just began to kick it with the man upstairs. I said check this out home boy, you know Lisa's down here, she's Tripping, you know I don't know what her deal is but you know I'm asking you as you know jingle bells time, you know Christmas and that kind of thing, why don't you give her a chill pill, so she can chill. And signing off, you know, you're the man, talk to you later kind of thing, really nice you know, I mean it had no substance to it as far as I knew. But the Lord answered me back.
Sid Roth: He spoke to you?
Isaiah Reed: He said Isaiah. And I though somebody was play a trick on me, so I looked. But I could hear him, resonating in my heart, Isaiah. And not only just my name but challenging me, posing a question, if I had an opportunity to change my life would I take it? Would I stop being a heroin addict for 30 years? Would i, could i, would I take an opportunity to be forgiven for all the blood and violence that I had shed? Could I take an opportunity to be a loving person instead of abusing and destroying young women's lives? Do i, would I take a chance if it were offered me? And I said this is the hand that I was dealt, can't nobody deal me another hand, I've got to play this hand out. He says, but I'm offering you, would you take it? I said don't you know I deserve aids, I deserve hepatitis c, I deserve to be a drug addict? He said you won't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate. If I give you an opportunity would you change? I told him I can't change, nobody loves the pimp, the prostitute, the homosexual, the gang member, nobody loves us, it's all a lie, and you can't help them and I can't myself. Even if I wanted to change I don't know how to change. I've been at this almost 30 years of my life and I said I hope to die a dope fiend, how in the world can you change me? And he said it once again, Isaiah. And the little boy that had been trapped in this wicked, ignorant body wanted to change and I cried out. And I said if there is a light, and you show it to me, I'll follow you for the rest of my life. And what took me thirty years to be, he cleaned me up in a nanosecond. And everybody in that room got saved.
Sid Roth: Everybody?
Isaiah Reed: Everybody. That night.
Sid Roth: Listen, if God could rescue Isaiah based on a mother's prayer, what could God do in your family. You know coming from Judaism I understand that at the passover, the premise is, a lamb, not for an individual, a lamb for a mishpochah for a family. A lamb for a house. And those of you that are watching right now that don't know the Messiah, you just plain don't know would you trade where you are right now for all those millions you were making?
Isaiah Reed: No, I'd die for this.
Sid Roth: Well you heard that. He would die for this. Choose this day who you shall serve, but as for me and my house, we're serving the living God.