Summary

SummaryI was a proud, tradition-keeping Jew from Philadelphia, convinced that ticking rabbinical boxes would earn God’s favorβ€”until the weight of loopholes and legalism left me empty. A move to Israel exposed more hypocrisy, and by the time my family landed in Austin we called ourselves secular. Desperate for friends for our kids, we visited a Mormon ward whose view of Jesus so disturbed us that we bought our first Christian Bible on the way home. Reading Matthew that night, the words came alive; Isaiah’s warning of hardened hearts pierced me, and my wife and I surrendered to Christ. Joy flooded in, and God even returned our daughter’s lost lamb as a loving sign. Though family rejected us, Jesus became our true identity. All glory to Him!

Joe Friedman was raised in a family that was proud of their ancestry and devoted to their Jewish community and way of life. But even though Joe spent much of his life as a devoted Jew, practicing rabbinical rules and trying to earn favor with God, something still seemed to be missing.

After attending a cult meeting, Joe was so unsettled by the cult’s depiction of Jesus, he decided to read a Christian Bible for the first time… and had no idea what God was about to do.

Show notes here⁠: https://compelledpodcast.com/episodes/joe-friedman/

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Time Chapters
Β 
01:45 Early Jewish upbringing
04:40 Loopholes & tradition
07:20 Moving to Israel
10:55 Disillusioned in Israel
14:35 Back to USA secular
17:45 Mormon ward visit
20:30 Buying a Bible
23:45 Reading Matthew
26:55 Heart pierced
30:30 Salvation prayer
33:15 "Lost lamb" sign
35:55 Family backlash
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Compelled Podcast
A weekly podcast with unique stories from the Kingdom of God, told by the people Compelled to live for Him.
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