It's the feel of the way Meredith wrote told us that this was written by a Jew.

And very quickly, it was just feeling of this is alive in my hands, this book, this is

this is either true or the greatest hoax ever.

I'm Paul Hastings and you're listening to Compelled, a podcast with unique stories from the kingdom of God told by the people compelled to live for him. Last week we heard from Eric Lutie, a well-known Christian author and speaker who's taken some unpopular stances for Christ and who shared about what total

submission to God looks like. Today, we're hearing from Joe Friedman, who was a devout Jew

for most of his life, but after attending a Mormon ward was so unsettled by their depiction

of Jesus, decided to read a Christian Bible for the first time, and had

no idea what God was about to do.

That story coming up right after a word from today's sponsor.

I met with Joe Friedman in his house in Round Rock, Texas, and his wife Shoshana joined us as well.

We're going to take a little while setting up today's story because the context of Joe's

background plays an important role and understanding how God has worked in Joe's life.

So for the next 10 minutes or so, we're going to hear a lot about Jewish beliefs and practices,

but trust me, it's worth understanding

before we dive into the story. Joe grew up in Philadelphia and was raised in a family that was

proud of their ancestry and devoted to their Jewish way of life. I asked Joe to describe what

that practically looked like. We're at synagogue every Saturday.

Father often would chant Torah on Saturday mornings.

My father was a tutor for this for years for people's bar and bamban mitzvah.

And then when I grew up that age, he taught me how to chant Torah.

And so through my teenage years also, and even sometimes in college, I would chant Torah on Saturday

mornings.

...