Sid: My guest by way of telephone at his home in Columbus, Ohio is Rabbi Kirt Schneider; Rabbi Schneider is Rabbi over Adat Adonai Messianic Jewish Congregation in Toledo, Ohio. He also teaches Jewish root and evangelism to the church with his ministry Shalom Ministries. On yesterday’s broadcast we found out that Kirt was raised in a Jewish home; both parents Jewish; was Bar Mitzvah’d in a conservative synagogue but like many Jewish people of his generation did not know the scriptures. His understanding of a Christian was someone that wore – he had one friend because all of his other friends were Jewish, wore a big cross around his neck. But that cross had zero to do with intimacy with God through Jesus, it just was a fashion statement. Kirt’s god became wrestling, his whole identity was wrapped up in wrestling. Is it true that you went down to almost nothing in weight so that you could perhaps you felt you could become a champion by being at that low weight? It sounds like you were almost emaciated.
Kirt: Well, it’s true – it’s true and looking back on it I mean it was perhaps a mistake. The idea of you know if you can get down to a lower weight you’ll be wresting smaller guys but of course you forget a little bit that when you’re that low you’ll be as small as they are. So I did I was basically all skin and bone and muscle to begin with.
Sid: And you also did this with visualization, you would see yourself winning and even to the point of getting goose bumps you told me yesterday.
Kirt: That’s true I’d lay on my bed at night and envision myself with my hand raised as State Champ and chills would go through my body; this went on for years.
Sid: So did you become the State Champ?
Kirt: No I didn’t I was a very good wrestler I got to the place where there wasn’t anybody that I felt I couldn’t beat. I did get a small scholarship to wrestle in college, but here’s the thing, when I walked off the wrestling mat after wrestling my last match in high school even though I had a partial scholarship to college when I walked off that wrestling mat Sid in high school it was like the world was pulled out from under my feet after I wrestled that last match. Because suddenly I realized that I was moving into a world that was a lot bigger than people that wrestled at 119 pounds. You see for years the only world that I lived in were people that wrestled my weight class and I felt in control in that environment and feeling in control I felt the sense of peace, I had an identity, it was just a good feeling but when I walked off that mat for the last time in high school I realized that you know what I had been living in an illusion; that the world that I was moving into was much more complex it was made up of many more people than people that wrestled 119 pounds. And in an instant Sid it was like I went from feeling on top of the world and in control of life to suddenly in a twinkling of an eye feeling as if I was out of control, insignificant without purpose and without identity it was a terrifying experience. I didn’t know during those years that there was a devil, because being raised in a Jewish home we just never talked about the devil. No one had told me about him but I’ll tell you what during those two years of struggle between the time that wrestling ended in high school, and the time that Yeshua revealed Himself to me at 20 years old I literally felt Satan on me, literally feeling him taking possession of me, laughing at me and making me laugh at myself with his own laughter. Totally destroying me, the Bible says “That he came to steal, and kill and destroy,” and if the Lord would not have come to me at 20 years old supernaturally in a vision in the night and reveal himself to me Sid I would have been absolutely destroyed by Satan.
Sid: Well you know that there’s a lot of your background that is similar to mine; for instance your god was wresting, my god was money.
Kirt: Hmm.
Sid: And my desire was to become a millionaire by age 30, so you went from wresting to wanting make money but that didn’t work out too well for you did it.
Kirt: It really didn’t and I knew personally that money wasn’t my answer because I come from a fairly wealthy background and I had seen the people in my neighborhood that they had problems just like everybody else. But I didn’t know what else to do so grasping for straws I thought maybe if I made a lot of money it will help to make me feel better. And it as during that time that Yeshua revealed Himself to me.
Sid: Well, you actually dabbled a little as I did as many Jewish people do in the New Age.
Kirt: That’s true I went down to California seeking out one of the shrines, one of the Yogi’s there Par Mongeo Condo and in fact it was while I was reading a book about middle eastern religion an autobiography of Yogi by Par Mongeo Condo that Yeshua appeared to me in the middle of the night.
Sid: Tell me about that night; that was back in 1978 you were 20 years of age; tell me what you remember about that night.
Kirt: Well, a little background I had dropped out of college, I was selling encyclopedias door to door for the purpose of making enough money to travel the country to find a location for a discotheque I wanted to open and it’s a long story.
Sid: What is it about us Jewish people I wanted to do all that too but go ahead.
Kirt: (Laughing)
Sid: Actually I did but go ahead. (Laughing)
Kirt: Long story short I’m promoted to a sales manager in this company and I get to a sales managers meeting one day we’re waiting for the other managers to arrive and this guy tells me about this book he’s reading the autobiography of a Yogi. I purchase the book, I’m reading the book, I’m devouring the book; there’s pictures in there Sid of this guy levitating off the ground supposedly. So I said “God,” I always had a faith in God I said “God if this is real if this guy can really levitate off the ground I said then this is a higher reality than making money.” And I thought to myself Sid and think how good I’d feel levitating off the ground, so I became like my new…I became so focused on this. And one night in the middle of reading this book I came home and I went to sleep I had a terrible headache this night, I wasn’t drunk, I wasn’t on drugs I just remember this night I had a terrible, terrible headache. I went to sleep, once again I want to make the point no one had ever witnessed to me, no one had ever told me about Jesus, I had no exposure to Yeshua whatsoever, but at 20 years old in 1978 at 3:30 in the morning as I slept in my bedroom at 3217 Bremerton Road in Pepper Pike, Ohio. The Lord awoken me from my sleep. My eyes were still closed but suddenly I was aware that I wasn’t sleeping it was a state of conscience awareness. And in that state Sid it lasted no more than 2 or 3 seconds it as if I was transported into another dimension; suddenly it was like I was being transported to a tunnel almost and suddenly Jesus appeared on the cross, it was in color, I could see the terrain; I could see people in the distance. I read later in the book of Luke chapter 23 of verse 49 “That the disciples looked on Him at a distance.” I believe the Lord supernaturally Sid, transported me in a vision in a vision of the night in a dream to see the site of the crucifixion. And as I was observing this a ray of red light from straight through the sky beamed down on Jesus’ head. When I saw the ray of light Sid from straight through the sky beam down on his head I knew that it was coming from God since it was coming from straight above. And I knew that God was telling me that somehow I was connected with this Jesus. Even though no one had ever witnessed to me as an American I knew enough to at least know that the person on the cross was Jesus.
Sid: Yeah, but didn’t you know that we Jews don’t believe in Jesus or that’s what we’ve been told?
Kirt: Well, I did but the thing is that to me it was just like kind of nonissue in my home, I mean I had no idea what I was about to encounter when I told my parents that I believed in Jesus. Because like I said I mean I just; we never talked about him one way or the other I mean I knew I was a Jew and Jews didn’t believe in Jesus but it never really dawned on me what the outcome of this…
Sid: So they were they excited as you?
Kirt: I thought they would be because I was so excited and you know I ran up to my Dad after I eventually got a New Testament and I said “Dad look at this verse here.” You know I was so excited I thought he would see how excited Jesus really was. Well they hired Sid one of the most famous deprogrammer in the country to kidnap me and deprogram me. His name was Ted Patrick, he’s been on major television shows and…
Sid: Yeah, I know I’ve read about Mr. Patrick. Why would you parents send you to such a high level programmer like that?
Kirt: I think that they were very embarrassed, I think that it would have been equivalent to me being thrown in jail. Here I was their Jewish son walking around their Jewish neighborhood telling all the neighbors about Jesus. I think they were absolutely just completely befuddled they had no idea what they could do.
Sid: Were you tricked into seeing him?
Kirt: I was. My dad said to me “We are going to talk to somebody about purchasing a restaurant.” And we drove to a hotel in Cleveland and I thought we were going to be speaking to somebody about a restaurant deal and we walk into the hotel room and my mom, dad and I walk in. There’s three people in the room a short distinguished looking guy in a three piece suit, two other guy of over 6′ both of them over 200 lbs. The door closes behind me once we’re all in the room and the short distinguish Ted Patrick says to me “We’re going to talk about cults, and then they flipped on the projector and started showing me the film of the Hari Krishna and they pointed to a little kid in the film a three or four year old. And they said “See that kid there’s nothing we can do for that kid, all that kid has ever known is the Hari Krishna but you have been living like a normal person for twenty years and we’re going to snap you out of this thing. I consider it a personal challenge,” and I sat up and I said “Listen I said I’m not programed, I said that I just believe that Jesus is the Yeshua the Messiah.” He said “Then you got nothing to worry about.” And I said “Well, can I leave” and one of the big goons said sit down.” And from there it was very clear I wasn’t getting out of the room, I asked permission to go to the bathroom in the room. Got on my knees and said “Lord please keep me.”
Sid: And now was your father in the room the whole time?
Kirt: Yes, yes he was in the room the whole time.
Sid: Didn’t you just appeal to him and say “Dad get me out of here?”
Kirt: No, it didn’t even occur to me because I knew that that wasn’t going to happen. But you know what I wasn’t scared and the bottom line was that it wasn’t an intense experience. What happened was a little bit after that they said “We’re going to take you to our rehabilitation home in California you’re going to live there and you’re going to snap out of this thing. But the reality was one of the big goons, I don’t know what other terminology to use he did not leave my side, he came back with me to my home in Pepper Pike, Ohio that night so that I couldn’t run away. The next day we got in my van and we drove to California to the rehabilitation house. The rehabilitation house was run by this big partier that actually was his son that really was just… and they whole they didn’t do anything and all they did was take me to the beach in the days and…
Sid: I’ll tell you what, hold that thought we’re just about out of time we’re pick up here on tomorrows broadcast.
Tags: its supernatural, Sid Roth