Mine just happens to have lived 2,000 years ago.

Friends, colleagues and I sometimes discuss our celebrity crushes. One Sunday afternoon, some friends from bible study and I started talking about our biblical crushes.

As the conversation progressed, I told them all about my interest in Paul. He was a writer and a great communicator. His heart was on fire for Jesus. He made several mistakes, learned from them, and never let them grapple him with fear and condemnation.

Y’all. I have a biblical crush on Paul.

At the end of my verbal dissertation on all things wonderful about Paul, one of my friends said, “But you don’t even know what he looks like.” To which I replied, “Look at how he lived his life. Does this physical appearance even matter?”

We all responded with a big, “Hmmm.”

The bible is full of people who are beautiful on the outside. It’s also clear about what really matters to the Lord. Paul is one person who not only knows what matters to God, but was also committed to sharing those things with as many people as possible. 

You know, people like our friends who lived in Corinth, Galatia, and Ephesus. Yes, I did just refer to people who lived two thousand years ago as my friends.

And the good news here is they can be your friends too, thanks to Sony Pictures and the DVD version of the movie, Paul, Apostle of Christ.

I partnered with Sony Pictures to give an honest review of the movie. All opinions are my own.

Written and directed by Andrew Hyatt, the film stars Jim Caviezel, James Faulkner, Olivier Martinez, Joanne Whalley and John Lynch.

Paul (Faulkner), who goes from the most infamous persecutor of Christians to Christ’s most influential apostle, is spending his last days in a dark and bleak prison cell awaiting execution by Emperor Nero. Luke (Caviezel), his friend and physician, risks his life when he ventures into Rome to visit him. Paul is under the watchful eye of Mauritius (Martinez), the prison’s prefect, who seeks to understand how this broken old man can pose such a threat. But before Paul’s death sentence can be enacted, Luke resolves to write another book, one that details the beginnings of “The Way” and the birth of what will come to be known as the church. Their faith challenged an empire. But their words changed the world.

This movie is the perfect mix of the historical value of the bible and the cinematography of Hollywood. It was hard to watch the severity to which Paul was beaten and persecuted, but it was necessary to watch in order to understand and appreciate the gospel of Jesus Christ. I recommend it for date night or a family movie night with teenagers. Make sure you have your Bible nearby….this movie made me look all kinds of references up in the bible to increase my own biblical knowledge.

And my friends, because Paul was all about advancing the mission of Jesus…and taking care of your friends can be considered Jesus-like behavior, how would you like the chance to win a copy of the movie? Click this link for the opportunity!

So friends, I’m dying to know…who’s your biblical celebrity crush?