Speaking of Richard Kiel (Jaws in the Bond movies The Spy Who Loved Me and Moonraker), the coolest thing I learned all week is that he is a Christ-follower. My friend Kevin Perry, who once saw Kiel speak at his church, filled me in on this.

In his testimony on his website, Kiel talks about how with success came an addiction to alcohol. After the death of a fellow actor, Kiel decided he had to quit so as not to die and leave his wife alone with their four children, but had difficulty. Says Kiel:

I had become a Christian when I was about nine years old, reconfirmed that commitment at a youth camp at age 12 and was baptized at the age of twenty-seven. As a “Christian” I couldn’t understand why I was addicted and bound to such a negative habit. Early one morning, I was watching a program on one of the Christian networks and learned that the Bible said that I could join together in prayer with other Christians and God could free me from that addiction. I prayed along with the guest on the program, and although nothing seemed to happen (there were no bells or flashing lights) I found that I had no more overwhelming desire for, and was no longer addicted to alcohol.

Kiel goes on to describe how he was offered a lot of money to be in a beer commercial and turned it down, and how that affected his life and career. He closes by saying:

Not only did God deliver me from the bondage of alcoholism, he also blessed my family financially because of my commitment to honor what he had done for me and for not doing what I believed could possibly be destructive to others.

It’s a great testimony, and well worth a full read. You can check it out here: http://richardkiel.com/testimony.html