Maria Shriver held a get-together with Jason Kennedy, Matt Lanter, Ashley Benson and Patrick Schwarzenegger, among others, on Thursday, February 11, to celebrate Pastor Judah Smith and his wife Chelsea Smith’s newest book, I Will Follow Jesus — Bible Storybook.
The book is a retelling of Bible stories, but with a modern twist. Judah’s fresh, hip outlook is what makes him so relatable to celebrities such as Justin Bieber.
"We text almost daily, and it's not just me sending him Bible verses anymore," Judah told Christian Post. "He'll send them to me, along with encouraging thoughts or an encouraging emoticon. I'm committed to helping him and protecting him, but it's fair to say we're there for each other."
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Bieber, who recently told GQ he credited his success to God, is certainly not the only fan of Judah’s work — the various bold-faced names at Shriver’s office are also among the pastor’s flock.
"I think Wednesday nights, gathering here as a community in Los Angeles is kind of like, we all get to be together again. So Wednesdays, for us, is just a launch point to continue to develop friendships that really matter," Judah tells Us Weekly exclusively.
While Judah loves to bring people together, he cannot guarantee that they stay together. He says, “If you look at the scope of the room, I know there's people that have dated and aren't dating anymore, that's the beauty of community. If community breaks down because someone breaks up, we probably have a bigger problem on our hands, don't we?”
As for how he plans on promoting his latest book? Judah shares, "I've never asked anyone to post about it, and I love Justin Bieber a lot, and I hope that even this book, whether it's him or anybody else, that they enjoy. But I do plan to read it to Jason Kennedy from E! News at bedtime and tuck him in. I think Patrick Schwarzenegger is on the record as well — I will be reading him bedtime stories as well. So we're very excited about that.”
Check out Smith’s new book here or in select stores today!
