Many of you know that I am a big fan of Al Jolson. Did you know how I became a Jolson fan? It started with Ted Martin’s dad, Danny Martin…
Jolson - first superstar. First man to sell a million records. The man who was billed as "The World’s Greatest Entertainer," the man who had the rude nature and nerve to say, after follow Enrico Carusso on stage, "Wait a minute folks, you ain’t heard nothin’ yet."
Jolson made his first hit record in 1911, and was America’s most famous singing personality throughout the rest of the 1910’s and 20’s.
So when it came to invest in making the first talking movie -- quite an expensive proposition -- the movie’s producers chose the best of the best to be the star, Al Jolson. He made the "Jazz Singer" in 1927.
This is the same sort of pattern we see God following in Acts, only God was first. To make the transition toward recognizing believing gentiles as equal members in the church, God began with an unusually godly gentile, a best case scenario.