What was it like for Jesus' closest friends, relatives, and disciples when he conferred the Kingdom of Heaven into their hands? What was it like to have intimately known the Lord on human terms, to have known him while he walked beside them, to then suddenly discover what it meant to know Jesus INSIDE of themselves? What might this pivotal moment in history been like?

The beginning of Christianity looked different than it does today. Most of the believers were Jewish and they understood Jesus as their long-awaited Messiah. Jesus was, to those who followed him, the hope of their nation and the Light of the world. However, the Kingdom Jesus ushered in didn't look the way anyone expected and yet the Scripture foretold, in uncanny detail, all that Jesus fulfilled in his life. Jesus is the Jewish Messiah, the Son of Israel; the roots of our faith are Jewish and God's deep love is most wondrously revealed when we understand the degree and extravagant way God came to us.

Even though most Christians have heard the story of the beginnings of the church countless times, I don't think there is another book like this one. I set out to make it more true than fiction. I wanted to tell the story in a way that would be fresh and new--that would engage our hearts and minds as only stories can do. I set out to flesh out the historical characters who lived during this astounding time. I wanted to reawaken readers to the reality of what Jesus has done and is still doing for those he calls his own.

So, come on a journey ... come and see those extraordinary first few years when Jesus' followers and enemies find themselves caught up in an amazing but difficult time of transition in the epic story of God's redemption.