Fourteen-year-old Joshua Phillips dares to follow Jesus with all his heart, mind, and strength. As signs and wonders follow the boy, his impact is immediate. But following the Master isn’t without tribulations. When his little brother Sammy struggles with an aggressive sickness seemingly resistant to Joshua's prayers, when unexpected news becomes known to all regarding the mysterious girl he's courting, Lydia Claremont, and when darkness arises intent on snuffing out Joshua, these all collide with Joshua's determination to follow the One. Will Joshua overcome the challenges or be compromised and lose his way? Joshua is whispered to be the Jesus boy.
A supernatural thriller. A drama. A romance. The main thrust of the story, focused on the young man, Joshua Phillips, is set against the backdrop of a spiritual conflict. Although the novel is supernatural, the story remains grounded within a greater spiritual reality. Life & death hangs in the balance.
Readers will accompany Joshua as he journeys through some difficult challenges due to his conviction. Danger, both spiritual and physical, comes at him with increasing intensity testing the young man's mettle. Readers are given a glimpse into the spiritual realm at key points throughout the story, and many may find themselves challenged in their walks with the LORD.
Joshua dreamed. He found himself roving rapidly through a golden wheat field that trembled in the wind. There in front of him scampered the frame of the behemoth bully as if trying to get away from Joshua. Every now and then, he’d look back, a terrified look of desperation on his face.
Just then, the large boy stopped in his tracks as a golden cloud surrounded him. As the light engulfed him, he grew hostile and beat back the hazy brightness. The gesticulating boy, seeing how helpless he was to cast off this strangeness, dashed in another direction, and again Joshua saw himself following close behind.
The scene repeated several times, each time the golden light hugging the boy like a swarm of bees. Soon enough he grew exhausted until his fighting and running tapered to nothing. And there he stood, bathing in the glowing cloud.
A voice filled the air. This one will do great exploits. My love will capture him.
Joshua awakened and sat up, startled. The scene replayed in his mind so strongly that he thought himself still asleep. He blinked as his eyes adjusted to his bedroom around him. A pressure building within him, he slipped out of bed, his knees landing on the thick carpet, even as sobs came from deep within for this one who had never known love, not even for a single second.
“But how can You reach him?” Joshua wept deeply in a way he didn’t—couldn’t—understand. “How?” he whispered through a veneer of tears. “How can You do this?”
And then the words coursed through him as strongly as that first day when God had spoken to him to follow Him. "Bless your enemies."