The Gentle Giant of Atlanta—A Marcus Jenkins Novel

The 21st Century House Churches Series (Book 9)

He survived a plane crash that shattered his body. He returned to a hero's welcome that threatened to shatter his soul.

Marcus Jenkins, a celebrated football star and the pride of Atlanta’s largest megachurch, was the sole survivor of a tragic plane crash. Stranded on a desolate island with nothing but a King James Bible, the comfortable "Victorious Living" faith of his youth starves to death alongside his pride. In its place, a raw, demanding, and profoundly biblical faith is born—one forged in the crucible of suffering and built solely on the Word of God.

But when he is rescued and returns home, the hero’s welcome quickly sours. The man they celebrate is a ghost. His family and pastor, eager to package his story into a triumphant sermon, are confronted by a man transformed. His quiet conviction, especially his newfound understanding of baptism for the remission of sins, is not a testimony they want to hear. It is a doctrinal challenge that threatens the very foundation of their institutional church.

Cast out and spiritually homeless, Marcus finds an unlikely fellowship among the city’s outcasts: a cynical homeless veteran, a waitress crippled by a secret shame, a disillusioned college student, and a lonely widower. Together, in a rundown apartment, they form a simple house church, rediscovering the messy, beautiful, and powerful reality of the New Testament body of Christ. Through methodical, topical studies of the King James Bible, they wrestle with the hard truths of scripture and find a community more authentic than any they have ever known.

The Gentle Giant of Atlanta is Book 9 in the 21st Century House Churches series. It is a powerful and gripping novel about the cost of true discipleship, the clash between biblical truth and man-made tradition, and the radical, life-altering power of a church that dares to be the church.