FLOWER MOUND, Texas – Theologian Donald L. Brake and author Shelly Beach  dare  to bring to life the 30 years of Jesus’s life that went unrecorded in the Bible with their new historical fiction, “They Called Him Yeshua: The Story of the Young Jesus: How Jesus’s Unrecorded Years Shaped His Ministry” (published by Archway Publishing).

Brake and Beach delve into the first century, the world of an ordinary family facing extraordinary political and religious challenges as they grapple with a young Jesus’ developing self-awareness and preparation for his divine mission. The novel creates a dramatic fictional account that imagines how Jesus’ family reacted to him as he grew in wisdom and stature over 30 years of his life. It is the author’s desire to confront the mysteries of the incarnation giving due reverence to Jesus’ deity while maintaining a healthy portrayal of his humanity as he grows in his self-awareness

The authors hope their readers gain “A deeper understanding of the influences Jesus’s early life had on His later life and ministry—as God’s son in an earthly body with earthly emotions and everyday problems and difficulties. But most of all a new appreciation for the man Jesus who is clothed in mystery for both secular and religious believers. He is not a “superhero” who came to correct the world’s political order—He came on a divine mission to save humanity.”

“They Called Him Yeshua: The Story of the Young Jesus”

By Donald L. Brake with Shelly Beach

Hardcover | 6 x 9 in | 458 pages | ISBN 9781480872967

Softcover | 6 x 9 in | 458 pages | ISBN 9781480872981

E-Book | 458 pages | ISBN 9781480872974

Available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble

About the Author

Donald L. Brake Sr., has a doctorate from Dallas Theological Seminary and is Dean Emeritus of Multnomah Biblical Seminary of Multnomah University. His experience as president of the Jerusalem University College (previously Institute of Holy Land Studies) has given him insight into the historical and geographical background of Israel and the life of Christ. Brake has led tours to the Holy Land and has taught the life of Christ and the Bible’s historical and cultural backgrounds for more than 35 years.

Shelly is an award-winning author of eight books of both fiction and nonfiction. She served as managing editor of Zondervan’s Hope in the Mourning Bible (Fall 2013) and was one of three writers of Zondervan’s NIV Stewardship Bible, as well as a contributor to Tyndale’s Mosaic Bible. She is cofounder of the Breathe Writer’s Conference and the Cedar Falls Christian Writer’s Workshop and speaks nationally on a wide variety of issues and presents seminars for Daughters of Destiny, a national women’s prison ministry. She is cofounder of PTSD Perspectives and presents educational seminars on post-traumatic stress disorder to medical and mental health professionals, counselors, social workers, law enforcement officers, child advocates, educators and other professionals.