About the Book

Book: The Last Disciple: Crisis in Jerusalem Author: Kurt Brouwer Genre:Christian Historical Fiction Release date: November, 2022 He was the Beloved Disciple… …and he would be the last. The mantle to tell the whole story has fallen on him. From the cross, Jesus entrusted John, the youngest disciple, with the welfare of Mary, Jesus’s mother. Over thirty years later, as Jerusalem becomes a cauldron of explosive tempers, he receives a calling he doesn’t want. Will he listen and follow? And if he does, will it be too late? In 62 AD, the Jewish high priest executes James, the brother of Jesus, triggering a bitter fight for power in Jerusalem that shatters the quiet life of John. The Jewish people he loves are making dangerous choices that will change the land of Israel forever. Should he stay in Jerusalem and help hold off the Roman onslaught? Or is it time to reach out to those beyond Israel’s borders? If he chooses to leave, what will be his message to these foreign believers? What new words of comfort could he possibly share? Set against a backdrop of actual events, The Last Disciple: Crisis in Jerusalem is the first novel in a new series based on the Bible and Christian history. Follow along while John faces multiple crises and comes to understand what it is to stand alone and lean on only the Lord. Your heart will embrace The Last Disciple: Crisis in Jerusalem because John’s story is the story of our hope and promise.

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About the Author

It all started the morning I learned that the Gospel of John was published fifty years after Jesus died. Fifty years! What did John do all that time? Where did he live? Why did he wait? Frankly I got a little obsessive about this man who became the last disciple. Living in Hawaii For the past 20 years, I’ve been a member of a Bible-based Christian church in Hawaii. About eight years ago, our pastor, Kahu Billy Mitchell, challenged our Elders group to pray and read the Bible for one hour every morning. It wasn’t as though we were not reading the Bible or praying every day, but he challenged us to take our devotions up a few notches. So, I did just that. During one of those early morning sessions, I was studying the books of the New Testament in a broad sense. Who wrote them and when? What were the broad themes covered in each? I found out that a huge gap of 50 years elapsed after the ministry of Jesus and the publication of the Gospel of John. That morning something else hit me–John outlived all the others to become the last disciple. I couldn’t stop thinking about how lonely it must have been to be the last one standing. A few years later, I began writing The Last Disciple Series of Christian historical novels about the life of John. The Last Disciple Series The Last Disciple is a series of Christian novels based on the Bible and Christian history. The first in the series: The Last Disciple: Crisis in Jerusalem, begins in the year 62 AD. In it, you walk with John through the streets of Jerusalem. With him, you face multiple crises and come to understand what it is to stand alone and lean only on the Lord. This book, The Last Disciple: Exile in Ephesus is the third in the series, following The Last Disciple: Escape to Antioch (book two) and The Last Disciple: Crisis in Jerusalem (book one).

Interview with the Author

What helps you to write? Do you eat snacks, listen to music?

I write all the time. For example, when I’m praying (usually in the early morning), I write down thoughts, ideas, Bible verses, Biblical facts and figures, commentaries. People to pray about. That document numbers about 500 pages and 150,000 or more words. I like to write. Don’t have a set time or place. I’m writing this on a sagging couch in a beach cottage in Florida. I love researching the first century Christians and have done much research on life and faith back then.

If you could travel back in time, what time period would you go to?

The time period I write about — the first century.

What is one thing readers would be surprised to learn about you?

I have done thousands of hours of research on the places my characters go to. Not just places though, but food preparation, local flowers, plants, animals. My older son kids me about getting lost in studying the ‘fernicus capernicus.’ That’s not a thing, but he got started on that meme when I was deep in researching the types of plants blooming in the Jordan River valley in springtime during the first century.

What inspired you to write this book?

It all started one morning when I learned that it took John fifty years to write his first book. I wondered what he did, where he lived, why he waited so long, how he felt as all his fellow disciples gradually were martyred and he became the last disciple. Book three in this series continues John’s saga to Ephesus where he spent about 25 years.

What is one question you would like readers to ask you? What would be your answer?

Q: What can I gain from reading this series? A: An absorbing read that transports you to the time of the early Christians–John, Peter, Bartholomew, Mary, Priscilla, and many more. You’ll find out how they absorbed and used scripture which is very different from our way. You’ll learn about the lives of people who come to life on the pages of The Last Disciple Series. Finally, you’ll experience new ways to grow in your Christian faith.