From an early age, Leroy Jenkins is called by a mysterious force he knows only as 'The Spirit'. Abandoned by his Cherokee mother and scorned as 'half-injun', Leroy is raised poor by a rural South Carolina family. Strange voices and supernatural occurrences haunt his early life and he runs from them until the age of 22 when a freak accident - or something more brings him close to death and finally to an Atlanta tent revival where he is miraculously healed. Transformed through faith and endowed with the power to heal others through The Spirit, Leroy begins his career as an evangelist and quickly builds one of the largest ministries in America, befriending the likes of Mae West and soon becoming a celebrity himself. He rocks the establishment as he sings the gospel like Elvis, takes wardrobe tips from Liberace and violently lashes out at anyone who doubts or opposes him, including the government.