Wes Olds is the Lead Pastor of Grace Church, a multi-site congregation with three locations in South West Florida. He is a graduate of The University of Kentucky and Asbury Theological Seminary. Wes serves as a coach with Spiritual Leadership, Incorporated (SLI) and as a board member of the Southwest Florida Community Foundation. He is a recipient of the Lily Foundation Award for Clergy Renewal and co-author of the study series and book A Grace-Full-Life. He is an ordained elder in The United Methodist Church and has served on a variety of leadership boards and teams in Kentucky and Florida.
Prior to coming to Grace Church, Wes began a multi-cultural, urban church called The Rock-La Roca United Methodist Church in Lexington, Kentucky. While there, he co-founded Lexington’s chapter of “Room in the Inn”, a city-wide ministry of hospitality and shelter for homeless men. Before that, Wes was a youth pastor at three United Methodist churches, an instructor at Asbury University, and writer for Group Publishing and United Methodist Communications.
Wes is married to Becky and they have one adult son named Caleb. Wes loves music, enjoys fishing, driving his Mustang, sports, and travel to historical sites where he actually reads the plaques!
Confronting the Thief Within (Paperback)
How I Quit Earning God's Love and Embraced My Real Identity
We all want to live with more love, peace, and joy, but we get ambushed by anger, conflict, anxiety, and pain. We live in fear, shame, and insecurity, constantly seeking validation from others. We get stuck in dysfunctional patterns, and we don’t know why. We think we’re alone and broken…the only person who feels this way.
So, we try harder. We try to “follow the rules” and do more for God. We try to change our
circumstances, our behavior, or the people around us.
But the problem isn’t in our outer world. It’s that we all have an inner thief – our wounds and our fears that keep us from living the abundant life God has for us.
True healing starts within.
Confronting the Thief Within is one pastor’s story of how people pleasing, anger, and trying to earn God’s love drove him to the point of breakdown and burnout – and how reclaiming his identity as a Child of God, Person of Worth (COGPOW) transformed his life from the inside out.
With courageous vulnerability, Wes Olds details his journey of confronting the wounded parts of himself and relying on the power of Christ to heal him. His story will help you recognize your own inner thief, understand why you do what you do, and claim your identity as a COGPOW.
Filled with practical tools and insights from Scripture and psychology, Confronting the Thief Within is an invitation to stop trying so hard to change and to surrender your wounds and struggles to the healing power of God. As God transforms your view of yourself, others, and even God, you will experience true inner freedom, better relationships, and life to the fullest.