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Claim your true identity in Christ. Experience healing from the inside out.

With courageous vulnerability, pastor Wes Olds tells the story of how God healed him from people pleasing, anger, breakdown, and burnout – and shows how you can live a life of true freedom, peace, and joy by reclaiming your identity as a child of God and person of worth.

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.

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Wes Olds

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!  

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Bonnie Crandall

Bonnie Crandall is a Licensed Clinical Counselor. She worked primarily  with educators, doctors, and clergy. She is also an impactful retreat leader and speaker. Bonnie created a new counseling approach to self-imaging and wholeness she calls COGPOW. It stands for "Child of God Person of Worth."

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Confronting the Thief Within Reviews

What people
are saying…

Most books can be spun out in six months to a year or so. A few take half a lifetime to bring to birth. This one you hold has taken a lifetime and a half. Wes Olds and Bonnie Crandall offer well over a century of very costly pearls straight from the Kingdom of Heaven here. Sell whatever you must and purchase this treasure.

J. D. Walt
J. D. Walt
President & Sower in Chief, Seedbed, Inc.

Wow! Fortunately I had the time when I began this book; I spent the day with it. As I read I thought of two of my favorite authors, Henri Nouwen and Brennan Manning. I commend Bonnie and Wes for such a winsome partnership. Here is thoughtful content expressed in a convincing and creative way, including deep emotion. Like me, you will have difficulty putting it down.

Maxie D. Dunnam
Maxie D. Dunnam
a United Methodist Church minister, evangelist, Bible commentator and writer. He is a past president of World Methodist Council. He is currently President Emeritus of Asbury Theological Seminary.

Wonderful, vulnerable, purely written, honest beyond words. I'm loving reading it. This book will save many lives. Thank you.

Ruth Truman, PhD
Ruth Truman, PhD
Author, “How to be a Liberated Christian"

On a wonderful day years ago, Wes as an SLI Coach was sharing vulnerably his story, scripture and the wonderful effects of accepting the title of COGPOW a Child of God and a Person of Worth. That day changed my life. That moment marked the beginning of a new path that I have been living ever since.  Over the years this teaching has been helping Spiritual Leaders around the world set down debilitating self-criticism and to grow health and unity with their ministries. This book is an important resource for anyone but especially those who hope to guide others in a shared mission.

Craig Robertson
Craig Robertson
Spiritual Leadership, Inc.

Having coached so many leaders who struggle with their own sense of identity and wrestle with negative scripts like ‘I’m never enough,’ this book now offers a remedy. Through his own story of transformation, Wes Olds leads us in a profound yet practical journey to truly receive our identity as the beloved in Christ and embody this in our lives.

Bryan D. Sims
Bryan D. Sims
author of Leading Together: The Holy Possibility of Harmony and Synergy in the Face of Change, leadership and change coach with Spiritual Leadership, Inc. (SLI) and professor of leadership at Asbury Theological Seminary.

Confronting the Thief Within is a life-changing book! I was so drawn into what God seemed to be saying to me through Wes’ story that I could not lay this book down! My hunger only grows to re-read and re-read sections of his story and insights. It is one of those rare books that many of us will buy multiple copies of to pass along to those we love and others we desire to find the freedom Wes Olds has found in his life and God surely yearns for all of us to find!

Al Gwinn
Al Gwinn
Retired UMC Bishop & COGPOW

Around the church that Wes and I lead together, we have a saying. “We get a front-row seat at life change!” I have known Wesley Howard Olds since he was 14 years old. I was his Youth Pastor through high school. We served together at three churches and in that time I have seen the life-transforming work of the Spirit remaking him into a child of God and a person of worth. He’s the real deal. Friends, what Wes writes about ain’t theory. It’s been life tested by the author. He eats what he cooks.

Jorge Acevedo
Jorge Acevedo
Lead Pastor, Grace Church

Primarily drawing from God’s Word, Wes Olds unveils his healing journey with the help of kind guides, moonflowers, the Rocky Mountains, Al-Anon wisdom, punching bags, and the Hokey-Pokey. There is nothing inauthentic here – Wes’ raw honesty and real experiences with a loving God offer hope to all of us.

Ellen L. Marmon, PhD
Ellen L. Marmon, PhD
Professor of Christian Discipleship, Asbury Theological Seminary

Confronting the Thief Within describes the powerful story of Wes Olds’ journey from combatting self-criticism to embracing his identity as a COGPOW (Child of God Person of Worth). This inspiring book is full of insights applicable to other COGPOWs who desire to grow in relationship with the God of the Universe, Jesus Christ the Son and the Omnipresent Holy Spirit.

Debra Wallace-Padgett
Debra Wallace-Padgett
Resident Bishop, Holston and North Alabama Conferences, The United Methodist Church

Here is a book that blends clinical counseling theories and Biblical principles with a focus on seeking wholeness. It is based on a counseling method that renews the mind and spirit.  Read and learn how you can also come to understand that you are a “Child of God Person of Worth;” This will be an insightful guide to help you come to a more wholistic self-understanding.

Fred Van Tatenhove, PhD
Asbury Theological Seminary

Hi, my name is Michael and I am a recovering performance addict. For most of my life, I believed the lies of the inner thief, “you’re not enough, you’re broken, you’re unlovable.” I attempted to silence those lies with achievement and activity. At times, I was working for God, while not walking with God. I was trying to do my way into a state of being. While it remains an ongoing journey of recovery, most days, I know myself as Child of God Person of Worth. My friend Wes Olds will show you the way to claiming your core identity as God’s beloved. He is a trusted guide who has made the journey himself.

Michael Adam Beck
Michael Adam Beck
Pastor, professor, author, Director of Fresh Expressions for The United Methodist Church, Director of Fresh Expressions House of Studies at United Theological Seminary

Confronting the Thief Within is as bold and courageous as the title itself. Wes’ writing is evidence of how God uses the power of testimony as a tool for helping others on their healing journey. The stories show us how pain mixed with therapy, love, God’s grace, and His mercy can be given back to the world as medicine. Confronting the Thief Within allows readers to see that we are not alone on the journey of working to turn our wounds into scars. Wes has done, and is doing, his inner work. Through this book he walks alongside us as we do our inner work  and offers practical tools on the journey to become the people God meant us to be when we no longer carry the weight of our trauma.

Romal Tune
Romal Tune
Author of Love Is an Inside Job: Getting Vulnerable with God

Our world has an identity problem. We are struggling to know who we really are and what our God-given identity is. We attach our identity to people, ideas, political parties, theological positions, accomplishments, and everything but God – and that’s why we have so many problems in the world today.


Seeing ourselves and each other as COGPOWs can change the world.

Confronting the Thief Within will help you:

Claim your true identity in Christ. Experience healing from the inside out.

Recognize that you’re not alone

Whatever is going on in your life, you’re not more messed up or broken than anyone else. Everyone is wounded, and when we open our hearts to the Holy Spirit and safe, wise counsel, we can experience healing like never before.

Claim your true identity in Christ. Experience healing from the inside out.

Strip your wounds of their power

When we name and shed light on our unconscious thoughts, fears, and beliefs, they lose their power. This book will give you tools to identify what’s tripping you up and learn how to work with it without shame or judgment.

Claim your true identity in Christ. Experience healing from the inside out.

Reframe “change” as a journey with God

Sanctification is a lifelong inner work of transforming how we think, feel, and believe. God invites us into a journey where we get to cooperate with the work He’s already doing in our lives – from a place of love, safety, and secure identity, not from striving and shame.

Claim your true identity in Christ. Experience healing from the inside out.

De-stigmatize therapy

Christians often misunderstand salvation as transactional – a way to get out of hell and into heaven. But salvation is about God healing and transforming the whole self. Emotional health and spiritual health are deeply connected, so go to therapy, seek counseling, and trust that God cares about who you are, not just what you do.

Claim your true identity in Christ. Experience healing from the inside out.

Increase compassion for self and others

Getting to know yourself, recognizing the parts that make up who you are, and treating yourself with more kindness will change how you view yourself and others. You will learn to stop labeling people because of their flaws and instead see everyone as a COGPOW.

Claim your true identity in Christ. Experience healing from the inside out.

Change how you show up every day

The healing journey is not just about what happens inside your heart; God gives us the power to transform how we live. When you commit to the journey, you will develop stronger self-worth, stop reacting so much to life, build healthier relationships, and live the abundant life you were created for.

Confronting the Thief Within is a must-read for anyone who is tired of trying to do all the right things and still feeling awful on the inside – anyone who expects and wants more out of the Christian life. It will introduce you to a whole new way of living that’s filled with freedom and joy: life to the fullest.

thief cvr 3d

Discover the power of Christ to heal you from the inside out. Experience life to the fullest.

Confronting the Thief Within will help you stop trying to earn God’s love and start claiming your identity as a person of worth, so you can live with more peace, love, and joy every day.

Order now