“But your story is not out there. Stop being disobedient and write it!”

Glenn Walsh, author of “How can God hear a man like you?” shares his publication story:

I remember years ago the late Mary Bartholomew telling me, “You have a story that has to be told,” and then the late Jennifer Rees Larcombe said the same, but the doors just didn’t seem to open.

Years later, Chip Kendal, while he was in Thebandwithnoname, challenged me as we drove home from an evening of mission. He asked me, “How do we overcome?”

I answered, “By the blood of the Lamb, of course,” quoting 1 Peter 1:19 and Revelation 7:14.

He then quoted back to me Revelation 12:11: “We overcome by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony!” and added, “God is telling you to write your testimony. He is telling you to write a book!”

I argued, “But there are so many testimony books out there. Why another?”

Chip tutted, then explained, “But your story is not out there. Stop being disobedient and write it!”

I did my best to ignore this advice, but those words left their residue and quietly nagged at me; a small voice constantly saying, “Put your hand to the pen.”

Eventually, close to fifteen years after Chip’s challenge, I gave in and reached out to a Christian publisher called Onwards and Upwards, the publisher I remembered Mary Bartholomew had recommended so long ago. It was a step of faith financially, as I would need to buy and sell a certain number of copies of my book.

In 2023, we were finally ready to go to print. I still didn’t have the funds to buy the books, but I believed that God was in this. I also wanted to make these books free to prisons, recovery groups, rehabilitation centres and secondary schools. So, naturally speaking, I was being very unwise giving the go ahead, but I believed that if this was God’s prompting then I would rather have problems incurred through obedience to God than problems incurred through unbelief – plus, as a pastor, how could I continue preaching ‘faith equals risk’ if I wasn’t prepared to go on taking risks?

So the deed was done, the books were being printed and I was thinking, “How on earth am I going to pay for them?” My best solution was to get a loan and pay off the debt as the books were sold, but then, how was I going to be able to give them away? God, though, had a better solution. During the summer months of 2023, a couple visited my church, and after the service I was talking in depth with them, mainly about the wife of the couple and her struggles since coming out of occultism and finding Christ. During the conversation, she said to me, “You should write a book.”

I laughed and answered, “Just done that.”

The husband then interjected saying, “You are joking?”

“Seriously, I have just done that,” I answered.

“But I support Christian books,” he said.

“I have a ministry of supporting Christian literature. Is there anyway I can help you?”

I laughed again and shared my vision to give away my story to those who are trapped in darkness.

“Done!” he said excitedly. Not only did he cover the initial cost in full, but also we had to contact the printer for an extra three hundred copies.

Praise God, many books have now been given away to help prison chaplains, recovery groups, addiction recovery centres and secondary schools. I have also shared my story in publications, many venues and on the radio, but knowing that it is available to those who need to hear the message of hope in Jesus warms me to the core. My book is called How Can God Hear a Man like You? and is available from Onwards and Upwards, Amazon, Waterstones, Eden and Christian bookshops.

I have been getting extremely encouraging responses from Christians who have been encouraged, challenged and moved by my story. As Paul Harcourt (New Wine) said in his endorsement of my book, “I love hearing stories of transformation, especially when it is clear that Jesus is the hero! That’s powerfully the case here.”

We all have a story to tell, a story about Jesus, the pure spotless Lamb of God, and how the risen King has set us free. Gossip your story, the story of Jesus.

Hebrews 12:1: “Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.”

Article by Glenn Walsh
Author of “How can God hear a man like you”
Pastor at Vine Evangelical Church, Sevenoaks, Kent

Glenn Walsh is the pastor at Vine Evangelical Church in Kent. He and his wife Sarah have a background of church planting, mission and youth work, serving with New Frontiers, Vineyard and New Wine expressions of churches. Glenn and Sarah have six daughters, twelve grandchildren (at present) and have fostered many children through Bexley Social Services. Glenn had a dramatic conversion in his early twenties with God moving sovereignly in life, his story has featured in national publications and evangelistic recordings, and he has shared his story over the years in many settings to include prisons, radio, churches and schools.