In New Book, Pastor Charles Metcalf Says Confidence in God Was His Lifeline during Depression
Even on a Zoom call, Charles Henry Metcalf the third, as he likes to be called, comes through with style and confidence. In a sit-down interview with Crosswalk, Metcalf clarifies that although he has always liked having a sense of fashion, his confidence level hasn't always been where it needs to be. In his new book, God Chose Me: Untouchable Confidence for the Unstoppable Christian, Charles opens up about his struggle to find love and confidence from God along with wanting to at one point take his own life, to which would have happened had it not been for his wife and close friends like his pastor Michael Todd where he serves on staff at. Charles lays it all out on the line in the hope of helping people find the confidence they need in God.
Crosswalk Headlines: Where does your name come from, Charles Henry Metcalf the third?
Charles Metcalf: I am named after my grandfather, Charles Henry Metcalf Jr., my dad's father. He worked for the United States Postal Service for forty years and was just an amazing man. Unfortunately, I never got the chance to meet him; he passed away when my father was young. It's important to me to carry on his legacy.
CWH: Where were you when you knew you had to write this book?
CM: The book's origin is filled with confidence and excitement, and expectation was born from a super dark, hopeless time. Rewind to 2020; It wasn't everyone's easiest year. I found myself in 2020 just stuck in an unfamiliar place, obviously, COVID has changed everything for us all. Through a series of different things, I found myself in a really dark place of depression and anxiety. I have struggled with depression throughout my life, but this was like anything unparalleled, where depression was also coupled with panic attacks. I was having panic attacks multiple times a day. I ended up having a panic attack in the middle of a sermon. There were so many different stories with that, but it led me to a moment. April 29, 2020. The offices were closed; it was my version of being away from people when I was up in the office. I'm in my office, crying under my desk, and writing in a journal titled Psalms fifty-one, my last letter to God.
CWH: How did you come out of that dark moment?
CM: I knew how God called me to be, but I also felt like I was not good enough. In the middle of that, there was a small, I wouldn't even have coined it as that word, but it felt like just an impression in my heart that it was God saying, "This is not the end, I've got something for you." That was the seed of God saying, "Hey, I chose you. It may not look like it, it may feel hopeless, it may feel dark, but I chose you. I planned your life. I gave you breath in your lungs, and you're going to make it."
CWH: Why did you decide to place the darkest time in your life in the book?
CM: I must credit my great friend and pastor, Mike. He says, "God does not bless who you pretend to be; he blesses who you really are." I've come to realize that the super pure power I have and possess is who I really am. I can't sell you on the beauty of the promise if I don't take you to the reality of the pain I've been through. I can't sell you on this confidence that is untouchable and this life that is unstoppable. Believing God chose you only comes through finding out you have nothing left but Him.
Photo Credit: ©Instagram/charlesmetcalf
Originally published July 16, 2025.
