HILLSBORO—Jesse Allen jokes that he never even finished reading a book until he was 22.
Six years later, the Hillsboro resident has just published his first book, “Loving the Lord’s Anointed.”
“I had never really thought a lot about writing a book,” he said. “But the process of writing came easily enough.”
His path toward becoming an author started about two years ago when he found himself hungry for the word of God in a different way. As he studied the Bible, he would write down what he was learning, and then he decided to turn his journaling into devotionals that he would email out to a group of 70 to 80 people every couple of weeks.
His new book draws a little bit from those devotionals but also includes new material. The book dives into how to discover a more intimate relationship with God. Allen said Psalm 2 was an important passage that he drew his inspiration from for his book, which says in part, “The kings of the earth rise up and the rulers band together against the Lord and against his anointed.”
Another verse that he said was deep on his heart during the writing process was Hebrews 12:1 about being surrounded by a great cloud of witnesses, casting off sin, and running with perseverance the race before us.
He said he didn’t try to schedule his writing time.
“I waited on the Lord to give me revelation,” he said. “Sometimes it would come at weird times, like halfway mowing the lawn.”
When that happened, he said, he would stop what he was doing to go write down his ideas.
Allen began writing the book in July of 2020 and finished the 160-page work in February. He had help with editing from his mom, Debbie Allen, as well as professional author Deborah Raney. He then self-published his book through Amazon, which he said was incredibly easy to use.
“It’s kind of an amazing service,” he said.
The cover features original artwork painted on an iPad by his sister-in-law, Tracie Hildebrandt. It depicts Mary Magdalene pouring oil on Jesus’ feet as Mary of Bethany anoints his head.
Allen announced the book on social media last week and soon had dozens of requests for copies. He ordered about 75 copies from Amazon, but as of Monday morning, they hadn’t arrived to him yet.
He noted two of his close friends have read the book, but he’s curious to know what others who aren’t so close to him will think of it.
He also said that he knows not everyone will agree with all of his theology in the book, and that’s OK. He said his goal or purpose as an author is less about making others’ believe his opinions about God and more about pointing people toward a life of abiding in Jesus and the Holy Spirit. He hopes his readers will develop a “hunger and thirst for righteousness,” as it says in Matthew 5:6.
Even though he just published his first book last week, Allen isn’t letting the grass grow under his feet when it comes to writing. He plans to release his second book in just three weeks, called “The Supremacy of Christ.”
This will be the first in a trilogy that he is co-authoring with Sam McVay of Wichita. The next two books in the Trilogy of the Trinity, as they’re calling it, will be “Sovereign Father” and “The Power of the Holy Spirit.”
Allen said the co-writing process began with McVey writing down an outline of the book.
“Then we’d sit down and talk and formulate our ideas based on his revelation,” Allen said, adding that he was the one who then wrote out the ideas.
Allen has another book he’s working on by himself that he said is halfway done.
When he isn’t busy writing, Allen teaches special education at his alma mater, Hillsboro High School. He’s getting ready to start his fifth year.
Considering he’s selling “Loving the Lord’s Anointed” for just $5, he knows he won’t be making a living off book sales any time soon.
“I know I’m not a highly sought-after author,” he said about his decision to keep his price low.
To order a copy of Allen’s book, search for “Loving the Lord’s Anointed” on Amazon.com.
