Man Up...At Man Camp! - Part 1

This is Robbie Dilmore from The Christian Car Guy and Kingdom Pursuit, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build a kingdom. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it and share it.

But most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Once the Russian nightmare, now the devil's worst nightmare, and your tag team partner, Nikita Kolov. It's time to man up. Nikita Kolov back and man, just my, gosh, my peak performance partner. This is a treat for me to have, have the man in the house, Lex Luger, Lexter. Great to have you with us. Thank you, Nik. Always great.

We are here, of course, we're here this week live at Man Camp and it's just been such an impacting week already. Lex, you just finished up really a teaching on the body. Talk about spirit, soul and body. And you had one of the best and most chiseled physiques in the day in the world of wrestling. And so you're well schooled and educated in that area. And so you did just such a phenomenal job. I know the men have already given feedback on what a great job you did and teach about what the Bible says and what God says about taking care of our bodies. Yeah, I mean, when we set out to do the Man Camp, when you and I kind of were brainstorming together and in prayer and what we want to do, we've been to so many great events together that other people had that were so beneficial. We always felt like the balance of obviously spiritual first and foremost, but also with the mental aspects which we touch on. I'm taking every thought captive and the mind will and emotions.

A lot of them cover that as well, but no one covered really taking care of the temple, the body as well. So to be able to kind of put all three of those together and important interplay between all those. The way God designed us, we felt was something unique. We thought we were very beneficial and we sowed those seeds and now thanks be to God.

He's both us. We have the honor and privilege of putting it on and seeing the interest and the benefits that the guys are receiving and what they go home with. We had a great testimony today, the one guy who's a pastor who came to a previous Man Camp and lost 70 something pounds. His wife as well has that healthy lifestyle going now, taking care of the body and to hear his testimony, it's pretty special. It's encouraging, isn't it? To know that the effort you and I are putting forward, we're seeing fruit from that effort. Him and his wife are now on that path, have that mindset of we really need to take care of our bodies. God bless us with these bodies.

Now it's our responsibility to take care of them. For our listeners, I'll give just a little bit of backstory on that. You said we were praying into this, thinking about this back in 2015. I was blessed to have you under my own roof where I could glean from the man of God for about almost a year. Mutual. Proverbs 27, 17. One man sharpens the countenance of his friend.

You certainly have become one of my dearest friends. Going back, just a little backstory for the listeners. God gives us this vision and out of that is birthed a one-day conference called Man Up. We spent about five hours together giving them as much information in a one-day conference as we can in local churches and local communities just to reach out.

I like to call that the appetizer. They get the appetizer at Man Up conference and they challenge them to say, hey, if you want to really dive deeper into this, if you want the entree and the dessert and even the cherry on top, then come spend five days with us at Man Camp. Of course, we do give guys a lot of information even over the course of those five days, but as you're making reference to the stories we're now hearing, and of course, we base this on 1 Thessalonians 5.23, being whole in spirit, soul, and body. What's it been like for you? I know the guys love you being here and interacting with you and being able to, again, just glean from your wisdom. I've watched you, Lex, since April 23, 2006 when you first surrendered your life to the Lord.

It's just been a privilege for me to watch you just grow leaps and bounds. For our listeners out there, what has been one catalyst that has helped you, outside of Man Camp, what has been one catalyst that has helped you grow as a man of God, would you say? Well, first and foremost, God, Jesus, our Lord and Savior, the constant creation process happens through Him and the Holy Spirit.

We still have the flesh, but the Holy Spirit becomes stronger and stronger as we get discipled. You've mettered me, God's placed awesome men of God like you and Dr. Frady, C. Baskin, I could go on. I have so many names of people who have discipled me and poured into me and watered me.

My roots grow deep and strong. I'm very thankful God's done that and placed people like you in my life. That's been a big part of it, so I'm very thankful for that. Well, and us just bonding over the years and spending lots of time together, even when we weren't living together. We've spent lots of time together.

We've traveled on the roads together, and I know looking back, Steve Baskin, Doc Frady, you talk about laying that foundation in your life. Anyone who watched you in the wrestling days, and I made reference to your chiseled body, and I say that in all sincerity. You had one of the best physiques, really, I feel. You weren't far behind, my friend. Well, I wasn't- The Russian nightmare. I wasn't great at the 4% body. I was close, but- Not far behind.

Don't sell yourself short, Nick. Well, I always marveled at your tenacity, but your discipline. And I know even talking today to the guys about your regimen, because we gave the guys the opportunity for a Q&A, right?

And throw out some questions, and they said, look, you guys were on the road 300 plus days a year. How did you manage to get in the gym? How did you manage to take care of yourself like that? Well, you're a very- and I'm a disciplined person, which is why we relate, I think, so well, because you're a very disciplined person as well. But you've taken- from my observation, Lex, you've taken what you did in training your physical body and training those muscles. And yes, I understand you had Steve Baskin and Doc Frady, and I'm fortunate to be a part of this journey with you. But you still had to implement discipline in order to grow spiritually, and you've done that. It seems like you've taken that same application in the gym and now done that with your walk with Jesus. I'd like to think, in the flesh, there's a direct correlation, but for me, I was succeeding in life prior to April 2006, in the natural, my natural talents and abilities. We all have them.

We can go, and from a worldly perspective, very far with that. So yes, I was very disciplined and driven type A. But once again, you know, my testimony, I always felt that there was something really missing, kind of scenes.

My life became a train wreck. So until April 26, I mean, April 23 of 06, when I gave my life to Christ, then the supernatural power of the Holy Spirit entered. And along with mentors such as you got me focused on my spiritual muscles, so to speak, and exercising them. And the first thing in the morning was, Pastor Steve, my initial man who slept with me, would catch me trying to run out the door to the gym.

He'd go, whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a second. Where are you going? I'm going to the gym. That's what I always did.

He goes, uh-uh. First we're going to do a little prayer and a little Bible study, and we're going to do a couple of devotionals before you go do that. Really set the foundation and the groundwork for my development, what looks like discipline, but really was implemented through the Holy Spirit and through the men that got placed in my life. Really what I really give the credit to now.

I know a lot of really talented people who go a long ways in life from their careers or different aspects of their life and of their own will or discipline. But there's nothing that can compare with the supernatural strength that even after my spinal cord injury, God showed me that His grace will always be sufficient for me. My power works best to weakness, so my discipline and my strength, everything I gathered together as a non-believer, God showed me that when He takes over, when we declare Him as our Lord and Savior, that no matter what we go through physically, which was my main aspect that I accentuated back then, spiritually, with Him working through us, we can make Lex Luger look like a puny 97-pound weakling.

You can't even compare the two. Even though I'm 170 pounds now and weak from a worldly perspective, I feel like a supernatural powerhouse, a strength that I never had as the old Lex Luger that people saw in my prime on television. It's hard to describe. It's experiential. Unless you experience it in relationship with Christ, anybody that's not there, they're not going to understand that. But once you have to experience what God does in your life, it's hard to describe in words. It's great because as you're speaking, Lex, there's several things that come to mind.

I'm like, Lord, which way do you want me to take this? One, I totally relate in the sense that what I hear you saying is, as big a physique or as impressive looking as it was, it pales in comparison to, in my view, Lex, the spiritual giant that God has grown. Everyone remembers Andre the Giant. He was a big man. But in my eyes, God is molding you into the spiritual giant.

I was a physical powerhouse, but a spiritual weakling, which is the most important aspect. Right. Right.

And in one sense, it's been flipped, you might say, 180 degrees, right? You said, okay, I've lost 100 pounds of muscle. I'm 170 pounds now. That muscle man needed a good funeral. God allowed that.

We got that guy out of the way. So I could become a true powerhouse in Jesus and through Jesus. Right. That'll preach right there. We must die to ourselves in order to live for Christ. Even after we're saved, the flesh wants to pop in and the fleshly man just needs a good funeral to get out of God's way.

Stop struggling with him. I love that. We need a good funeral to get out of the way, the fleshly man.

People talk about, oh, I'm struggling with this, struggling with that. And I've had men say, Lex, all he needs is a good funeral. But I mean, he needs to put himself to death. What's Galatians 2.20? I've been crucified in the flesh as long as I who live, but Christ who lives in me. That's it.

Galatians 2.20. Yeah. Go meditate. I've had to go through that. And sometimes, a few times, it feels like.

You and me both. Yeah. The flesh tries to rear its ugly head.

Yeah. In fact, I'll say sometimes, look, most likely, most likely, you'll never be literally nailed to a cross with spikes driven through your hands and feet or a spear to your side or crown of thorns put on your head like Jesus experienced. However, however, once you surrender your heart and life to Jesus, you reference a great scripture. Galatians 2.20 is a great reminder of, you might say, in the spiritual realm that we can crucify ourselves, that we should crucify ourselves, nail ourselves to that cross and die to our flesh. That's a great illustration and a great scripture quote. The other thing is you were speaking, Lex, talking about the early morning hours and Pastor Steve stopping you in your tracks before you ran off to the gym is the early morning of devotions and prayer. So what I'm hearing is what it sounds to me like is that really then each and every day sets the tone for your day. Well, you're posturing yourself before God first thing in the morning. How could there be a better way to start your day and what you're going to be challenged, you're going to face out there that prioritizing first time with God.

It just sets the thermostat on the proper setting to whatever we're going to counter out there in that crazy world once we go out the door. Well, if we use Jesus as our model, I say if, because not everybody necessarily does. So if we use him as our model, which is really why he left heaven, took off the spiritual suit, put on, as I like to call it, the dirt suit to illustrate for 33 years what it would look like to walk this journey out, loving God with all of our heart, soul, mind and strength. The greatest commandment, right? The first and greatest. And he models that for us.

One thing he also modeled was, you can see it right in scripture. I mean, he got up before the sun rose, just like you. Man, you used to get up like 4 a.m. in the morning. Sometimes when we were living together, I was like, good Lord, he's up already? Man, guilt was overwhelming me.

I'm like, I need to get up. But man, 4 a.m. There you go.

There you go. Early bird gets to work, buddy. The early bird gets to work early to bed, early to ride. You know, talking about the thermostat, if you let God set your thermostat, first thing in the morning, a friend of mine told me, then you're not a thermometer all day long, meaning all the fluctuations and temperature or challenges that we had throughout the day. God sort of takes charge of all that and lets you be better able to deal with the emotions and the things that can happen to us during the day and interactions with other people. Wow.

I've not heard that before, but I like that because that actually ties into Man Camp in this sense. Emotions are one of the things we're talking about. We're going to talk about that tomorrow. Emotions. Mind, will and emotions, you like to tell me.

Yeah, yeah. Mind, will and emotions. The soul, right? What makes up the soul? Your mind, your will and your emotions. Three parts to the soul, just like we're a three part man. Body, soul and spirit. So we're a three part man. Almost sounds like the Trinity. God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit. But the emotions, that's what a powerful illustration, Lex, the thermometer versus the thermostat, because if you set the tone early in the morning, because we all know emotions fluctuate, right? But if the tone is set, no matter what happens in your day, you're able to balance those emotions as opposed to maybe flying off the handle one way or the other, right?

And then through God, he gives us the automatic thermostat setting. Man, that's rich right there. As you're listening, I hope you're taking notes as you're listening to this, because that was rich right there. And so, you know, we're at camp, we're pouring into these men, we're talking about the body, the soul, the spirit. We've had others on that have been to camp and talked about different aspects of how it's impacted their lives. The last one I just talked to, Jeff James, talked of a reference to how much it enhanced his marriage. So there's so many takeaways from Man Camp.

What do you think? In your view, do you feel there's any one more impacted than the other? Or for someone listening, considering coming to Man Camp, is it kind of all inclusive? Or what would be your view? And what would you say to someone considering coming to Man Camp? Why would they want to come to Man Camp? Well, for the reasons we've already discussed, but also the most important thing is we teach how to man is to be a spiritual leader. And a lot of guys may have felt like they don't have control, or they've advocated their position in the home. And we stress maximize manhood, not in a domineering way, but God's intended role for man and woman, husband and wife. And they were able to take these teachings home and actually apply it into their lives. I'm sure for some of the guys that talk, the difference that's made in their marriage, their relationship with their children. They didn't go home empowered to be, I believe, and start to live out the man God always intended them to be, the purpose and plan he has for their life and for his family. Yeah, because you're illustrating exactly some of the testimonies we've already heard from fathers and sons who have come on this particular Man Camp, a grandfather and a grandson, and men from all walks of life as well. So it's not just men in ministry.

I mean, we've got men from every walk of life from age 18 and up, as old as in their mid 70s, so far that have attended. The thermostat can be set for generations to come. Set the thermostat for future generations, right? Because there's a choice there, right? The Bible talks about the sins of the father to the third and fourth generation or the blessings of God to a thousand generations. And so for those listening, which would you prefer, passing on blessings to a thousand generations or passing on your sins to the third and fourth generation?

Let me think on that. That's not a difficult choice, is it? It doesn't take long to answer that question, right?

If your heart's in the right place. Well, you know, it's just an honor, a privilege, a joy. There's so many words I could fill the blank in with. And just partnering with you at these camps and just outside of these camps, just our friendship in general is such a blessing to have you just a part of my life. Thank you. I love you, buddy. The feeling's mutual.

Well, you know, I love you as well. And for those listening out there, if, you know, if you have, you're listening to Lex and I talk, you have an interest in perhaps one day attending to Man Camp or you just want to know more about Man Camp, go to colof.net. Colof.net and just browse through the website. You'll find a link directly to Man Camp. And then you can also find a link right there to the Man Up podcast and Truth Radio Network, which hosts and records all these shows, does such a phenomenal job.

Robby Delmore, Stu Epperson, just the whole team in Winston-Salem does such a phenomenal job. Pray about, consider coming to Man Camp and perhaps one day we can hang out together. Lex and you and I can hang out together. And if you're a lady listening out there, let me just close by saying this. I want to say something to all the ladies who listen to the Man Up show. If it appeals to you that Lex and I and our staff can equip your man, your man, your husband, your son, your dad, but we can equip your man to be a more godly man, a godly husband, a godly father. If that appeals to you, then can we encourage you to give them your blessing.

And if you give them your blessing, they're more apt to register, sign up, come and attend. We have men from all over the country who are coming and just grateful for that. All feet agree, Clements Carpet is where you need to be. With carpet, vinyl, tile, and hardwood from the top brands, Clements Carpet does it right from beginning to install. Voted number one by you in the Reader's Choice Awards. Doug, Chad, Benny, Kiwi, and the team at Clements Carpet look forward to seeing and serving you soon.

This is Nikita Koloff and I want to thank Clements Carpet for supporting my new show, Man Up, Saturday afternoon at 1230 on the Truth Network. Nikita Koloff, the Russian nightmare here for Crescent Automotive. If buying a car is a nightmare for you, my friends, Brian and Jamie Johnson at Crescent Automotive make it simple to find your pre-owned dream car with no hassle, affordable windshield pricing. No matter where you live, they will get your American dream car to you, baby. DriveCrescent.com is all you need to know. Their whole inventory is right there with the right price. Everybody drives a Crescent, you should too.

DriveCrescent.com. Nikita Koloff back and we're here live at Man Camp and man it's just we're just talking to some of the guys who are here from really all over America here on the camp and I got Doc with me here from Freedom Biker Church over in Fayetteville, North Carolina area. And Doc, I know I was over at your church and conducting a one-day Man Up conference.

I think that's where we first met at the conference and then from there, you know, introduced the guys to the idea. I was going to say, hey, this is the entree if you want the, excuse me, this is the appetizer, but if you want the entree and you want more of and dive deeper into your walk with God, you'll come to Man Camp. And so you made that decision. First, let me ask, what prompted you to make that decision to come to Man Camp? So just being at church and working on my walk with Christ and the ministries that we're involved with, it actually came that some of the brothers at church came to me and said, hey, we're sending you to Man Camp. Okay.

And I had thought that, hey, you know, I'd like to go because I saw transformation of some of the other brothers at church. Who had been prior. That is correct.

They came to a prior Man Camp. Yes, that is correct. Okay.

So they were kind of encouraging you. Okay. Yes. And here we are. So you've spent a few days with Lex and I and Alex, it's just a blessing for me to just kind of watch the transformation of guys as they run after the heart of God, but also like fight for their own heart and their own freedom, which ties right in with Freedom Biker Church.

That is correct. So what might you say, Doc, in your time here has been maybe one of the greatest impacts in coming to camp? Humbling is a good word. I came here with a specific goal of wanting to hear the voice of God. And it turns out that God had me here for refinement.

Okay. You know, I have shed a lot of sin and made a lot of confessions and worked through a lot of my past. And coming here, there were still a few things that had not completely been dealt with because they kept showing up. So for me, it's refinement, it's humility, and just really feeling the presence of God. I didn't have to hear the voice, but I definitely felt the presence. You experienced the presence of God. And so some lingering things, some things that were still lingering in your life and here at camp, God highlighted those, you might say, and gave you the opportunity to really press into that and overcome, be set free of some of those lingering things.

And it's been lingering for 20, 25 years. Oh, wow. Okay. Praise God. Yeah, amen. So you're departing from man camp with a new level of freedom.

Would that be fair to say? Absolutely. Man. Well, hey, I'm glad you made that decision. It's been great to hang out with you for a few days. And again, just a blessing for me to witness what God did this weekend in your life while you were here.

And I just commend you on how you embraced it and just pressed in. Amen. Thank you.

All right. God bless you. Love you, brother.

Love you, doc. Thank you. Men, I would like to challenge each of you to consider spending five days with Lex Luger and I at man camp, pursuing the heart of God. Ladies, if you're listening, we'll send your men home better equipped to be men of God, godly husbands and godly fathers.

That appeals to you. Give them your blessing and encourage them to sign up today at man camp.info. Pastors, if you would like to bring Koloff for Christ Ministries and Man Up Conference to your community, go to koloff.org and email me.

Remember this, it's time to man up. We so appreciate our listeners. If you will support this program with a financial gift of any amount, I will send you a personalized copy of my latest book, Nikita, a tale of the ring and redemption. Go to koloff.net, that's koloff.net, koloff.net and make your contribution today.

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