Q&A with Koloff - #43

This is Stu Epperson from the Truth Talk Podcast, connecting current events, pop culture, and theology, and we're so grateful for you that you've chosen the Truth Podcast Network.

It's about to start in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, and please share it around with all your friends. Thanks for listening, and thanks for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. Knuck, Kita, Koloff here. Questions and answers, Q&A with Koloff, the Devil's Nightmare. In studio with me today is none other than the legendary Frank Shelton Jr. Frank, welcome to the Q&A show. Oh, buddy, it's an honor to be with you, and you are the best, and I'm one of the rest. Well, all is equal at the foot of the cross, Frank.

All is equal at the foot of the cross. Great to have you on the Q&A show, and Frank, so we may have some who listen to the Q&A and have absolutely no clue who Frank Shelton Jr. is. Tell our listeners who Frank Shelton Jr. is. Oh, I'm just the son of Frank and Sharon Shelton.

I live in Maryland with my wife, Ruth. We have two kids, and we just love God. We love the Lord, and we love life, and we're just trying to tell people that the greatest party of all time is not going to be on earth. It's not even in hell.

It's in heaven, and we're just trying to get everybody ready for the big party. Yeah, because your background is—I mean, there's many titles that we could give. Evangelist is one of them. Would you say, Frank, at heart, that you're an evangelist at heart?

Because you do a lot of that. You preach, you evangelize, you write books. What? Yeah, an evangelist. Dr. Graham was my hero as a child. I got saved at seven at a church run in 33. Nine was the pastor's family. Five was mine, so 14 of 33 was a country church.

Okay. Three years later, July 1982, we had a contest at Vacation Bible School. Whoever brought the most kids in one week would win a prize. How many did you bring, Frank? Well, I couldn't sleep, and I felt like the Lord said there's a heaven and a hell, and I'm like, God, I want to fit in.

I want to have friends. Satan said, you'll have no friends if you start inviting them to church, and Satan actually showed me that at a cafeteria that I would be sitting all alone the rest of my life. If I step up my game for Jesus, I'll be a marked man.

I tell people the reason I shop at Walmart, because Target's already on my back. And so I started inviting friends, and they were like, Satan was like, well, what about if they ask a theological question and you don't know the answer? You're really going to make God look bad.

Yeah, you're going to look like an idiot and make God look bad. And so I made a point, sink or swim, live or die, popular or no friends. If he died for me, I was going to live for him, and I started calling. 1982, July, the Monday night, I got some no's, but on Monday I got three yeses.

Okay. Tuesday, five yeses. Wednesday, 11 friends came with me to Vacation Bible School. Thursday, I had 18 friends. And Friday, the gospel truth, I brought 22 kids to a church run in 33. I won the prize. High five on that one.

Oh my gosh. And the pastor came to my mom and said, Sharon, the Bible says a child shall lead them, but I didn't think it was your kid. And you were how old? Ten in 1982. Ten years old.

That was July 82. And then three years later, I go to a movie, and they give me a piece of paper to see Rambo 2, and it was a chance, all expense paid trip to meet Sylvester Stallone. I had a better chance getting struck by lightning. I filled it out, and I gave it to the guy. He goes, you're not going to win.

And my godmother comes over, and she said she saw Rambo 2. I said, did they give you a piece of paper? She said, yeah.

I said, did you get all ten right? She goes, I think. I said, Judy, if I win, I'll take you. And she rolled her eyes. Frankie, if I win, I'll take you.

We have a better chance of getting struck by lightning. And two months later, she's screaming, calls me at 9 o'clock at night. Frankie, pack your bags.

We're going to LA. She won the trip. I said, Judy, if you're lying, I'm going to stick my hand through the phone, and I'll choke you here. And she honored her promise.

She took a goofball. So we both had the connection with Stallone, but we gave Stallone a Bible when I was 13 years old. Wow.

But here's the beautiful story, Nikita. I didn't start sharing Jesus with Hollywood. I started sharing Jesus by my house. I didn't start out with the famous. I started out with my friends.

Right in your own backyard. Yeah. And because I shared with an enmity, I didn't chicken out when I was toe-to-toe with celebrity. I joke a lot of people talked about David versus Goliath. It was me versus Rambo in eighth grade.

And then you were in the ring with Rocky himself. So it's just so cool. That's amazing.

But yeah, so I guess an evangelist. But let me just share this. I actually caught it.

No, this happened. Well, in July 1982, God used me at age 10 to bring 22 friends, but it was 30 years to the date. It was July 2012 where I first got to go to London as the International Evangelism Chairman at the Olympics. Wow. And so God's done all that. Yeah, I mean, you have such a diversified background. And of course, I think that's where we connect together. You know, I feel like when I stepped, you know, to the altar, surrendered my life to Jesus from day one that God put it in my heart, you know, you're an evangelist. You're going to be... Now, I'm part, you know, a prophetic word was spoken over me, the fivefold ministry.

So I operated, you know, at all five levels from the prophetic to the apostolic to evangelism to pastor to teacher. You have it all. And so I'm fortunate to be able to have that. But, and I see a lot of that in you as well.

But, and it's amazing. We could talk forever on what you've accomplished. But hey, you do impressions too. Give us one impression. Come on, give us one impression. You flow in the prophetic and I flow in the pathetic.

Yeah, whatever. Come on, give us an impression. It's me, Rocky Balboa.

Like, you know, you've got a big mouth. Hey, Willie! It's me, Alf. Where's the cat?

That's right for 1995. Receive a free 48-piece set of Ginsu knives. But wait, there's more. One of our first 5,000 callers. Receive a free Cubic Saccone pendant set. A life-size poster Nikita where you each remember your household.

Campers are with Nikita Colau. A man of multi-talents. Well, this is Ronald Reagan. Come on, come on.

A little bit of Reagan. This is Bill Clinton. Oh my God. This is Bella Graham. You are a man of multi-talents.

God has really gifted you. Well, hey, this is the Q&A show. But I did want people to learn a little bit more about you. And let me say this before we jump into your questions for me. I do want to make a point of talking about Urgency, your newest book, Urgency, available on Amazon. Go check this out. Urgency, Heaven or Hell. You will not be disappointed if you pick up a copy of this book.

It will challenge you and or maybe buy one for a friend. And so book author on top of everything else. Buddy, you're the best.

Yeah, I used to write speeches for a member of Congress and now I've just been preaching and teaching my own. Yeah. But just know, man, I honor you. Well, since we'll flip the script and we're doing some tag team, you know, I know some of our listeners will know, but your passion at one time, you thought you were going to go completely football, correct?

Yeah, I did. As a youngster, you know, 12, 13 years old, I got, in my mind anyway, a vision for playing professional football. The NFL, you know, was my dream as a kid, right? The pinnacle, right?

The NFL. A lot of us dream that, yeah. Yeah, a lot of young boys, you know, do. Especially if they're playing sports and obviously playing football, you know, they can dream of the NFL. And so I grabbed hold of that dream at 12, 13 years of age.

Picked up a copy of Iron Man magazine and started lifting weights and working out. And lived, ate, slept, breathed football all day, night long. And Lex Luger was the same way.

Well, Lex had a very similar vision for himself. And so, yeah, so I just had that desire. And so through junior high, high school, on into college, actually scouted my senior year by the NFL. And how they found me was they were, my junior year, they were scouting Mark Reed, who is our quarterback. And so they saw me playing tight end and said, hey, we'll be back to follow your season next year. Well, Mark did actually go on to back up a guy by the name of Phil Simms.

Oh, man. For the New York Giants, which is kind of ironic because Phil was from Moorhead State, Kentucky, that university. And Mark Reed was from Moorhead State University, Minnesota. Wow.

So two Moorhead guys there running the New York Giants organization. But, and anyway, all that said, though, it wasn't that that dream would come to an end. I always had that dream, but a door of opportunity opened up to get into professional wrestling. And I never looked back.

No, amen. But that was my question, Leighton. So as a young man, who would be the NFL star back then that you just locked into?

Oh, my goodness. There was a couple of them. Russ Francis, tight end for the New England Patriots, Russ Francis, Dave Casper, the Oakland Raiders, the bad boys from Oakland.

I could identify with some of the Oakland guys. Yeah, not that I was a bad boy. In fact, my mom one time, you know, when I was talking to her and sharing my heart with her and asking her for forgiveness for something, she was like, well, you were never really a bad boy.

And I'm like, yeah, that's because you don't know half of what I did, mom. But anyway. Now, was Jim Plunket the quarterback in that era, would you say, with the Raiders? I think so. You're testing my history and knowledge of the NFL.

But I was a tight end. Yeah. So Dave Casper, Russ Francis. And then what really, really spurred me on was a guy named Paul Kaufman with the Green Bay Packers. Okay. And why Paul Kaufman? You know, he may not have had a high profile name, but he was my size.

Okay. Kaufman was... See, in those days, prototype Kellen Winslow was 6'5 or 6'6 or what. So the prototype tight end, I was smaller than the prototype NFL tight end with the exception of Paul Kaufman. And so he became a major motivator for me. Yeah.

And so, yeah. And what number were you back in? 81, man. Well, that was Art Monk with my Redskins.

Come on, 81 was my favorite number. As far as tight ends went, Mark Bavaro with the Giants a little bit later. But man, he was phenomenal. Well, there's been some outstanding tight ends over the years in the National Football League. Well, speaking of outstanding, I was outstanding when my teacher would throw me out of class. I'd be in the hallway outstanding. Comedy.

See, for those of you who don't know, Frank also does comedy in addition to impressions and everything else. Well, some people graduated magna cum laude. I was thanked a lot. So from football, but you know what? God used all that.

And yes, the physique and the weight training and, you know, I've heard people say they looked in and saw a magazine and they just said, that's what I'm going to do. Yeah. Yeah. They zoned in on it, right? Yeah.

Yes. And that's awesome. I remember metal arc lemon one time in Wilmington, North Carolina, went to see a matinee, two movies on a Saturday, and they had the previews come in and it was for the Harlem Globetrotters. He was so mesmerized. He got up and they thought he went to the lobby to get popcorn or use the bathroom. And they're like, Lark, where are you going? He goes, I've seen it enough.

That's what I'm going to do the rest of my life. He walked out. Never he already paid for the two movies, didn't even stick around. And then he got these crushed milk cartons and then wrapped them with duct tape. And his grandmother had an oak tree with the basketball court, but they couldn't even afford a net. And his first basketball were milk cartons that he duct taped together.

And from that day he started shooting jumpers. And for those who don't know, you have done quite a bit of ministry prior to his passing with metal arc lemon. And a dear friend of ours, Ronnie Dean, the preaching machine, the raven, the raven from Missouri. You guys did some amazing ministry, but hey, we're here for you to ask me questions.

What's another question? So into wrestling, I know you get asked this a lot, but just for those who are tuning in and didn't know. So who was your all time person you got up for the most to wrestle? Oh man, I mean, there were so many guys, Frank. And I get asked that question from time to time and to distill it down or try to narrow it down is difficult because if you think about the fact that I was in the ring with guys like Ricky the Dragon Steamboat, Dory Funk Jr., Blackjack Mulligan, Dusty Rhodes, the American dream, the tower of power, too sweet to be power if you will, yeah. And the nature boy? Well, I was building to that, but the nature boy, Ric Flair.

I mean, the road warriors ravishing, Rick Rude, Stone Cold Steve Austin, Undertaker before he became the Undertaker, Diamond Dallas Page, Ron Simmons. I mean, he goes on and on and on. It's amazing. But if you press me for, I mean, obviously wrestling Ric Flair for the World Heavyweight title 100 or 200 times or however many times and many nights for 60 minutes, like legit.

Like my 285, my tongue was dragging by the time that final bell rang at the 60 minute mark. Wow. Ding, ding, ding, yeah. He was a consummate professional, I think.

Yeah. Rick, he was one of the best of the best of the best. A guy like Ricky the Dragon Steamboat was a night off.

I mean, but certainly Flair. And you did have to get psyched up for the road warriors because you never knew what those two behemoths were going to try to do to you in the ring. Did you ever get in the ring with Tony Atlas?

I want to say yes. Can't remember for sure. Again, there's so many guys, Frank, I was in the ring with. I mean, when I first broke into the territory, Roddy Piper was in the territory. Hot Rod. Oh man, he had a lot of charisma. Oh yeah, he did.

So he was a gifted speaker of his own. So I would say, okay, so between Ric Flair and the road warriors, of course, Sting and Lex Luger, hello, how did I forget those names? Yeah, those guys are amazing. Sting and Lex Luger. And they're two of your best friends. They are. And they love the Lord and that's what's amazing.

And they do, the Stinger is sold out believer in Jesus Christ. Lex and I do a camp together called Man Camp that we facilitate, co-facilitate and have a great staff. You've been on Man Camp. Twice, yeah, Man Camp and Fellowship of the Sword. Yeah, what was your experience at Man Camp? So much that I'm an advocate for it and I'm encouraging men to take the trip. It's a game changer. When our man Robbie in the house today, he's been on Man Camp as well.

It's awesome, yeah. And he leads men's ministry and he came and saw the need to press in. And you know what? Men are hurting. They are. Women follow each other to the bathroom, but men, even if they're struggling, don't always share what's really on their mind. Right.

But if there's freedom at Man Camp, and I just encourage you, you gotta carve out space and go. And you know who else I just recently talked to and one of the infamous full horsemen, Tully Blanchard. Awesome. Who is another sold-out believer.

In fact, he heads a prison ministry down in San Antonio, Texas, John Hagee's church. Ronnie brags about him, yeah. Yeah. Well, I'll give you a funny story. Okay, another question. Come on. Well, so I'll just share this. At Christmas one time, I'm at a toy store and it was comical because there was a bobblehead of you, Lex Luger and Sting.

Okay. And I just, man, I felt important because I'm like, holy smokes, I've met all three of these guys. So you're on a personal friendship basis. Oh, it's humbling.

So we've talked football, we've talked wrestling. What did Billy Graham mean to you as you got born again and you studied his ministry and you're walking out? Man, that's a great question. I don't think anyone's ever asked me that before, Frank.

That is a great question. Now, the irony is he was headquartered in Minneapolis where I was born and raised, Minneapolis, Minnesota. And how to this day you could just put his name in Minneapolis, Minnesota without an address or a zip code. That's all the address you'll need. That's all the address you'll need and it'll get to him is that can only be a God thing in and of itself. Yeah.

Okay, try that with anybody else. It won't. Let me know if they ever receive the letter. Return to sender.

Return, yeah, or dumped in the dumpster. Yeah, one of the... Anyway, and so when I came to Charlotte, moved to Charlotte, ironically, in trying to find the wrestling office, I stopped. I'll never forget.

It's still there. I went by just recently. I stopped at a payphone. Does anyone not know what a payphone is out there listening? You may... Google that, okay?

In case you just don't know, you don't know what a payphone is. And I stopped at Sugar Creek on I-85 and I said, hey, I'm supposed to meet Jim Crockett today and they're like, well, where are you? And they told me, they go, oh, we'll drive back down the interstate to Billy Graham Boulevard. And I'm like, okay, I've heard that name. And so I drive up Billy Graham to South Boulevard and I find the office. Well, lo and behold, they build the Billy Graham Library.

It's beautiful. And if you've never been, if you ever get to Charlotte and you've never been... If you're listening to this and you're not a believer, a follower of Jesus Christ, still go to the Billy Graham Library.

It's not... It was voted the number one tourist attraction in Charlotte. Yeah, it's, I mean, and it's called the Billy Graham Library, but it's not like you're going to go check books in and out.

There's so much more to it, okay? But go, because it'll be a lifetime experience for you. All that to say, the very first time I went, I went with my dad. My dad was in town, I was able to bring my dad.

We spent about three hours there. We just took our time and it was, Frank, I was so impacted in watching what God did through this one man and for anyone out there who thinks I'm just one person, what kind of difference can I make? What kind of impact can I make? Well, go tour his library and you'll find out what one surrendered life to do. One surrendered life to Jesus.

Just what kind of impact you can make. Amen. And what I've done now, Frank, is now I go back and I watch all of the archive, a lot, I shouldn't say all, a lot of the archive sermons that he preached over the years and just, I'm just trying to glean from the man of God. So even though he's home in heaven with Jesus and with Ruth, he's still making a difference and impact, at least on this one man. And only God could write that script because you had the Minneapolis connection.

He was a Minneapolis. Then you go by faith to Charlotte, you move in this area. Right.

That's where his home base is. Now is. And then so, you know, go down Billy Graham Parkway. But today there's been a wrestler over the last few years named Billy Graham. Superstar.

Yeah. Billy Graham. And here's a quick funny story on that, okay, for all the listeners out there. So Jesse Ventura is in Asheville for a golf tournament. And Maury Scobie, who I've interviewed for the Man Up radio show, Maury Scobie, who was Billy Graham's personal assistant for 40-something years.

I mean, his right-hand man, right? So Maury, Billy Graham hears that Jesse Ventura is in town, so he sends Maury over just to say hi and give his regards. Governor Jesse, right?

Yeah. So Maury's talking and Billy Graham and Maury says to Jesse, he goes, he goes, yeah, I'm a personal assistant for Billy Graham. And Jesse kind of gets this puzzled look and he goes, I didn't even know Billy had a personal assistant.

He goes, he's one of my best friends. How did I not know he has a personal assistant? And he goes, oh yeah, he goes, no, I'm his personal assistant. And then someone pipes up and goes, Jesse, I think you're talking about two different Billy Grahams. You see, Maury is personal assistant to the Reverend Billy Graham.

You know superstar Billy Graham. He goes, all right. He goes, yeah, I know the important one.

And Maury's like, well, that's funny because I was thinking the exact same thing. Yeah. God has a way to keep us humble. Anyway. I bet. Well, last question. Last question.

One more question. What is, I know there are seasons, but what would you say is the Bible verse that means the most to you today? 1 Corinthians 1.10. Colossians 1.10, I have numerous, but Colossians 1.10. And it's kind of a four part reminder.

In fact, I prayed it this morning. Colossians 1.10. And it essentially says this, okay. And obviously there's lots of different translations out there, but essentially says this. Basically it is in my prayer, I'm like, part one, Lord, let me live a life today that's worthy of you, that brings you honor.

Amen. Let me live a life today that's worthy of you or a life that brings you honor. Let me fully please you, not just please you, but fully please you in every way. I mean, in thought, in word, in action. Let me bear fruit for every good word.

Wow. And last but not least, let me grow in the knowledge of God. Let me grow in the knowledge of you. Help me to grow and give me a better understanding of who you are, God. So I can then understand who I am to become in the image of Christ.

Colossians 1.10. Beautiful. Well, it's an honor to be with you and thank you for the honor and I love you. Well, man, thanks for being on the Q&A and hey, just a reminder, I could give you a phone call or maybe even have you come in the studio like Frank Jr. here and we can answer your questions. Dial in again for another episode of Q&A with Koloff. God bless you. Go to www.koloff.net and donate today.