Holy Land Tour

Africa needs Jesus. Give a radio and give hope. Many parts of Africa do not have the means of connecting to the Internet, so join with the Truth Network and Transworld Radio to put the Word of God straight into the hands of those most in need in Africa. Visit truthnetwork.com and click on the Africa Needs Jesus banner, or call 888-988-5656 to pledge your gift to put a wind-up radio into the grateful hands of people desperately in need. Hi, I'm Joanne Vickner, Memaw with It's Storytime Memaw, an answered prayer for stories that point children to God on the Truth Network for kids. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network.

This is the Truth Network. This is the United States Champion. Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is set for one flaw.

Introducing first, from Lithuania, he weighs 123 kilos, the Russian nightmare, Nikita Kolod. Now, the Devil's Nightmare. Welcome back to another episode of It's Time to Man Up. Let me ask you a question. I just want to pose a question. They say the Bible is the living Word of God.

For sake of argument, if that be true, what might you guess would make it even, let's just say, come alive even more? Well, today on our show, we're going to talk about that, and I'm excited to have back in the studio with me Bobby Rogers and Sean Porter. Welcome back to The Man Up Show with Nikita Kolod, guys. Thank you. We're excited to be here.

Yes, sir. Well, it's great to have you guys back, as I said, and I'm super excited, you know, even in posting that question in the opening. Hopefully, I've piqued some people's curiosity, and if they haven't listened to the prior episode and interview with you guys, by all means, go back, go into the podcast, Truth Radio app. If you don't already have that, get the Truth Radio app, and you get a host of podcasts, not just The Man Up Show.

But all that to say, we had a great interview last time. We've met, I've been up to the, do we call it, Bobby, do we call it the foothills of North Carolina? No, we're in the mountains. Okay, and so I guess I've heard that term before, the foothills, so that doesn't mean, so you're in the mountains. We're in the mountains.

Okay, explain that to our listeners. We're located right in Maggie Valley, right at the entrance to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park. The famous Maggie Valley, I think, right? That's right. Right there at the entrance, not far from Ghost Town in the Sky.

Okay. And if you remember that, everybody knows, or has been, or had an experience with Ghost Town in the Sky. And we're also right at the entrance to the Blue Ridge Parkway.

Oh wow, okay, another infamous landmark here in America, the Blue Ridge Parkway. Right. Okay, so you're nestled, and how long have you been nestled up there with your family? Well, I was born and raised there. Oh wow, okay. So I've been there all of my life. So 30 something years, or?

Yeah, at least 30. Okay, okay, all right. All right, keep going, I'm sorry to interrupt you. I've lived there all my life, except for my time in the Army.

Okay. And a little time in Texas. But I've made my way back to the mountains. Tea for Texas, and tea for Tennessee. No, I'm sorry, that's okay.

No balls. Thank you for serving, by the way. It's just always an honor to have somebody with me who has served our great nation, our military.

So thank you for doing that. So you're up there, and you're pastoring a church up there? I pastor Delwood Baptist Church, been there for 16 years. A growing, thriving church. I believe it's the best church in America.

And you should, you should have that attitude and that perspective. Still got the big tent? We actually have replaced the big tent with an outdoor pavilion. An 8,000 square feet facility as a tent replacement, so we're not taking it up and down all the time.

It's an open pavilion. Just finished. How long ago, Sean? Just finished a couple of weeks ago.

A couple of weeks ago. Finished that, getting ready to sow the grass and do all the landscape. Well, I can't wait to see that. Of course, when we met, you brought me in. We did a men's conference under the big top, I'll just say, for lack of a better, right, in the tent. We did a men's conference, and then Sunday, we had Sunday service in the big tent as well. And it just brought me back to, I won't say the memories of, but the history of big tent revivals.

Reverend Billy Graham and so many others, in my mind, just ought to be, I don't know why, but I just got this picture of LA in the 1950s where Reverend Graham got his first start, I think, with tent revivals. If I'm not mistaken. And so, okay, well, wonderful. Oh, Sean, okay, so we want to include you in on this conversation, so welcome back as well. Thank you for having us. And so, you're there up there nestled in the mountains as well, correct?

I am, I am. Been at Dale Wood for 10 years. I'm an associate pastor there. My family moved to western North Carolina when I was a young boy and raised my daughter there, and so that's home. Okay, so now he was raised in Maggie Valley, which, by the way, if you've never been to Maggie Valley, or some of the things that Bobby and Sean, what we're talking, I mean, I would encourage you to make that trip. It is a fun family.

It could be a family weekend or something of that nature. But, so he's born and raised, so you're not, so you moved there, so where are you originally from? Originally from West Virginia. Okay. Originally, and my parents moved to Clyde, which is right there next to Waynesville. They have worked for the Baptist Children's Homes in North Carolina for the past 34 years, taking care of abused and neglected children, so I was, I pretty much raised, I think I started the seventh grade there in Waynesville and been there ever since.

Okay. And what part of West Virginia? I'm just curious. It's up in, I'm sure no one has ever heard of it. Put it this way, I was born in Huntington, how's that?

Okay, that's a movie with Huntington. Actually from up in the sticks of West Virginia. Okay. Coal mining country, all my family up there is coal miners.

Gotcha. You still have family back there? I do. Okay. I do, I have aunts and uncles and cousins and things there.

Okay. My little grandmother, the only grandmother I had left up there, she went to heaven this past year, but still have a lot of family up there. Okay, and I'm familiar, of course, I think if I'm not mistaken, it's called the Huntington Civic Center. That's right. I'm sure you've been there. I've been there a few times and donned the tights and may have even wrestled the, woo! That's right, the nature boy Ric Flair in Huntington Civic Center. I'm sure I was there as a kid when you were there, so. Oh, that's it.

I think that was a show. Well, hey, no offense. As young as you feel.

As young as you feel. It makes me a little uncomfortable sitting between you. You may have to referee, Bobby.

You may have to put on the stripes. And was wrestling a big deal for you growing up, Bobby? Yeah, yeah.

Up there in the mountains of North Carolina? I grew up watching wrestling every Saturday night as soon as the local news went off. Okay. It was wrestling time. Wrestling was, it was game on. It was game on. It was game on for the wrestling. I know so many people have told me over the years, fans, and I do a lot of autograph signings, that sort of thing, how, you know, it was just to consume their childhood. Oh, yeah. It was just a part of who they were and what they remember, you know, growing up.

And so very grateful and thankful for all of you amazing fans out there around the world, not just in America and in North Carolina and West Virginia, but around the world. The other thing, real quick, Sean, about Huntington was a good friend of mine, Joe Phillips, evangelist Joe Phillips, actually pastored an Assembly of God Church right there in, I think, not far from the YMCA in Huntington for like five years. And he brought me in for like a week to do a whole series of different types of ministry. And it was in that YMCA in Huntington that I got Joe involved and engaged in actually taking care of this vessel, this temple, this body of ours. Not that he neglected it. However, it was obvious.

If he listens to this show, he's probably not going to be happy with me. But anyway, but all that to say, that was probably 15, 20 years ago. He's still in the gym today, still working out.

And it led to him reaching out to a community of people that he had not encountered before and began attending his church in some of them. That's great. Yeah, anyway, cool story. All right, well, here's the deal. And I appreciate you guys coming back in.

Of course, you know, last time, and we talked about your families and all of that last time. And of course, you're making a great impact there in the mountains of North Carolina. And I really am excited to see this new pavilion sometime down the road.

But all that to say, there's something else you got. In addition to impacting your own local community, you just not long ago, you guys came back from a very special trip. Now, this leads into my opening of what could make the Bible come alive even more. And that would be, for those of you who've been anticipating the answer, a trip to the Holy Land, which I went a number of years ago. Actually, the Million Dollar Man, Ted DiBiase, and I, of course, we talked about this on the last show, the last interview. And Jason Sanderson made a pilgrimage, the three of us, to the Holy Land a number of years ago.

I did not know, but I was enlightened in meeting you that you actually witnessed our baptism in the Jordan River. But you just took a group not long ago over there of about 60 or so folks. Bobby, how many folks did you take over there? How many did we have, Sean? 57. 57.

Okay. On this last trip, which is a full bus. I mean, that's a full busload of people. And probably the most amazing trip that we've had. This, that was my 20th trip to the Holy Land, leading tours.

Been doing it since 2008. And this last one was very impactful for a lot of different reasons. We had a lot of our church family with us.

Okay. So on that trip, we had our whole praise team. And we took a piano and a keyboard and Sean led the music over there. And it was absolutely just a time of worship, a time of experiencing God fresh in the places where he walked.

And it was, it was incredible. But, you know, going back to your opening, you talked about it being a place where you experienced the Bible in a whole new way. We like to call it the fifth gospel. We all know the four gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. But the fifth gospel is a gospel that you can't read, but you can experience it by walking through the land where Jesus walked. And you understand the culture, all of those things come alive.

And, and I think Sean probably explains it better than anybody I've ever heard. Explain the, how the Bible comes alive to you. Well, I may have missed this last time we were here, but you remember those children's books where you turn the page and the picture pops up at you. Yeah, a little pop-ups.

Yeah, a little pop-ups. That's what your Bible becomes once you walk in the land of Israel. It becomes a picture book.

You can actually, it causes you to read differently. It, it helps your understanding because you're actually seeing these places that you've read about and you've believed in, and you've had faith in all your life. And you're actually walking there and seeing these places.

You're walking, we'll go to places where you're actually walking in the footsteps of Christ. If you would like to support Koloff for Christ Ministries, for a gift of $25, Nikita will send you his two CDs, Adoration and Declaration. For a gift of $50, Nikita will include his book, Wrestling with Success. And for a gift of $100 or more, Nikita will include a signed copy of his newly updated life story, A Tale of the Ring and Redemption.

Go to www.koloff.net and donate today. It doesn't get any better than that. Well, that's what kind of went through my mind as Bobby was talking about. I'm like, yeah, that freight walking in the foot, the actual footsteps of where he may have laid his foot in, in, in his travels. And I like that illustration. That's a great visualization, especially for the men out there.

Men are, I think, sometimes more visual than, not that the ladies aren't, but, you know, and so you're painting a picture that's easy, for me anyway, to see the pop-ups. And so, now you didn't mention earlier, but Bobby mentioned that so, because you said you were an associate, but you also lead the worship at the church up there at Delwood, right? Yes, sir. And so then, on the trips, you also lead the worship on, like, each and every site, Sean? Not every site. We will teach at every site. When we land in Israel and get on the bus, we're in the Word of God, and we stay there until we leave. Every site we go to, and we'll visit multiple sites a day, we'll teach at every site. Bobby will teach most of the sites, I'll teach some, but then several of the sites we have an opportunity to worship together, too, which brings just a different aspect to it. You're in the Word, but you also get to worship and praise the Lord together in song, and it just makes it very, very special.

Makes for a very special trip. I would imagine, yeah, anyone wanting to, I'll just say, go to that next level in their relationship with the Lord, certainly it will provide that opportunity, right? And I know from my own experience, just the things I spiritually encountered in some of these different settings, whether it was the baptism in the Jordan River or sailing the Sea of Galilee, right? I mean, you read about, and I just attest to what you just said, too, Sean, about how in being, like for me, when I read my Bible now, yes, it's exactly, I have a mental image, a picture in my mind. I don't have to wonder or guess what it looks like or what, I can see it, because I've been there.

I've been there, right? And so, Bobby, so you and Sean kind of like take turns, or shall I say tag team? That's probably the best description of what we do, only though I never sing.

It'll always be him leading worship. Are you saying you can't carry a tune, Bobby? I can carry it.

I can carry a tune in the bucket, but I can't pour it out very well. Okay. So Sean predominantly does the singing, but others can join along.

Everybody can join along but me. I will tap my foot and raise my hand and worship, but as far as the singing goes, let me give you an example. Yeah, please do.

Please do. Of how the Bible comes alive, because this is an experience I'll probably never forget as long as I live now. On this last trip, imagine this, we were sitting on the Mount of Beatitudes.

Okay. In the place that we know Jesus took his disciples and taught them the Beatitudes. And as we began to worship up there, Sean's daughter was playing the keyboard and singing on the Mount of Beatitudes. This is what makes our trips a little bit different.

She was singing, playing the keyboard. I began to read the Beatitudes, and as soon as we read, blessed are the poor in spirit. The power of God just fills everybody around us. And you're talking about a humbling experience in the place where Jesus said, if you'll humble yourself before me, then I'll give you the gift of God, eternal life. And just having experiences like that, that's what really separates our trips from everybody else's. It's not just an element of worship, but we also take the Bible and make it come to life in the places where Jesus was. We'll go places that most tour groups would never go to.

Right. I remember you said that from last time, and Sean, give us an example. I think one was, I think you said Jacob's Well or something, but give us an example of where you might, because obviously there's tons and tons of tours out there, right? I mean, my home church does one.

The church I was in last week has one going, right? So, give us an example of where you might go more off the beaten path where others may not go. Well, one that we make sure that we do every trip is a place called the Wadi Kelt. It's the literal valley of the shadow of death.

It was the road travel from Jericho to Jerusalem. And we will stand there looking down into the literal valley of the shadow of death as Bobby teaches on the 23rd Psalm. And it's just an amazing, amazing sight to see that a lot of groups don't do that. Jacob's Well is another one that we always try to make our way up to Nablus, up to Jacob's Well. And again, at these sites, we're in the Word. We're not just sightseeing, but we're in the Word, bringing the Word to life and worshiping God together. So, you're really taking the time to really not just pass by and get your photo op, but really diving into or really allowing those who are along as part of the group really embrace it, how I would phrase it, a much fuller experience than just jumping off the bus and going to take a couple photos and jumping back on the bus because we've got to get to the next site, right?

Right. Well, another place that we love is the Valley of Doves. It's the place, it's the pathway where Jesus would have traveled to go from the Sea of Galilee over to Nazareth, his hometown. So, we'll walk through this valley.

We'll experience the flora and the fauna and just the nature of it all. There's no churches. There's no places that commemorate anything. You're literally just on the path that Jesus would have walked every time he went back to Nazareth or from Nazareth back to the Sea of Galilee. Just a special place. Yeah, there's really no teaching there.

There's no singing there. We just walk. We know we're walking, we are walking in the footsteps of Christ.

Yeah. And there's those kinds of experiences that we've tried to major on. Our desire is to major on those places where Jesus, the disciples, where significant events happened that people can see the authenticity. We want them to see not only their Bible come to life, but we want them to understand the past, the present, the future of those sites. We want them to be able to know how real their Bible is by experiencing their Bible in reality.

So, okay. So, Shawn, if nobody's ever gone and they're considering it or they're maybe even hesitant to want to – what comfort could you bring them or what might inspire them to make that decision, to say, okay, this is something I want? Other than to hear how you guys have vividly described this experience, what would be a reason why someone would want to make that final decision? Well, one of the things always when you talk about Israel and making that trip and never gone before, one of the first things that pops in people's mind is, oh, my goodness, is it safe. Safety.

Exactly. I mean, that's just – and I'm telling you, I feel more comfortable walking through the old city of Jerusalem as I do downtown Asheville, North Carolina, which is right there next to it. I mean, it's just – I've never went anywhere there that we felt unsafe, uncomfortable.

We have some – we have made some great, great friends that are like family. Feet on the ground over there. Over there. Know the ins and outs.

Know the ins and outs. We always stay together as a group. We've got the greatest bus driver in the land of Israel. No questions asked.

The mosque. Good. He makes sure that we get in and out of places that we need to and sort of keeps us on schedule. Carter Muscoobia that owns Biblical Journeys that we work with, he is just a great, great guy. We work with him all the way through.

Some have to work with a land agent here and then a land agent over there. We work with Carter throughout the whole trip while we're there and even till we get back home. So it's just an amazing trip. Everything's organized, put together. We stay together. We'll keep you moving and we'll be in the Word every day.

And you've been doing these since 2008. And I know people have asked me, like even when I made my first pilgrimage to Israel, the whole safety thing. And I can attest, too, and say the whole entire time I was there, and I was three days in Jordan as well as Israel. I'm like, I'm just at peace.

A peace that surpasses all understanding. And so, well, that's amazing. Well, so I've got a big announcement that I want to make and it's part of the reason I want to have you guys back, okay? You ready?

You ready? Get your notepads out, folks. Come on now. But here's the announcement. So when we were together, Bobby, you and I went out to lunch and you had proposed something to me that got me excited and prayed into that and felt just confirmation. So come later this year, December 27th of 2023, I'm going to be partnering with you guys and hosting one of the hosts of a trip to the Holy Land with you guys. And so that's my big announcement right now is if you want to join The Russian Nightmare and join Bobby and Sean and a host of others, yeah, then we'll give you the website here in a minute where you can go sign up. And I'm just excited to be a part of one just to see exactly what you guys described and how you do it and to learn from you guys. And I hope, I'm believing this is the first of many trips that I'll be hosting to the Holy Land.

But Bobby, take a minute and talk to those listening out there about that. Well, we're just as excited as you are, Nikita. We believe that these trips do something long-term in people's relationship with Christ.

Their Bible becomes very real, but also their desire to share with others becomes very real. And we think that that's exactly what's going to happen on this trip. I've sort of jokingly said before that the trip in December is going to be hosted by The Russian Nightmare and the Mountaineer Express. Amen. Come on. I like that.

I like that. Sean, last word. We're almost out of time, but last word. I'm excited to be with you guys, man. Super excited to go back to Israel. I'm beyond excited.

As a kid that grew up with family watching wrestling and now I'm going to be able to go to the Holy Land with Nikita Koloff, how could you not be excited? You don't want to miss this trip. It's going to be very good.

Very, very good. And is there any kind of, I know you said you have 57, I think, on your last. Is there any limit or are we going to take as many as want to come or what? It's unlimited. We'll take as many as people sign up. The more the merrier.

The more, the more worshipful sometimes, so there's no limit to the trip. Okay. And to get more information or to go sign up, go to either one or two websites, koloff.net, go to koloff.net, or you can go to NikitaKoloff.com.

Go to either one of those. There are links on there, all the information, the itinerary, everything's right there. $500 deposit is all that's required, right? To lock your spot in. Husbands and wives or granddads and grandsons and anyone and everyone, right? Any age limit? Any age limit? No age limit.

No age limit. Because I know you have a lot of youth that come, right? We do. And experience this. We do. On our last trip, we had 30 or so youth on that trip, young people, high school age, college age. Okay.

So no age limits. Come on, man. I am more excited now than I was before after this interview. So koloff.net, NikitaKoloff.com, go to either one of those websites and click on the link and man, come on with me and with Bobby and with Sean and let's go experience Israel together. God bless you. Thanks for tuning in. And until next time, have an amazing day in the Lord. This radio show is made possible by the grace of God, your faithful prayers, support, and generous gifts.

May God bless you for your continual contributions. Go to koloff.net and donate today. If you are enjoying the Man Up show, would you help us spread the word? Tell your family, tell your friends, tell your neighbors to download, subscribe, and leave a comment. Hi, Nikita Koloff here. And I am excited to announce the second annual Man Up Men's Conference, a champions summit at Morningstar Ministries in Fort Mill, South Carolina, June 15th through the 17th. We have another amazing lineup of speakers, including football legend Perry Tuttle from the national champion Clemson Tigers, radio show host Robbie Dilmore. Go to koloff.net and get registered today. You don't want to miss out on the early bird discount ending April 15th. This is the Truth Network.