Q&A With Koloff- #116

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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. 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. Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is set for one flaw. Introducing first, from Lithuania, he weighs 123 kilos, the Russian nightmare, Nikita Koloff. Welcome to another episode of Q&A with Koloff, the Devil's Nightmare. Today, today, today, a special friend, a special opportunity to talk to this man, Lee McBride. Welcome to Q&A with Koloff. Man, my honor.

Thank you so much and can't wait to get started. Well, it's great to have you with us today, Lee. And just like right out of the gate, I want to draw the listeners' attention to the fact that they probably might have already picked up on the fact that you are not from the north.

That's exactly right. I'm from, I tell people the Middle East, Ali-bama. I'm from Alabaster, Alabama.

Ali-bama. Or L.A., right? Sometimes don't you say L.A.? That's right. Lower Alabama.

That's exactly right. Lower Alabama. Now, are you Birmingham, Montgomery? Where are you at? Just south of Birmingham, a growing little suburb of Birmingham called Alabaster. Alabaster, Alabama. I love it.

I love it. And for our listeners out there, Lee, just fill them in a little bit. Tell us a little bit about your family and what you do for a living. Okay, so I'm a preacher's kid. I got called to preach when I was 12 years old. I've been preaching since I was 19. I thought all I would ever do was pastor. I was a youth pastor for 13 years, pastor for three, and then God called me to come out of the staff ministry of a church. And for 19 years I've been an evangelist. Really kind of a different kind of evangelist because I just use storytelling and humor. And even when I'm preaching, just use a lot of storytelling and point people to Christ. You know, one thing, Nikita, I think people don't understand is no matter how quick world and culture changes and technology changes and social media changes, people still love to hear a good story.

And I think it's always going to be true. I think storytelling is going to stand the test of time. Well, and I agree, and I have had the good fortune of sitting in on some of those story times with you. Hey, I don't know what you call it, but maybe that's story time. Story time with Lee McBride. That's right. But I've had the good fortune of sitting in on some of those times and definitely can tell this audience for the record, you have some incredible stories and you do have, you have quite the sense of humor.

And so you certainly have made me laugh on more than one occasion. And now you travel and you travel around the country now full time and do that, right? Yeah, this is August the first of 2023 will be 20 years that I've just been doing. And the year is kind of cyclical.

It looks different. I mean, at 56 years old, still doing five weeks of youth camp in August 100. Break football talks, September, you know, preach about 45 and 52 Sundays in a church somewhere. A lot of wild game suffers, worker appreciation banquets in churches. And then, you know, there's some corporate events, you know, probably about once a month, I'll go to corporate America and just try to motivate somebody.

But every time telling a story to try to connect with people and then point them to Jesus Christ, God's one and only son and our one and only hope. Well, and you have been, I know, so faithful and God has really rewarded you on that journey in that way and open up many, many, many doors. And so your family, I know you got some beautiful children, grandchildren, lovely wife, I think 35 years. Is that how long you've been married now? July 23rd, this year, 35 years married. And he is going to have a big star in her crown.

That's all I can take. By being married to Levick Pride, hun. I know you have children and grandchildren as well. Yes, I have two beautiful children and a daughter and a son-in-law and two beautiful granddaughters. And they are the light of my life.

I know the feeling. I've got number 11 grandchild on the way. And so I've got a full quiver of my own and certainly they are a blessing. And I want to say too, you know, we're going to have actually, we're going to give folks the opportunity to experience your humor and your storytelling in June in Fort Middle, South Carolina at the Man Up Conference, a Champions Summit. And you are going to be there with us and have a time to be on the platform, be able to share some of those stories. And man, we're excited to have you come down to Fort Mills, South Carolina. It is my honor. You ain't as excited as I am.

I feel honored. And man, I hope you had mentioned when you first talked to me about this, I hope guys will bring their sons or if you invite your dad. And we are, it's going to be a tremendous experience and we're going to love on folks, connect with people. And I believe it's going to be an event that's life changing. And I believe it's going to be one of those things we talk about for a long time. I do too.

I really do. And it's good. Of course, it's good. It's tied in with Father's Day weekend. So June 15th to the 17th, it'll start on a Thursday night. It'll wrap up the conference, a wrap up a Saturday night, the 17th, but then of course, Sunday, the 18th is Father's Day.

So yeah, I too diddle what you said. Hey, if you're a dad out there, bring your son of any age. I don't care how old a dad you are or bring your grandsons. So granddads, bring your grandsons. Dad, bring your son. Son, bring your dad. Bring your granddad.

So we just want to fill the room and honor all of the dads and honor all of those father-son relationships and do something very special. And one of those special things is we're going to have Lee McBride in to tell some stories and share some comedy with us. And Lee, for those listening out there, maybe they want to get you to their church. They may or may not be a pastor or they may be, but they heard this interview today and they say, we want to get Lee McBride.

How can they do that? It's so easy. I keep things so easy. My website is LeeMcBride.com. And the best way to get in touch with me is my email.

And again, very simple to remember Lee at LeeMcBride.com. And I'm, you know, I don't have a fee. I'm not throwing rocks at guys that do Nikita, but that's just not what the Lord told me to do from the beginning.

In 19 years, I've never required a fee, a certain size church. I just, I just, I just go on faith and God has been, has proven extremely faithful and there's no room too small, no church too far. So, I mean, I'm, I'm open to try to stay humble.

My wife keeps me humble and God keeps me hungry to do things, you know, he's called me to do. So I'm, anything I can do to help be a friend to a pastor, help a church, whatever we can do. Well, you and I actually are on the same page, Lee, is that when the Lord called me into ministry after, you know, after leaving wrestling and that career, you know, he made it very clear, same, same, same with me, very clear. You are a, you will have a faith based ministry.

And I was just sharing with an audience just recently, the other day, a big men's conference, we had over 800 in attendance over the course of two days. And I just said, you know, the last payroll that I was on was World Championship Wrestling, WCW November of 1982, excuse me, 1992, November of 1992, the last payroll that I was on. And since that time, you know, God has provided in many, many different ways. But when it comes to ministry, same deal, faith based, you know, you probably told the pastor the other day, he's like, well, what do you require?

What are your fees? I said, you know what, I'm gonna leave that between you and the Lord and trust you hear from the Lord. That's right. You know, so. That's right. Well, bless you, man.

Well, that's amazing. And can't wait to can't wait to see you in Fort Moon in June. But until then, let's flip it around. Now, Lee, let's transition and go the other way and give you the opportunities to ask me some questions. And we'll see where this goes. Fire away with question number one. So when it comes to me and Nikita, I studied, prayed and thought about these questions. And I think you have a unique perspective.

First of all, when I mentioned your name to men, especially men over 35 years old, they already have a high level of admiration and respect for you. You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Nikita Kolof here and I am excited. Did you hear the huge announcement, the big announcement?

Well, maybe it's a minor announcement. Anyway, Facebook, go look up my new fan page, Nikita Kolof Fans, and like it and follow today. If you would like to support Kolof 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.kolof.net and donate today. You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. But in dealing with men and men's ministry, here's what I want to ask. There are some common denominators, I think, that attack every man, men who are lost, who have not yet met Christ and men who are in the church.

And I want to talk to you about those three common denominators for one at a time. And first of all, I want to say, what is the danger, Nikita, when a man begins to allow self-pity to enter his life? Yeah, that's a great question. It's kind of the struggle with, I would call it like the Eeyore struggle, right? Oh my, right?

And that character, the Eeyore character. And for someone, because anyone who spends any time around me is going to know that I kind of qualify or classify myself as an eternal optimist, right? Bring me a black cloud and somewhere in there I'm going to dissect it and find a silver lining. That's just me. That's just who I am. And I don't know if the Lord just gifted me that way or what, but, you know, so I try to be Mr.

Positive. And that's not to say that there haven't been some unfortunate things that have happened in my life, because there have been. But that said, you know, I've learned over the course of life that I'm learning to speak things as though they will be, not as though they are. So no matter how challenging or difficult the situation is, we can all of it. And I've had my moments certainly of wallowing in self-pity, you know, especially before Christ. Not so much or not as much after surrendering my life to Christ, but certainly before Christ.

And so for me, I think it's got to be, it starts with having the right mindset and surrounding yourself with the right people. And maybe even having, I call them a battle buddy and some might call them an accountability partner. Mine is a good friend by the name, a mutual friend, by the way, by the name of Jay Stewart. One of my accountability partners who I meet with on a regular basis so that if I find myself somehow or culture pushing me down the path of self-pity, I've got others around me that can help pull me out of the ditch and keep me on a more positive path, if that makes sense.

Yes. Number two, another common denominator of something that I think attacks every man. So Nikita, we are dads, we are granddads, and we are flawed. We make mistakes, you know, the term missing the mark on sin is an archery term, and sometimes we miss the bullseye a little bit.

How God's called us to be the priest of our homes. How do we lead after mistakes when it comes to guilt? How does a man learn to deal with a flaw or a failure and the guilt that comes with that? Because what I see in a lot of churches is a man who's made a mistake. And I'm not, when I say flawed, I'm not talking about major mistakes. Maybe just lose your temper or maybe, you know, procrastinate, forget something.

I don't know, whatever. But men who have made mistakes and then that doesn't mean God pulls the responsibility or the scriptural precedent for us to be priests of our homes still. But because of guilt, men quit leading. They feel guilty.

How do we deal with overcome guilt when it comes to being leaders as men? Well, we've got to learn, I think one of the things we have to learn is to take the stick out of our hand and stop beating ourselves up and just acknowledging and recognizing what you just said. Starting at the foundation, we're all flawed. So there is no perfect, you know, outside of one, Christ Jesus himself, right? So we've got to learn to take the stick out of our hand and beat ourselves up.

So we start there. And then I think it's a case of once we identify that fact, then how do we overcoming the fact that in receiving forgiveness, right? We receive the ultimate forgiveness, the gift of salvation, right? And then once we start on that path, on that journey and that relationship with Christ and he starts to maybe put his finger on something or highlight some areas of our life to where we need, let's just say improvement or some things that we need to let go of. Some things that would have been qualified more of the flesh and not so much of the spirit is to be determined to grow, to grow and mature in our walk with Christ.

And for me, that's a daily thing for me. I can't just rely on a sermon on Sunday to feed my inner man and grow and mature as a man and then in turn as perhaps a husband and or father or grandfather, right? So I think that's part of the key too is make sure that you're a guy out there, you're growing daily, that you're in the Word daily, that you have a prayer life and that that's daily. And that you spend some time worshiping God. And then the fourth component of that, Lee, I think is relationships. Again, to emphasize kind of what I said earlier, that you surround yourself with like-minded, godly men. Maybe you're part, maybe you're part or should be a part of a Bible study where you're part of a smaller community outside of the big corporate body of Christ and where you can get more transparent and say, hey, I'm really struggling with this, you know, and they can help you walk through those processes of releasing and letting guilt go. All right, third question.

Excellent answer, by the way. I think the key is accountability and you kind of got really close to something that I think is true is, all right, Nikita, if we were putting up a tent on Father's Day weekend and we said one night we're just going to preach on faith, people would think we were either going to preach on healing or money. But it takes a lot of faith to live forgiven, to accept God's forgiveness and live like we've been forgiven because we don't forgive folks like everybody else does. And it's hard to imagine that we think God forgives us like we forgive other people and that's just not true, so I thought that was a brilliant answer.

Here's the third thing. 19 years, Nikita, 45 Sundays a year, big churches, little churches, alive churches, dead churches, multi-denominational, non-denominational, charismatic. There's one thing that troubles me with men in the church and in the kingdom and that is this. I just think, I heard it said one time, the devil cannot destroy us, but he will distract us. We're called to be soul winners. How do we keep a thirst and a hunger to win lost people and not just to keep our kids away from people who are lost and not just to keep people, you know, we kind of customize the worship experience so we don't have to be around people who don't believe like us, but that is so opposite of the Great Commission. How do we stay hungry to be soul winners as men? Well, and I know there are some who are, you know, I'll just say more gifted than others, you know, to be soul winners. You know, when I think of you, you're a soul winner.

I mean, God is gifted. When I think of myself, God called me, part of my calling was soul winning. He said, you're going to be an evangelist, you're going to be a soul winner. That's the foundation of Kolah for Christ Ministries and recognizing that not everyone is gifted to tell comedy or stories or preach the gospel. However, 2 Corinthians 5 says, if you've been reconciled back to the Father, that you yourself then have a ministry of reconciliation. Meaning, there is a responsibility there then for every genuine Christ follower to go out and be salt of the earth and a salt and light, right? A light to the world.

Starting with your own family and then maybe out into the workplace, the marketplace, if that's where God has you. And I'm reminded too, Lee, of the Scripture of Revelation. We're known by the blood of the Lamb and the word of our testimony. And so how to maintain that hunger and thirst, you know, and some maybe don't even have that right out of the gate.

Or I might say, how do you get that hunger and thirst? Well, I would say this. If you had a genuine encounter with Jesus and understand and recognized what He did for you, why wouldn't you want others to know about that? And that's not to say you have to go out and hit people over the head with a Holy Bible. But how about, let's just start with a quote, I think, from Sir Francis of Assisi. At all times, preach the gospel of Jesus Christ and when necessary, use words. And so how about if we just go out and live it. And then when somebody comes to us and says, what makes you so full of joy in this situation? Then the doors open to be able to tell them your story of moment of salvation and hopefully then bring others to Christ.

Because you're rightly, the statistics are too high of how many never even lead one person to Christ. And so that, I guess that's the challenge for you and I to fire men up and challenge them to become greater soul winners. I agree. I couldn't agree more. Well, you put some very probing questions out there and I'm appreciative of you. Hey, if you want, again, one more time, if you want to get Lee McBride into your community for a variety of things, corporate presentations or ministry or banquets, leemcbride.com, lee at leemcbride.com, email, correctly? Exactly.

Exactly. Well, great to have you on Q&A with Koloff today. Thank you so much, Lee, for participating. Man, it was my honor again.

I love you, brother. And I feel I'm so excited about Man Up in June. I hope, I hope, I hope that, you know, guys will consider coming to that great venue and letting us meet them in person, connect with them. And I believe it's going to be an event that's going to really, really change lives. And I agree.

And koloff.net, for more information or to go register, koloff.net. God bless you. Thanks for tuning into another episode.

Have a wonderful day. Hi, Nikita Koloff. Be sure to check out the Man Up show now available on television, broadcast and podcast. Go to MorningStarTV.com or the Truth Radio Network. Check out your local listings or better yet, download the Truth Network app today. If you are enjoying Q&A with Koloff, would you help us spread the word? Tell your family, tell your friends, tell your neighbors to download, subscribe and leave a comment. Go to nikitacoloff.com and get registered today for the Holy Land Tour. Nikita Koloff here.

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