Men's Conference 2023

Hey, this is Jim Graham from the Masculine Journey Podcast, where we explore relationship instead of religion every week. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds.

Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is set for one flaw. Introducing first, from Lithuania, he weighs 123 kilos, The Russian Nightmare, Nikita Kolob. Now, The Devil's Nightmare. Welcome back to another episode of It's Time to Man Up. Time to Man Up. Yours truly, your host, Nikita Kolob, and we are live today here at Morning Star Ministries in Fort Mill, South Carolina.

Why are we here live? Well, Truth Radio's been here all morning with The Christian Car Guy and Masculine Journey and so many other shows. But we're here live because we've been a part of, for the last, really, I guess, two, kicking off on Thursday night, the Man Up, the Man Up Champions Summit here.

It's time to man up, right? And so I have such a special guest, a precious couple, actually, sitting in front of me. Obviously, it's called the Man Up Show, but you know from time to time, we love to have ladies on the show get a woman's perspective on the Man Up show. And Shawn and Krista Smith, I'm just going to give this introduction right now, a husband and wife team that minister in tandem. And boy, do they minister in tandem over this weekend here at the Man Up Conference here at Fort Mill. Shawn and Krista have a passion for seeing God unleashed across the nation and across generations.

And through revelatory preaching, prophetic ministry, evangelist outreach, Shawn and Krista have invested their lives for the gospel. And I'm telling you, if you haven't been here this weekend at the Man Up Conference, we're not done yet. We're just bringing the show live to you.

But Shawn and Krista, welcome to the Man Up show. Thank you so much. I'm really honored to be here. Nikita, we love you, man. Thanks so much for having us.

I love you guys as well. Of course, we go way, way back, Shawn. You reminded me back to when I had yet to meet you, but you were aware of the Russian nightmare back in the mid 90s and conferences out in Phoenix, Arizona, right?

That's right. And you had made mention, you reminded me, actually, we did a wrestling, we call that, I think, the empty ring at Tommy Barnett's church there in Phoenix. And as of that time, anyway, they had they saw well over 3000 that give their life to Jesus that night.

I think they said it was the record of any any altar call that they'd ever had. And you were there and witnessed that. I did.

It was amazing. And you reminded me of that. And of course, fast forward to two. I like what you said in the message earlier this morning at real time. Here we are in real time. Right. So now we've got we covered some of the back story.

And and we've known each other to through the refuge church up in Kannapolis, North Carolina. Yeah. Yeah.

And I didn't mention at the conference, but I'll mention all our listeners out there that you sit on the board of directors there at the refuge. Right. I do. From the inception. I think pretty close to inception. Yeah, I think so. OK, right.

Near the 2004 and right. And then and then your bride comes into the picture here. Krista, tell us, give us our listeners just a little bit, a little that back story on. Well, let me just say this first. So from from is the chicken.

What was it? Is the chicken grass fed or something for the egg or the chicken? Well, no. When Sean was talking earlier today about being for you being from Oregon, him being from. Yeah. Yeah. You know, range free range for range free grass fed or all he cares about is the fried barbecued or.

Yeah. So so give us tell us how did the two of you come together? Give us a little bit of that story. It's it's such a God story because I had been single for years. I hadn't even dated anyone since I was 19 years old. So I got married in my later 30s. But up until that time, from 19 to later 30s, I had really just gone fully for God. So just serving God, going after God. And I was pastoring in supportive roles, whether it was executive pastor, associate pastor, youth pastor, young adult pastor. I had the role right running schools of ministry. So I'd known who Sean was from afar.

And but I was just focused on the things of God. And then in 2014, in my quiet time, the Lord put Sean on my heart to pray for him. And I knew him on a like I said, a ministerial like ministry acquaintance. I had been on staff at a church in Las Vegas and he came probably every other month because we were really experiencing a move of God. So they brought Sean in regularly to pour into the church.

It was really, really powerful. And so I would ask him to stay over a minister on that following Monday after he administered all Sunday services and minister to the school that I was director of at that time in Las Vegas. And he was like my student's favorite. So we had like a knowledge and a healthy respect for one another, what each other carried. And I just loved who Sean was, who he was in the spirit, but also just the man of God that he was. But of course, there was always that boundaries, the guest speaker. You know, there's always like, you know, and we're hosting him and, you know, I don't know him super well, but I know I know him well enough for the man that he is.

So fast forward years of past. I've resigned that position in Vegas. I'm living up in Oregon and God puts him on my heart and I start praying for him and I'm doing it for several days in a row. And then the Lord's like, reach out to him, let him know you're praying for him. Like, I don't have his number. I don't know how to get a hold of him. Like we had lost touch. I hadn't talked to him in over three years.

So there had been no communication. I didn't even know what he was doing, what he was up to. I knew he lived in the Bay Area.

I'm up in Oregon at this time. So again, we're different locations. But the Lord actually it's funny how God talks to you. Sometimes it's like, reach out to him on Facebook. I was like, that feels weird. Sliding into someone's DMS that, you know, I haven't talked to him. What do you call it? Trolling or something like that?

Lightweight. Totally. So anyways, I obeyed with some reluctance.

But I did. And literally from the moment we connected on Facebook, we just were reconnecting like old ministry friends, really just kind of catching up what's God doing in your life. And and then I ended up speaking in the Bay Area at a women's conference. There's a whole bunch of events that took place.

But he ended up inviting me to coffee and the rest is history. And it literally just us reconnecting. It really was a kairos time. It was just the timing of God. Like I said, I'd been single all those years, but believing for a husband, but content in the things of God.

But then when God brought Sean into my life, I was like, oh, my gosh, you really do save the best for last. You know, I just was so grateful because he really has just been such a gift to be married to. So I always say we've been married seven years. We got married in 2015. And I always say it's been seven glorious years.

It's just been so good. Wow. And being married to Sean. I mean, he's the same man on the platform as he is off, as you know. Yeah. He's just a joy. He's just a gift. Yeah.

So it's been so good. And I'm challenging men with that all day. Thank you for that.

And I'm challenging men with that all day long. Right. That, you know, you your public life and your private life should be should be one in the same. Right. That's right.

We've been talking about that this weekend. And Sean, this morning you were ministering before we get to that. And Krista, you ministered the I mean, the fire. God fell last night. Yes.

The altars were packed with men. This is kind of like Lee McBride. He did some. We tried to lighten the atmosphere after you brought the fire last night. So we had a comedian, Lee McBride, in from Alabama to bring some laughter. You actually mentioned laughter in part of the, you know, the altar invitation.

And and Lee, he brought it, man, and he had us in stitches. And but he said he'd sent a text to his wife and he said, this is unbelievable. He said, I just heard the most anointed woman of God lead worship, followed by one of the most anointed women of God minister to us here at the men's conference.

And the wife's response was, where are you? Right. It's a lot. You're at a men's conference. This doesn't add up. Yeah. Yeah. Wait a minute.

Why do you get a best conference? You got a woman as a powerful anointed woman to go to worship, a powerful woman preaching the word and and praise the Lord. Sean, the altars were full, sir.

Right. God just opened up the portal and poured out. And so so your thoughts on on on that, you know, she reaches out to you on Facebook. And you're like, OK. And oh, man, when she did.

You know, it's funny. Paul talked about in one of his letters that you would not be shaken by word, by letter, by spirit. And we recognize we can be impacted by the spirit of something. We all have had that. We recognize that we can be impacted by people's words. But sometimes we forget even letters. And I think even today, hers was a DM.

It was electronic. But I could feel the heart come off of that. Then I recognize this is God. And I think so often in recognizing and I kind of like to call it recognizing the fingerprints of God. I think sometimes, you know, if you're in CSI, they can trace a crime or some sort of action to someone based on their fingerprints. When we look for the fingerprints of God in situations, it's like God's ID. Your fingerprints are unique.

Your eye retina is unique. And so when God places a hand on something, if we could recognize his fingerprints, we recognize that if God initiates, then God will perpetuate. And so I began to recognize the fingerprints of God as she wrote that. I went, oh, my God, this is a God moment. I'm having one of those moments. The world may call it an epiphany or eye opening. But when that happened, I recognized, well, this isn't just anyone that just says, hey, hi, whatever, or a friend.

I see that. And I think if you're a man, as this goes out to men, but women as well, in business, in relationships, different times, it helps for us to recognize the fingerprints of God because of God, again, he who began a good work. If you can recognize the fingerprints, that's the initiation.

Then you'll have the perpetuation. You'll complete the good work. So I saw the fingerprints of God on what you wrote. Man, that's amazing. Well, and, you know, let me just mention to you, you know, it is the Man Up show, but I do know we get a lot of ladies listening.

They're like, what are these men talking about, you know? And we do a lot of interviews. And the show is currently 93 countries that people will listen to the show through the podcast platform. Nice. Right.

And then, of course, we're live and it's local here in the Charlotte community where we're at Fort Mill. And let me just say this while I'm thinking of it. Hey, it's not too late. We're going to open it up to the public tonight for the seven o'clock service. If you're within a couple hours and you're hearing this interview right now with Sean and Krista, man, I'm going to tell you, jump in your car, come on down. We won't even charge you to get in. OK, we'll just let you in for free. And come on down. I mean, the rooms have been filled, but but there's space for you.

There's room for you. Krista, let me come back to you for just a moment, because you said something real key. I think our listeners out there, especially the ladies in the audience and or maybe even the men, may relate to this because there may be some single men out there and certainly some single ladies. I actually had one of the guys here come to the conference here at attending the conference, has a couple of daughters and he's like, what do I say to my girls?

You know, they're wanting to get married. And so one of the things I said was, well, tell them to be patient and wait for the man of God that God would. And then you as a father, get on your knees and pray that God would direct that man of God, like the man sitting in front of me right here, the anointed man of God, Sean Smith.

And he directs them into your path. What would you say to those out there eager to get married? Man or woman? What would you say though? Because you used to just say, you waited.

What would you say? You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Nikita Koloff 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 Koloff fans and like it and follow today. 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. You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. I wrote a book about this. I mean, this is literally like, I love talking about this because when you walk out something and you go through a wrestle with God about something, you're desiring to share that with people because you know the truth of the revelation the Lord took you through was life changing. It became that lifeline for me. You know, at 19 years old, I prayed a prayer, Jesus, I give you my heart.

And I was already serving God, but specifically in the area of that desire for a husband. Because I was in college, I had liked this guy. He didn't like me. It was kind of one of those classic scenarios.

We went home for the summer. I came back, found out he was dating the girl across the hall from me. So my entire sophomore year of college, I'm watching the guy that I wanted to date pursue the girl across the hall that was a friend of mine. So it was at 19 years old that felt significant. Now looking back, I'm like, it wasn't that big of a deal.

But at the time it felt like a big deal. And it provoked me to really pray a prayer of total no more compartmentalization. Like Jesus, you have my heart. And I really walked in a grace. And I think that's really important when you've really laid something down as in I've really given it to God and I'm trusting God with it.

You do walk in a supernatural grace, a covering. I felt that deep longing and desire, that desperation leave me. And I really was content in the things of God. And then at 35, he decided to take my contentment to a whole other level. I'm at my 35th birthday party. I'm blowing up my birthday candles. And it wasn't a birthday wish. It was a birthday prayer. I prayed like I did every year.

God, let this be the year that I meet my husband. Because it was a desire, but I wasn't desperate for it. It was a longing, but it wasn't like a requirement for me to serve God. And as soon as I blow up my candles, I felt that grace come off of me, which is not what you expect in your 35th birthday. And I heard the Lord asked me this.

He said, if you never get married, am I enough? And I was like, well, hold on. It was my birthday.

It was my birthday. Hold on. And it took me several days to come back to the Lord, but obviously I knew the Lord knew my heart, but I also think the Lord asks us questions to send us on a path of discovery of actually what's within us.

That was kind of talked about by Robbie today. Sometimes we have to discover what's actually going on inside of us. So I went back to the Lord after that kind of that contemplation. And I said, you're not enough, but I need you to become enough because if you're not enough, marriage won't be enough. The kids won't be enough. The family won't be enough. Never enough. It's never enough. I'll never be satisfied. So if you do not satisfy me as good of a man, if you ever bring me one, as wonderful as he may be, he won't be enough.

He won't satisfy me because I was only created to be satisfied by Jesus ultimately. So that took me on a year and a half process of learning what it is to be totally content in laying down the desire for marriage and that it was no longer requirement for my happiness, although I didn't think it was, but it was like, again, I realized there was still this area, still areas of my life that were put on pause waiting for that marriage. So when that pause button got released and I was like, okay, I'm fully going for God. I started a prophetic ministry in our church. I started leading outreaches in the community.

We were bringing revival to our town in Oregon. Like we were just going for it because I thought, I'm not going to wait anymore. I'm just going to go. I'm going to go after the things of God. I'm going to live out the call of God, the assignment of my life. And when I went after God fully, there's a place of rest I hit in knowing that I was living out who God called me to be. It was so satisfying. I wasn't focused on the marriage anymore.

I wasn't focused on things of God. And that's when God brought Sean into my life. Wow. And the book you wrote covers really that journey, that journey. And the title of the book is... Yeah, Singled Out in a Couple's World. Singled Out in a Couple's World.

Wow. And well, as you're listening here, even as Krista's sharing, I know there's somebody out there whose heart is being ministered to who has that word, that was a good word, desperation, who has probably been in a very desperate place to maybe want to get married or in pursuit of other things, right? So, Sean, let me bounce over to you because I know you've written some books as well. And so, you've got this amazing godly woman that God brought into your life. She's become your bride. She's an author, a speaker, and God's using her in mighty ways. And now the two of you together, I'm just saying, as a witness, you haven't been here.

You're just listening right now, right? I'll tell you, if you experienced, if you were in the room last night or you were in the room this morning, as Sean, you were ministering to men, men continue to come to me and say, wow, I didn't know you knew such wonderful friends. And I'm like, wow, thank you. I appreciate that.

Take that as a compliment. So, but tell us, just tell us, take a minute, tell us about what books you've written, what's on your heart. I've written about four books, but two of the ones that we brought and we talked about, one is called, I Am Your Sign, has nothing to do with astrology, is actually a moment where God spoke to me, where I led a psychic to the Lord in a new age bookstore in Monterey, California. But God told me to tell her, I am your sign. But I felt that that conversion was, if you will, a token of an entire harvest that's ready to be birthed on the earth. So I believe that there's going to be a billion soul harvest.

This book is about revival, but it's not just, although I cover history Nikita, it's about those who will make history. And to understand something about the Lord is to understand this, is that if Jesus comes to the wedding, it will never end on bad wine. And so obviously Jesus' first sign was he came to a wedding. They ran out of wine, but at the end of the day, they had waiters said, this is the best wine.

Who does this? And the word there in original best isn't that it's somewhat superior to the old wine. It means it was the best he'd ever tasted. So to think that earlier moves of God are inferior wines to the best wine of the last day's move is to understand, I am your sign. So that's a book on revival. We're in the second book, another book on prophetic evangelism. And prophetic evangelism is simply this, is that who can share Jesus better than Holy Spirit? Like I can, if you don't know the Lord and I'm in a conversation with you Nikita, and I'm telling you about God, I can tell you my testimony. God uses it.

We'll breathe on it. But if the Holy Spirit shows up and manifests Jesus, where you have an encounter, I submit that's the highest probability to you committing your life to Christ. So prophetic evangelism is yes, using words of knowledge, using the gift of prophecy, praying for the sick on the streets, but it's depending upon Holy Spirit to reveal.

I tell people I can become a Buddhist, if you will, by someone sharing Buddhist teachings. I don't know why, but I could become a Scientologist if someone hands me an L. Ron Hubbard Dianetic book, but you can't come to Jesus unless the Holy Spirit reveals Jesus. So every time the gospel is shared and someone gets saved, it's because the founder of our faith showed up and revealed himself. So prophetic evangelism says, prophecy isn't just for the church, it's for every believer. You all may in turn prophesy, and why not use it in a way that reveals Christ? Because the Bible says that the spirit of prophecy is the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ. We're here to testify of Jesus. So prophetic evangelism equips believers to be using words of knowledge, gifts of healing, and the gifts of the Spirit to win people to Christ. Wow, that's powerful. And I love what you said earlier this morning when you kind of gave a mental picture of a timeline of receiving a word of knowledge, maybe something from the past, but then how the prophetic word propels you into the future.

That is powerful. Christelle, come back to you. I know you guys have a podcast of your own. Just take a minute and tell us about the podcast as well. You know, Sean and I really created the podcast out of a consistent question we were getting while we were traveling. We're having predominantly millennials and Gen Z people say, can you mentor us? We have lots of questions about different things. We want discipleship, we want you guys to disciple us. And so we're like, we can't be that for everyone in like a one-on-one basis, but we can on a podcast basis, right? And so we created the podcast with the intention to really disciple. But what's so fun is all ages have been listening to it. So that's been really cool. We'll travel and minister and then people will come up to us on the road and be like, I'm a part of the Keep It 100 tribe. So it's called Keep It 100 with Sean and Christelle Smith.

It's available on all platforms that you can find any major podcast on. And we're really just hitting hot topics of what are facing this generation, what are facing our society at large, and what does the word of God say about it? So our whole thing is getting back to not just people's opinions. We purposely don't do the clickbait.

We don't do the shock value stuff. We're like, what's the word say? What's God say about it? We're just sticking to the truth. And we add in our thoughts and our opinions that we pray always line up with the word of God, but it's the word of God. We're always bringing people back to the place of discipleship. Well, it's obvious you guys are very grounded in the word of God. Anybody that hears you minister or preach will in a nanosecond just see that.

And so, which is amazing. We're here live in Fort Mill, South Carolina today, just outside of Charlotte, the Man Up Conference, a champions summit. Two o'clock this afternoon, a workshop just for fathers. Well, not just for, but fathers, sons, grandfathers, grandsons.

Hey, if you're a son, and you probably are meaning because you have a father, right? We're doing that at two o'clock, seven o'clock. Pastor Chris Reed, the lead pastor here at Morningstar will be ministering to us who also walks in the strong prophetic calling as well. And so we want to invite you out if you're within the Charlotte community.

And I want to say this before we run out of time here. Hey, if you're inspired by this powerful couple sitting in front of me today, and you like, if you're in the Charlotte area and you'd like to experience maybe for whatever reason, and I'll forgive you, you couldn't make it to the Man Up Conference, but you'd like to hear this couple speak live, live, live? Tomorrow at the Refuge Church, Pastor Jay Stewart, he's been my pastor for 30 years, live at the Refuge Church, 9-11 tomorrow morning, tomorrow night, 7 p.m.

I think. The Refuge Church in Kannapolis, North Carolina. You're within a couple hours, come and hear this couple, experience them firsthand. You'll want to do that.

Sean, let me come back to you for a moment. And so if people want to learn more, I mean, and I know you guys have seen thousands and thousands of people coming to know Christ, impacted evangelists at heart as well, like myself. How could they learn more about Sean and Christa Smith Ministries?

Like is there a website? They can get your books and tell us all about that before we run out of time. Yes, if anyone wants to go, our website is www.SeanAndChristaSmith.com. Sean, S-E-A-N, Christa, C-H-R-I-S-T-A. So www.SeanAndChristaSmith.com. Again, Christa mentioned our podcast, it's on all different, you know, Kippel 100, Sean and Christa Smith, and we're not only traveling, we do events, we're putting on some conferences. Coming up real soon, we have a, what we call a Healing and Deliverance Masterclass that we're going to host in Oakland, California, so they can find that online.

In the fall, we're going to be on the East Coast doing a prophetic masterclass, so we do those to help equip the body, according to Ephesians 4, 11 and 12. And so, they can connect with you. Of course, I follow you guys on social media. I love the posts and the things you put on social media, and just as the hand of God just moves in and through the two of you. And so, they can connect. They can find your books there.

They can find maybe where you're going to be and connect to your podcast, all of that on that website. So, all right, Christa, 60 seconds, last word. Give a woman's encouragement to men out there. As you encourage the men in the room here today, or last night, and affirmed men, what would you say? 60 seconds, what would you say to men?

You know, I would just say to men that are listening today, you know, get ready. We're in the moment of the subtleties of God. I just feel like we're in those moments of those encounters, the ones that you've been praying for, the things you've been believing for, and one encounter changes everything.

And what I shared last night, I feel like it just carries over today. There is a seat at the table for you, and there's an invitation of intimacy and encounter. You know, we've come out of a tough season as a nation, but I want you to know there is a God that is here and faithful, and that whatever you're struggling with, you can come to Jesus, and he is here to encounter you, to be intimate, and to know your heart, to heal your heart, to restore your heart, and to encourage your heart. We are in a time where I feel like the joy of the Lord is so feasible and plausible, and so there's a fresh and filling of joy that God wants to release over his men right now. Stress be removed, joy come, laughter come back to the home of the men's lives.

And I just feel like it's more available than it feels like it's ever been. I just feel like God is doing a new work in his sons, and it's about coming to the table. Well, it's been an honor and a privilege to have the two of you here at the Man Up Conference, your first ever men's conference. Thank you for having me. I really am honored.

Thank you. No, it has been a me, and I'm telling you, these men, I'm going to continue to hear stories from the ministry that each of you shared with us this weekend. And thank you, all of you out there, week in and week out.

You're so faithful. Listen to the Man Up show, and tune in, and follow me on the podcast, Q&A with Koloff, Separate Man Up Minutes, and all that I have the privilege of doing. And hey, go out to Kannapolis, North Carolina tomorrow, if you can, to the Refuge Church, and just hear this couple live, live live. This podcast is made possible by the grace of God and your faithful prayers, support, and generous gifts. May God bless you for your continual contributions. Go to koloff.net and donate today.

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 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. Nikita Koloff here.

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