Q&A With Koloff- #184

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The Truth Network Podcast is set for one flaw. Introducing first, from Lithuania, he weighs 123 kilos, the Russian nightmare, Nikita Kolov. Welcome to another episode of Q&A with Kolov, the devil's nightmare. Welcome back to another episode, Q&A with Kolov questions and answers.

It's so exciting for me to have the opportunity to call you and give you the opportunity to ask me questions. I'm sure, you know, you've been over to the Man Up show and, you know, over there, I'm typically asking all of the questions and I might ask a few here, but hey, if you're interested in getting a personal phone call from the Russian nightmare, Nikita Kolov, go to kolov.net and put in a request and we will line that up and get you on the show. With me today, special guest today, Philip Murph Jr. Philip, welcome to Q&A with Kolov. Well, thank you, Nikita. I appreciate the opportunity and I think it's a very honor to be on your show, so thank you for inviting me. Well, it's great to have you and, of course, Philip Murph Jr.

I happen to know Philip Murph Sr. Tell us a little bit about the family, Philip. So I have, obviously my mom and dad are still alive, so I'm 46 years old. I have two younger brothers and I was born legally blind and I'm the only one in my family gifted by God for that calling. And I do have two young sons, one's 17 and one's 13, and my wife and I have been married for 23 years, happily married. At least on my part, I'm happily married. I'll speak for myself, right?

Maybe we can get her on the show sometime and let her tell her side of the story. What do you think, Philip? Maybe, right?

Exactly right, exactly right. So, and you're down in the Carolinas, right? Yes, sir. I was born in Concord and I live in Concord now and I work in Charlotte. Through the years, so let me tell you my story real fast. So through the years, growing up in Concord, obviously it's a car town and my dad had a lot of old cars. And so I was always excited about the old cars and when I turned 15, the doctor told me, you know, Philip, you cannot drive. And so that kind of hurt my heart because, you know, cars and women kind of go together.

Sometimes. Okay. And so it was hard for being a teenager to understand that. And so 1997, May 2nd, I was just ready to end it all, Nikita. I was just done. And so I had everything planned out and ready to implement my plans and God put in my cousin's heart to call me and it all stopped right there.

Everything stopped. And I thank God for that because looking back, you know, I was, I guess you would say depressed over nothing for no reason. I wasn't happy with myself.

I wasn't happy to be in myself. So I went to Belmont Abbey College, met my wife the second day there. She said, you got to become a Christian for us to date.

So guess what? I became a Christian. And we started dating, uh, got married two weeks after we graduated in 01. And during that time, I applied to over 200 companies around the Charlotte area, 208 companies, as a matter of fact. And I would go to interviews and they would turn me down right there in my face because once they found out I was legally blind and needed a large monitor, the job would suddenly disappear.

And so that was hard dealing with that. You know, you have a degree and no one wants to help you. And so I came to a company called Lions Services.

Never heard of them before in my life. My mother-in-law introduced me to them, done an interview on a Friday and he said, call me back Monday. So that was a long weekend because I had used all of my finances to pay for our rent and I had nothing left.

Zero. Monday I called and he said, Phillip, I can't help you. Sorry, I don't have a job. So needless to say, being me, I hung up the phone and had a temper tantrum and got myself together. Well, I says, call him back. So I called him back and I told him, I said, two things I told him. I said, one, either help me find a job because there's nothing out there that anybody would give me a chance. I said, or two, let me work for free for two weeks and I'll show you what I can do. He said, OK, come in the next day and we'll put you to work. The next day was 9-11-01. That was my first day at work. And so I came in answering the telephones and learn as much about the company as I could.

And through the years, I got a master's degree in business and became president of the company in 21. So here we are. What a phenomenal story.

Hey, let me just, I want to recap that just quickly for our listeners. Going back to your teenage years, 17, ready to take your life, you know, in a deep depression. God intervenes by your cousin calling, right? And intervenes. So God divinely intervenes and you eventually meet the wife at college. And 23 years later, happily married two children and eventually became the president of that company.

It's pretty amazing. And hey, tell our listeners just real quick, what does your company do? What does Lion's do?

So Lion's Services, it was founded in 1935. And ironically, this is how God has a sense of humor. I told my parents when I was younger, I said, I do not want to work in textiles manufacturing. Well, guess what I do?

We employ blind citizens here in Charlotte that manufacture textiles for the U.S. military. Come on. Kind of a sense of humor there.

Come on. God has a sense of humor for sure. So we have 265 employees and 130 of us are blind. We have employees here that's never seen the sunshine before, but they run a sewing machine.

And one thing about Nakia, they are excited and happy to come to work. That's amazing. Yes, sir. And one thing, I was listening to one of your previous podcasts and Darren Shearer was on there and he said that you cannot separate your Christian life from business life.

And I agree 100 percent. During my first few years of marriage, I wanted to become a minister. And I was told, well, you would never get the support doing that.

You can't do that. So that hurt tremendously. But I realized what God was telling me was, wait, wait, because I have better things for you. And so I use my Christian beliefs and God's principles here at work to run the company and minister to these individuals that society has turned their back on.

And so here we are. That's amazing. And what's pretty amazing, too, is you just a while back had actually attended man camp as well. You were our first fully legally blind camper, by the way, just for the record. We've had a guy with one arm.

We've had a guy with one leg show up. But you were the first one who was legally blind. And our dear buddy, Joshua Gillum, was like, I'm not sure how Philip's going to navigate that, but hey, God's in control, right? And of course, you were amazing. There wasn't anything you didn't miss out on without giving anything away. I don't want to divulge anything to our listeners out there. You just got to come and experience for yourself.

But I would just say from the fun activities, I'm going to say it that way, from the fun activities we did to all the other outdoor and indoor things, you didn't miss out on a beat. Hey, what would you say just real quick, Philip, to somebody listening out there? Now, you kind of take away all the excuses. I mean, you're legally blind and you still came to man camp. I hear all kinds of reasons why guys can't come to man camp. But what's one reason you would give a guy to consider coming to man camp?

What would you say just real quick? Well, I will say that we did one activity and I told everyone I cannot do that. And everyone says, yes, you can. And I'll actually beat some of the guys there. Come on. Come on. You contributed to the team. Come on.

That's correct. So here's what I'm going to tell you is I didn't really want to go, but I was persuaded by Joshua and my dad. And I'm going to tell you one thing. It changed my life forever and I would not give anything for that experience. And I'm really looking forward to going back and contributing. If anyone has any doubts, just please listen and say, let me go and let me experience it for myself because you will come back a changed man.

That's good. That's great advice coming from someone again, just not to overemphasize, but someone legally blind who was able to be impacted by the things we did at man camp. And your dad encouraged because he had previously come as well.

And I know he was greatly impacted too. And so, Hey, you can go to man camp.info. If you want more information on what Phillip is talking about, go to man camp.info.

You have any questions, you can, you can just message me right through there and we'll get all your questions answered as well. Hey, great. What a great story too about you, about your company, your rise to becoming president and employing 130 folks blind, right?

Who might not get work anywhere else, right? So that's amazing. That's amazing. All right. So, well, let's segue Phillip. Let's transition to Q&A, but Koloff give you the opportunity to ask me a couple of questions.

And if you want to fire away with your first, here we go. Well, I have, I actually have three questions. Okay.

I think the first one might put you on the spot, but I like, I like done before, but go ahead. So if you can look back on real life and outside of giving your life to Christ earlier, what is one regret or one thing that you would do differently? Hmm. You know, I, to the best of my ability, you know, there's that old saying, you know, live life without any regrets and, you know, easier said than done sometimes.

Right. I mean, and I think every, any one of us, probably all of us could, could look back and say, wow, I wish I'd done that different. I wish I'd done that different, you know, made a different choice in that scenario or that situation. And I guess in one sense, I'm thankful for where I'm at in this station life. And even through the mistakes I've made in the past, the poor decisions I've made, you know, I believe have helped me become the person who I am now. And in another way I phrase it is defining moments, right? There's a lot of defining moments in life. I mean, for example, a lot of people know, some people don't, but a lot of people know I was one of the finalists for Ivan Drago for the Rocky IV movie, you know, the Russian boxer who fought Stallone.

Well, Dolph Lundgren landed that role, but I can say for certain, had I landed that role, I feel confident to say it would have taken me in a whole different direction, a whole different trajectory. Nikita Kolov 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 Kolov Fans, and like it and follow today. Would your company, business, or you personally like to partner with me in supporting Kolov for Christ Ministries, the Man Up Show, and Man Up Minutes? Go to kolov.net and click the donate button.

You can give monthly, annually, or one time. God bless you for making a difference around the world. If you would like to support Kolov 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.kolov.net and donate today.

You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. I'm who I am today because of the decisions I made, good, bad, or indifferent, and so I am thankful for where I'm presently at. I think that's a great answer because Jesus said the man who puts his hand to the plow and looks back is not worthy, and I think that's great. That's a great answer that you gave. Thank you. I appreciate it. That's a great question. I certainly haven't been, to my knowledge, been asked that one before, so that's great. So you have another one for me.

Yes, sir. So I have two teenage sons, and I'm going to make them listen to this podcast, but if you had some type of advice to give them, what would you give them in life? That's a great question, especially as teenagers in today's culture and today's climate with everything they're exposed to, and it's challenging.

I can only imagine what it would be like to be a teenager with everything that's currently at their fingertips. I guess what I would say to them or to any teenager, as much as you perhaps don't think, your parents try to give you advice, and you're like, ah, what do you know? You're at an age, at least I remember back to my teenage years when I thought I knew it all, and my parents didn't know anything, and then come to learn about my mid-20s that they knew a whole lot more than I gave them credit for, and maybe I should have listened to them more. And taken their advice more while at the same time saying, and then as a parent, learning how much rope to give them, or how much leeway to give them to experience life for themselves.

And so what I would say to the teenager listening out to your sons or anyone else is just be open to listening to the advice of others, be it your parents or a pastor, a friend, a coworker, just other people. You don't have to, I would say you don't have to buy into everything they're saying. In fact, be open to listen to everything, and then weigh out for yourself what you believe to be true for you, while at the end of the day, the absolute truth is the word of God. So be sure you're spending time in the word of God.

There's a guy by the name of Zig Ziglar, he's no longer with us, but Philip, he said do two things first thing in the morning. He goes, I get up and I read my Bible, and then of course he's old school, so you get up and read the newspaper, right? He goes, I get up, I read my Bible, and I read the newspaper so I knew what both sides were up to. In other words, absolute truth is going to come from the word of God, what society says and tells you and even what other people tell you may not be absolute truth. That's why you need to know the absolute truth so you can weigh out what's being said by other people, and that's your plumb line is God's word.

So you're a young person out there, be open-minded enough to listen to the other side's argument and then weigh out for yourself if there's any truth to it. That's what I would say, Philip. That's great. So whenever I came back from Man Camp, my family and I, we've always prayed together, but I implemented a new concept that God gave me there at Man Camp, and it's for each person to find a Bible verse and tell us what that Bible verse means to them every day. We do that every night, and so the last two nights I have taken upon myself to talk about Gideon, so we've been listening to judges and talking about Gideon. Last night I ended that one saying Gideon was a poor, destitute man, but God used him and God gave him wisdom to help save the Israelites, just like David, just like Jonah. They were all poor, but God can use anyone if anyone will allow him to use them.

Yeah, if you're just willing, right? And yeah, I mean, what did Gideon say? He goes, oh man, I'm the least of my tribe, and you know, like, you know, Moses said, oh, I stumble with my words, you know, whatever, slur my speech.

I mean, you're legally blind, right? I mean, so it doesn't matter what you have or don't have, it's just, to emphasize what Phillip's saying, it's just a matter of being willing to allow God to use you as an instrument, you know, in his hands, so to speak. So, no, that's amazing. I imagine over time, as you're consistently doing that, you're going to see some pretty wonderful things happen within your own family, Phillip.

I hope so, yeah, I hope so. And I was listening to your other, one of your other podcasts with Homer Murdoch, and y'all were talking about the man holding his face in the glass. I was yelling at my computer screen, saying, it's James, it's James, it said it's James. But we had that in our sermon this past weekend, and it resonated with me. What does that mean? And so, Monday I was here, and I said, what that means is, if I look in the mirror, and I can't see Jesus, no one outside of me can see Jesus in me either.

That resonated with me. There's another, I'll give you another quick, really quick visual picture of that, and maybe our listeners will get a visual of this as well. A silversmith, right, who wants to purify his silver, throws it into the cauldron. My understanding is, you know, they fire that thing up to about 800 degrees for all the dross, or what they call the impurities, to rise to the top, right? And then they, you know, they kind of skim off the impurities off the top of the cauldron with the ultimate goal, kind of the same concept. The ultimate goal is when the silversmith can look into the cauldron and see his perfect reflection, he knows that all the impurities have been burned out of the silver, right?

And the picture is when Jesus can look into your life and see his perfect reflection in you, then that's his ultimate goal, right? So, man, that's good. That's some good stuff, Phil. You said you had three, you must have one more for me, huh?

One more question. So, you retired, or got out of the wrestling business. How did you know it was time? Well, for me, so, I had actually, go back to my youth, really kind of, it's kind of a, God has a sense of humor. Age 12, I had my whole life figured out, or so I thought, right? And, you know, I picked up a bodybuilding magazine, I thought one day I would look like one of those guys, I fell in love with football, and I said one day I'm going to play in the NFL, I'm going to have a short career by choice, a short career in the NFL, and then leave that and go into coaching, and have a longer career in coaching, and then, you know, sail off into the sunset, right?

Retire on an island somewhere. So, that's a condensed version of my vision for my life at age 12, and little did I know, you know, I wouldn't go into football, but a door of opportunity opened for wrestling, I'd be grabbing sweaty guys for a living, for a worldwide audience, and then walk away from there, and little did I know I'd find myself at an altar in 1993 surrendering my life to Christ. But I say all that to say, I had already determined that whether it had, had it been football, or in this case, wrestling, I told Don Crenodle and Ivan Koloff those first couple weeks that we were involved together, traveling up and down the roads, that I'd be out of in-ring act of wrestling by the time I was 35. So, I'd already made up my mind, that was my exit strategy, right? And little did I know, you know, through some injuries, it wasn't career-ending injuries against a big guy named Van Vader, little did I know that I'd accelerate that.

I was 33 when I got injured, getting ready to turn 34, so I just made the executive decision, no fanfare, no big retirement match, or none of that. I just said, I'm done. I'm done. Little knowing, 11 months later, I'd be at an altar surrendering my life to Christ. And so, yeah, so I kind of laid that vision out for my life, but as much as I had my plans, as we know, Phillip, God had His plans.

That's exactly right, 100 percent, yes sir. Yeah, and I want to say that to all the listeners out there too, you know, you can, we've got choices here, we have a free will, we can pursue our own plans, or we can make that decision, that choice to surrender our life to Christ, and then begin to pursue what His holy calling is for life, you know, and find out what that is, and then do our best to fulfill that calling. And you're making a great, you're making an amazing difference, and you have an amazing story, Phillip.

I'm so glad you were part of Q&A with Koloff today. Well, thank you. One of the events at Man Camp, I was asking God, give me some advice, tell me what to do, and I got one word, was wait, and I was sitting here thinking before the show, that wait is actually coming true, so thank God for that wait. Which that, well, that's hard for a lot of people to do, right? It's hard for me. Well, for anybody, it really is, it's really hard.

In fact, I'm reminded of Psalm 27, 14, it says, Wait patiently for the Lord, be brave and courageous, yet, yes, wait patiently for the Lord. That's hard, it's hard for all of us to just sit and, especially as men, I'll just say for men, not to generalize all men, but we're fixers, we're doers, right? We want to go do, we want to go fix something, we want to build something, we want to tear something down, right? You see little boys, they got their little construction equipment, they want to push dirt around, right? Yes, sir, that was me. That was you, dump trucks, right?

Little bulldozers and stuff, right? But the hardest thing to do is when the Lord says, as you just said, hey, just sit and wait patiently and if you'll do that, if we'll do that, man, it's pretty amazing what doors He opens up and what opportunities we're given, right? That's right. Well, Philip Murph Jr., Concord, North Carolina, thank you, thank you. Great to spend time with you at Man Camp, Philip, and again, you're listening out there, go to mancamp.info and check it out, our next one, we do one in the spring, one in the fall, so our next one will be in October, so I encourage you to go check that out and look forward to having you come back and serve in the future as well, Philip. That's my plan, so I hope to see everyone there in October. If you can't make it, give me a call and we'll talk about why you can't be there.

That's right, eliminate the excuses, that's awesome. Well, bless you and your family and for all you out there in Listening Land, as always, I challenge you to go out today and live a God-filled, God-blessed day. 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 coloff.net and donate today. To build, repair, or establish your credit score, conveniently located on Silas Creek Parkway in Winston-Salem, be sure to check them out today at wsmc1.com, because you are number one. 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?

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. This is the Truth Network.