You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Welcome to another episode Q&A with Kolov, The Devil's Nightmare. Very interesting guest that I have today with me. I had the opportunity to meet this man a while back down in the peach state of Georgia. Fascinating story, born with birth defects and how he has overcome that to lead a life changing transformational life. And now helping others transform and overcome some of their own difficulties.
And more recently as well, he attended Man Camp and had an incredible experience there. And let me welcome to Q&A with Kolov today, Mark Harrelson. Mark, welcome to the show. Thank you, sir. Glad to be here. Did I hear some clapping?
Is that what I heard? Yeah, yeah, yeah. I think you're the first one that's actually clapped for the show. I just want you to know.
Thank you for that. I want you to know that. So Mark, for our listeners, you're down in the peach state of Georgia. Is Douglasville where you live? I live 20 minutes north of Douglasville off I-20. About 30 minutes from Six Flags. What town?
Hiram, H-I-R-A-M. Hiram, Georgia. All right. And Mark, you've got a fascinating story and I am going to encourage people to go over to the Man Up show and hear the full story.
But born with some birth defects. Take a minute and just enlighten our listeners to what that entailed. What was that all about?
Just real quick. So I was born, a drug that my mother had taken without any trials. It caused a birth defect to many babies around the world. But my particular issue is I was born with no thumbs and clubbed hands and had finger transplants at the University of North Carolina starting in 1963. And ending 13 years later and I had a total of 21 hand operations from 13 months old to 13 years old.
21 hand operations. Go Tar Heels, I'm just saying. Yeah boy! UNC, come on. Is it Carolinas, man? I love it. I love it.
The Carolinas. Which is just powerful and of course I know we've talked more at length on the other show about just the shame and guilt and how that really kind of destroyed your own family unit as well, right? That is correct, yeah. Just kind of, it was the catalyst to just continue on all the things that were going on before I came on scene. And once I was born, it quickly, dad left and my oldest brother left with him and left me and mother and my middle brother. And I was under a lot of doctor's care and I don't know any of that childhood life but I know I was struggling to understand and cope with being emotionally and physically abandoned. And so a lot for you to overcome but you have overcome it as I've gotten to spend some time with you.
Certainly several days at man camp but even outside of camp and hearing more of your story and getting a chance to just talk with you and get to know you. And there's other things along the way you've overcome but all of that to say if you fast forward to today, it's given you a ministry and what do you do with that ministry? Currently I have a ministry at Believer's Church in Douglasville and it's a B group ministry. It's kind of like a Bible study, coffee group, whatever it is but this particular group is about helping people learn to live a life of continual transformation.
And it's been very fruitful but that's just kind of like a banner for me. I live each and every day helping people and connecting to people and supporting them in a role of change. You know we live in a world that doesn't like change and we don't like change but when the Holy Spirit is working on somebody change is expected. And let me ask you since you brought that up just real quick, if you were to condense this down, an answer down into why is it Mike you think we're as human we're just so resistant to change?
What would you guess? I feel a lot of people say that's just human behavior and human whatever but I believe it's just learned behavior that's passed down generation to generation and we have the choice. We have a choice to change. But because we are kids blaming all the other kids for what they do we just grow up as human adults blaming everybody else for things that we maybe made a bad choice in or don't want to change. We want others to morph into who we are and that's not what we're called to do.
There's no freedom in that. It's interesting because we go all the way back to the first couple who Adam blames the wife, the wife blames Satan, the serpent Satan and so yeah the blame game which I know even within your own family dynamic with how you were born there's finger pointing even in your own family. Well more recently too you came and experienced Man Camp. Take a minute or two for our listeners and just share what that experience was like for you speaking of transformation. Well when I came to Man Camp I was more or less wanting to do a checkbox because of what we talked about kind of what this looks like for me and yeah I'll come to Man Camp and get closer to Nikita and find out what all this is about. But when I showed up at Man Camp I instantly realized I was supposed to be there because of what your beliefs are. Transformation is interwoven in so much of what Man Camp is all about and I just warmed right up to it. But when I got out in the woods and reading the book The Maximizing Manhood I got so engrossed in it and I just couldn't connect to all that stuff but what the Holy Spirit did with me in that moment or that week of my life was he revealed to me some of the things that I needed to work on myself. And a lot of it was idolatry and I worked on it and it just changed my life and I'm just extremely thankful that I got to have an experience in the woods with the Holy Spirit and around a bunch of men that were seeking the same thing. And when I came home I knew that God had me go there for this release and come to terms with idolatry and I never saw it coming. But I warmed up to it and walked in it and accepted it instead of questioning it and going benefits of doubt or that was weird or any of that.
I've tried to warm up to it and make it part of my life and it's changed my life. Anyway, Facebook. Go look up my new fan page Nikita Koloff Fans and like it and follow today. If you are a business owner and would like to advertise your company or product on the Man Up Show and or Q&A with Koloff, contact me directly. NikitaKoloff at koloff.net The Man Up Show is honored to have Dr. Johnny Gaten as one of our longest running supportive sponsors. Dr. Gaten is regarded as one of the world's leading elite eye surgeons. He is motivated by his faith in doing all things heartily as unto the Lord. His desire to do his best has contributed to success in his eye care practice performing over 70,000 eye surgeries. In addition, he is a world renowned speaker, writer and author. Go to eyeassociates.com for more information.
I mean some people may say well a Dollar Tree, but that was what I'm stuck on at this moment in my life. I've worked many years on the set. And it can be different for like the different struggles we have can be different for everyone and so the curriculum helped bring a revelation of that and just open your eyes to that. Of course that allows you to be more free and go home and be more effective in ministering to others as well. And you know we got a lot of men and women that actually listen to this show and I know I got an opportunity recently to meet your sweetheart there and of course she was quick to say she noticed the changes that had taken place in your attending man camp.
I do want to say this, Kita. The good thing is when I made it back to being her presence after man camp, the Lord answered every prayer that she had been praying and he told her to just trust him. And she just broke down crying when I got back because she said that all my prayers had been answered. So he was working not only on me but on her. That's good. And for any of the gals out there with a special man, I'll just say with a special man in your life, you might want to consider encouraging him to go to mancamp.info and check out the website.
And don't pressure him but just encourage him. Hey, if you ever want to go to that camp that these guys are talking about that I heard about, this man camp, you have my blessing. And for any guy out there, I just challenge you and encourage you to check out the website. Again, that's mancamp.info.
And we do one every spring, every fall down in Little Town called Royston, Georgia. And Lex Luger and I, God gave us the vision for these camps many, many years ago. And of course it's impacting a lot of men's lives but not just the men themselves. Going home and affecting and impacting marriages and relationships between dads and daughters and dads and sons and it's powerful. Well, it is Q&A with Koloff here, Mark.
So let's segue. I have no idea what you're going to ask me but let's just segue into the couple of questions that you have for me and if you want to fire away with your first one. I kind of struggle with that but I really want to, I got three basically and the first one is the power of habits. What's your thoughts on the power of habits? Well, there's all kinds of different perspectives and thoughts on that in terms of when you say the power of habits more specifically. Okay, so the power of habits to keep us from transformation, transforming into what God has called us to be. And how to overcome them? Yeah, how to work with them and how to change them to where you're developing new positive habits. Well, I think my shorter answer on that, that could be a whole discussion for a whole entire show.
Maybe I'll have you back on the Man Up show and discuss that. But I found for me personally, I can only speak for myself in overcoming what I might consider some bad habits is one who I surround myself with, am I around a lot of negative people or am I around or try to surround myself with more positive people. And so just identifying that. Scripture says through the law of association you become a bad company corrupts good character. So if you want to change your habits, change your character, you identify some flaws, you got to make sure you're hanging around the right company. Bad company corrupts good character.
So that would be one catalyst. Of course, just resources and evaluating where I am personally, which I do from year to year. You know, the areas of my life that I think need improvement. In fact, one of the books I wrote, Wrestling with Success, actually addresses that.
Like how do I change some of these habits and or develop better habits. And so in that book there's kind of a checklist of things that it walks you through, some evaluation. So you got to do some honest evaluation of where you see your own faults or flaws. And then last but not least, just being willing to go to work on them.
And then if you'll do those things, I'm convinced or maybe I'll just say for personal experience, I've been able to overcome some of the bad habits I developed over the years and on a better path. So great question. I don't think I've ever been asked that before.
Great question. Did you find it from doing that kind of process, how important is it to have an accountability partner? Proverbs 27 17, as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens the countenance of his friend. And so critical. Again, because that accountability partner, if you're honest with him and you allow him to speak truth to you in love, then that can be very critical on helping you develop into the image of Christ. Correct. And I've got one more. Are you good with it?
Yes, sir. Why do you think people don't ask people to be accountability partners? Why do people tackle change by themselves?
Well, they don't. Many of them don't tackle change by themselves. Again, like going back to what we were saying before, you know, people struggle with people. People do not like change, I have found, as a rule, not generalizing every single person, perhaps lumping everybody together. But much of my experiences, people just do not like change, for whatever reason. And so when it comes to how, you know, why they wouldn't want an accountability partner, again, they don't want to be held accountable. They don't want their feet to be held to the fire, so to speak.
They are more, it seems to be more content, you know, wallowing in whether it's their misery or malcontent, as opposed to wanting to make some changes to where they could be, you know, more positive or more productive with their life. But I'm constantly, Mark, challenging people, you know, to have what I call a Paul, a Barnabas, and a Timothy in their life. And a Paul being an older, more seasoned Christ follower who can speak into my life. A Barnabas being an accountability partner, a battle buddy, if you will, a peer that holds me accountable.
And then a Timothy, a young man, a young up and coming man that I can then in turn sow into and pour into, mentor and disciple that young man. Yes. Yeah. Because that's what I battle with all the time when I'm interacting with people. They just, it kind of stifles everything, puts them on hold when, you know, it kind of is required, you know, an ability partner, if you won't change, you can't manage it by yourself. You, I mean, there might be the exception to the rule out there.
Someone who is so disciplined or well-disciplined. Yeah, that's an exception. I get the exception because rules.
I get that. Yeah, there is an exception. But by and large, you are correct. I found that most or many, maybe I'll just say many people are like, just, you know, we'll keep somebody at arm's length, you know, and or give them the Heisman, you know, when it comes to being called out or really challenged on something that somebody else sees as a potential flaw or fault or sin, sin in their life. Right? Nobody likes to be confronted with the sin in their life.
You know, they'd rather just kind of, if they can keep it concealed and secret, they'd rather, it seems like, go down that path than really be set free. So great questions today. Great questions. So, well, I appreciate you, Mark, and thank you for sharing on the show today. And thanks for your story and your testimony of being an overcomer, man. You are an overcomer and I appreciate you. Well, thank you, Nikkita, and I appreciate you and everything you do and look forward to being close to you the rest of the years we got left.
Well, I absolutely look forward to what, look forward to what the future holds and look forward to how you are going to continue to impact other people's lives as well with your story. So thank you. And to all of you out there listening land, thank you each and every week.
You are so faithful to tune in. Q&A with Koloff and help spread the word and hey, get the word out there on the Man Up show as well. If you haven't dialed in on that, go to the, and get the Truth Radio Network app and you'll get access to all kinds of podcasts and live radio and a host of other things as well. And so until next time, we say thank you for dialing in and I challenge you, go out today and just have a God-blessed but also live a God-filled day in Jesus' name.
See you. 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?
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