A Life Changing Experience

You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com. This is the United States Champion. And he became my personal savior. Ladies and gentlemen. The following contest is set for one flaw.

Introducing first from Lithuania, he weighs 123 kilos, the Russian nightmare, the Kita Kola.

Now, the Devil's Nightmare. Welcome back to another episode of It's Time to Man Up. Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back. I have a question for you. How many of you reflect back on your life?

Currently, How many of you... Can think about a life Changing experience.

Well, my guest today has several. that we're going to discuss all the way from the great state of Delaware, Haas, Pia Secchi, welcome to the Man Up Show.

Well, thank you very much. Glad to be here.

Well, great to have you with us. And I hope I didn't butcher the name too bad, Haas. Not at all. Not at all. I nailed it.

Did I nail it? That's what I did. You did good. Wonderful.

Now, obviously as I mentioned there, just in the in the quick opening, you're up in the great state of Delaware, and that's actually where we originally met, right? At maybe a conference or something, or I came to the church. How did we first meet? Refresh my memory. Yeah.

Well, you and I met you and I were hooked together by a mutual friend, Frank Shelton. He had come up to our church to do a weekend. uh introduced you and I uh I got invited to come down to man camp. We did that, and then I had you up to do a men's conference at our church.

Okay. All right. Yeah.

So we uh I knew we had had a number of of of of different uh Encounters there and things that we had, if you want to say, tag team on, right, and teamed up together. Of course, Frank Shelton, no stranger to the Man Up Show and also to Cole Love for Christ Ministries and to Man Camp as well. You know, Frank and I have been friends for a long, long time. How long have you and Frank known each other or been friends? I met Frank probably about six months Before you and I, I came down to meet you at Man Camp.

So it's probably been three and a half years, four years.

Okay. Okay. And so I'm excited to share your story today. There's a... Yeah.

to discuss and Presently, let's just start here, presently in Delaware. Let's just tell our listeners what you're currently doing and then we'll kind of backtrack a little bit and tell tell some of the backstory.

Okay. Uh right now I am Associate Pastor at Iron Faith Fellowship Church. Uh our churches 13 years old. My wife and myself, and two other couples, actually started it in a gentleman's kitchen in Newport, Delaware. Decided that there was a need for a Bible preaching stand on the rock.

kind of church and six of us met in his Uh kitchen. And within about twelve weeks, God provided us with a facility to rent. We met in a community center for five years, and then we were blessed to. be asked to come and join with the church, the campus where we are now. was struggling and asked us to come alongside them and That's the Iron Faith Fellowship that you were introduced to.

That's what we have grown into and thirteen years. We started with six and we're up to about one hundred thirty five a service. That's amazing.

Well, that that is uh Uh I For me, that's a true God story, right? I mean, you start in a start in a kitchen. Come on now.

So, maybe over a meal? Was it over a meal, Haas? Yeah, of course. You know, we like to eat. You got to include food, right?

Food's got to be included. Yeah, right. Got to not. That's right. Wherever there's ministry, food has to be included.

It's just a given. That's a given.

So it is kind of funny, though. You know, the old adage: you know, if you feed them, they will come, right? It's kind of like if you build it, they will come, right? But so, well, that's that's amazing.

Well, first of all, congratulations on 13 years and 13 years and going strong, right? Yeah, just growing. And I just attribute that to us being a faithful, Bible-believing church. We don't tickle ears, we address situations, and people respect and appreciate that. Yeah, I I agree.

They really do. And of course, you know, I I travel travel all over the country, travel all over the world, but it's interesting uh as I watch the the you know the The church at large, yeah, just how many ministries it appears get kind of sidetracked and water down the message. And so, kudos to you for maintaining that integrity of the gospel message. And I agree, I believe God does really honor that when we do that. And because we got to give people the truth, right?

The full truth. Absolutely. correct. Yeah, not just part of the truth. We've got to give them the full truth.

Now, let me ask you this: so, what types of things, so as you've grown from six to approximately 135 over the last 13 years, and of course, the foundation of Be in the Bible, so it's not you got a biblical world view that you're teaching your congregants. Are there things, Haas, that you're doing for your community outside of the church walls, you know, or is it just mainly what you're doing inside the church walls? No. Um Pastor Randy and I have been blessed with a group of people that do And ever since I came to know the Lord, I've been a go-out-and-get-em kind of guy. I like the street ministry.

My wife and I, after we started Iron Faith Fellowship, God gave us a heart for the homeless. And we would go down and we have a ministry called Divine Threads That started out as she and I just going out to the homeless and handing out socks and scarves and gloves and hats in the winter. And it has been blessed to the point where we have an entire room at the church. With Thousands of articles of clothing, and my wife and I are able to make appointments and go down there and help the needy, help the homeless. they come and they can take as much clothing as they need for them, for their families.

We have a lady that's been in five times that has sent three twenty gallon trash bags at a time to her family in Ukraine who were fighting in the war.

So this ministry that God put on our hearts is reaching around the world. Just supplying clothing for those in need. That's amazing.

Now, is it still just you and your bride, or have you had. Obviously other volunteers that have helped out. Yeah.

Yeah, people from the church have Just stepped up to come alongside us and help. My wife has gone through some health issues.

So she can't drive anymore and it's hard for her to get there and people, ladies and men both. have really come alongside her And stepped up to help us get this ministry out around the world. That's amazing.

Divine threads. I love that. And how long have you guys been married? My wife and I have been married Thirty-six years. Wow.

Well, congratulations on that. That's a milestone of its own in today's world.

So congratulations on that. Yeah, unfortunately. But Nikita, I love her more today than the day we met. And it's because we have a God-standard marriage. Yeah, so he's the anchor to it, right?

Absolutely. You know, I'll I got Hopefully we get Yeah. Yeah.

We're blessed. And uh tell us your your lovely bride's name. Uh her name is Christina. Christina, all right. Yeah.

Well, that's pretty amazing.

Now, you mentioned, so I love the go out and get them attitude, you know, and, you know, getting outside the four walls of the church, obviously equipping and empowering those who are on the inside, but then to go outside and make a greater impact, as you just said, with divine threads, you know, reaching, now reaching around the world. And You mentioned, you know, coming, you know, surrendering your life to the Lord. I know that you accepted Christ at age 23. Yeah.

What led, Haas? What led to that uh that decision? If you don't mind. No, I loved I love it. Um I was involved in drugs, alcohol, pornography.

you name it. And I was living large. I had money. I had was happy with my life. And one day, my brother and sister-in-law called me and asked me if I could help them move some furniture into their house.

And they were in a tiny house end of a row, just starting, they were having their first kid. And I said, okay. And when we were moving the furniture, he told me that he was taking in a pregnant woman. Who needed help and needed a place to live. And that made no sense to me.

I was fully of the world. I said, why are you doing this? You barely fit in your house now. And he told me it was because God put it on his heart. And for years, he and my sister-in-law, and my sister and brother-in-law preached to me and I wanted none of it.

But when I saw my brother and his wife, living their lives. The way God instructed them to live it, not teaching, not telling me about it, showing it to me. I asked some questions.

Now that I look back, some really silly questions. But The next day, that night, I went home and prayed, personally prayed for the first time. went back the next night to ask my brother some questions, and he opened up those sixty six books And told me why he and my sister-in-law were doing what they were doing and I got on my knees. He prayed over me and I accepted Jesus Christ into my life. And everything went away.

I was happier. Just knowing that I knew God and that He loved me than any of the drugs or alcohol or women or any of that stuff could have provided for me. Which which those things are nothing but a at best a temporary thrill at best, right? And In my mindset now, not even a thrill. Having a relationship with Jesus.

Yeah.

Well, there's always. Good. I always told my family, and they knew it, that I'd be dead or in jail by the time I was thirty. Hmm. And through the actions of two people.

At twenty-three. It saved my life.

So you used to make that statement. to your family, I I'll I'll be dead or in jail by the age of thirty. All the time, and they know it. Wow, because of the path you were on, right? Because of the path you were on.

Yeah.

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You're listening to the truth network and truth network.com. And you know, a very important quote that that you said, that you shared with me. And really to our audience just now, but it bears emphasis on the quote from me: My brothers. Walk. Not Words is what showed Christ to me.

That's a powerful statement, Haas. It it's ab I wanted none of the words, Nikita. It just pushed me further away. But when I saw them living their lives and being faithful I wanted that. I wanted it.

Yeah, you saw it lived out alive and live living color, right? And which brings up a great illustration for our listeners, and that is, you know, the challenge always for all of us, any of us, is to be Jesus with skin on, right? In other words, Amen. I mean, certainly there's appropriate times to, you know, maybe share a scripture with somebody or, you know, really speak into their lives, but more than anything. You really drive home the point that it's important to actually live.

What we say we believe. In other words, walk the walk, don't just talk the talk, right? Correct. Wow.

Well, that's that's a that's a powerful part of your story.

So age twenty three and and and you w what year was that, Haas? Hey. What year? Uh Uh testing your math here. 1989.

Fast forward all these years later. And here you are still strong, walking with the Lord and strong as ever, right? Yeah.

What would you attribute? What would you attribute? Okay, on that note.

So, you give your life to Christ at 23. It's a real encounter, it's not just words. It's an actual encounter because of Your brother and sister-in-law's witness and how they were living their life. And and you fast forward all these years later. In a nutshell, what would you attribute your faith?

being stronger now Than when you first believed. Just give us a couple little bullet points or a little nugget there.

Okay. Uh one of them was my brother uh was my spiritual mentor. Um he Um God called him home eleven years ago. But my sister-in-law, through his passing, through all of the struggles, never wavered. And The people in my life that were influential are real.

None of them have fallen away. None of them were. Just words, not actions. I was blessed. with a group of mentors to raise me up God used people in my life.

And I will tell you of late one of the things that really kept me was my experience with you in Atlanta. at the man camp. Not the man can.

Well, that leads right into really something you said to me regarding that as two. When you said how greatly it impacted your life, in fact, the way you said it was that it impacted my life like nothing else.

Now, obviously, short of your encounter with Jesus, let's qualify that. But you went on to say, I've been to retreats. creation festivals, etcetera, etcetera, but nothing impacted your life like Like Man Camp, take a m a minute or two and just highlight a couple things on on that note. I would love to. I saw, I think if people knew me, even though I do all this street ministry, biker ministry, all that stuff.

I think people would consider me a conservative Christian. I went to Main Camp and I saw and felt the Holy Spirit. In a way. That I've never experienced. I've been to Creation Festival several times.

I've been to Billy Graham Crusades. All of them effective ministry. All of them. Yep. The the Uh Personal experience with the Holy Spirit at Man Camp.

on that blessed ground. watching men in my class watching evil spirits come out of them. Being stripped of everything the world has to offer. and just being there with God. Totally I had a situation after Mancamp.

My wife got very sick. And we went through two years that I truly believe, Nikita, if I didn't have that experience, my walk would have been affected. Mm. Wow.

It equipped you. It equipped you for that then. It prepared you. It prepared you for that. That's what I'm yes.

Not only did I grow and get drawn closer to. what the Holy Spirit truly is. It empowered me for the two years that I didn't see Jesus. I couldn't feel Jesus, but it empowered me to persevere through. Because I knew Nothing like Job went through, but I was going through it.

and I knew that God's promise was that He would never leave or forsake me.

Well, and and the word says, yeah, and the word says, right? I mean, look, life's not going to be a a a walk down a, you know, a path of of rose petals, right? I mean, there are times we're going to be in the valley. We can be on the mountaintop, but there's times we're going to be in the valley too, right? It's just that's part of the journey, right?

Yeah.

Well, and let me just, you know, you mentioned, because what I want to highlight for our listeners is, you know, when you look at crusades and festivals and other, you know, other big events you've been a part of, you know, with most likely thousands and thousands of people attending those events, right? And whereas the difference, when the Lord gave Lex Ulger and I the vision for this, we were intentional to keep it to small, big. Groups of men so that we could do two things: one, provide an atmosphere to have the type of encounters you had, Haas, while you were there, but then also one-on-one ministry, you know, two-on-one, one-on-one, you know, being able to really sow into and pour into the heart of a man and help him walk out, you know, whatever, whatever struggles or whatever it is that he may be going through in that moment of time, right? And then hopefully come out on the other side healthier or healed, you know, from past wounds and those sorts of things. And so that's powerful that you had that type of experience.

It really is. Yeah.

And and I think as attendees of the camp, we come out thinking, hey, you know, this is going to make me be able to minister better, be able to reach people better, and I'm not saying it doesn't. But alongside of that, it also enables you for those valleys. Yeah, there's a lot, right? There's a lot of preparation. And I liken the journey somewhat to.

Down in Charlotte, North Carolina, there's an amusement park called Carwins, right? I drive by that often in all my travels, and I'm constantly seeing those roller coasters and all, you know, the Ferris wheel, just all the amusement rides, right? And it's just kind of a reminder: man, that's an illustration of my life and many of us, right? Highs and lows, and ups and downs, and twists and turns. And that's just what life offers in this fallen, broken world, right?

So then the key in navigating it is to be prepared. Which which you were for that two-year valley you walked through. You were prepared, thank you know, thankfully, through through Mancamp in this case. And you brought up an important word, persevere. You know, blessed is the man who perseveres under trial.

Because, you know, once you've been approved, there's crowns waiting for those who persevere, right?

So. Yes. And so That's for our listeners out there, you know, for the guys out there that are listening to Haas's story, and maybe it's, you know, tweaked something inside of you to like, man, I need to learn more about this camp. I want to find out, you know. Possibly how I can go or at least find out more information.

You know, go to mancamp.info. Simply mancamp.info is where you can find out more information. And you'll see some amazing testimonies there from marriages being restored to relationships with dads and daughters and dads and sons and even some physical transformations. I mean, we've had. half a dozen guys who, you know, God convicted uh them to, you know, take better care of their bodies and because we cover the whole man, physically, mentally, emotionally, spiritually.

Um, and uh great great to hear Um How it's impacted. Horses Personal life and how it might impact yours as well.

So be sure to check that out. Hoss, what dumb so you return back home. And you're fully engaged. I know at age 26, we only have a few minutes left, but at age 26, you start a biker ministry and going out to club members and even outlaw clubs and and Are you still engaged or involved in a biker type of ministry? I am.

I uh Every time I get on my motorcycle, I ask God that I pray and ask God to use me and I. I've had I've built the closest friends anyone could ever ask for through that ministry and didn't matter if you were a riding club, a Christian club, an outlaw club. Um God just opened doors for me and their friendships and memories. that I will never forget.

Some of these people have no interest in even knowing who Jesus is. but they knew that I did. They saw my walk. They built a trust and respect for who I claimed to be because I stood on it. And I have been blessed.

I have done. Weddings, funerals, offered all different club members and they hear God. And it may be the only chance in their lives they get to hear about God, but that's what it took for me. My brother could have been the only chance in my life to truly want to see or hear about God. And I just want to be that vessel.

for those that have no interest and those that have the same love for motorcycles that I have.

Well, and that brings up an interesting point as well. I would equate it to or relate it to, you know, me as a. you know, pro wrestler. And the opportunity or the ability, right, to reach other wrestlers. People ask me all the time, hey, have you know have you been able to witness to uh other wrestlers, you know, guys you wrestled with, or even some of the newer guys?

And and the short answer is yes. In fact, uh I go out to Phoenix every year or most years for a conference called AIM: Athletes International Ministries, spearheaded by Larry and Wendy Karachuk. And over the years, we've had at least a half a dozen, maybe six, eight, ten wrestlers, including Road Warrior Hawk, that in that setting at that conference, you know, gave his life to Christ. And then I took him on the road with me for a year and a half before his passing and began to disciple him and mentor him. You know, you mentioned a spiritual mentor.

Uh there's so much Significance and importance to have that person in our life, right, that can be a spiritual mentor, like Timothy. Young Timothy had the Apostle Paul, right? And It so You're witnessing to that biker world and being one gives you more relatability to them, right? And a more inroad or open door as opposed to, you know, Dr. John or the attorney Bill, you know, trying to go talk to them about Jesus, right?

It's funny you bring that up. When I first was saved, the pastor whose tutelage I was under was a suit and tie. type of pastor. And he would come in and talk to me Because he knew that he couldn't do, even though he was way more knowledgeable than me, way many more years of experience. He knew that God didn't equip him to reach those people.

to use the things I went through in my past. He used my love for motorcycles. As you said, the wrestling for you is the link The motorcycles for me is the link. And if you truly walk and let people see the Spirit of God in you, they will approach you and talk to you and I believe that every person who's saved could do ministry. It doesn't have to be.

some big fancy. If you are if you have a hobby, you can use it to serve Christ. Yeah.

If you have a profession you can use it to serve crush. Yeah, 100%. And we are, you know, 2 Corinthians 5:17 through 20. We are given a ministry of reconciliation, just like we've been reconciled back to Christ. And so.

That's right. Haas P. Aseki, I hope I said that right, right? Iron Faith Fellowship. Before we run out of time, is there a website or something like people are passing through?

What city in Delaware are you guys in, and how can people find out more about Iron Faith Fellowship and what you do? We do have a web page. You can just type in Iron Faith Fellowship. Uh dot com. We're actually in Wilmington, Delaware, but we're in a tiny park called Claymont.

Okay. Wilmington Delaware. Very northern Delaware, almost on the PA line. Yep. Excellent.

And I want to encourage you, if you're ever passing through Wilmington, Delaware, check out Iron Faith Fellowship and or look them up. I'm sure you probably probably broadcast some services live on Sundays too, right? Around the world, yep. Around the world. Haas Pia Seci, man, man.

Man camp impacted his life, maybe it will impact yours as well. If you're a young lady out there, got a significant other husband or a boyfriend or someone in your life, just consider encouraging them. I tell all the ladies, don't don't browbeat them, just encourage them. Say, Hey, have you ever wanna go to that man camp? You have my blessing.

Hoss, thanks for being a part of the show today. Thank you for having me. And to the rest of you out there, you know my challenge each and every week. As you're so faithful to listen and dial in, go out today and have a God-filled, but also live a God-blessed day. Until next time.

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.

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Yeah.