This is the Truth Network. Are you a NASCAR fan? Are you a racing fan? I know some of you are a wrestling fan, but are you a racing fan?
Well, with me today, don't go away. We're going to talk about NASCAR and some amazing stories of transformation, redemption, and restoration. This is It's a United States champion. And he became my first one. Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is set for one flaw.
Introducing first from Lithuania, he weighs 123 kilos, the Russian nightmare, Nikita.
Now, the devil's nightmare. Welcome back to another episode of It's Time to Man Up. Always a pleasure to be in studio, but not in studio by myself, in studio with. A special guest.
Well, Every guest you've heard me say week in and week out. Pretty much is special in my eyes. And today, there's no less than Bill Hitchcock's with us today and another special guest. Bill, welcome to The Man Up Show.
Well, thank you. It's great to be here and I'm honored.
Well, and it's a privilege, Bill, to have you with us. And we've gotten to know each other just over, I guess, maybe over the period of last maybe couple of years or what would you say? October 2024, Man Camp.
Okay. But I had met you a year before that. At one of the churches that you did a man camp deal with. It was probably an invite for man camp. Man of conference, probably.
Correct. And in fact, yeah, because, yeah, I've seen you. I've frequented He's a Live Church there in Kannapolis, North Carolina, a few times, which is where you attend, yeah. Correct. That is absolutely correct.
Yeah, and I kind of remember the. I briefly remember the conversation in the foyer one, I think it was maybe one night or something, where you came up to me like, All right, all right. I guess I need to go to that camp, or I'm going to go to that camp or something. I don't know if guys should kind of been on your back to go, or you have at least contemplating it. I got the impression.
Yes, that's correct. I uh. My heart Was set to go actually in the spring, and then I believe either.
Something came up medically with my wife. or something to that effect and I couldn't attend in the spring so I I promised you I'd be there in October. And you are a man of your word. Amen. Amen.
You are a man of your word. You did. You gave me your word you would be there, and you came. And we'll dive more into that. Because really a number of the guys there at He's Alive Church, of course, Pastor Bill Coleman is not only a camp alumni as well, but he comes back and he's been back several times now and actually on staff and does some of the teachings.
And of course, he co-pastors with Brother Mark there, right? Correct. Yeah. At He's Alive Church. And they kind of trade off, right?
Like week to week, more or less? They trade off and then they do services together.
Okay. Kind of tag team? Yes. Hey, I know about that. I know about tag teaming.
And it takes a great amount of... Um They have to be gelled together spiritually. Right. And they do an awesome job with it. One will start, the other will finish what the other one's doing, and back and forth, and just great, great.
Spiritual conversation. That's pretty unique because I have to say, I don't know of many. Churches that do of that, that do that. In fact, I'm just trying to think off the top of my head. I don't know I could even name another one that literally does that in one particular service.
They bounce back and forth with each other. That's amazing. Yeah, and it obviously is spirit-led because if it wasn't, it wouldn't work. That'd be a disaster, I think. I would envision.
Well, let me say this about Pastor Bill Coleman. Probably one of my outside his wealth of knowledge, you know, I tease him and call him the professor. Right. Because he wears so many different hats, right? He does online teaching with a college in Atlanta, does a lot of the men's stuff there.
I mean, just a lot, right? And But one of my real highlights is the Christmas production that you guys have done over the years, of which I've attended a number of them. And I have to say, he makes a pretty good Elvis Presley. Yeah, he's just saying. I tried to get Bill to allow me to wear the other Elvis costume because he has a black one and a white one.
Okay. And it didn't fly over well with him. I thought maybe we could do a double Elvis, but he was unimpressed with that idea. He's like, maybe not. Maybe not.
Well, it's been great. Great, like I said, getting to know uh A lot of you guys. And of course, you guys have been big supporters, not only in attending man camp, but big supporters and coming back and helping to serve. And of course, more recently, we had our very first ever Man Camp reunion that you and Bill and some others were a part of. Michael and some of the other guys, I think Craig Harder and just a number of you guys.
What was that? Just take a minute. What was that, like the reunion experience? It was, you know, it's not a camp. It's just, hey, we're going to get together and have some activities, have some fun.
Did you enjoy that? Oh, absolutely. It was. Such a blessing to see men just pouring into other men. Uh just Everywhere you look, there were couples or three men and praying and people's needs being met.
And it was just a true blessing to be there. And a lot of guys told me they really enjoyed the variety of activities blended with the free time to really get because my challenge to guys was: hey, go find somebody you just like you don't know. Introduce yourself, and here's a series of questions. And over the course of the weekend, get to know that person.
So, did you make maybe a couple new friends while you were there? Yes. I made three. Three to five new friends. Uh I I went to Chris And um Who was obviously on the cook team?
So as it was, you put me on the serving team with the cook team.
So it it worked out great that we were together and serving together.
So that was awesome. And and I went to a couple other guys, John, uh My son has dealt with addiction, and it's funny how I ended up speaking mostly to people that had. overcome addiction with Jesus Christ in their hearts and lives. Wow. Wow.
So God just divinely kind of directed you towards other guys at the reunion that in the past had struggled with similar things. Absolutely. Wow. It was amazing how God will pair up people that You know, uh, total strangers. Yep.
You know, a lot of the guys I didn't know from other camps, obviously. And, uh, How God pointed me to Chris and then He pointed me to John, and just yeah, amazing testimonies.
Well, now, Bill, have you so have you always, you know, I guess I'd ask you this way, uh, been a Christ follower? Or let me hear just a snippet of your story about like when did Christ become real for you? Did you grow up in the church? Did you, what was your, you know, your family life like way back when? Or I was absolutely unchurched.
Okay. I was raised. I grew up in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada. Oh, wow, you are a Canuck. I didn't know that about you.
Oh, I am a Canuck. Yes, that is correct.
Okay. I was involved in auto racing. Where in British Columbia? Victoria, British Columbia. Victoria.
Which is Vancouver Island. The only way to get on and off Vancouver Island is a ferry boat or an airplane.
Okay. Now, a little quick side note: I don't know if you know, but Uncle Ibon was from Vancouver, British Columbia. Oh, wow. Did you know that? No, I did not.
He was from, yeah, so not the, but Vancouver south. Vancouver's the mainland crowd. Yeah, so when people would say, is he really Russian? I'd say, not really, but he was closer to Russia than I was. There you go.
That's correct. Right? Just he migrated from Alaska.
So, anyway, I'll keep going.
So, so he grew up in British Columbia. Correct. And my mom always told me. That the only thing the church wants from you is your money. Yeah.
So that's how I was raised.
Okay. Uh thinking I had that I mean the last thing to come to church as a Christian is your wallet.
So that stigma for me was a hurdle to overcome. But I was involved in NASCAR. on the West Coast in uh I had won two NASCAR championships in 81 and 82. And my dream and my life goal was to come to the East Coast and be a race car driver.
So, Um I found out real quick That What you pursue is very selfish in a lot of ways. And it took a toll on my wife and kids. Obviously, we loaded up and moved from Canada. to North Carolina. It took us years to get a green card and get here legally.
And so there was that struggle. But it was when we left my mom and dad and her parents on the porch and put the kids in the truck. and drove away and left him crying on the porch. If my wife had said turn around, I would have turned the truck around. Yeah.
But as we got farther away, something was pulling me to North Carolina. And I realize now it was God. It had nothing to do with NASCAR. It was all God.
So, like, he's used. In a sense, wrestling for me to bring me to the foot of the cross. He used NASCAR for you to bring you to the foot of the cross. Correct. Wow.
Wow. And I had built a brand new race car here in North Carolina. and spent every penny I had, and I was in debt, seriously in debt, and went out the first practice and the motor exploded. And that put me...
well into debt and I don't know if God was using that to humble me, but it certainly put a damper on racing for a while. Yeah, because I mean, I don't know a ton about it, but I know it's an expensive sport. Oh, especially if you're a driver or trying to keep that car up and a motor explodes or whatever else, it could be incredibly expensive.
Nowadays, the motors are incredibly expensive, $75,000 to $100,000, some of them. For a motor. Yeah. Wow. That's amazing.
And so one point, so you reference your family.
So tell us a little bit about your bride and your family. Um My wife, uh July twentieth 2016, the doctor sat us down and said that she had. Stage 4 metastatic breast cancer.
So, uh, metastatic meaning that it has spread from her. breasts to her bones. At that point, I was a Christ follower, and I had been on a couple missions trips, one to Guatemala. where they taught us to lay hands on people and pray over 'em.
So Less than 25% make it five years. She is, her anniversary was just a few weeks back, a week ago, and it was. Nine years. Come on. Amen.
So, God has graciously, with His tender mercies, blessed us with. Her well-being and health, it hasn't been easy. She's had several surgeries. Two brain surgeries, one uh half her colon removed because of the chemo had destroyed her her stomach, but uh As of right now, every test they've done, every medical procedure, brain scans on it, there's nothing. They can't praise.
Praise the Lord. They have found nothing new, is what I should say. Absolutely nothing new.
So praise God. Wow. That is an incredible story. And you mentioned children, so you packed up the children. And just tell us real quick about your kiddos.
Yeah, Jonathan's forty and Amanda is thirty-five. Jonathan. has struggled with addiction. Obviously He's doing real well right now. Um A wise man at church told me If I Uh Got baptized, accepted Christ, and got baptized that my family would follow.
And I'm blessed that both my son and daughter, my daughter's 35, Amanda. Are both saved? Um Both granddaughters are saved. And they've all been baptized.
So... Uh their eternal destiny has been changed completely just because of my confessions and obedience to God and uh coming to Christ. Yeah. You coming to Christ and Christ bringing you to North Carolina, North Kakalaki is some people refer to it, right? Absolutely.
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Now, just out of curiosity, and that's incredible testimony. Are you still involved in NASCAR or no, or just kind of dismissed that a while back? A while ago? To be honest, I don't even watch it anymore.
Okay. probably five years since uh I mean I'll see highlights here and there, but It's actually quite stress-relieving not not being involved and not worried about who won and who didn't and who said whatever and all the You know, all the drama. Uh, much like wrestling, you gotta have drama.
Well, I I I right. Uh, I gotta I gotta tell you this real couple of things real quick. One, uh, true story, when I first came to the South, somebody asked me if I knew what the three R's are, and I'm thinking, Well, I'm a college-educated guy who doesn't know that, reading, writing, and Arithmetic, right? They go, oh, no, no, you're in the South. And they said, with this vernacular, I'm not making fun of anyone, but they said, well, here in the South, there's racing, wrestling, and religion.
I never heard of that. Yeah, I was like, for real. They were like totally serious.
So, like, okay, NASCAR, pro wrestling, and the Bible Belt, right? Yeah. That's awesome. Racing, wrestling, and religion. You know, now, and then the other thing I have to state for the record: so I went to one NASCAR event there at the Charlotte Speedway, Coca-Cola 600.
Right. And I was in the Coca-Cola Suite. And and I guess what took me back was the only time people were interested in what was going on on the racetrack is if there was a crash. Then they raced to the windows to see what was going on. I'm like, all right, I don't get it, but okay.
For the record, a few years back, I had the opportunity to go to the Daytona 500, but be in the pit. And I have to say for the record, I wasn't impressed in the Coca-Cola. 600 sweet. But I was very impressed in the Daytona pit because that was Bill. fascinating to see The technology and measuring these cars out and testing the aerodynamics and watching them work on them in the pit and in the garages and then watch being able to watch one of the races from the pit was a was a the experience was a hundredfold better for me.
So yeah, still hadn't made me a racing fan, but anyway. It just the physical demand on the drivers. How synchronized the pit crew has to be and tire ch changes and You know, I've seen guys hit on pit road and stuff.
So it's crazy. It's dangerous, but it's exciting. Yeah. Yeah. At the same time, right?
So that would be.
So the NASCAR would would could we classify that as gu some of your your world success, would would we say? Yeah, absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah, that. Um You know, I I uh We chase after things.
The world view. You know, the more you got, the guy with the most toys wins, and that's a lie from Satan. You know, what we find is That Our hearts, no matter what we obtain, just like NASCAR. the level I was at There's always another step up. and then another step up.
And you finally reach Winston Cup, which is whatever they call it now. The big series, the big time. Yeah. And then Your goal has to be to be the champion. And you find out You know, you see some of these guys, they're six, seven-time champions.
Well, sooner or later that's got to get a little boring. Yeah. You know, you've obtained what the world view says is greatness, success. Yeah. And you're still left empty.
And I found the hard way by almost ending up in divorce that the hole in your heart's God shaped, and He's the only one that can fill that hole. We try to fill it with. You know, sex, pornography, alcohol, drugs, whatever it is. But Jesus Christ is the only one that'll truly. free you of the world view of trying to succeed.
Wow, that's a great perspective. And say that one more time. You said your heart has a what shape? Your heart has a God-shaped hole. God-shaped hole.
And he's the only one that could fulfill. You and I have similar parallels with the racing and the wrestling, correct? And you know, running in those circles are very similar. In fact, I found, maybe you would agree with this, that over the years that. They're such a one-of-the-same fan.
Like racing fans are russian fans, and russian fans are racing fans. Yeah, do you find that to be true? Or I think most people want to see. The Underdog Win. Right.
So, you know, for me in NASCAR, I always cheered for the guy that had no money. That was just me because I came from that. I knew exactly what that guy was going through to try and succeed.
So, you know, for me when the engine blew up, my whole support system from Canada my brothers that helped me get to where I got to. in racing by winning two championships on the west coast.
Well, obviously I was here in North Carolina by myself. And my my wife's exact words to me were When are you going to get tired of rolling that boulder up the hill and having it fall back on top of you? And I was like, Wow, that's... And I was very self selfish. You know, you have to be very selfish to succeed.
And the damage I did to my marriage was... I was going to say, you just made a reference that it almost cost you your marriage. Oh, absolutely. I ended up.
Well, to make a short story or a long story short, I mean, I ended up standing in another man's living room with another man's wife and I had to With all I mean I wanted sex with this lady and she was You know, she promised things that my wife would never do and I was just you the temptation was overwhelming. But at that point My wife had flown home. to Canada for a funeral for her grandma.
So Satan had per picture perfect fitted this to me. I had Fridays off. This guy's wife had Fridays are. It was so Easy. That it if satanic setup.
And so To shorten the story, I turned around. The guy that actually helped me build a race car was a Christian man. and he was so good to me and it was his wife, and I sat there and thought, How can I betray? This man who has helped me so much by sleeping with his wife, And how can I pile on more hurt on my wife who's at a funeral for her grandmother? And I turned and fled, and the Bible says God'll give you an escape route.
I have told this story to many men, and I can't tell you how many men have told me. I would have never turned around. I would have continued on into adultery. Yeah. But God.
But God. Amen. God God God spared her, your bride. and and spared you of of a of uh the consequences of what would have been a very poor decision. Absolutely.
And and what may have and probably would have led, as you said, to the demise and the destruction of your marriage and devastation of your kids and uh greater devastation for your kids.
Well, and that was one thing that played into my mind instantly at that point was My kids will never talk to me again. Never. They are going to hate me forever. And I don't know why that came to the forefront. in my mind so quick.
But God. But God. Amen. And I tell you right now, guys, sex happens in your mind way before it happens in the physical act. Yeah, it doesn't, and I've said, Bill, and for those listening out there, you know, I'm not, I'm convinced that a guy does wake up and go, I think I'll go out and have an affair today.
No, it's a series of things that happen along the way where you then, in your mind anyway, justify taking that step. In fact, not to highlight something very recently, but it's pretty viral is the whole Cold Play concert and the CEO who gets busted on camera. You know, and the thing about that, Bill, is, and I can hear, you know, I can hear in your heart, you know, as you're describing that, you know, What you would, how that would have crushed your wife and crushed your kids. Oh, absolutely. And I just want to say, for those who are familiar with that whole viral cold play, is you know, adultery is nothing to poke fun at.
No. We make fun of it in our world today, but it's not something to make. God takes marriage very serious and a covenant very, very serious, right? And so it's not really something we should be poking fun at. It is something we should take more.
So we're almost out of time, but I don't want to leave our listeners hanging.
So that it sounds like was a real catalyst in turning your life around. And turning the marriage and all of that, and bringing the family closer together. Yeah, we ended up. Just real quick. three different invites a week after or two weeks after I had walked out of this My best friend's house with his wife.
Two weeks. We got three invites within about four hours to churches, three different churches. Wow. And my wife looked me straight in the eye and said, What do we got to lose? We're going to get divorced anyway.
So, why don't we try church? And the first service I went to, God hooked me. He hooked me. I got up the next Sunday to go to church, and my wife's like, Where are you going? I said, I got to go hear that guy talk one more time.
Wow. And a year later, you know, I gave my life to Christ. But Uh I told my wife everything. I asked for forgiveness and uh Yeah, God took a complete Traffic wreck and turned it around into something good.
So he took what could have been a real tragedy and has turned it into triumph. Amen. As he brought you down that path. How, what a quote, coincidence, Bill, right? That four invites in a matter of short period hours to four different churches.
Man, was God working in your life? Oh, he. That's amazing. I think the fact that I walked away from it is when he showed up. Yeah.
And he knew I was broken. Yeah. I realized I was about to sin against the creator of the universe. I ha let me see. I have had sinned against the creator of the universe.
Not only my wife, but the creator of the universe. Oh yeah, the shame and guilt and yeah, it was rough.
Well, I hope in listening to some of Bill Hitchcock's story today, you have been blessed by... What he has been sharing, and you know, maybe you find yourself, you're a married man, married woman, find yourself in a dire situation presently. Um, as you heard his story, but God, but God, if you have yet to turn it over to God, I just really want to encourage you to consider that as you hear his story of redemption and how God brought the marriage, the restoration. Absolutely. So, Bill's redemption.
Surrendering his life to Christ, and then the restoration of the marriage. You know, if you'll give God a chance, you know, his wife said, What do we got to lose? Let's go to church. If you'll give God a chance, there's no telling. He is what might seem impossible in our own eyes.
Nothing Is impossible. I'll say it a different way. All things are possible when you give God a chance. And so just be encouraged by some of Bill's story today. And Bill, thank you for being here on the Man Up Show.
Thank you for being a Man Camp alumni and a big supporter of the camps as well and encouraging other men to To a common attendance. Yeah, and uh what Nikita was saying about impossible. My wife technically by what the medical people say should not be here. And they are Dazzled and blown away by the miracle that my wife is still here.
So, but God, as Nikita just said, but God.
So He can do it. Five years max, and nine years later, she's still with us. And so God has the final say. We believe in doctors, but the great physician has the final say. And so, hey, if you ever pass in through Kannapolis, North Carolina, Check out He's Alive Church.
I've been there many, many times. I've done conferences, attended many Christmas plays and things that they've done. Check out He's Alive Church, Kannapolis, North Carolina. Until next time, thank you for helping support this show. Spread the word and go out and have 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 colof.net and donate. Could it 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.
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.
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