Ronnie Raven- A Story of Redemption

Nothing says Christmas like a water buffalo. For a poor family in Asia, getting a water buffalo is like getting a farm tractor to pull a plow, or getting a milk truck full of delicious milk, or getting a stand at the market to sell cheese. A water buffalo opens the door for work, food, and income. More importantly, it opens the door to talk about Jesus.

And nothing says Christmas better than that. campaign. Hello, this is Will Hardy with Man Talk Radio. We are all about breaking down the walls of race and denomination. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few minutes.

Enjoy it, share it. But most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network. A champion for Christ. Once the Russian nightmare. Now the devil's worst nightmare. And your tag team partner, Nikita Kolov.

It's time to Man Up. Back once again, the devil's nightmare, Nikita Kolov on the Man Up Show. And my special guest today, return guest, is none other than, you know him, at least I know him, as the Preaching Machine, Ronnie Dean out in Missouri, the Show Me State. Ronnie Dean, welcome back to the Man Up Show. Oh, it's an honor to be here, champ.

It's a grand slam home run. God's going to touch all the bases today. Well, it's great to have you with us. You know, before we went on air, you had mentioned that you were flying without wings. Will you teach me that one day, how I can fly without wings? I promise you, man, that I will add to that. The Preaching Machine will not only teach the champ to fly without wings, but I also will teach you how to be the raw edition, living on the edge, having the eye of the tiger, a tiger in your tank. And then, a rocket in your pocket, flying without wings, and something besides your feet and your shoes.

Well, I receive all of that. You know, I'm just trying to get this visual, this picture of flying without wings. I'm thinking, maybe my guardian angels who might have wings, I don't know, I hadn't had an angel in county yet, I'm still waiting, Lord, just note to self, Lord, I am waiting. Of course, everyone that I've read about that encountered an angel, many of them fell on their face before God, you know, out of holy fear, right? But, anyway.

Oh yeah, and Champy really touched something there. I believe it's at least 13 times when Aaron and Moses were confronted with something, they fell on their faces prostrate before God, and I'd like to see that come back into the church and the ministry. Well, let's just, okay, let me tag onto that, okay? So, that's a good point you bring up, and how about if we take it one step further, how about if we just see the fear of God back in society? How about we start with that, too? Oh, yes, the fear of the Lord to be gained in wisdom.

That is correct. There's a godly fear, Champ, that all of us need to have. God has not given us the spirit of fear, which is spotted in hell and spewed out of perdition, but there is a godly fear, and that's what we need back in America, our churches, and our personal walk with God.

Yeah, I think, well, and you hit on something else, what just bubbles up in my spirit as you're saying that is when I consider the last, let's just say the last year and a half, we won't timestamp this, we'll just say the last year and a half. What pops up, Ronnie, is the words irrational fear, and so what I've seen both in and out, and in a sense, surprisingly, inside the church is an irrational fear, but like you said, not a healthy fear of God, of awe and reverence and respect for the Creator of the universe. It's more of a cowering fear, you know, to the culture around us. I'm just going to generalize and say to the culture around us, everything that's going on in our culture has caused so many to just cower in fear irrationally, I feel.

Correct, Jeff, that's a grand slam home run. This pandemic and everything that is attached to it is just a fear tactic. God teaches us not to neglect to assemble ourselves together, and this fear tactic from the devil himself also being used by government is to separate us and divide us. It's totally, completely a control element to bring fear to all of us.

Get us a countdown in fear, trembling in our houses, not go out. When God is this exact opposite, according to the New Testament, some of the lepers Jesus prayed for, basically, he gave them an Eskimo kiss, he rubbed noses with them, he reached out and touched them. He had no fear because he knew Jehovah Rapha, the God that healeth, and that his stripes would heal the sick, and God sent his Word to heal the sick. God has no fear of anything that's going on in this world that's being said or left unsaid, and we should follow suit. Well, a word of advice for our listeners today.

What a way to open up the show. Hopefully that's caught the attention of some, and perhaps even some, who have found themselves, whether intentionally or unintentionally, cowering to a spirit of fear that comes out of the enemy's camp, and perhaps they can make a decision to trust. You know, I was listening on my way to the studio today, I was listening to some worship music, I like to do that prior to recording a lot of times, and man, it was just, it was so rich, and it was just talking about the blood, pleading the blood of Jesus, right, over our lives. Pleading the blood of Jesus over our families, and what just resonated in me was, man, as I was even doing that for myself, just pleading the blood of Jesus over my life, and just saying, well, thank you, you know, thank you that the blood of Jesus has cleansed me from all my sins. The blood of Jesus helps to renew my mind, and give me the mind of Christ, give me the heart of, as I like to say, of Abba, of Papa, give me the heart of the Father, and fill me with that unconditional agape love, because perfect love, you said perfect love casts out fear, right?

Yes, yes, amen. And notice a lot of people quote that, champs, say, perfect love casts out all fear, but the word all is not there. It would not cast out godly fear. We serve the Lord in fear and trembling, and one thing you've said there about the precious blood of Jesus, and pleading the precious blood of Jesus, people will say, I rejoice him because my sins are gone, that the blood of Jesus, you know, washed away their sin, but that's an understatement. The reason our sins are gone is because the precious blood of Jesus has cleansed us. When the blood of Jesus was applied to our soul, sin had to leave.

Sin couldn't stay. And that's why we're saved today, because the blood of Jesus cleansed us and washed us in the precious blood of the Lamb, so when we were washed in the blood of the Lamb, sin had no choice, sin had to go. Well, in speaking, again, I'm just, I'm just, that old timey song, man, there's so many good classic old timey songs, you know, what will wash away my sin, nothing but the blood of Jesus, what will make me whole again, right? Think about those, even about those lyrics, what will make me whole again, wait a minute, you mean I'm not whole? No, because of the fall of man, we were separated from God, and a part of man died in the garden, and when they were cast out into the world. And so only, only by that personal decision, a conscious personal decision, acknowledging and recognizing we need a savior, can we be made whole again.

And then, of course, it's all connected to the blood. Speaking of which, Ronnie, we really kind of prompted this call to bring you back on the show. It was a conversation we had had recently.

You had something like, you had a tremendous impact of trying to think of how to set this up. Something happened within your family that you were sharing with me that was just, just really impacted your own life and impacted your family's life having to do with your son. Can you share with our listeners a little bit about what recently happened with your son?

Oh yes, champ. God stepped up to the plate, the bases were loaded, he went yard, and the ball's still going. I just am so thankful. You had ministered in Windham, Maine for my son-in-law and my daughter, Darla Belle, and Darla Belle felt led to come back. She had been back home from Maine to Missouri in three years, and she told me, she said, Dad, God's dealing with me, and I'm on a mission, I need to come back and really minister to my brother Fabian, and I'm going to touch base with all my family, but he's the main reason I'm coming back. And she was going to stay five days, and she spent over three days with him personally, and if Fabian was in a position, he just needed to enhance his walk with God and get where he needed to be with the Lord. And she began to minister to him, and Sunday night she was having her biggest struggle in battle with him as far as him surrendering.

Well I'd been to a service at the Arndale Assembly of God in Arndale, Missouri, and my son, her brother, preached. And Fabian's son, Brendan, was there, he's a Southpaw in high school, and sat right in the front. And when they gave the altar call and we started coming around the altar, Brendan gloriously got saved.

Amen, come on, come on! I mean his feet got off the red hot pavement of hell, and he received a blood transfusion from Calvary, and as far as the east is from the west, his sins had been removed, he had been re-stroked, rejuvenated, and God took a pen of light, dipped it in the ink of his son's red warm blood, and wrote Brendan's name in the last book of life. And I called Darla Belle and told her that, and she immediately told Fabian, said, Fabian, your son Brendan, just gloriously got saved in the service, your brother Ronnie, preached.

And she said he broke, said everything that was being difficult and was really hard, suddenly a sky that's totally 100% brass became a blue sky with birds flying, a rainbow was there set in the clouds, and she said, Dad, everything changed when you called and told me that Brendan, Fabian's son had got saved. The key to Kolov here, if you're needing to buy a car and have marginal credit and considering using buy here, pay here, that's worse than taking the Russian sickle. Winston-Salem motorcars will put you behind the wheel of a car you can rely on while helping rebuild, 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. All feet agree, Clemens Carpet is where you need to be. With carpet, vinyl, tile, and hardwood from the top brands, Clemens Carpet does it right from beginning to install. Voted number one by you in the Reader's Choice Awards. Doug, Chad, Benny, PeeWee, and the team at Clemens Carpet look forward to seeing and serving you soon.

This is Nikita Kolov and I want to thank Clemens Carpet for supporting my new show, Man Up, Saturday afternoon at 1230 on the Truth Network. Oh hallelujah. So from our conversation, just to capitalize on what you just said for our listeners, so your grandson gets saved, gloriously saved at the altar.

Your daughter is in town ministering to his dad, your son, her brother. Okay, follow the bouncing ball there people. And in sharing that news with Fabian, Darla Bell shares that news, it cracks the hardness of his heart, cracks it enough, the door is open for Jesus to come in and then gloriously save Fabian. Am I hearing that right? Yes, champ.

It's letter perfect, homiletically perfect, grand slam home run, that's exactly what happened, champ. So here's what's beautiful about that is, first of all I'm thinking father son, okay, for you son and grandson, but father son now share the same birthday, like for real, right? And I know many times that I have said to many people and our dear friend, the whole package, Lex Luger relates with this as well as our spiritual birth. Like when Jesus said, hey Nicodemus, don't be surprised when I tell you, you must be born again for no one will see the kingdom of God without a rebirth, without surrendering our heart and our life to Jesus and receiving him as Lord and Savior, receiving the Holy Spirit, removing a heart of stone, replacing it with a heart of flesh. And so our spiritual birth for us is way more important honestly than my physical birth. I celebrate that more than my physical birth. Oh, amen.

It's eternal, champ. When you're in the city where the Lamb is the light with Jesus' name upon your forehead and a new name that only you are familiar with and every demon and evil spirit and the devil himself is trying like hog meat in hell forever and ever, you're going to be in the city where the Lamb is the light and that new birth is what puts you there. So, Father and Son get gloriously saved the same day. They share the same spiritual birth date now. You're thrilled because it's your son and your grandson and God is thrilled because it's, in his view, two prodigal sons that have come home.

And let me ask this as well. I know you said the grandson was a sophomore in high school. Just for our listeners, how old is Fabian? Fabian in August will be 42. 42. So, I want our listeners to understand something.

It doesn't matter what age you are. Now, we do know statistically that the older a person gets, it is harder. They get more calloused and more hardened by life and it is harder, you know, to either win somebody to Christ or somebody to surrender their life to Christ.

Not impossible, but it is harder. And so, you know, as evangelists, which we all are, every one of us has a ministry of reconciliation according to 2 Corinthians 5, 5, 17 through 20. So, just recognize, even as you're listening out there, whether you're, you know, have a diploma from a seminary school or, you know, you're changing out faucets, you know, as a plumber or rewiring a house as an electrician or whatever it is you're doing, you know, you have a ministry and can win people to the kingdom. And I'm reminded of something else, Ronnie, that happened recently not long ago at Man Camp.

And our listeners hear me talk about Man Camp quite a bit. And we had a man at Man Camp who was 45 years old, 45, who had, now listen, been in church all his life by his own testimony. I've been in church my whole life, gone to kids camps, gone to youth camps. You know, I'm at church, you know, right? But by his own acknowledgement, he had never surrendered his life to Jesus. 45 years in church, basically his whole life. And the night at Man Camp that he revealed that, you know, I just had a conversation with him and said, do you want to?

Do you want to surrender your life to Jesus? And he just looked at me and said, yes, I do. And he did.

He did that night. And I'm telling you, when it's the real deal, like when someone genuinely encounters Jesus, everything changes. I mean, starting with his countenance, Ronnie, I mean, his, I mean, there was just a glow about him, kind of like Moses coming off the mountain when he encountered God on the mountain.

There was a glow. Yeah, he smiled from ear to ear the rest of the week. And here's the rest of that story, the Paul Harvey to that story. His pastor had messaged me a couple weeks later after Man Camp and said, hey, just want you to know, Shane and his entire family are getting water baptized and, and he is tithing to the church for the first time ever.

Praise God. So for our listeners, evidence of a changed life. And I know Ronnie, you, you came to Man Camp, you've attended Man Camp. Just take a minute, shift gears and just take a minute and, and you know, for some, you know, one of the men listening out there or one of the ladies listening out there, it's got a husband or a brother or a dad or why would a guy want to come to Man Camp?

Take, take a minute and just share with our listeners. Well, the main thing that I noticed, champ, we started, you know, around four o'clock on Sunday and you meet these people. I believe there was at least 20 there that time when we was there. And you, you, you looked at them and you met them for the first time. And some of them, you knew they were hurting. You just knew things weren't right. But between Sunday at 4 p.m. and Friday at high noon, everything in their life that needed to be touched had been touched and blessed and sealed by the Holy Ghost, the precious blood of Jesus, the love of God and the fellowship there and the leadership of you and your staff.

And I was most impressed by the ones that especially was in my cabin. And each night when we go to bed, there was a change. They turn the lights out, some would have their phones on with the light reading the Bible or a flashlight or they'd be texting their, their wife, their kids, their family and letting them know the deep change in their life. And to me, Man Camp changes people. It changes them for the best. When the rapture takes place, we'll be changed. And God is dealing with changing people from evil to good, from the darkness to the light, from guesswork to something positive, from a lackluster of faith to be drowning in faith and pleasing God. I would encourage anyone of any age whatsoever that qualifies to come to Man Camp to go and know you're going to leave a better person than what you was when you came.

Thank you, Ron. That's a great testimony. And just to help our listeners understand, I mean, you've been in ministry for over 50 years and you're, you know, you're 70 plus years young, right? And so, still hungry and thirsty for more of God and so regardless of your age, I mean, you've got to be 18 years or older, but man, if you've got a son, a husband, a brother, a father, a cousin, a nephew, you know, a co-worker, you know, you can go to colof.net, colof.net, click on the link to Man Camp and learn more about that. In fact, you can follow me on social media right there through colof.net.

There's so much you can learn about Cola for Christ Ministries. In fact, I just reminded my man Robbie in the studio with me today who's so gracious to help me with this show. I just remember, was actually at that Man Camp and witnessed the transformation of Shane there that day and the rest of that week. And so, yeah, so, and let me just say, since I've been sitting here.

Come on, Robbie, come on. You know, it's funny that... It's one thing to counselors, there's safety and witnesses. God always has witnesses to what we're trying to perform and confirm and I would say this to any of the ministers out there that are interested in coming to Man Camp, let me put some fuel on your fire. When I went to Man Camp, I didn't go in as a minister, as a declared man of God or a man of the cloth. I went in as a humble individual, equally healed with everybody else, saint, sinner, backslider, lukewarm, those that were on fire for God. I went in as an individual, hungry and thirsty for more of God and I left a greater person and it enhanced my ministry, even though I didn't go in as a minister, I just went in as a hungry soul, thirsting for righteousness and more of God. And when I went in, you know, I was with people who were looking up to see the bottom. Right, all walks of life, all walks of life.

Yes, all walks of life. When I left Camp, I was flying so high, I had to look down to see the top. I understand. Hey, Robbie, what were you going to say? Robbie's going to say something here. Yeah, I couldn't help but know that he was talking about in the bed at night. Well, guess whose bed was right next to mine?

Who? Shane. When he talked about a changed life, I remember that first night listening to him talk to the other people. You know, there's this thing, it's called posing. Men do, especially when they first meet other men. And I was just quietly sitting in the other bed because, you know, like Ronnie, I came in just as a camper and I wanted to, I wanted to chase after the heart of God for just be unknown by anybody. And so I experienced that. But then I wish you could have heard that man two nights later. I mean, when he came to bed that night and the way he talked and the questions he asked. And just like you said, Ronnie, it was so clear that there had been a major change in his calendar. There was a smile on his face and there was a joy. Yes.

That there was some freedom there that you could taste. That's awesome. Well, thank you, brother. You just threw fuel on my fire as well. Well, Ronnie, we only got just a few seconds left here, but let me, I mean, as you can tell, man, the time just flies on these shows.

But listen, I'm excited. I appreciate you coming back on the show and sharing that testimony about your son, Fabian, your grandson. I mean, Darla Bell, God bless you.

Darla Bell, you're listening out there to this show. God bless you for being obedient. Being obedient. God put it on your heart to go talk to your brother and minister to him. And lo and behold, through your obedience, there are jewels in your crown as your, not only your brother, but also his son, now have their name written in the Lamb's Book of Life.

Praise God. Ronnie, man, you know, I have such a love in my heart for you. You're such an amazing man of God. You've been a real spiritual father to me over the years. And I just, on public record, just say thank you for just investing in me and pouring in me all these years. And I'm a better man because of you and my life. So thank you, Ronnie. I received that, champ. When Elijah and Elijah met, they didn't have a clue what God had in store for them.

And then Elijah really doubled what Elijah had already done. And when we met, God knew, neither one of us did, but we know now and we see the big picture. We're looking down from, we're not looking at ground level, but we're looking from above. And, champ, you are so special and very precious to me. And I'm 24-7 for you and always will be.

Well, I appreciate it. If you're listening out there today, listen. If you have yet to surrender your life, like really, maybe you're like Fabian or maybe you're like Shane, you know, at the man camp.

You've been in church all your life, or maybe you've never been in church, but you've never surrendered your life to Jesus. I just want to encourage you today. Just pull over your car or wherever you're at, in a hotel room or wherever, and just make that decision. It'll be the best decision ever in your life and surrender your heart.

And then shoot me an email through coloff.net and let me know you made that decision. Thank you for tuning in to the Man Up show once again today. We'll see you next time. Men, I would like to challenge each of you to consider spending five days with Lex Luger and I at man camp, pursuing the heart of God. Ladies, if you're listening, we'll send your men home better equipped to be men of God, godly husbands, and godly fathers. That appeals to you. Give them your blessing and encourage them to sign up today at mancamp.info. Pastors, if you would like to bring Koloff for Christ Ministries and Man Up Conference to your community, go to koloff.org and email me.

Remember this, it's time to man up. Now key to Koloff, the Russian nightmare here for Crescent Automotive. If buying a car is a nightmare for you, my friends Brian and Jamie Johnson at Crescent Automotive make it simple to find your pre-owned dream car with no hassle, affordable windshield pricing. No matter where you live, they will get your American dream car to you baby. DriveCrescent.com is all you need to know. There are whole inventories right there with the right price.

Everybody drives a Crescent. You should too. DriveCrescent.com. 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.