Tim Sethna- Victory thru Restoration

Hi, this is Joanne Vignare with the podcast It's Storytime, Meemaw, and answered prayer for stories that point children to God. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds. Enjoy it, share it, but most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network.

This is the Truth Network. Once a world champion wrestler, now a champion for Christ. Once the Russian nightmare, now the devil's worst nightmare, and your tag team partner, Nikita Koloff. It's time to man up.

Welcome back. Hey, hey, hey. Nikita Koloff, the devil's nightmare here with the Man Up Show, and I'm excited, you know, as we have rolled into 2022 in a very strong and powerful way, bringing you a message and hopefully conversations that are impacting your life and maybe others who are listening in to the Man Up Show. And I'm excited today to have in the studio with me a friend of mine, and we go way, way back. We're going to talk about that, but Tim Sethna. Tim, welcome to the Man Up Show. Thank you.

Great to have you in studio today. And we do, you know what, we do go back. Let's just cover that for a minute. 18 years old. You were 18 when we met.

Yep. And of course, it wasn't in a wrestling ring, was it? No, it was at your gym.

Oh, okay. It was. At your gym.

And you know, I had different names of it. Like I think at one point it was Nikitas Fortress of Fitness. It was, it was Fortress of Fitness, but I just remember Nikitas Gym.

Nikitas Gym, Nikitas Gym. Some don't know. Some do know, but some don't know that I did have at one point a number of gyms, one Concord, North Carolina, Denver, North Carolina, Fayetteville, North Carolina. I was in partnership with Jean Legan, who was also a professional last.

I didn't know that. Yep. We were, we were partners in that.

And, and then eventually kind of got out of that. And then long story short, just opened a club by myself, which is the one you came to. Okay. Central Drive.

Central Drive. Remember that? Mm-hmm. And so you were 18 years old. Yeah.

So, so tell us about that. I wasn't even, but I think I was walking distance to it. Wow. And at that time, because of the shape that I was in, you know, the only place I ever walked to was, it was from a bed to the bathroom and from, to the kitchen.

And that was most of all. But anyway. Wait, wait, wait. What kind of shape? I belong. Oval. Oval.

Yeah. So I was in shape. It was just round. It was a shape. Yeah, it was a shape, just not in shape. I bet others tell me, hey, round is a shape. I go, it is.

You're just not supposed to be in that shape the way God created us. True. Yeah. Go ahead. But no, and I just, man, I got so tired of it. And at one point, you know, I just got to the point where I thought, I've got to do something about it. When you go into Belk's, and I don't know if you remember Belk's.

I do. At the mall, the worst thing you can do is, the girl that I was dating at the time, we were good friends, but you know, she goes with me shopping and, you know, I'm trying to impress her. And it's hard to impress women when you weigh that much. But anyway, I tried to squeeze on a pair of 44s, and they were too tight. And I thought, oh, man. And so I go back, and guy comes up to me. He goes, maybe you ought to try these.

And he whips up a pair of 52s. No. Yeah.

And I'm just like, you know, is that a piece of drywall or is that pants? And you're 18. 18, yeah. 18, okay. 18. And I just got through with high school, and... Drywall.

Drywall. And so I'll like, you know, just take him out of his hands. And I said, man, I said, don't. And I looked around to make sure nobody saw it, because it was just embarrassing. And I threw it down and walked out. And the girl's wish, she said, you know, what's wrong? And I said, nothing. Let's just go home. And now keep in mind, I had a mean, mean, mean mullet.

Okay. And so think of Osgoode Osborne when he was young and fat, and fatter than what he actually is. And so it's more like, you know, Pillsbury with a mullet. The Michelin Man.

The Michelin Man, right. But I don't think I was that ripped up. And so, you know, I got a little bit irritated and I went down and saw you. And I actually think you might have had hair. I did grow it out at one point.

My own little mullet. Maybe that was as impressive as yours, but... But anyway, so I went in there and met you. But no, it was really shocking to hear you the first time.

Okay. Because I was used to the Russian accent. My English improved quite a bit there. Yeah, but it did. It just shocked me. I thought, wait a minute.

You don't sound like you're from Russia. And I thought, okay, I guess it is a wrestling thing. So you were watching a little bit of wrestling though. Back then, yeah.

When it was good. Okay. So you were familiar with, I like that, the golden era of wrestling, they call it.

Okay. So you were a bit of a wrestling fan. So you were familiar with me by that. You and Ivan, I believe is what it was. Uncle Ivan. That's right.

Uncle Ivan. That's right. And I remember the sickle and everything. Okay.

So go ahead. So anyway, but I... You were shocked in that place. Yeah, I was shocked.

The improvement of my English. I was. But I joined up and the guys that were there, it really helped out a lot. A good friend of mine, Michael Bradford, he was in the powerlifting and bodybuilding and got with him and just really learned a lot. And actually it went from about 335 pounds to I think the lowest weight was ever, it was like 215 or 220.

Wow. She went from 335 down to about 215 or so. And never saw... Because of Nikita's gym. No, all because of Nikita.

Maybe not, but... But you know, there is one thing that you told me and it stuck in my head. And I think Blake, who worked there later on, yeah, Clint Cannon, he was telling me, he said, it's not all about the gym. It's 80% nutrition, 20% gym. What goes past your lips. I try to help people understand that, Tim.

They're like, oh, I work off for $10 a day. I'm like, no, that's just a small part of it. It's nutrition, eating, you know, supplementation.

It's what goes past the lips most important. Well, I think they read what is... Nowadays they read what's on Facebook and Instagram and they're like, well, I got to get the calories, I got to get the calories. Well, you do, but you don't want to get them from Burger King or McDonald's. Right.

Not the right one. Super-sized fry doesn't quite cut it. Not the best calories to get or anything. But yeah, so that's where I met you and got started working out. And I've been a little bit lazy about it now, but working everything. So I need to get back in there. And so you need to buy a gym. I just need to get a gym again. Yes, you do.

Yes, you do. So how about my home gym? I'll invite you over to the home gym. I'll do that.

I'll do that. So at least I'm grateful that I was able to ignite, I would say it that way, ignite a spark in you, an interest for you in better health, which is amazing. And you know what's interesting about that particular facility or that building, I guess you know this, but fast forward a number of years later, because that would have... How many years? That was in 97 when I went there. So it would have been, yeah, about late 80s or so that we had that facility.

Fast forward to 2004. Now, at that point, I'd already sold that business to one of the, actually one of the gym members at the time, and sold the business, just wanted to get out of the healthcare business. I thought, I want to stay in healthcare, but I just don't want to own a gym. I don't want to be confined to four walls, because I was there, Tim, like 10, 12 hours a day, sometimes six, seven days a week, trying to help people like yourself, because I've always just really had a heart for that, a passion for helping people to better health. Initially, physically, prior to 1993, post-1993, that would be my salvation year, then it shifted to want to help people be healthy spiritually, in addition... You're still in healthcare.

I'm still in healthcare. I've been for many, many years. But fast forward to 2004, and I get a random phone call from a guy named Jay Stewart, who actually has been my pastor for 28 plus years. He says, hey Nikita, he says, we're planting a new church. I'm like, ah, that's awesome, Jay. Congratulations.

Yay. So you knew Jay before this, before that. Jay go and I go back to 1993 when I got saved, 17 October 1993.

Yeah, so he's been my pastor a whole entire time, in my eyes. And so all that to say, he says, yeah, guess what building we got? I'm like, dude, I don't have a clue. He goes, we got your old gym building. I go, get out of here. And he goes, no, for real. And I'm like, he goes, God keeps leading us back to this building.

And at the time it had been shut down, although it still had old equipment in it, some equipment. And he goes, yeah, there's even still some equipment in it, some gym equipment. But he goes, we're going to convert it, man, into the Refuge Church. And I'm like, get out of here. And so I felt led to be a part of it.

All that to say, condense the story. I got to literally watch him, that building, physically transformed from a fitness facility, a gym, training physical muscles into a church and watch people get their spiritual muscles trained by Pastor J. And it's just paralleled my own life from what I once was to who I am now. And so God just gave me that physical example. And then so many people like yourself, I can't even begin to tell you, in the 10 years we were in that building before we built a new campus in Kannapolis, that said, dude, I used to be a member here, man. Like your cardio was like right over there. And your free weights were over here. And I'm like, wow. I had actually went there one time and I can't remember what it was, but it was still in the same building.

It had not expanded any. And I'd seen you there again. And it got a shock.

I go back to when I met you the first time. You didn't have hair. You were bald because you were just out of the wrestling, I believe. Okay. Yeah. Still into it. But when I saw you at church, I didn't know who you were because you did have hair.

Yeah. And it was wavy and black. It had some good hair. I had a full head of hair, didn't I? You did. You did. People realize I have a full head of hair.

I just choose to shave it. But I saw you there and spoke to you again. And then periodically, I'd think I would see you at Covenant classical dropping your kids off. Because my youngest son went there for a little bit. Okay. Yeah. Yeah.

Colby, my youngest daughter, and Kendra both went to Covenant classical school in Concord. And that's still there. What a phenomenal education they got. Of course, your son was young when he went there? Yeah.

Yeah. Because they taught him Latin. Like in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, they were learning Latin.

Holy cow. Like, I was still trying to learn English. I don't remember him learning Latin, but he did good. It was tough for him. It's not an easy school.

No, no, it's not. The teachers were phenomenal though. Yep.

The headmaster, all the teachers just loved Jesus and loved those kids. Okay. So we bump into each other there. And then we didn't see each other for quite a while. And then recently we got... Well, there was one other time I saw you at another church during a Christmas play. Was I in the play? You were in the play. Was I playing a soldier or... I think you were playing Jesus. I did play Jesus.

At first assembly, yeah. And I finally caught up with you and my wife. And two boys at the time were there, or I know my oldest one was.

I don't think my youngest one was born yet. And you came up and you talked to us and you prayed for Lawson, my oldest boy. And it meant the world to me.

And I don't know that he really understood who you were because he was a lot younger, of course. But it meant a lot to me. And then I didn't see you for a long time until recently. Until recently. But just a little bit more quick backstory on that. So I played, because that's the church I surrendered my life to the Lord in.

It's called First Assembly of Concord at the time. It's called something else now. But I played a Roman soldier for like three years in that. This is not, like right after I got saved. I was just on fire for God, right?

I want to be in the Easter play. And then back to Jay Stewart again. He had always played Jesus, but for some reason he was going to be gone that year. And so the music director goes, I want you to be Jesus. Now everybody thought he had lost his mind because I'm still about 240 pounds at that time. Still kind of jacked.

Not like the rest of the day. But they're like, who's going to take him off the cross? Somebody's got to carry him off the cross, right? And down a flight of stairs. So I have to honestly say, that thought actually crossed my mind. Like, who's going to carry me down without dropping me on my head?

Because I got to padelic him dead, right? All that to say, that was one of the most humbling things I'd ever done was portray Jesus in an Easter play. You want to talk about humbling?

Like for real, that was one of the most humbling things I've ever had the opportunity to do. Now, Kita Koloff 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 Motor Cars 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 wsmcthenumberone.com because you are number one. 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. And so anyway, but so, okay, so fast forward though, fast forward and we run into each other again, of all places, The Refuge Church, right? Actually just, I'd went there to see a Christmas show. Okay. A year ago. Okay. Speaking of Christmas.

Yeah. And I loved it. And we went back for a service and that's when I heard Pastor Jay. And I was blown away, absolutely blown away. And the music, just everything about it, felt like I was a little bit stale.

And it was nothing against the church I went to before, great church, great people. But it just wasn't filling the fire. I needed something to kind of light me up a little bit. You needed a spark. You needed another spark.

Right. And it did. And, um, and I asked Pastor Jay, I introduced myself to him and I asked him, I said, isn't the kid just still coming here? And he said, absolutely.

And he told me where he usually sat. And, um, so I think a couple of weeks went by and that's when I saw you, uh, spoke to you and I heard about Man Camp, but that's all it was, was I just heard about it and thought I got to look into it. And then I saw you again and asked you about it. And I don't hate me when I tell you this, but every time I tell somebody about it and, uh, I tell him, you know, Nikita came up to me and he kept telling me, it'll change your life.

It'll change your life. And I'm like, okay, you trying to sell me on it. Yeah. Okay.

You know, but you're afraid with me. And, um, but, uh, and of course I signed up for it and went and, um, the, the words, it'll change your life. Doesn't even come close to what it did. Um, and it was an experience that I've never felt. I've never ever been able to let go of some of the stuff that came out of me. Um, you know, when we were sitting down and, you know, we were, I don't want to say confessions, but we were talking. Conversations, just sharing your heart. It made a difference.

And to let that out and to talk about it amongst other men and just, just feel that weight come off of you. It was just unbelievable. And, um, you know, I remember you asked me how secure are you in your salvation? Yeah. And I couldn't answer it. And, um, I'm sorry.

It's all right. And that's when, uh, it just came over me, you know, like a ton of breaks and now it was just something I had never felt before. And, uh, the next day, I remember that night though, and you know, you got 23 other guys that, and I try to explain to people, you know, these aren't just, these aren't small little, you know, nerdy looking, God, these are grown men that, you know, a few of them look like they'd snap your neck.

If, if you said something wrong to them, you know, no, definitely not an orange hat on. Right. And, uh, you know, to see all those men get around you and put their hands on you and pray over you, you know, it just, it was nothing like I've ever experienced. And, uh, the next day when we had a fast day, um, you don't want to give too much away here.

Okay. Well, when I decided to let the spirit lead me to where I was supposed to go, um, and had that alone time, you know, but, uh, is that that one, huh? That was impactful.

Very impactful. Um, like I was saying, there are hidden words to describe what all happened. So, so let me just interrupt you for a second there. So I mean, obviously the listeners, those who will, um, hear this, this broadcast will sense, I believe your, your, your emotion and what you really encountered and who you encountered. And for those out there listening, what, what I want to really highlight just for a quick moment is you'd been in church over the years, cause you've been talking about it. You came to first assembly, the refuge prior to us re-engaging just a year or two ago, whatever the timeline is. But anyway, um, so here you had been in church, but in that setting at camp where you could just draw away, get out of your village, if you will, get away from your comfort zone, comfort zone, away from cell phones and all the distractions that life throws at us in that setting, God revealed himself in a way that you had never experienced before. And would it be fair to say on that day, you drove a stake in the ground in terms of your salvation. And from that moment on, if anyone asks you at this point, are you secure in yourself?

There's no hesitation at this point, right? And you've actually noted the date and the time, I think, right? What was it? October 18th at 8.25 PM.

So October 18th at 8.25 PM. You drove the stake in the ground. Drove a stake in the ground and then you helped me the next day and that's when I got baptized.

Yeah. And that was such a cool experience too, for you to experience water baptism. And I would say to those out there, if you're saved, if you're blood washed, born again, and you've never been water baptized, I want to encourage you to consider doing that and follow in the footsteps of Jesus. I mean, John the Baptist baptized him and he kind of set a precedent for it. Not that that in any way prevents you from entering into heaven, but it's just a step while you're breathing air. It is a rebirth.

Yeah. Well, it's a symbolism, right? So you're saying to the rest of the world, hey, I've made this inner decision, this internal decision, and here's an outward expression of this inner decision I've made to receive Jesus into my heart and I want the rest of the world to know.

And so I'm going to get baptized in water and symbolizing the burying or the death of the old man in the water and coming out new creation in Christ, right? And that's not to say that it's not still a struggle, because it is, but what a powerful story you have. And you know the whole thing about Man Camp, you hear it kind of does sound cliche, it'll change your life, but man, for you, it really did. It really did.

And I'll make this quick comment. I've always believed in God and you had made a comment, I got saved in my mind a long time ago, but it never made its way to my heart. And that's when it finally made its way to my heart. And that makes all the difference. A huge difference. And I think there's a lot of people, unfortunately, that have experienced that same thing, saved in their head, but it's never made the 18-inch trip to their heart.

And so they just battle and struggle with all kinds of different things that they might not have to, that they could be free of, whether it's addictions or just all kinds of struggles, right? And it makes you understand the Bible. I've never read the Bible until now, and now I understand it. Well, because now the Spirit, the Holy Spirit's living in you, like for real in you, not just in your head, but in your heart.

And now it brings revelation so that when you open Scripture, because it's the living Word, even though it's a written Word, it's still alive, and now it's alive in you as you read it. But let me ask you this, too. I mean, boy, we could talk more and more and more about that, but I do want to talk about this, too. I want to transition real quick about your business, because I love the name of it. It's called Victory Restoration.

Right. Man, that just parallels your story you just told. You had victory October 18th, and God restored your life. And tell us real quick about your business.

It's location, and how did you come up with that name? God gave it to me. I prayed about it for a long time, and He led me to do it. I wanted to be able to have something where I could have the ability to help other people.

Okay. And that probably sounds a little corny, but it's just what God put on my heart. But I was with another company, and I didn't leave there because I was too scared. And one of the quick things I was telling you about, I was in Raleigh, and I kept telling God, look, you got to give me a black and white sign. You've got to tell me. You made me this way.

I'm stubborn. Give me a black and white sign that this is what I'm supposed to do. And I leave the office I was at, go to the gym, and a car pulls out in front of me.

Just got a car wrap on it. And on the back window, it had victorysigns.com. And I thought, well, there's my sign right there. Literally, there's my sign.

You know, victorysigns. And so I got to the gym, thought it was that. It was coincidence.

And on the way back, same car pulls out in front of me. And I still stay stubborn, but some things happened, and I finally really paid attention to it. And it's been good. God's been showing me a lot of things. And this year, we're looking forward to a lot of things happening. We focus on roofing and siding.

We do gutters and actually do a little bit of stonework using a different type of method. And so I'm real fortunate with what's been going on. Hopefully, I'll be able to use it to spread the word out there. Be a witness, which I love that. You're a marketplace guy. You're out in the market, but that's where Jesus did most of his ministry is in the marketplace. He didn't hang out in the sanctuary.

He spent time in the sanctuary, but he didn't spend all of his time there or hardly any of his time, really, relative to how much he was out in the marketplace. So where can people find more out about Victory Restoration? Do you have a website or... Yep. You can call Victory, C-A-L-L, Victory.com, or they can call 704-960-6358. Victory Restoration in Kannapolis, North Carolina, but you travel outside of the city.

Mainly the greater part of Charlotte, greater Charlotte metro area. Yeah. Okay. Victory Restoration. Your story is a victory in and of itself and just the restoration. I just love that. Victory Restoration.

It not only is your business name, but it parallels now the journey of your life. And I'm so glad that God reconnected us and you made the decision. It's hard, Tim. It's hard for guys to make that commitment when it comes to... When you ask them to come to camp, like you're saying, yeah, yeah, yeah, you're trying to sell me. Guys don't realize until they actually experience it for... That's what Lex and I will tell people is, look, camp is not just an event. It's an experience.

The only way you're gonna know what it's gonna do for you is to make that commitment and come to camp and find out for yourself what God wants to reveal to you as an individual. So for any man out there, you would recommend it if you're 18 years old or you'd recommend it to any man, no matter what age. What is age? Is that right? It doesn't matter because I'm 53.

I'll be 54 the next Sunday and I don't think age really matters or anything as long as you get it done. But I will tell you one of the things that I try to do, we try to donate. For every job, we try to donate to somebody and part of that I want to do to the Kolov Ministry in the hopes that somebody thinks they can't afford it. I mean, make that call. We'll figure out a way.

Yeah, that's awesome because we do have scholarships and everything else. Tim Sethna, Victory Restoration. Man, I hope you were encouraged by his story today. I know I was and great to have you on the show and I look forward to more victories in your future, Tim.

So thanks for dialing in. Thanks for tuning in to Man Up with Nikita Kolov and we'll catch you again on another episode. God bless you.

God bless you. If you've enjoyed the Man Up radio show and or the Man Up podcast, well, guess what? It's time to Man Up TV style. That's right. You heard me. 2022, the Man Up TV show, the Man Up show on MorningStarTV.com. That's right.

Tune in, dial in to Man Up on MorningStarTV.com. 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, Kiwi 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. This is the Truth Network.