Q&A With Koloff- #101

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Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is set for one flaw. Introducing first, from Lithuania, he weighs 123 kilos, the Russian nightmare, Nikita Kolov. Welcome to another episode Q&A with Kolov, the Devil's Nightmare. Welcome back to another episode Q&A with Kolov, Questions and Answers, and this is so much fun for me because you, the listener, get the opportunity, if you so choose, to get a personal phone call from the Russian nightmare, Nikita Kolov, and get to ask me questions. You know, of course, normally I'm asking all the questions if you dial into the Man Up show ever, which I hope you do. You've downloaded and subscribed to Truth Radio app on your phone and or listen right over the airwaves and the radio stations around the country to the Man Up show, but this show is special because you get to ask me questions, and I have usually no idea what you're going to ask. If you have an interest in doing that, I encourage you to go to kolov.net and just shoot me an email through my website and say, hey, I'd love to be on the Q&A with Kolov show, and we'll arrange it, line it up, and get you on the show. But today, today, today, special guest today on the Q&A show, dear friend of mine, we go back 25 years, a quarter of a century.

Wow, let me just pause and take a deep breath on that one. Ronnie Dean Raven, welcome to the Q&A with Kolov. Oh, honored to be with you, champ, always. Well, Ronnie Dean Raven, AKA, also known as The Preaching Machine, Ronnie Dean. There's a story behind that, I'm guessing isn't there?

Yes, there is. Back in the very early 70s, about 71 or two, I was preaching in Sykeston, Missouri, where you was at back in August. And Gail Jackson, also known as Cyclone Gail Jackson, at that time, in the 50s, was in the top 10 preachers in America. And he come out to the services where I was at. And he hugged me and he, he said this, he said, you got the old time religion. And you are Ronnie Dean, The Preaching Machine. And that's been with me since about 71 or 72.

That's great. And that was, who's Cyclone Gail? Cyclone Gail Jackson. He was in the top 10 preachers in the 50s. And he had tent revivals all over America. And he just was widely known.

In fact, he was from Gulfport, Mississippi. Him and the legendary preacher, J. Charles Jessup, used to preach on street corners. And J. Charles, at one time, was the greatest radio preacher in the world and was declassified as such. And he had four more brothers that preached. One, Byron, pastored in Lexington, Kentucky. But they were just widely known.

They'd fill an auditorium or a tent. And Cyclone Gail Jackson, back in the very early 70s, gave me that name, Ronnie Dean, The Preaching Machine. And coming from him, it was most meaningful. Okay, hold on. Hold on a second. I think you're confused, Ronnie. You know why? You know why I think you're confused? Go ahead.

I'm listening. Because Cyclone Gail Jackson sounds like a pro wrestler, not a minister, not a preacher of the gospel. Are you sure Cyclone Gail Jackson didn't wrestle against gorgeous George back in the 50s? I can tell you this.

Him and J. Charles Jessup walked up on several people during their tent revival when they acted up. So they both qualify. Okay. Well, I'm just saying, you said that.

I'm like, that doesn't... I don't know if I've ever heard of a preacher, a minister called Cyclone. But hey, it's all good. It's all good. The reason they called him that, because his first name was Gail. Right. So they told him, they said, you're not a Cymee Gail, you're a Cyclone.

I got you. Yeah, that's a cool story. Now, Ronnie, you recently... I want all of our listeners to know, of course, you're from the wonderful state of Missouri, right? You're from Farmington, right?

Farmington, Missouri. And of course, we know you get a lot of beautiful children, eight grandchildren, five children, right? Five children, eight grandchildren?

Yes, three boys, two girls, and eight grand. And of course, many of them are in ministry. And I want to encourage our listeners to some time to go listen to the Man Up show where you and I had a conversation, an in-depth conversation about the lineage and the history of your family and all of the ministers and ministry in your family. But I do want to highlight one thing before we get to your questions. Of course, this is your opportunity to ask me questions, but... So we've known each other 25 years, we've done a lot of ministry together, just a lot of things together.

And you've... Of course, you've been to man camp, you've come over to the East Coast and attended our camps in the past, quest events, and certainly been impacted and hungry for the things of God. You recently celebrated a birthday, but you hit another milestone recently. Just briefly tell our listeners about this milestone you hit.

Be honored to do that. What the Bible says, double honored. January the 8th, 1967, the preaching machine preached his first sermon. October the 30th, 2022, Ronnie Dean preached sermon number 10,000. And the first one was comparing Samson and Jesus and bragging on Jesus, and that sermon was entitled, I Am He the Greatest One. And sermon number 10,000 was something greater than Solomon. And Jesus resurrected from the dead, Solomon didn't, and he's alive today. They couldn't keep Jesus dead. And we serve and worship the Son of the Living God, who they could not keep in the grave.

And hell, death, Satan, and all the hobgoblins of the night, and demon incarnates, they couldn't keep Jesus dead. And we'll be like him, for we'll see him as he is. I preach sermon number 10,000, October 30th. That's amazing. Well, congratulations on that.

I'll let that sink in for our listeners just for a second. 10,000 sermons. I mean, I'm like, wow, from 1967, 2022, and I know you got many, many, many more sermons in you, Ronnie Dean.

And I can't wait to quote tag team with you again here somewhere down the road and in the future as we've done in the past, but also into the future. Hey, I wonder if that's where they got the expression. I don't know, this just popped in my head, Ronnie. You know the old expression, you can't keep a good man down?

Yes, amen. I wonder if Jesus was the originator of that, right? You can't keep a good. Oh, I'm sure he was.

They couldn't keep him in the grave. And so I'm just wondering, you can't keep a good man down. So anyway, well, that's pretty amazing. Yeah, that's what the whale said when he threw Jonah up too. Right. You couldn't keep a good man down.

You got a witness there. Well, let's do this, Ronnie Dean. Let's transition here from your story to some of your questions you have for me. And I want to say I'm ready, but boy, I'd never know what to expect from you.

So, but here we go. Let's roll, fire away your first question. All right, champ, I got a cannon today. I sometimes got a double barrel shotgun, but today I'm firing from big guns.

I got a cannon. And I tell you what, I prayed about this, champ. You know, I'm not trying to do anything outside of the leading of the Spirit and the Holy Ghost, so I know you will be able to not only answer, but also embrace till the eyes cross on the eyes cross on these. I really sense God is giving me something that's going to bless you and make you revamp and rethink some things and be even more grateful.

I've got two questions that's really burning in my heart. Number one, champ, when you got saved that Sunday morning, and then God took a pen of light and dipped it in the ink of his son's red warm imperial calorie and blood and wrote your name in the land's book of life, a gentleman come up and told you that he had seen you several years before and he knew this day was going to happen. And as I think, you know, and feel in my spirit and my heart of hearts, to me, I couldn't think of a greater confirmation for God saving me and then calling me into the ministry to preach.

And I would just like your take on that. The question is, how did that affect you on the day that you became a new creature in Christ Jesus and was saved by the blood of the lamb and your name went into the land's book of life, and you knew you were saved, but here you had a human favor, you know, a godly favor, angelical favor, but this was human favor, not just divine favor, you being saved, but human favor. How did that really affect you? Did you have more question marks and exclamation marks?

Did you apply it and just say, my, I'm saved and God just put my name in the land's book of life, but here is a human confirmation. This man saw me years ago and knew this was going to happen and he's here today to confirm it. Well, I appreciate the question and for those who may not know the story, the short version, the Reader's Digest version of that to what Ronnie is describing is a man that, an elderly man that came to me after service and said, you know, I was watching, he said, I'm not a wrestling fan, not here to get an autograph, but I do need to tell you this story. And I was like, okay, you know, it's all ears. And he said, five years ago, I was watching television, surfing through the channel, stopped on wrestling. I'm watching, going, I don't even like wrestling.

Why am I watching this? And you were on Nikita doing an interview and he said, God spoke to, Jesus spoke to my heart and said, these words, quote, pray for that man's salvation. For I have a call to ministry on his life, end of quote. And, and he goes, you know, I didn't even know you were here today. I hadn't been here in several months because I'd just been very ill, very sick.

And he looked sick that day. And he goes, I wasn't coming today, but the Lord just was stirring in me, prompting me, nudging me, prodding me to come today. And then, so I did, and I sat down in the back on the floor and didn't even know you were here till I saw you come to the altar. And then it was, I was like, oh my gosh, that's the guy I've been praying for faithfully, by the way, every day, he said for five years, a guy, you know, he, he didn't even, he didn't know me from Adam, you know, God just said, pray for that man. You know, so for all those listening out there, don't give up praying for others.

You never know when God's going to move. And so truthfully, Ronnie, you know, when he said that that day, I don't, I can't say I knew the full impact of what that meant that day, but now 29 plus years later, looking back on that, of course, having never forgot what he said, I mean, it was in birt, emblazoned in my mind, but also, you know, written upon my heart, pray for that man's salvation, have a call to ministry on his life. You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. Nikita Kolof here, and I am excited. Did you hear the huge announcement, the big announcement?

Well, maybe it's a minor announcement. Anyway, Facebook, go look up my new fan page, Nikita Kolof fans and like it and follow today. If you would like to support Kolof 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.kolof.net and donate today. You're listening to the Truth Network and truthnetwork.com. And little did I know, and I didn't just jump right into it, I had to find out what all that really meant, a call to ministry. And so over the course of the next five years, after October 17th 1993, I was discipled and mentored. Of course, you've been instrumental in helping mentor me over the years and discipling me. And then the Lord opened doors up in 1998, essentially wide open.

So fast forward to present day. And Ronnie, I've preached in over 1,200... I just stopped counting at 1,200 churches. I've traveled to 30 different countries. I've written three books, working on more books. Now I've got a radio show, a podcast, a TV show, The Man Up TV Show, on a variety of networks and Facebook and everywhere else.

And we do conferences, and Lex Luger and I do camps. And I'm just overwhelmed at times when I think about my life journey, not just my wrestling career, but now what the Lord has given me the honor and the privilege of doing these last 29 years from the day I surrendered my heart in life. And so I say all that to say, thinking about it now, even as you ask the question, it's even much more impacting or greater impacting to me now than when it was said the day of.

And so, yeah, it's surreal, Ronnie, though it's just been a surreal adventure, life journey adventure. Oh, amen, champ. It's amazing how God orchestrated that together. And the Bible does not say, when a sinner saves, angels rejoice, but it says there's joy in their presence. And there was joy in the presence of the angels in heaven when you got saved. And it's like Elijah and Elijah meeting little that either one of them know what God had in store. But that has always, you know, impressed me.

It's always been there. It's something very, very special, champ. All these years in the ministry, 54 years, I've never heard a story just like that, where you get saved and washed in the blood of the lamb, and there's joy in the presence of the angels of God in heaven around the throne. And your name's in the Lamb's Book of Life. And a man is there who five years ago witnessed exactly what happened that day. You talk about a confirmation, champ. Yeah, he was, his eyes filled with tears, as he said, God really blessed me today to get to see you, Nikita Kolob, surrender your life to Christ. So not only was it meaningful and impacting for me, it was incredibly meaningful and encouraging to him to know that his prayers, his faithful daily prayers, he got to visibly see one of those prayers answered as the Lord prompted him to come. And he's like, out of all the churches on the planet, God sent me to this service on this day to witness you give your life to Christ. Well, I know you said he had one more question, Ronnie Dean.

What is that question? Well, champ, this involves one person with two talents, and basically two personalities. It would be not exactly 100% to call them careers, but life experiences with two different occupations or callings are being chosen. And the Bible teaches us, you know, like Paul the Apostle, you're a great example of Paul, also Saul of Torsus, that you had a wrestling career, and then you've got a calling, something very special. You've been chosen to preach the gospel, but I believe you were chosen to be a wrestler because God knew, taking you from a pro wrestler and a five to eight-time champion in that sport, and then making you what you are today. He's a creator.

He created a ministry and a minister outstanding from a professional wrestler. Saul of Torsus was killing Christians and persecuting them, but on the road to Damascus, God unhorsed him. He arrested him, and he was thrown to the ground. And he said, Lord, Lord, you know, what's going on? Why am I being persecuted here?

What's going on? And who are you? And he said, I am Jesus of Nazareth, the one you're persecuting. Well, according to Bible history, Paul was there when Jesus was baptized by John the Baptist. You know, we don't have it in the Bible, but Bible history says it. Josephus was there, and Gamaliel, whom Paul learned at his feet, and Gamaliel wrote it in history. Well then, when Stephen was stoned, we know he was there from the book of Acts, and held the garments of them that stoned him, and consented to this, but he remembered Stephen looking up to heaven and saying, I see Jesus, standing at the right hand of God.

I see the glory of God. And he asked God to forgive him for stoning him. Well, when he heard that name on the road to Damascus, I am Jesus, he knew right then. And Saul of Tarshish, the persecutor, and the killer of Christians, became the champion preacher of the resurrection, Paul the Apostle. And even in the early parts of his ministry, people were wary of him because they knew he was Saul of Tarshish, and really had question marks, instead of exclamation marks, about him being saved, and a new creature in Christ Jesus. But later on, you know, he proved that he was. Well, here you had in that same body, that same personality, you had Saul of Tarshish in the past, and you had the champion preacher of the resurrection, Paul the Apostle. And then I look at you, champ, champion, in wrestling.

I mean, a world champion, many times over. And then I look at your ministry today, and how God called you to preach. And when we hooked up 25 years ago, your wrestling, and your name, and your history, and your fame, as a wrestler and a champion, that was carrying you. But 25 years later, champ, your ministry, and God's call upon your life, and the anointing, and your ministry that destroys every yoke, not just breaks them, it destroys them. And how you went all over the world to preach the gospel. That same professional champion is now one of the great outstanding ministers on planet Earth.

And I see that happening. And you're the perfect example of Christ. Jesus said, I'm the Son of Man, and I'm the Son of God. He's called Son of Man over 70 times in Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, as man who got tired and weary, and sat on a well wanting water. But he himself was the water of life.

As a man, he hungered. But as the Son of God, he said there were 5,000 men, and brought 15,000, counting women and children. As the Son of God, he did many great things, but first he was the Son of Man. As the Son of Man, he wept at the tomb of Lazarus.

As the Son of God, he resurrected Lazarus from the dead. And my question is, champs, how do you continue on, your personal viewpoint of this, as an eight-time world champion wrestler, and then as an anointed Holy Ghost-filled preacher that's taking sinners' feet off the red-hot pavement of hell to the preaching of Christ and the cross? You're that two-fold man, too. Jesus was, Paul was, and so is Nikita Kolob. And I just want to ask you, how you're dealing with this, and do you realize the impact you're having on people's lives with both careers?

Well, it's a great question for sure, and one I've never been asked. And I first have to say, I'm incredibly humbled, Ronnie, that you would put me in this. My name would be mentioned in the same breath as the Apostle Paul, who in my eyes is one of the greatest spiritual heavyweights of all time, writing, you know, a large portion of the New Testament. And so, it is incredibly humbling just thinking about what you're saying. I've never really viewed it that way before, or looked at it that way before, but to still be involved in the wrestling community, in the way of autograph signings, WrestleCons, and Comic-Cons, and etc. Just so it's still being involved in that arena, and having the opportunity to pray with and minister to fans as they come up to the autograph table. And sometimes I'm just prompted to pray with them on the spot. Sometimes I pray with them, you know, or pray for them, you know, at other times as the Lord might impress them upon my heart. And so, I've just really blended the two together at this point to where I see the wrestling opportunities and events that I'm a part of as an opportunity to minister, or just be salt and light to the earth, in addition to facilitating a man camp, or a man up, you know, intensive conference, or preaching on a Sunday morning, or a revival, or crusade, or a men's dinner, a men's breakfast, or anything else that I do now. It all kind of honestly blends together, even though they're two separate, as you said, kind of careers, in my view, they all blend together at this juncture of life. And so, incredibly, again, incredibly honored to be a minister of the gospel, as I know you are.

And then to be able to have that wrestling career and now be essentially full-time in ministry and or blend the two of them together is just amazing. And so, your words are very kind, Ronny. I thank you so much for, one, our friendship, the relationship that we have with each other, how you have really sewn into and poured into me, and thankful for your questions today, man. Thank you. Thank you for being on the Q&A with Koloff, Ronny Dean, the preaching machine. Ronny Dean You are most welcome, Champ, and I love you. From earth to high noon and back many times, you're very special and dear to me, Champ.

This has been Niagara Falls, Red Letter Day. I thank God for it. Ronny Well, and I love you as well. And I appreciate you so much. And you have an amazing day. And for all you listening out there in the listening land, thank you for tuning in to another episode of Q&A with Koloff. And until next time, God bless you. 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 today. Hi, Nikita Koloff. Be sure to check out The Man Up Show, now available on television, broadcast, and podcast. Go to morningstartv.com or the Truth Radio Network. Check out your local listings or better yet, download the Truth Network app today. Nikita 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 wsmc1.com because you are number one.