A Global Expedition

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Introducing first, from Lithuania, he weighs 123 kilos, the Russian nightmare, the Kita Kolob. Now, the Devil's Nightmare. Welcome back to another episode of It's Time to Man Up. It's a joy, a pleasure, an honor, a privilege to have with me today Frank Shelton Esquire on the line. Frank, thanks for being a part of Man Up.

Oh, Nikita, it's my honor, brother. I love you and all your listeners. It's great to see you. A phenomenal job with the second annual Man Up conference. It was awesome. Well, I appreciate that. I appreciate you bringing, you brought Andrew down, your son Andrew down, and I know, boy, you just made a real trip of it. I mean, I know you had an extended trip that you did some ministry before the conference, after the conference, and of course attended the entire conference. It was great to have you and him there together. Was that a special bonding time for you and your son?

Yeah, yeah, without a doubt. You know, sometimes we're so busy ministering on the road. We have such a good God. He really wants to minister, even to minister his kids, and it was life changing. And I tip my hat to you and thank you for your leadership, your friendship, and Robbie's message was phenomenal. Each one built upon the other. It was something for everybody, and I'm just so thankful that it's something that we need to celebrate our faith.

And being a man is not a weakness, and we shouldn't shy away who God called us to be, who he created us to be. And yes, and we also saw not only father-son, but I counted, I think one, there may have even been three generations there. It was really neat to see grandparent, father-son, so it was just amazing.

And I want to encourage everybody to go ahead and be thinking about it next calendar year, because it's the place to be. Yeah, there was. That was an answer to prayer, actually, to have three generations there. I know I had a friend of mine came down from West Virginia. We had guys from 18 different states that flew in, drove in, all the way from all along the whole west coast.

Yeah, along the south, midwest, southeast. I mean, it was very blessed to have that turn out and to see how many guys brought their sons and that time of bonding. Is there a special moment? And I'm not referring even to the conference itself, but as you and Andrew traveled over the course of 7, 8, 9, 10 days, that was more special than another?

Yeah, well, the whole thing, it was God and it was grace, but yeah, you're right. We drove 550 miles down just outside of D.C., went all the way down to Aiken, South Carolina, and you graciously helped open up a door for me to catch up with a mutual friend, Brian Johnson, and his team at Crescent Autos. And then I got to preach in Graniteville, South Carolina, and then from there we were able to minister locally, and then we started coming back towards Charlotte, and we went to Carowinds, which was great. A quick story, I took Andrew because, as you know, I was on staff with Billy Graham for a while, and we were at the Billy Graham Library, and we hadn't been in two minutes. And there was a woman who came in smiling by herself. I was kind of interested because I noticed she was all by herself, and she was just like, well, this takes guts, okay, she's there, she's in line with us. And then she looked at me and she said, so where's all the books? And I knew right away she was looking for a different library. And she goes, well, I saw this Billy Graham billboard.

I said, well, do you know who Billy Graham is? And she said, no. And then in my spirit I knew she needed a Lord, and I said, but do you know the Lord Jesus Christ? She goes, no. She goes, I'm just looking for a library. So the one thing is right there, I was able to lead her to faith in Christ in the Billy Graham Library. And the irony is she came in looking for books, but within five minutes she got her name in the book of life.

Come on! See, you are such a true evangelist, dude. That story rocks!

You watch the whole thing. And then you'll love this, because they're just keeping it real. So then I'm taking Andrew out to where they buried Dr. Graham and Ruth and George Beverly Shay and Cliff Barry's tombstone, and people are still getting saved every day, not only at the library, they tell me when they visit his grave, you know, I think of the verse, even in death they still speak it. You know, he lives such a life that even in death people are still drawn to Christ.

I mean, what a target to aim for. Well, I was so excited, he's fallen in love with, this is a free plug to our friends at FATS, F-A-T-Z, but he likes the Calabash chicken that we don't have in Maryland. So I'm driving him to grab some of that before we come back to your men's conference, and I get a call from the Billy Graham Library that I had left my wallet at Dr. Graham's tombstone. Oh my gosh! And they tracked down my phone number, I race back ten minutes before it closed, I get there, I tell them the story, what happened, about the woman that just got saved by an Irish report, and someone comes up and says, yeah, we're with Decision Magazine and now we got a princess story in the magazine, and I'm thinking, God set that whole thing up.

If I didn't leave the wallet behind, the journalist may have not heard about that story and more people, so God is even, even when we drop the baller, gets stuck in reverse, he has a way to still forward the gospel. Oh my gosh, what a great... So we were on a high and that's, you know, and then coming in with you guys and then just being... Incredible. Now hold on, so Andrew gets to witness all this though, what an incredible experience for him, because he's fourteen? How old is Andrew?

Yeah, he's fourteen, yeah, and here's something, you brought up a point that I forgot, Nikita, so our mutual friend Dorothy Spaulding down at Watchmen Television Club 49, in that Augusta, Georgia, South Carolina, where you've been on many times, I'm driving him there the day before your event, because I was a guest on the show, and I looked at my son and I said, Andrew, I feel like you're supposed to be on the TV set on the show with me today, and he said, oh, Dad, I appreciate it, but I don't think today. Soon as we walk in the door, Nikita, Dorothy greets us with a smile, she said, hello, Andrew, it's good to see you, I think you're supposed to be on TV today. And he looked at me, so he gets on the show... I thought you called her or something, right, buzzed her or something. No, I didn't.

No, I know you didn't, but he's like, Dad, did you call her? No, no, we know, because you know, hanging around you and other friends, when the Lord's in it, you don't have to force it or fabricate it. The last 20 minutes he comes in, he tells the viewing audience, there's five million potential viewers on this television show, and he told them about leading his fourth-grade friend to Christ, and Dorothy, the host, is going crazy, and the phone lines are lighting up, and then we cut to a commercial and we came back and I said, Andrew, you just led one to the Lord, I feel like you're supposed to look in the camera and tell all the people how they can come to Christ, and Andrew at 14 looked in the camera as cool as a cucumber and did the whole sinner's prayer, and I think I'm unemployed now, so he's going to take you for me, but it was a lot of fun.

Put him on the payroll, Frank, you have to put him on the payroll now, come on. That's amazing. Now, I'm going to continue this story, because if I remember right, on your way home from the Man Up Conference, you stopped and preached at a mutual friend's church, and did I not see you post something with Andrew standing on that platform at the pulpit as well? Yeah, yeah, you really picked my brain and you were right on to say, you know, what did that week mean to you?

I mean, God did so much. All the way back, Burlington, North Carolina, Bethlehem Christian Church, our dear friend Pat Fhelkel, who's come to several Man Up Conferences and camps, and we went to Gardner Webb together at college, he played college football, and he came to your men's conference, we sat together, and he said, Andrew, tomorrow's Father's Day, you know your daddy's speaking, but I feel like you're supposed to share a few remarks what Father's Day means to you. So he not only did the TV show, he not only witnessed the Lady Get Saved at the Graham Library, he not only was blessed by your conference, but he's up in the pulpit on Sunday before me, so I feel like that's true discipleship, you know, I think true ministry is caught as much as it's taught, and you know, I just thank God, but I just want to thank God and you again for not only speaking into his life, I love the picture of when you grabbed him by the shoulder and just hugged him, and looking at him man to man, eye to eye, and you're not only a world champion in the ring, you're a world champ for the king, and I'm honored to have someone of your stature who speaks life into my family, so we're all better for it, and we're all better for you, and I just want to also encourage those people listening, I would encourage you to go to Koloff.net and pray about going with Nikita to Israel, and it's going to be this December, and it's going to be incredible, but it won't be the same without you, so I want to encourage your listeners to go to Israel. Yeah, I appreciate it, a tour to the Holy Land with yours truly, the Russian Nightmare, right, and I posted something the other day, I go, hey, how would you like to be baptized in the Jordan River by the Russian Nightmare, that would be a unique experience, wouldn't it, so for all you wrestling fans out there, and what an amazing trip, an amazing story, now we can't talk about your family without leaving Miss Ruthie out though, so you got to tell our listeners just a little something about Miss Ruthie. So Ruthie, my wife's from El Salvador, and I thank God her daddy was a preacher for 60 years, and I prayed every day for someone that kind of looked like J-Lo, and Jesus gave me Ruth, so this is where we're at.

Come on! She's a godly woman, and she's just humble, she runs a Christian radio station, but we just celebrated our wedding anniversary this past weekend, and we all were able to go to New York City for two days, and it was a blast, and then we just got back home, and we're going to take off again this week on the road, I'm going to be preaching in Delaware Sunday, and Pennsylvania Monday and Tuesday, and so iron sharpens iron, and you know, even good Christians can get a little dull sometimes, so it was just really good to just get sharpened, closer to the Lord, bond with each other, and just get focused, because it's so easy in this high-paced world, even good trains can come off track, so it's good to stay the course. Well, and of course, you've been gracious to host me at your home over the years, and open up the doors of your home, provide me a place to lay my head and a hot shower, of which I'm very grateful, and you've opened up a number of doors with pastoral friends, and to me it's mutual, Frank, I mean, you've been a blessing to me in opening up doors with other churches around the country, really even around the globe, we're going to talk more about that in a minute, but you and Miss Ruthie, how many years have you been married now? Yeah, 16, and she's getting younger, and I'm starting to look older.

Well, she is a rose among thorns, I just want to throw that out there, just so you know. She is, yeah, she is, and I'd like to throw this plug out if I may, her and I are co-hosting a trip, Lord willing, September 2024, next year, to follow the footsteps of Paul, and we're going to fly from New York to Rome, Italy, on a 12-day cruise on the Royal Caribbean, Odyssey of the Seas, and it's the best of both worlds, not only flying to Rome, but on the luxury and the security of that cruise ship, and we're going to be in Rome, Italy, Naples, Italy, Athens, Greece, three days in the Holy Land, and also Istanbul, Turkey, and following the journey of Paul, and you can just go to our website, FrankShelton.com, and so I would encourage you, go with the champ, and December to Israel in 23, and join Ruth and I in 24 to go over there, it'd be great. Yeah, we're excited to do it together. That's amazing, I saw when you posted, I was like, wow, in fact, ironically, here's something that's ironic, I've got a good pastor friend of mine who literally is on that boat you just mentioned, like right now as we do this interview, yeah, down in the Caribbean, and he's been posting every day, I mean, the ship is ginormous, I'm looking at the upper decks and all the pools and waterslides, and an ice skating rink, dude, that ship has an ice skating rink inside of it, right?

And they even got bumper cars. Yeah, something for everybody, so what a phenomenal trip, but hey, prior to that trip though, you're taking, which is amazing in and of itself, walking in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul, wow. So I agree with you, Frank, they need to come to the Holy Land first with me and experience the footsteps of Jesus, and then jump aboard the ship with you and follow in the footsteps of the Apostle Paul.

So there you go, that'd be a great progression in your journey there. And of course you're referring, you know, obviously we're talking about, we had him at really Frank Shelton Global Ministries, and you certainly live up to the name, up to that word global, because you go all over the planet. I know just recently you had made a trip over to Europe, because you are going to be chaplain once again for the Olympics in Paris, France. Tell our listeners, take a minute and tell them about that.

Yes, sir. Yeah, well praise God, this will be my fourth Olympiad as an evangelism chairman on the outreach for the Olympics. 2012 was London, 2016 Rio, 2020 was scheduled Tokyo and COVID through a curve, and that's why I have a holy anger now, because if the Lord tarries, we're going to go after twice as many souls in Paris, because the Trust the Science crowd tried to keep me down, so we're going to trust the Savior and run the ground. You're listening to the Truth Network and TruthNetwork.com Nikita Koloff 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 Koloff Fans, and like it and follow today. 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. Would your company, business, or you personally like to partner with me in supporting Koloff for Christ Ministries, the Man Up Show, and Man Up Minutes? Go to koloff.net and click the donate button.

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Yeah, go ahead. Yeah, it was amazing. If I could just share this, if I could tell a quick story. I'm sitting in one of those surreal moments, Nikita. I'm having coffee in France, staring at the Eiffel Tower, and I meet this gentleman and I ask him his story. And he said, Frank, I was so deep into the occult witchcraft. He said acid and cocaine wasn't strong enough for me. He said, I was into the Ouija boards. I was conversing with demons. And he said, I just was at the end of my rope. And he said, I had a girlfriend. I was living in sin.

I knew that. He said, but I got so dark in the demonic there is a thing called blood sacrifice. These are his words. And he said, the devil was whispering, you need to take your life out and kill yourself. And he said, one of the two of you need to die by the end of this week. And if we're not listening to the still small voice of God, we can get into a lot of trouble. And the devil was shouting, kill, kill, because he comes to steal, kill, and destroy. And he said to his credit, I'm living with this girl. We're both doing wrong.

But I'm thinking enough of her so she will live and I will carry out the death sentence. And the devil said, well, you're going to die tomorrow night. And he gets in his car and all he can hear is the lies from hell. And he's on a long road and he heard the devil say, hit the gas as fast as you can and run that car full speed into that brick wall. And I said, what did you do? And he said, I looked at that wall and he said, I looked to my right and his words as God is my witness. He said, Frank, the street sign said Coughin Street, C-O-F-F-I-N, not coughing like a cold, coughing like casket. He said, I was on a dead end.

He said, Hollywood couldn't write this script. I said, what did you do? He said, I felt like I was stuck. I hit the gas as fast as I could. I hit that brick wall, I don't know how fast.

He said 80 was the last I saw on the speedometer. And he said he woke up and after 21 days of surgery in and out of coma, multiple broken bruises should have been dead. God saved his life. Someone led him to Christ in his recovery. And he is now in charge of all the Protestant chaplains in France for the 24 Olympic games in Paris. He was lost, but now he's found. And sometimes the worst centers become the best saints and he had heard the lies from the devil. And this guy is now on fire spitting truth for Jesus Christ.

True story. And you were sitting again at the table across from him having coffee staring at the Eiffel Tower and now we're both chaplains. And I'm excited. We're believing that your schedule is going to work out, that you're going to join us as well. You were scheduled to join us for Tokyo and it wasn't anyone's fault.

It is what it is. But I'm just really excited. But yeah, I'm having coffee with this gentleman. And matter of fact, I have a Zoom call with him tomorrow at one o'clock because Paris is six hours ahead of us. So yeah, it's exciting what God can do.

And maybe you're listening today or at your cubicle or work or you're jogging in the neighborhood or you're listening on the car. It doesn't matter what you've done. You're not too far gone that God cannot only save you and redeem you. He's not only dying to save you, he's dying to use you. And that true story should encourage everyone.

That man, God, not only wants to do life with you and love you, but he has a huge part in the kingdom for you to do. And that's what I love bragging about you, Nikita. You went so hard for the world with your wrestling career and you're going harder for the Lord than ever before. And I think in a past conversation, you alluded something to the fact, you know, I gave it my all. I was never a slacker. I was never lazy. When I had a goal, I was going after it. I gave it my all. And then you said, but when you got saved, you shouldn't do any less for our Lord.

And I think you're traveling harder and faster today than any day. So, praise God. And who you hang out with is what you become. So that's why it's a privilege to be with people like you and Robbie and men of God. Because if you get on the fray, I'm afraid people are going to not only get left behind, they'll get devoured. But when you're in the group, when there's accountability, iron sharpens iron and we run faster together.

And it's safer in a pack, opposed to on our own. Yeah, no man is an island unto himself. And unfortunately, the enemy is able to isolate people. And then in turn, throw them into depression, anxiety and all the things that we're seeing society deal with, right?

Because they become very isolated. And a couple things come to mind and I appreciate your kind words and you're certainly right. You know, it's important who we surround ourselves with, but I want our listeners to know as you're listening to some of Frank's story today, be encouraged.

I mean, he just shared two stories. What comes to mind is how God aligns divine appointments, right? He's standing at the Billy Graham Library and a woman walks in looking for books. She thinks she's walking into, she's got her library card ready to check some books out for the week. And instead she checks in with the kingdom and becomes a Christ follower, a Jesus follower.

And then the other story, which is even more miraculous in a sense, is sitting having coffee, looking at the Eiffel Tower and randomly this dude next to you starts sharing his story. And now you guys are tag teaming, come on, tag teaming for Jesus at the 2024 Olympics. So I want you out there listening, make note of that, that keep your eyes open, keep your head up, keep your eyes open and look for opportunities just to be a witness to other or engage in a conversation. And you too can be sharing stories just like Frank is sharing today. Well, Frank, before we run out of time, tell us what else besides the Olympics and the cruise next year, what else is Frank Shelton Global Ministries involved in? Well, you know, we're also fighting human trafficking. I will just say this, if you haven't seen the movie Sound of Freedom, whether it's in the theater or you can get it on Netflix, I want to encourage you, it's a real evil epidemic. It's a billion dollar business and it is an atrocity that we're trying to educate and eradicate. And they're stealing children, not in the Philippines, but Philadelphia. They can grab kids in Baltimore today.

They can be in Bangkok by the end of the week. And it is just crazy, but Jim Kazeezle would play Jesus in the Passion of the Christ, plays the lead. And for about eight, nine years, I've been serving on a national task force with some well-known folks like yourself in both athletes, politics, Hollywood, and they're using their voice, their influence, their platform to help fight this. And so I would encourage you to go there.

So it's been really neat to see something brought on the big screen that really it's changing people's lives. It's giving them a holy anger and they're not only praying, but they're trying to get in the fight. So we're doing that. We're still preaching across the country. We just pray every day for an open door.

No place is too big or too small. And we just believe if they call and invite us to come, we do our very best to say we're on our way. And if we could ever be a blessing in your community, just like Nikita, you can just go to our website, FrankShelton.com. Have Bible, we'll travel.

So I'd love to come to your community. And I can vouch and say, of course, we had him as a key speaker at the Man Up Conference a year ago in Fort Mill, South Carolina. And I have tag-teamed with Frank and I've sat under his ministry and just received from him. He's a very wise man beyond his years and very schooled in the gospel.

And we didn't even get into it today. I'm going to challenge you and encourage you to go back into the archives of the Man Up podcast and listen to one of the first interviews I did with Frank talking about his family lineage. Catch this now. Going back to the days of Abraham Lincoln. Frank, we're almost out of time.

Give him a quick teaser. Who carried Abraham Lincoln out of Ford Theater across the street? Yeah, it was my great, great, great grandfather, Joseph Gale Shelton, and was with Lincoln the night he died two doors down. He was the first to respond and in two obituaries that says he was one of four men to carry Lincoln across the street to the Peterson house the night he died. And in his hands he carried greatness.

And they were close personal friends. And I want to remind our listening audience that all of us carry greatness. You know, God's DNA is in us.

He makes no junk. So when you walk down the street, you're a billboard for God. And you're not promoting Calvin Klein, but Christ the King. And now's the time people are watching and maybe just walk worthy of the calling. Because when you break it down, we all carry greatness.

He carried a president, but we carry the King of all kings by the way we walk and the way we talk. So good, Frank. And so I encourage you, if you haven't downloaded the Truth Radio app, download the Truth Radio app, go into the Man Up archives. And I assure you, you're going to want to hear about more of these stories of his ancestry all the way back to the days of Abraham Lincoln and so much more that Frank Shelton does. He's an impersonator. He's a comedian. I mean, God has gifted this man with many, many, many talents. And I assure you, if you're a pastor listening out there, you will not go wrong bringing Frank Shelton into your community. He will impact your church, the body of Christ, but also impact those who don't know Christ as you just heard some of those stories. Wasn't afraid to talk to that woman standing in line to check out some books from the library and leads her to the foot of the cross.

So, frankshelton.com. Frank, man, I just have such a love for you and Ruthie and Andrew, your whole family and excited about what God's going to do in the future in and through you. Thank you for being a part of the show today.

Man, I love you, champ, and have a great day. Well, and I want to thank all of you out there in Listening Land. You know, you are so faithful to tune in each and every week, both to the radio show and to the podcast. And, you know, the podcast, let me just put a plug in for that right now.

Latest numbers, 90 countries, 90 countries that it has been downloaded, the Man Up show, women and men, boys and girls, all listen to the Man Up show on the podcast platform. And I'm praying, be praying with me, I'm praying and believing for 100 countries and 100,000 downloads sooner than later in Jesus' name. Hey, go out and have a God-filled, God-blessed day today. 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. 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. Nikita Koloff here.

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