Q&A With Koloff- #156

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Enjoy it, share it. But most of all, thank you for listening to the Truth Podcast Network. This is the Truth Network. 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. You asking the questions, me giving the answers. So a little fun.

I never know what the questions, or very rarely, ever know what the questions are going to be. And today, I have a military man on the line with me. I love the guys in military serving our nation. David Blagg, welcome to Q&A with Kolov. Hey Nikita, it's really good to be here.

Well, great to have you on Q&A with Kolov. And of course, I mentioned the military. 34 years you have been serving, faithfully serving our nation, is that right?

Yeah, that's correct. 34 years and continuing. I've got about three more years. 34 years and counting. So you'll have 37 years in. And what prompted you to want to get involved in the military?

I think there's, initially it's probably family. You know, my grandfather was a World War II vet. My brother, he served as well. He's in the Gulf War. First Gulf War. And then I had a great uncle.

He served during World War I. So there's a lot of family history there. And then I needed some more direction in my life, and I think that's what the military was going to provide. Plus, money towards college, which is what I needed. So some stability and just a more firm foundation and some stability, huh? Yeah.

I definitely needed that way back then. So World War I, World War II, Gulf War. And I know from our conversations, prior conversations, it's generational. I know you have three children, and some of those are now involved. Some of them are involved in the military as well, right?

Yeah, that's, yeah. Both two sons, Dimitri and Aiden. So the youngest just finished basic training this past summer.

Basic training. Wow. And when you say youngest, he's how old?

He's 18 now. Yep. All right.

All right. And headed down that path as well. And I know you told me one of your children is musically inclined. Which one is musically inclined?

So that's Dimitri. He's very, very talented when it comes to music and different instruments that he can play. He taught himself the piano, basically.

He can listen to music and then start playing it, which I think is just unbelievable. That's a gift. Yeah, that's a gift.

Yep. So, yeah, God gave him that gift, which is great. I miss actually, I would hear him sometimes like in the afternoons, evenings, you know, playing the piano. And that was always comforting or soothing to hear him playing. It is.

There's something to say about that, isn't there? I mean, my youngest daughter at a very young age, Colby, was, gosh, I don't know, I'm going to say three or four years old, super young, but like that, could hear a song, go over. I remember she could go over the piano and just start playing it. And so we were getting her musically, I remember one time picking her up from her music lesson and her instructor's like, hey, I want you to hear something.

And he plays something for me. Apparently he had recorded something during that session. And I'm like, wow, that's like really good. He goes, that's your daughter.

I go, get out of here, right? And he said, when his wife walked in and heard it playing, she's like, wow, Michael, when did you compose that? And he goes, no, that was Colby. She didn't believe him. Like she didn't believe it. She's like, yeah, right. Because no, like that was, she just like did that on her own, came up with that. And of course she is a song, she's a professional songwriter now in Nashville, Tennessee, and has many, many songs, little plug for Colby Koloff, right?

A shameless plug, go to iTunes and look up some of her songs. She's a gifted singer as well. So does Dimitri sing or just play instruments?

He does sing or he has sung in the past, sang in the past, sung some songs in the past or performed in high school, like some musicals, but he doesn't as far as I know now. Okay. Well, very, very cool. Well, Dimitri, keep pursuing that young man. I just want to encourage you. Keep pursuing that.

That's a gift when you can play all these different instruments and do all that. So you're also in the marketplace, right? You work in cybersecurity, is that correct? Yeah, that's what I do every day for my civilian side of work as well. So on the military side, I do that as well. A little bit different jobs, but yeah, civilian side, I'm a cybersecurity risk analyst and slash engineer.

So I do site assessments and maintain a system posture as far as the security stamp, the security stamp. And you're up there living in the, I guess what the, what they say is the lover's state, right? Virginia is for lovers or something like that. You're up there in Virginia, right? Yeah. Virginia. Yeah.

All right. And, and, and one of the things that I appreciate about you is you're a Man Camp alumni. You came last fall down to Georgia and attended Man Camp. And what, what would you say for our listeners? You know, we get a lot of variety of listeners really all over the world. The show goes into 92 different countries currently, but what would you say if someone's out there listening, they've maybe never even heard of Man Camp, this is their first even hearing about it. What would you say to encourage them to consider whether it's a man listening or maybe even a wife or a mom listening, go, I'm going to send my son or encourage my husband to go? What would you say to them about Camp?

I think as far as Camp goes, if you want something, you know, your husband or, you know, your son or whatever, if they need, they need something in their life and they need that direction as far as faith and God, this would be the place to go. Because I know for me, from my own personal experience, and this is what I told Nikita when I was driving down to Camp, you know, I had at one point was like, I don't know if I want to do this. And, you know, I thought about turning around, going back home. But, you know, you, you listen to God, and then you, you know, I actually called my mom when I was driving down and, you know, talking to her about it. And she's like, just go and you'll see what happens.

And I'm like, okay. So I went and it was just a phenomenal experience. It drew me closer to God. More faith in my life every day. The devotional times we had every morning were so key for me. I know because it allowed me to, you know, get into the Bible, really think things through in a peaceful setting.

You're out away from, you know, the daily hustle and bustle of your life to allow you to focus on your, yourself and your relationship with God. And I appreciate that. I'm encouraged by that because, and, you know, our hope is to, to offer a setting where guys can just get away, as you said, from the hustle and bustle and be able to, to center their focus, you know, their time and attention on that personal relationship. And then to equip the guys, you know, so through some of the different teachings and curriculum and things that we use there at camp, the fellowship, I know you made a great connection with, with another military, Chad from Ohio, right?

Another military guy, a former Green Beret and Silver Star recipient, and certainly a lot of stories there, but building relationships or maybe lifelong friendships with guys at camp as well. And really, you know, what you said about, you know, your hesitation, you know, I've been doing these camps since 2006, David, and I've lost track as to how many I've facilitated and organized and all of that. What's interesting is how many stories I've heard from guys who committed to coming, you know, even paid in full, right? And, but, and, and then questioning whether they should follow through with their commitment, hesitant to do that. But for the one, and, and, and some have not just straight up honest, some have not, they've backed out at the last minute or, you know, for a variety of reasons, some of which I believe are legitimate. And I'll just say for some, I believe are not, you know, they're just excuses, but all that said for the ones who follow through with the commitment, a good majority of them, I can't say a hundred percent, but a good majority of them. Like, like Chad said on his way out the door, so to speak before he got in his car and drove nine hours back to Ohio, looked at me and said, said these five words, Nikita, this was life changing.

Right. And so for many guys, it's a, it's, it's a different experience for every guy, for you, the morning devotionals, right? You know, for, for somebody else, it might be physical for someone else that might be not spiritual or physical, but it might be more, you know, just emotional or mental, you know, stability in their lives. And so, um, guys come for a variety of reasons, but, uh, I'm, I'm grateful that, that you came, that you follow through with your commitment and, and glad to hear that, uh, that it impacted you, David, thank you so much. I'm thankful every day. Um, now that, you know, Tom Stewart, who really encouraged me to go, um, and even seeing, uh, Pastor Gary there, uh, was great.

It was nice reconnecting with him and just talking to him. Um, yeah, meant a lot as far as, and when I left, uh, didn't want to leave actually, cause I had to leave early, but, um, I really wanted to stay and, um, but, uh, there's always next year, right? There's a, in a spring, April time, three or more October. Yup. Yup. And, uh, we want, we definitely want to, we love guys coming back and, and, and even serving and, and, and, or David, we've had guys come back and say, Hey, can I get, I call it a second helping light, right? They're like, can I come back and repeat camp? And they want to go through it all.

We've had several guys do that again, just come back and then other guys come back and just say, Hey, I just want to come serve. I'm going to bless guys like I was blessed. And so let, let, for those of you listening out there, you know, go to man camp.info, man camp.info. If you want to learn more about camp and, uh, you can message me right through there and, and any questions you might have. And I'll say this as well.

If you're in the military or you put on a uniform, you, you're a police officer and you're in the Sheriff's department, you're part of EMS first responders. We want to be able to bless you. And so we have special scholarships just for you if it's your heart's desire to, to attend a camp in the future. All right. Well, let's, let's segue here, David, and, uh, it, it is Q and a with Kolov. I want to give you the opportunity to ask me, you know, some questions. And so if you want to fire away at your first question, let's, let's roll. Okay. That's my first one would probably be so when, when a camp or, you know, when going to church, you know, part of it, what we want to do is help the minister.

And for me, I think one of the hard things, and I guess maybe this is kind of where I, why I asked this because my son, uh, my youngest, um, is how do you minister without judging? If that's a, if that makes sense. Yeah. Well, and it's easy.

I say easy, you know, to get caught up in the whole, you know, in judging others. Right. Um, I'm reminded of the scripture, you know, you know, man looks at the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart. Right. And, and so, and if, if our listeners aren't familiar with that story, you know, it's, it's the, the prophet Samuel has been given the task to anoint the next king of Israel. And he looks, he's got these, all these sons, these, this family lined up before him, a series of, of sons. And he looks at, I think the very first one Eliab, and I'm thinking he looked like Lex Luger back in the day. Right.

They like the total package. Uh, cause it, you know, it says, but God, he goes, surely this is, you know, the God's anointed. And God says, don't, don't look at his outward appearance.

Cause I, you know, I, he's not the one basically is, is how the story goes. Of course, we know he eventually anoints David, uh, the youngest as the next king of Israel. And then he spends 13 years basically running for his life, hiding in caves before he actually takes the throne, illustrating that even if there's a higher calling on your life, you're, you're still going to face challenges in life. And so the challenge for us and not judging others, uh, I believe is trying to get past their outward appearance. Uh, David is why I'm saying that to, to really try to, to, to capture the essence of the heart of an individual. To really spend time with them, talking to them and, and really trying to, to, to garner where their heart is at. And, and if we'll do that, uh, perhaps then we won't be as, as quick, uh, to judge another, uh, and be more, if you want to say sympathetic, perhaps even empathetic in learning, uh, you know, their situation, what, what it is they're going through or walking through. You know, whether it be a family member or, you know, a coworker or just somebody who's, whose path we cross, you know, the old expression until you've walked a mile in their shoes, you really don't know, you know, what they're going through. Right. Um, yeah, and so I would say just taking the time, I'll summarize all that to say, taking the time to really get to know a person or at least allow them to share their story.

So that might give us a better understanding why they're going through what they're going through. Does that make sense? No, it does.

And thank you. Yeah, it sure does. Cause I'd like to have a conversation with my youngest just to, um, cause we're having some difficult times right now, but I'd like to just sit down and talk to him about it. And you know, maybe it kind of gives him a different perspective. Um, plus he's young, um, still, uh, you know, that, that side of that, that part of that brain is still developing. So that's, that's a good way to maybe sit down and have the conversation with him. Yeah.

And, and let me just say, so I'm going to tag one other thing on, add something else to that as well. Um, the word love comes to mind, right. And, and, you know, what did Jesus model? Unconditional love. Right. And he had compassion. Many times you read the Bible, it says he looked at an individual, right? The woman caught in adultery.

Right. What do these guys say? Hey, the, the, the scripture says to stone her to death. What do you say, Jesus? And he goes, well, Hey, he, he, who is without sin, go ahead and cast the first stone.

Well, we know the story one by one, they drop their stones and all walk away because none of us are perfect and, and, or without sin. Right. And, and, but he looked on her, looked at her with compassion in his eyes.

So, you know, you, you look at your son with compassion, right. Or the woman at the well, you know, Hey, go get your husband. Well, I don't have one. Well, you're right.

You have five and the one you're living with right now is not your husband. She goes, uh, you know, Oh, Oh my gosh, this guy knows my whole, my whole story. Right. You know, he says, go, you know, just go and sin no more. So it's, it's sitting down with your son and just giving him the opportunity really to share his heart. Son, just, you know, I'm going to be quiet. You talk, say whatever's on your heart. Uh, and, and I'm, I'm going to do my best to not judge you in any way. Uh, but I just, you know, I just want to hear where your heart is at and then, and then exuding unconditional love towards him to the best of your ability, David.

And, and showing him, you know, compassion towards, you know, his situation or whatever it is he's walking through right now at a young age. Right. So thanks for that. Yeah.

Great question. Yeah, it definitely gives me a good route to take as far as with, with him. So, and I'm, I appreciate that.

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Go to www.koloff.net and donate today. You're listening to the truth network and truthnetwork.com. Yeah. No.

Great question. That that's hopefully it helps some others listening out there as well. Okay. Yeah, I hope so. Got another one for me.

I do. And this is in relation to forgiveness. And this mainly is with me like myself. How do you learn to forgive yourself or your past sins or less than desirable actions that maybe you've taken in the past?

How do you learn to really forgive yourself to kind of let go so that, you know, you're not harboring that every day. Yeah. So you can move on. Yeah.

Yeah. And a lot of people struggle with that. A lot of people struggle with forgiving themselves. You know, I've heard that once at camp.

I've heard that. I don't know how many hundreds of times I'm thinking if or more and or even just out, you know, and doing conferences or out, you know, preaching or just in conversation with people, you know, over a cup of coffee. But I think the number one, the very first thing that comes to mind is we've got if we struggle with forgiving ourselves, in a sense, in a sense, what we're saying is, Jesus, what you did on the cross, because here's what we know about his sacrifice on the cross, right? He said, I'm going to take every sin that you've committed, past, present, and future, and I'm going to take it upon my shoulders and I'm going to nail those sins to the cross. And so in one sense, what we're saying is, Jesus, what you did on the cross, it just wasn't enough.

It wasn't enough. So we, in a sense, cheapen what he did on the cross, okay? And so it's coming to a place of understanding that no matter what I've done, and gosh, we all screw up, you know, countless times that I have screwed up, David, and made mistakes and, you know, regretted some of the decisions I made while at the same time as I have grown in my faith and grown in my relationship with Jesus. In my relationship with the Lord, I've come to realize that there's nothing I've ever done that is so bad that he won't forgive me. And if he's willing to forgive me, how could I not be willing to forgive myself if he was willing to die on a cross for me, shed his blood, and extend his mercy and his grace towards me? And so I guess it's just coming to that one, coming to that understanding, being willing to accept that, and then also then willing to let go no matter what I've done in the past. Embrace the love he had, the unconditional love he has for me, and then be willing, and it's not an easy thing to do, I just wanna say that for those listening out there and, you know, for anyone struggling with forgiving yourself, I get it. It's not an easy thing to do, I understand that, and it may take some time for you to get to that place or get to that point of just genuinely releasing it, accepting the unconditional love that Jesus has for you, accepting the grace and mercy that he extends to you. And then, David, I would say as well, allowing him to, like just opening our heart up, allowing him to come in and do what I call spiritual surgery, and just removing, because there is an enemy of our soul who would love to hold all of that guilt and condemnation over you, okay? There is a real enemy that would love to hold that over you and I, but allowing Jesus to come in, and I say put the healing balm of Gilead on your heart, my heart, anyone listening out there to just receive his love, receive his forgiveness, receive his mercy and grace, and then allowing him, just being vulnerable enough to allow him to come in and begin the process of healing your heart for any and all mistakes you've ever made in the past and that you'll most likely make in the future.

I hope that makes sense. No, it does, I think you just kind of hit the nail on the head where you said allowing yourself to be vulnerable to allow him in to your heart, and I like that to surgical, what was it? Spiritual surgeries. Yes, spiritual surgeries. That spiritual surgery, yeah, just coming in with that spiritual scalpel, a wound, look, none of us are going to get through this life without being hurt or wounded by somebody or something, something that happened in our life, but a wound, and you know this from military service, I'm sure, in order to treat a wound, it's got to be cleaned out, right? No wound heals without it being cleansed and clean, and that's not, that's sometimes painful, right, to put some antiseptic on that wound or have to scrub that wound, right, not to be too graphic, but if you think about it in a natural sense, in order for that wound to heal, there's got to be some disinfectant involved, there's got to be some, maybe some cleaning, cleansing involved, and before it can be fully healed. Well, in a spiritual sense, our heart gets wounded, and if we close ourself off, put up the walls, and never let anybody in, especially God, but even others in, to begin that process of healing, you're going to walk around your entire life, you know, and allow the enemy to place that guilt and condemnation on you and just continually remind you of all the mistakes you made and say, ah, and then just never forgive yourself for, you know, the things you, hey, you're human, congratulations, you're human.

So just be vulnerable and allow him to come in, cleanse the wound, put the healing balm of Gilead on it so you can move forward in your life, so great question, great question. Yeah, thanks for that. I need to keep reminding myself of that, as far as, you know, God's, you know, Son, the sacrifice and what he did. What he did was enough, and so, man, I appreciate you asking those questions, I don't think I've ever had, you know, those questions asked or that discussion in the past, so thank you. Yeah.

I have one more, I don't know if we have time for that. We do, we have to, yes, throw it out there. Okay, so this is more of a kernel vent where recently we've seen, you know, some athletes, you know, in particular, Megan Rapinoe, you know, when she's saying, you know, she had an injury where it, you know, in her last game in her, I think she blew her Achilles heel. Right. And then her comment after was basically, you know, this is proof that there's, you know, no God because of what happened to her. Right. So what, you know, and then people, and this, just not just her, it's just the other people that, you know, they're going to blame God for the bad things that happened in their life.

If there's truly a God, you know, then all the bad things wouldn't happen. So what do you say to someone who says that to you? Like, I've had some soldiers say things like that to me and I'm, you know, I'm kind of, I'm not sure what to necessarily say to them without basically starting an argument type. I don't start an argument or anything. It just, you know, they might get not offended, but they might get a little heightened as far as their emotional response.

Yeah, put up more, even more of a wall than they already have. And my guess is, I'm familiar with the gal you're, you know, you're referencing. Don't know much of her story other than, you know, based on whatever I observed. And again, not to be, you know, going back to being judgmental, right?

Not to be judgmental, but it seems like by appearance, because we do look at the outward appearance, that if I were to know more of her story that I'm going to guess. And I based this off of many, many camps I've done hearing countless stories from men and how wounded and hurt they have been, even all the way back way into early childhood, right? Whether they've been sexually abused, physically abused, verbally abused, you know, just grew up in a horrible home situation or life situation or, you know, just there's so much to a person's story that led them to be hurt the way they are and or, you know, just deny that there's even a God, you know? So when I hear her say, yeah, that's just proof that there is no God, my immediate thought, David, was, no, that's just proof that there is a God. Because he's loving enough to allow you to experience that injury to then perhaps reach out to him to open up your heart and reach out to him and allow him not necessarily to come in and supernaturally heal your Achilles heel or tendon, although he can. He's totally capable of doing that, but more importantly, healing her heart.

I sense she has been deeply wounded beyond a physical injury that she has encased herself in a world of hurt and used sports as an outlet to try, you know, not just make a name for herself, but to try to bring healing to a very wounded heart. And so I'm not gonna try to convince anybody there is a God. And I know, look, I've got a buddy and if I were to name his name, many people would know who he is, former military guy, saw lots of things in action that in his mind, David, said there can't be a God or all of that wouldn't have happened, right? But I'm reminded of the movie, the very first one that came out, God's Not Dead. And I don't know, for those who've never seen it, I'd encourage you to at least go see the movie God's Not Dead, just pull it up on Netflix or wherever you can find it. And the professor who actually is a former college, he and I graduated college together, Morehead State University up in northern Minnesota, Kevin Sorbo, played a professor in this role. And if you're not familiar with the movie, you know, he tries to convince every class, brand new class that there is no God, you know, that God is, you know, God's dead, right?

There is no such thing. And all that to say, what it boils down to is his mom, I guess kind of a spoiler alert, his mom died at an early age. I knew there had to be something there for him to take that posture, that there is no God, and it turns out that his mom died at an early age, you know, he was a young, you know, youngster. He's like, how could there be a God and take my mom? And so again, back to my point, usually someone takes the posture that there is no God, something happened in their life that deeply wounded and hurt them for them to then conclude that there's not one.

I say all that to say I'm not going to try to ever convince there is someone that there is one. I'm reminded of a man by the name of Lee Strobel. You ever heard of that name, Lee Strobel?

Why do I know that name? So he wrote a book called Case for Christ. And he was an outspoken atheist, outspoken, worked for the Chicago newspaper, quick backstories with Lee last year, spent a couple days with him, incredible man, outspoken atheist, wife gets radically saved, not a happy man, sets out on a two-year course to prove there is no God. And travels the world, interviews, you know, pastors and bishops and atheists and professors and all kinds of other people and all that to say his conclusion at the end of his second year of worldwide travel is the facts were too overwhelming that Jesus was exactly who he said he was. And Lee becomes a born again Christ follower, sold out and not only wrote A Case for Christ, he's written several other books now. This is years ago, no longer, in fact, they did a movie just a few years ago called A Case for Christ. Again, another plug, here's a plug for another movie, go watch A Case for Christ or go pick up a copy of that book. If you're out there listening and you're saying there is no God or you don't believe in God, I challenge you to at least go read that book or go watch God's Not Dead or go watch A Case for Christ and do yourself a favor and at least do some research. You know, read the Bible if you've never read it and make, you know, before you make a case that there is no God and so, you know, you can use some of those resources, David, to encourage others who take that posture. But my guess is if you sit down with them and simply say this, tell me your story and then just be quiet and let them talk.

I bet you're going to find out somewhere along the way they were deeply wounded by someone or something to then take that posture. You know, I don't know if that fully answers your question, but hopefully it helps you and helps some of our listeners out there as well. No, I do. Thanks, Nikita.

I think that does help me. And I was thinking one soldier in particular and, you know, why, you know, and he opened up to me why and it was, you know, his childhood, you know, divorce and, you know, that, you know, the mom and dad pitting, you know, going against each other and just that whole thing. Using the children as a pawn, right? You know, pitting themselves, the children become a pawn in a divorce setting like that and I don't mean to interrupt you, but there again, it just proves my point, right? So parents got divorced, they want, one pits, tries to pit the child one against the other and all of that. Well, there just, there can't be a God or none of this would have happened.

Well, no, there is a God who said all of this will happen and, but if you'll submit and surrender your heart and life to me, I'll show you Romans 8 28. I'll show you how take a tragic situation like a divorce or like an injury to your physical body and I'll use it for good if you'll give me the chance to do that. So. No, that's, uh, that helps a lot. Thank you.

Good. Well, thank you, David Blagg. Thank you for all your many years of service to our military and thank all of you out there for being so faithful to listen week in and week out.

Q&A with Koloff. Hey, make sure go over to the podcast, listen to the Man Up show. You're going to want to hear the interview I did with David on the Man Up show as well. And I hope you go out today and live a God-filled, God-blessed day. This podcast is made possible by the grace of God and your faithful prayers, support and generous gifts. May God bless you for your continual contributions. Go to 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 Q&A with Koloff, 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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