Q&A With Koloff- #158

When your eyesight is at stake, it pays to travel to one of the world's leading eye surgeons. Dr. Johnny Gayton is an author, speaker, Christian leader, and a renowned surgical eye expert, whether it's cataracts, PRK, Lasix, or implanted lenses.

When only the best is needed, see Dr. Johnny Gayton at eyesightassociates.com. This is the Truth Network. 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 of Q&A with Kolov, the Devil's Nightmare.

I rarely ever know what's going to be asked of me, and so it's a pretty spontaneous conversation. And I'm excited to have this man on the Q&A with Kolov today. He has quite an extensive background in counseling and a heart and passion for men and seeing men just live the fullest of life.

And men, if they're in that role of marriage or being a husband and a father, are really just speaking into their lives and helping them along. Zach, Clinton, welcome to Q&A with Kolov. Nikita, thank you so much for having me, my friend. It truly is always a blessing every time we get to join each other in ministry. Well, and tag teaming, right?

Tag teaming for Jesus. And we met a while back through a mutual friend, Stu Epperson Jr., the man who oversees all of Truth Radio Network, right? And so I was grateful to make that connection. And I know you're up in Lynchburg, Virginia, is that right?

Yes, sir. Up in Lynchburg, Virginia, right outside Liberty University, and I have the opportunity of just serving alongside of my dad. I serve as the vice president here, the American Association of Christian Counselors. I also get the opportunity of hosting our men's event, as you referenced already, called Ignite Men's Impact Weekend. And then on top of that, I get the opportunity of serving just as a licensed resident counselor here in the state of Virginia out of our Christian private practice called Light Counseling, and just really trying to walk alongside of people and their moments of hurt and hardship and just point them back to our ultimate source of hope and strength, which is found in God and in Christ alone. Well, and I know you've got a lot going on, and I'm pretty sure you've got a lovely bride there that you are married to as well, right?

That's exactly right, sir. We just celebrated our second anniversary, September the 5th, and man, what a journey and what a blessing it has been just having Evelyn by my side, but also getting to just serve her and come alongside of her and everything that we've gotten to embrace and face together over the last couple of years. So I don't know if Evelyn will listen to the show, but I'm just going to put you on the spot, Zach. So no children, any children planned in the future, I'm thinking, maybe? So no children yet. We both are actually in our doctoral programs, and so we're both trying to finish those. We see the finish line in sight.

It's about a year and a half. And then if the Lord so wishes, we would love to have a family and start a family around the year and a half, two year mark, that's kind of like our perfect timeline, but obviously God's timing is more perfect than ours, so that's okay. Right, right, right. You're like, hey, I'm reminded of what I'm going back right now when I was 12, Zach, when I had my whole life figured out at 12 years of age.

I tell that story from time to time, and they're like, wow. Of course, God had other plans. I had my plan. God had other plans.

I mean, never in a million years did I ever feel like I'd be doing what I'm doing now. Yeah, anyway, moving on. So you got a lot going on. So let me first just, you mentioned the Impact Weekend. Take a minute and tell our listeners about the Impact Weekend. Yeah, so Ignite Men's Impact Weekend is our men's ministry, our men's kind of branch underneath the American Association of Christian Counselors, and so it's part of our event sector. And what we do is every year, we've always had one event, which was March 8th and 9th. It'll be right here in Lynchburg, Virginia, hosted at Thomas Road Baptist Church.

It's going to be a crazy event, Nikita. We have a powerhouse lineup. We got Tim Tebow. We got Pastor Craig Richelle. We got Pastor Tim Timberlake. We got Hall of Fame, former safety from the Philadelphia Eagles and Denver Broncos, Brian Dawkins. We also have nationally acclaimed, and I would say the number one motivational speaker in the world right now, E.T., Eric Thomas will be in the house. We'll have an incredible band. We're working on finalizing that.

We'll have a military presence. But also what I love about Ignite is that we have these workshops for men, where men will just be able to come in, whether it's on hunting or fishing or sports or whether it's, you know, what it looks like to become a man after God's own heart, what it looks like to be a better servant leader in your marriage, what it looks like to become more emotionally connected to your kids. Just these different workshops that will educate, equip and encourage men to step up into the leadership roles that we believe God has called us to for such a time as this. It's a weekend where thousands of men, they'll pack in together to worship God, to grow in their relationship with Him, but also to grow in relationship with one another as well and recognize that God really does equip us and He gives us friends for the fire.

Well, that sounds like I'm familiar with most of those names for sure. And that sounds like a powerful weekend. Where is their website? People can get more information on the Impact Weekend.

Yes. So it'll be IgniteMen.net. If you look it up, you can register today.

You can find out more about the speakers. You can actually sign up for workshops after the first of the new year. That's where these workshops will be open.

You'll get to choose one or two specific workshops that really interest you and it'll give you the whole entire scheduling and future events as well. Yeah, because I know you're doing it later in the year out in Texas. Is that right?

Yes, that's right. October 18th and 19th in Grand Prairie, Texas. We'll be hosting another event. And man, we're so excited just to be able to continually expand what God has done here in Lynchburg to other places across the nation. And we're just looking forward to what God has in store. And I know you have quite a history of ministry in your background, right?

Like generational, is that right? Yes, sir. So my grandfather was actually a rural pastor up in the hills of central Pennsylvania. He would actually go and he would pastor and minister to kind of three different local churches.

He would drive the school bus, just one of the kindest and most gracious men I've ever met in my life. And then that naturally got passed down to my dad who has been in ministry his entire life and career. He actually helped Gary Collins kind of start the American Association of Christian Counselors over 35 years ago. And since then, my dad has really taken a helm.

He served as the president here for quite some time. And I've just gotten to see and witness God do amazing things. And throughout my dad's life and throughout kind of his leadership and just his counsel of countless individuals. And that always has inspired me. That kind of got me and propelled me into this counseling, Christian counseling space and also ministry. And also my mom.

I can't leave my mom out of this. She is the host of our Extraordinary Women events. And she started that.

Man, it's been 15, 20 years ago where it's pretty much the sister ministry of Ignite. And they'll have thousands of women packed auditoriums, churches, arenas, just to come a two day event where Friday night, all day Saturday, where they just get to glean from the teaching and the wisdom and the experience of countless women who come as leaders in the field. Just to fill them up with hope and give them a break from their everyday duties and responsibilities as well. Well, so that's amazing. So ministering to the men as well. So is there a separate website for the women?

Yes. So the women's website would be e-women.net. And there you can find out all the events. We actually will be hosting 10 Extraordinary Women's events across the nation coming up here in 2024. We're so excited again for what God has in store and how God is just continuing just to really just revitalize just the women, their faith, just their rejuvenation.

And it's exciting to see what God is doing in hearts all across this nation. Wow. Okay. So I think last question for you before we get to your questions for me. Okay. So the counseling. So I know you said you do, of course, the private license to do counseling there in Virginia as well as the association. What would you say to our listeners out there?

Why should they, why would they want to consider counseling? Let's just say, well, let me give you two scenarios. Hold on.

So we'll do a part one, part two. So maybe, you know, everything's running smooth and it's a smooth sailing ship right now. You know, they're married, not married, but everything's going well. Or the flip side is everything's not going well. I'm thinking, you know, we can use, there's wisdom in the multitude of counsel, so we can use counseling any time. But what would you, what would you recommend to those listening out there as to why they would want to consider counseling on either side of the spectrum?

Well, you know, Dr. Jerry Falis, Sr., who is the great founder of Liberty University, where I was able to attend for my undergrad, my masters, and now my doctorate. He would always say that there are three types of people in this world, those that are going into trouble, those that are in the midst of trouble, or those that just got out of trouble and are getting ready to go right back in. Right. So pain, I mean, God even says this, John 16, 33, that in this world you will have trouble. James chapter one, verse two says, consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds.

Right. So it's not a matter of this, but it's a matter of when. So like you just said, whether you're on a mountaintop or whether you're in a deep, dark valley right now in the season of your life, I believe that God loves to use people through which he channels his messages of hope, encouragement and motivation to a broken and hurting world. And so what I want people to understand is that counseling, it's not really this idea where you're going to come in, you're just going to receive advice. They're going to tell you what to do and they're going to fix your problems. To be honest with you, that's not what we do as counselors. Our goal as counselors is just to walk alongside of you in this season of life to help you maybe see things through a different perspective, through a different lens.

And my goal as a faith based Christian counselor is to point you back to our ultimate source of change, of peace, of hope and of power, which is found in Christ and in Christ alone. Would your company, business or you personally like to partner with me in supporting Kolof for Christ Ministries, The Man Up Show and Man Up Minutes? Go to kolof.net and click the donate button.

You can give monthly, annually or one time. God bless you for making a difference around the world. 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 twenty five dollars, Nikita will send you his two CDs, Adoration and Declaration. For a gift of fifty dollars, Nikita will include his book, Wrestling with Success. And for a gift of one hundred dollars 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. Man, that's good. You know, I'm reminded when you say when you say all that, I'm reminded of, you know, Jesus walking on the water in the midst of the storm. Right. And I've always said it this way.

You're either either going you're either going into a storm, you're in a storm or coming out of a storm. Right. That's just life.

It's just life. So, wow. Well, and just real quick, the Web site where they can find out more about the counseling.

Yes, you can find out more about the counseling at AACC dot net. So we are a membership based, we're educational based and also we're an event based ministry. So you can find out more about all three of those things again at AACC dot net. Amazing. All right. Well, let's segue to your questions that you might have for me, Zach, and fire, fire away with your first one. I love it, sir. So I have three questions that I was just coming up with on the top of my head.

The first one is a fun one. So I got to ask you being a former professional wrestler. I was the former athlete myself. Play college baseball. I love sports. I want to know what is maybe one of your or maybe top two kind of moments or experiences that you had in the professional wrestling world.

That's a great question. And I'm a sports background guy. You know, football was my initial passion for for many, many years. I would look into, you know, for professional wrestling career, but a door of opportunity opened up.

And of course, I, you know, I took advantage of that opportunity and it, you know, landed me with the career I had. And I guess the first thing that comes to mind, it's a great question. The first thing comes to mind really is is the roar of the crowd. Right. And and I think as athletes, I can't I don't know.

I can speak for all athletes, but for for some anyway, that it's it's that roar of the crowd. Right. It's it's that inspires us to keep going. Right. Some thrive on that. Right. I know in my own profession, there were some that thrived on being called champ or, you know, walking into that arena and being, you know, your name being chanted or you being cheered or in some cases when I was the bad guy being booed. Right.

Like, like I wanted to be booed by that entire arena. Is that was confirmation, Zach, that I was, if you want to say, doing my job right. That that and I've had numerous people that say, you know, they loved to hate me back in the day.

Right. So I was I was well loved as a bad guy because they love to hate me. And then once I flipped to the other side of the tracks, there were people that, you know, loved me as a good guy.

And so that's one part of the answer. The other part of the answer would would be both both the fans and and my fellow peers, the you know, my my my friends in wrestling. You know, the Lex Luger comes to mind, for example, Sting comes to mind and and so many others. Really, honestly, the camaraderie, Uncle Ivan, you know, my original partner, Don Crenodle, the camaraderie in the locker rooms and the dressing rooms between the guys, we had a great crew.

And then, of course, the fans themselves. And now later in life, hearing all the wonderful stories from all the fans and how, you know, how wrestling impacted them and some of the wrestlers who said, I got into wrestling because of you or I got into two sports because of you or I got into weightlifting because of you. And so that's been incredibly encouraging and some wonderful memories for me.

So great question. I love that, Nikita, because as you mentioned, you know, I get the opportunity of serving in the sports psychology space. I walk alongside of countless kind of collegiate and professional athletes. But one thing you mentioned was like the roar of the crowd. I've noticed that a lot of people struggle once that roar goes away or upon retirement in certain ways.

I heard a quote not too long ago that says, if all you live is for the approval of others, you're held captive by those who do or don't applaud. And what ends up happening, I feel like, is that when that silence comes right in life after retirement, when you're not getting that roar anymore, that silence can almost become deafening, which kind of leads me into my second question, which is for men. Obviously, we've there's a lot of pressure that's kind of on men in our culture and society today.

And as we've mentioned, as I interviewed you on our podcast, our ACC Build Different podcast a few weeks back, which we'll be releasing here, hopefully very soon. The big thing that comes up in culture and society is that men, there's a beat down on men, Nikita. Like there's this thing that people are trying to push right now called toxic masculinity. I don't think there's anything toxic about being a man. Yes, we understand that there is such a thing as toxic behavior. Men have made mistakes.

There are some people out there that make really bad decisions in life. And yeah, there can be some, in a sense, men that there's a lot of toxicity in their life. But again, nothing toxic about being a man. So in this day and age, in this culture and society, what are some simplistic steps for the men out there listening that can begin to mobilize them to become the leaders and men that step up and step out for such a time as this? Well, it's a great question and that you and I could, I guess I'll have to have you over on the Man Up show. We can do a whole show on that, Zach, sometimes.

And talking about toxic masculinity, because it is kind of a buzzword in the current culture we're living in. I guess a shorter answer to that would be, for me, at the very foundation is making sure, as a man, that you have that relationship with Jesus Christ. A personal relationship with Jesus Christ as a foundation and as someone who you can then model your life after. You learn, you study who Jesus was, who Jesus is, and then you pattern and model your life after Jesus and how he lived his life, especially with those 33 or so years when he walked the earth. And then what we can learn from the Word of God, Zach, and that is, as a man, being schooled, if you want to say, by the Word of God. And again, how to be a godly man. If you want to know how to be a godly man, a godly husband, a godly father, or even a godly grandfather, then the Word of God is going to be your resource to help you learn how to be that servant leader. Jesus said, I came to be, you know, I didn't come to be served, I came to serve.

And so here again, he's our model. So I'm going to say those two things. One, make sure that that story is moved the 18 inches from your head to your heart, and you had a true, genuine, transformational encounter with Jesus, and are now a child of God and a Christ follower. And then you are in the Word, and I'm going to tell you, in the Word every single day, studying the Word, you might say eating the scroll, and then applying the Word to your life to go out and be that godly man, that godly husband if you're married, and that godly father if you have children.

So that's how I would address and answer that question. I love that, sir, because as you're mentioning, Jesus was the greatest leader to ever walk the face of the earth. I mean, just like the entire timeline of the year is built around his birth, right, his death and his resurrection. So when you think about that, that just shows you that he really is the person that we should be putting all of our stock into. We need to be building, like you said, that intimate, personal relationship with him. And I love that idea that what you mentioned, I don't think Scripture even mentions the word leader one time, but it mentions the word servant over 200 times.

And so it's understanding that true men of God, true leaders in this day and age understand what it means to serve first and foremost. Last question I have for you then, Nikita, is as we're kind of upon the new year here, there's a lot of goals, there's a lot of New Year's resolutions out there. You're an athlete, as you mentioned, you're a competitor. How do people stay disciplined and stay consistent to the commitments they made to themselves at the beginning of this new year? Boy, that's a great question, and that's the $64,000 question, right? Because you look at all the stats, all the statistics, Zachary, you see where people make these New Year's, what we call New Year's resolutions, or they'll set these goals.

And I'm a big goal setter myself, and a lot of people who know me know that. And so, gosh, so I think here's how I want to answer that question. No man is an island unto himself, okay? And so you can try and go it alone, or you can surround yourself with a great group of friends, right? You might call it the inner circle. And once again, if I go back to Jesus, Peter, James, and John, it seems like he had his inner circle. Those three got to do things that the others didn't, right? Got to be on the Mount of Transfiguration.

He's like, hey, Peter, James, John, come with me over here, right? So I'm like, there's the inner circle, so I want to encourage you, if you're not a goal setter, one, to be a goal setter, number one. Number two, if you are a goal setter, how to stick to itiveness, if you will, or stick with your goals, is make yourself accountable to an inner circle. Have some people around you, a dear friend, Lieutenant General Jerry Boykin likes to say, have a battle buddy, right? So at very least, have a battle buddy, but then have an inner circle, you know, a couple, three people around you, you know, can even be expanded to four or five, that you make yourself accountable.

So whatever goals you set for yourself, let others know what those goals are so they can hold your feet to the fire, especially if you lack discipline. And that's something you can ask the Lord, if you lack discipline, stick to itiveness, then say, Lord, help, help, you know? He sent a helper, it's called the Holy Spirit, right?

So a form of the Holy Spirit. So seek help from the Holy Spirit, center your life, or surround yourself with other godly men who can hold you accountable and help you achieve whatever goals it is that you have set for yourself. So, wow, great question, Zach, thank you. I appreciate you, sir, that is, I can assure our listeners, he had no idea what I was going to ask, and he just gave some golden nuggets of wisdom to us, so thank you, Nikita.

I did not know what you were going to ask, that's got to be the Lord going like, wow, okay, how do I answer this one? So, Zach Clinton, just one more time real quick, give that website for Impact Weekend? Yes, it's ignitemen.net. Okay, and for the counseling website?

And for the counseling website, you can visit aacc.net and find out all the different, just valuable resources that we're offering through the American Association of Christian Counselors. Wow, great to have you on the show today, Q&A with Koloff, and thank you, Zach, for your time today. Thank you, Nikita, thanks for all that you're doing, my friend. And for all of you out there, you're so faithful week in and week out, whether it's listening to the Man Up show over on our podcast, or this Q&A show, I thank you for being so faithful and helping spread the word now to 92 different countries, and let's continue to get the word out there. And go out today and live a God-filled, God-blessed life. 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.

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. If you want to get on Silas Creek Parkway in Winston-Salem, be sure to check them out today at wsmc1.com because you are number one. This is the Truth Network.