Valentine's Special

When your eyesight is at stake, it pays to travel to one of the world's leading eye surgeons. Dr. Johnny Gaten 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 Gaten at eyesightassociates.com and Karkai and Kingdom Pursuit, where we hear how God takes your passion and uses it to build a kingdom. Your chosen Truth Network Podcast is starting in just a few seconds.

Enjoy it and share it. But most of all, thank you for listening and for choosing the Truth Podcast Network. Ladies and gentlemen, the following contest is set for one flaw.

Introducing first, from Lithuania, he weighs 123 kilos, the Russian nightmare, Nikita Kolob. Now, the devil's nightmare. Welcome back to another episode of It's Time to Man Up. Welcome back to the Man Up show and special show today, special because, well, for a number of reasons. One, who I have on the show, but also because just around the corner, you know what holiday is coming up, right? Well, it's the holiday of love, right? Valentine's Day, just around the corner, and I can't think of anyone better to have on the show with me for Valentine's than Cupid himself, Robbie Dilmore. Welcome back, Robbie.

Yeah, it's Valentine's Eve, Eve, Eve, Eve, just four Eves and we'll be there. That's right. I don't know. Robbie, I just had this picture of you with a bow and arrow in your hand. That's scary.

Terrifying. Now, I don't know. Maybe you do know. Any idea, Robbie? I should have probably looked this up, but how did that little fat guy with the bow and arrow come about? Any idea? The history on that?

I think he's got something to do with Roman mythology. Okay, okay. I guess that would, yeah, make sense, I suppose.

Valentine sounds Italian. Well, now I will say in some of my research, searching the internet, because it's authority over all things, right? Yeah, absolutely. I mean, if it's not on the internet, it's got to be true.

Absolutely. It's like the gospel is according to the web. The gospel according to the web.

That's right. But on a serious note, like searching the internet, you will find plenty of stories about how Saint Valentine's Day came all about. Even the saint part.

And going back to kind of, or touching on what he's, supposedly a Roman priest performed secret weddings against the wishes of the authorities in the third century. It was Valentino. Valentino. I think we had a wrestler, Valentino or somebody, Vinnie, Vinnie Valentino. Yeah, that sounds loud.

Yeah, that should be it. And if we didn't, maybe we should have Vinnie Valentino. Of course, I'm thankful we didn't have a wrestler dressed like Cupid. Oh man, that's scary. I'm not sure who would have fit that role, but so yeah, so that's interesting though.

So Saint Valentine. Now, some of the legends, some of the lores go back to other nations. Really? Yeah, yeah.

There's a lot of different ideas floating out there. In fact, it was said that an English poet by the name of Geoffrey Chaucer. Oh. Does that sound familiar? Chaucer. There's even rumors that maybe he invented Valentine's Day.

Medieval English poet. Sir Hallmark. Sir Hallmark. Yeah, they dub everybody sir over there those days.

He really cashed in on the whole thing more than any of them. Sir Hallmark, I assure you. Well, yeah, speaking of Sir Hallmark, yeah, when you say cashed in, you're not kidding because I had a statistic here somewhere just how much money Sir Hallmark actually makes. Yeah, I can assure you.

Yeah, it's surpassed the millions and I think into the billions actually. Oh my goodness. Yeah? Yeah, that Hallmark hauls to the bank during the Valentine week festivities.

I'll have to see if I can pull it up here. But anyway, well, okay, so I guess all that to say it's not crystal clear on how Valentine's Day evolved, but it has become a national holiday, right? Isn't it? You know what's neat to me? Yeah, you've got all that stuff for the older folks, but what child doesn't have that memory of making those little Valentines that you handed out in kindergarten and everybody got, you know, all those things were actually wonderful examples of, you know, just fellowship with your fellow classmates. What that meant, you know? Yeah, just, I mean, talk about exuding, you know, love for fellow man, right?

It's a bit of a contrast right now, Robin. I don't know if we have enough time on this show to really get into the current climate and culture of school settings, but do you think elementary schools still do that? Oh, they definitely. I've got grandkids.

So do you. And oh yeah, they still hand one to every single, you know, and they still sell that whole pack and that's the deal. Like, you got to have one for every, you know, when you get a little older, you start to become more selective. Right. As you age out a little bit out of elementary. Right.

That's the sad news, right? The opposite sex becomes a little bit more attractive to you. You might be... But then even the teenage, you know, as my grandkids get to that age too, I see them going through still that same page. Like, you know, I got to have a boyfriend for Valentine's Day. I mean, it's... Right. But it is a holiday from a standpoint of it's something that's in part of our calendar, you know, just part of our life's calendar. So it kind of touches all ages then. Absolutely. So from early childhood all the way up, right?

Oh, grandparents, I can assure you that if you want to have some fun, get in with those little kindergartners and help them with those Valentine's. That's amazing stuff. It just is.

It's part of the holiday season. Interesting. Well, and I do know, you know, when all across the United States and really, and even it's, you know, pretty universal, right? I mean, in a sense. So it's not just maybe a national treasure.

It's international. Can we say that? Right.

And you got to say, you know, whatever Valentine did, he was a saint. I'm envisioning right now, you know, we mentioned Rome or Romans and I'm envisioning being on a boat, being led through a channel of Italy right now. Oh yeah. Very cool.

Venice, the Venetian Roman. Yeah. Yeah. And what a memory that would create, right?

If you were with your honey and sitting on one of those boats and the gondola little guys steer you. On Valentine's. Oh man. Yeah. Wow.

So any idea, Robbie, and I know you probably already know the answers to some of the questions I might throw your way, but. I've been studying for two days. I knew this was coming.

Knowing this was coming, Robbie was astute in doing his homework here. Maybe not. What are some of the more popular gifts for Valentine's? Oh, that's always good. Yeah. That's a good one.

What would you say? I'm going to go with, of course, the red roses. Okay. And the box of heart chocolates. You know, you got to have. So candy. So flowers and candy. And then, you know, just being a husband for 37 years at this point, jewelry. Always a winner. Jewelry is a winner for those of you listening out there that have a sweet someone jewelry.

If you hadn't thought about that as a winner. And of course, you know, we're plugging away at hallmark here, you know, of course. Oh, that's typically a necessity too, right?

Absolutely. But I will just say that, that if you, especially for grandparents, I'm just going to say for all your grandkids out there, there's nothing like those handmade cards. And my granddaughter, I have one Lila who always will make acronyms of whatever, if it's Valentine's day, like this is the very best grandpa.

And this is, you know, and she'll take every single letter and she'll make these things. And, and those in the creativity that goes into those handmade cards, you know, that means a lot. It does.

And, and it, and it's not age relevant either. Right. I mean, it can be, you know, one crayon, you know, and, and you know, and scratching, you know, but. It means the world. Yeah. So, so kind of, would you say, so what would you say the kind of the universal symbol of Valentine's is? Would that be a heart?

Oh, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, dig, chicken winner, chicken, chicken dinner winner right here, Robbie, the heart. Right. And, and you know how people sometimes now, right. They, they make that little with their hands, right.

They make that heart shape with their hands. That's a photo op right there now. Right. Absolutely.

How many people, how many people, I wonder how many people will post on social media? No, I don't, I don't have a clue to the answer to that, that, that little symbol, right. Maybe, maybe be standing with their, their sweet someone. Right. And they're both doing the little, little hand heart symbol.

Right. And of course, speaking of social media, even outside of Valentine's day, the, that little heart seems to be a not only universal symbol for Valentine's day, but any and every day potentially. Do you ever get, so from your bride, like maybe you text her. Oh my, yes, yes, yes, yes. She's got four different shades of them. All red, but different shades of red.

Let me, so, so, okay. So let me ask you this question and again, you may or may not, you've done some homework and I'm asking because I don't know the answer to this question, but like, you know, the emojis or I guess that's how you say it or whatever has like, like a black heart and a blue heart and a purple heart and all these different colors. Do they all mean something different, Robby?

Would you say? I'm saying that's a good question. For you out there listening land, send me an email, let me know what all those different heart symbol colors mean. Yeah, that's a great question. Cause sometimes like I'll get like, you know, obviously the red heart is, you know, the symbol of Valentine's, the symbol of love. Right. But, uh, and I'm thinking of it right now, like there's even a white heart.

Yes, there is. And, and I will, you know, from my daughters or, you know, just sometimes get different colored ones. I'm like, maybe I should ask.

So no matter what homework I do, I'm never prepared. I don't know. For the record. He did.

He, he tried next year. I'll know my heart colors. 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. Many people often ask me, is Nikita Koloff your real name?

Well, I have news for you. Now you can get the whole story on my audio book. Nikita, a tale of the ring and redemption narrated in my own voice, gaining all perspective and insight into my whole life, including my redemption. If you would like to support Koloff for Christ ministries for a gift of $25, Nikita will send you his two CDs adoration and declaration for a gift of $50. Nikita will include his book wrestling with success and for a gift of $100 or more, Nikita will include a signed copy of his newly updated life story, a tale of the ring and redemption. Go to www.koloff.net and donate today. 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.

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. Well, well, and for the record, I actually don't even, this is just like popping up random in my, in my brain right now. So, all right, well, so, so, so you mentioned roses. You said red. Yes. Now, for the record, actually, it is red roses, but, but also, so not only red ones, I'm trying to find my notes here because the, oh, here we go.

So red, white or soft pink. Really? Yeah, can actually apply.

I did not know that. Yeah. I could go for the soft pink and you know, my wife being from Texas, guess what color I can get her and be in good shape. Oh, okay. Yellow.

Yellow. Oh, yeah. I'm not going to go there. Okay. That's a song. I just know that much of it.

Yeah, I'm just saying. So, so well, and, and, you know, we did, we have been kind of plugging a, a, a US greeting card, a company. But did you know Robbie? Did, did, did you know?

Well, let me back up. Approximately how many cards would you say are sent each year? So I'm asking Robbie, but I'm asking you out there to take a guess right now, take a stab at it. But so. 20 billion. 20 billion. Yeah. I like big numbers.

And I don't know how recent these, these, you know, I don't know how recent these numbers are, but, but 145 million. Now this is just the US. Okay. So I'm not including. Oh, that's why I had it.

That's why you were way higher. Cause you're thinking Italy. Right. Right. There's a lot of China.

You can imagine in India, they have a huge, you know. Yeah. Right. Exactly. You know, you were thinking more globally.

I was thinking more, you know, in national, not international. So no, but, but within the US 145 million Valentine's cards are actually sent. Right. So. And I, I, I'll bet you that when it comes to the little kids ones, they just count them one pack rather than all those that are in the pack. And for the record, cause this would bump the number, that number does exclude all the packaged.

Oh yeah. Valentine's for the classroom exchanges. And you know, it's funny you mentioned that cause, cause I do have those, those memory, you know, and it both purchasing for, for my, my kids.

And of course the grandkids, as you mentioned, you know, the, the 20 in a pack or 30 in a pack or whatever, you're like, Hey, you know, how many kids are in your classroom? I got 17. Okay. You know, well, let's make sure we get 17 cards. Right.

And that's always fun trying to see if they have to figure out who, who, who they want to give to which card they want to give to who. Right. Um, so that's always interesting.

So the U S greeting association, so that that's, that's okay. So what might you guess? So here's another question for you. All right.

I'm ready. Um, what might you guess? So that's second only to what holiday that might exceed? I know. I know. I know. I know. I got my, I got this one. Okay. Pick me, pick me.

Robby mother's day. It's up first. And now it's not, it's not. Oh my. Oh, good try though.

Humiliation. But that was a good guess. That was really good. That was a really good guess. Christmas. Really? Christmas. Well, I'm glad to hear that actually. Christmas, uh, comes in, uh, in this particular study, numero uno.

Now for the record, there are 1500 types of Valentine's day greeting cards offered by the hallmark association. I'm not surprised. Hundred. Yeah. Um, you know, a little side note, you've probably heard this story. Um, this would be another topic for another show, but you mentioned mother's day. You know, the, um, there was a ministry that brought mother's day cards to, to a prison. I know you've heard this story and they ran out of cards and so they naturally thought, well, father's day is coming up next month. Boy, we better have twice as many cards for father's day. And of course, I know, you know, the story.

Why don't you give the punchline to all of our listeners? What happened out there, Robby? Yeah, they had even more to supply for the father's day card so they wouldn't run out. And as I recall, they only had two maybe in the entire prison system that wanted to father's day card. And they sat there with all these cards just shocked that what was the difference?

Shocked at what was the difference? And again, that's, that really is another show for another day. We may have to do a special show just on that, Robby. Oh, it's, it's, it's a real statistic. Yeah. Yeah. Like we're not, we're not making that up.

We're not fabric. That's a true story that, that speaks to how important, I'll just say this, how important the role of a father is in the home. Could we conclude? Oh, it's, it is. And it gets back to your definition of success.

Which, which for those who don't know, uh, my definition, definition of success is what Robby? Nose prints on the window. Ooh, let's hold right there. Hold, hold. Think about that.

What is it? What is it we're saying with the, so the definition of success is nose prints on the window. All right. I'm going to give the listeners a second to think about that, Robby, to come up with their own answers and then give you the opportunity to go ahead and explain what you mean.

Nick gave me this. I can't get it out of my mind that it's those little ones that are expecting daddy to come home with their noses pressed up against the windows. And that comes from a real heart place. Right. And I bet you it touches right there in your little red heart. I mean, that's, that's what it hits me. Yeah.

So, so that was one individual's definition of success that if those kids are just anticipating daddy coming home, they can't wait for daddy to get home from work or for wherever daddy's doing, whatever he's doing, traveling, whatever else that they so eager to see him that they have their little faces pressed up against the glass, looking at the driveway, just waiting for daddy to pull in. And so on this valence Valentine's day special show, boy, let that touch your heart in a special way. Right.

Right. Because when you think about it, it's God kind of the author of the whole idea of Valentine's day and where we meet with God, right. And your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit.

So where's the Holy of Holies? It's your heart. And so that's where our noses should be like on Valentine's day so that we can get the love we need so we can go out and be, you know, that let love for somebody else. Get the love we need so that we can love others. Wow.

Almost the foundation, right? God is love. And, and, and so on this Valentine, the celebration of love on this Valentine's day, what it offers a way beyond roses, flowers, candy, right? And all the other jewelry and, and all the other gifts that may flow. Speaking of which, do you, do you, speaking of gifts, do you know kind of what the average individual will spend on a, on a, for Valentine's day? I just remember last time it was totally scary. It was something like four or $500.

Well, I am, I am testing your memory here. Survey, survey by the National Retail Federation. And again, now this is just Americans, right? And this is with inflation. It probably is about four or $500 presently, Robby, in 2024. However, in this antiquated research that I did, $161.96 is what, what they determined. So, you know, close to a couple hundred bucks, right? To laugh for each of us to lavish on our loved ones. So now if you add that up with several kids and, and, and a spouse, it can certainly topple four or $500, right?

When all is said and done. What would you, what's the number one gift? What's the number one gift? Speaking of gifts. It's I would think flowers. Flowers is the number, number one gift costing on average. Again, this is probably, probably gone up at this point, but $73 per order on average, $73.

Holy moly. Now that is, that's inflation. How, how much chocolate, Robby, do you, do you think Americans, Americans, not just America buy every year on Valentine's day? What might you guess chocolate for Valentine's day? A hundred thousand pounds. 58 million pounds of chocolate.

58 million, 58 million pounds. I think Robby's getting an F here. Plunking my Valentine's death. Well, you and every listener out there, although they may be a, you know, but what's, you really kind of already mentioned it. The most popular candy is the box of hearts, you know, the heart box, heart shaped, heart shaped boxes of chocolate.

Most popular. That is exactly right. So a lot, but lots of mystery surrounds the whole history of, of Valentine's day. But you know, you mentioned too, and I want to say, you know, kind of in conclusion of our Valentine's special here. What we might conclude, what Valentine's day focuses on, really is not, not too far from what the Bible focuses on, right? Which is romance.

And as we've already been talking and love, right? The Bible kind of centers on that. In fact, I mean, one could say the entire Bible is a love story, right?

So if somebody wanted to really embrace Valentine's day beyond just handing out some candy and flowers and some jewelry and a few gifts, a card, what, what might you, what might you leave our audience with today, Robby? Oh, I can't help but note that when you think of the, the idea of love, right? It's God's name in so many different ways, right? Because you hear, you've heard people say, Abba father. Well, how do you say love in Hebrew?

Aha. It's like, uh, so it really is those same letters are very much involved in the idea of it. And then when you think about what are the, what's the first fruit of the spirit, right? And so, love, right? And when, when you think about what happened on Pentecost, the day that, that, you know, that the church was born, so to speak, right?

That the Holy spirit was going to fall on these guys. And when it did, if you go back and look at it and you know, I can't help, but think of the picture in elf, where he falls in love with that girl and he's running around, I'm in love, I'm in love. And I don't care what anybody thinks about it. Right.

You see a picture of that scene. Right, right, right, right, right. Well, do I feel like that about God?

Or do you remember a time when you felt like that about God and when you like to feel that way about God, and once you feel that way about God, then you can have that opportunity to feel that way about your wife. You can feel that way about your kids and, and, and you can feel that way about your grandkids and people would think that guy's drunk. Right. Yeah.

They were speaking funny, but they, they, the reason they thought they were drunk is they were running around there like elf. Like I'm in love. I'm in love.

And I don't care what anybody thinks about it because this is what it says. They were praising God. Yeah. Full of joy and full of joy.

And I've seen you when you were like that. Yeah. Full of joy. Yeah. Don't give too much away here, Robbie. Don't give too much away here.

No, that's good, Robbie. And, and, and, you know, a couple of things come to mind too. You know, when think about, uh, Samuel anointing the next king of Israel and he's looking at Eliab and he's like, don't look at his outward appearance. God doesn't see the saint. God looks at the heart.

Right. And so Valentine's all the heart is the symbol and it's right, but at the core foundation and there's some homework for you as a listener out there. If you're not familiar with first Corinthians chapter 13, it's really kind of known as what Robbie? The love chapter. The love chapter. And so, you know, go reread that this Valentine's day, you know, before you shower your love on your spouse and children and grandchildren and, and coworkers and other others, right? First Corinthians chapter 13, the love chapter, go, go read that.

And of course, song of Solomon or song of songs, depending on your, your translation and perspective. Wow. If there was ever a book on love, that one, how would you summarize that particular book, Robbie?

It's my favorite book because the whole story is Jesus telling you how much he loves you and pouring into you, you know, all those words of affirmation you ever wanted. Hmm. That's good. And song of Solomon, verse two, chapter two, verse 16, my lover is mine and I am his.

Wow. Embrace that and song of Solomon four, chapter four, verse 10, embrace this. How delightful is your love. My sister, my bride, how much more pleasing is your love than wine and the fragrance of your perfume or the perfume of any spice. So happy Valentine's day, Robbie.

Yeah. And to all of you out there, happy Valentine's day, as you begin to prepare just a few days. What'd you say, Rob? The Eve of the Eve of the Eve of the Eve.

Yeah, I was going to say, Eve, Eve, Eve, Eve. Hey, I just want, I hope you were blessed by this special. Robbie Dilmore, man, go over and listen to Christian Car Guy, go over to Truth Radio, Masculine Journey, many other shows that he hosts.

And of course, he's instrumental in the success of the Man Up show. Thanks for tuning in today. I really appreciate you each and every week.

So faithful. Thank you for all your wonderful comments. 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 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.

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 the one to buy. Are you looking for the perfect gift for your pastor? Well, look no further. Bless him with a trip to the Holy Land with yours truly, Nikita Koloff, The Russian Nightmare. I'll be hosting this once-in-a-lifetime trip December 27, 2023 to January 5, 2024.

Your pastor will never be the same. Go to koloff.net to get registered today.