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Now, the Devil's Nightmare. Welcome back to another episode of It's Time to Man Up. In studio with me today, none other than the man, well, I'm even having trouble saying that, but hey, the man himself, Roger Gadd, welcome to the Man Up show. Oh, thank you, Nick. I'm honored to be here.
Thanks for the invite. Well, it's great to have you here. You know, before we went on air, you and I were just taking a minute reminiscing. I know my producer, Nick, was asking you kind of how we met or how we knew each other.
And I had no idea you even enlightened me. About 33 years, we've known each other now. I would say over that because I've been married 33 years. Wow. And so, you know, it's been a long time. Well, congratulations on 33 years of marriage, by the way. Thank you. In today's world, that in itself is a milestone. It's 133 right now, too. That's interesting. I just happened to glance at the clock. All right. Well, Lord, is there a scripture there we need to look at?
133. So anyway, well, in fact, I'll say this for the record because, you know, you say you go way, way back even to the days when I was married to Mandy, which some people know that story. I mean, you know, there's a lot of wrestling fans out there, people that have read my book or downloaded the book and, you know, the audio book and learned that Mandy was really who I walked away from wrestling in the peak of a career at the top, main event top, you know, to take care of her because she had been diagnosed at age 24 with cancer.
And, of course, she went through that whole process of chemo and radiation, lost all of her hair, beautiful woman, lost all her hair, and came back with a vengeance, having gone into remission briefly, came back with a vengeance, and then she passed at age 26. It was really my first, I guess you'd say, exposure that close, someone that close to you to death at that point for me. And it didn't lead me to the foot of the cross, but as we were kind of half joking before we got on the show today, that was really back in my BC days.
I wasn't walking with the Lord back in those days. And so, yeah, but it was, I think, a catalyst that led me eventually to the foot of the cross, certainly in, you know, experiencing death that close, being that close to death like that. So, which I want to get into your story because, man, you have quite a testimony.
You're an overcomer as well. You have had some health challenges, some health issues that I'd love to get into. But before we get there, you know, you mentioned being married 23 years. I mean, tell our listeners just very quickly about your bride and your family. Yes, my wife is, her name is Michelle. Like I said, we've been married 33 years. We have three kids, Ross, Madeline, and Olivia. And, believe it or not, I have five granddaughters, three and a half years and young.
Wow. Five, three and a half years and young. All granddaughters.
And we just found out my son's wife is pregnant again. So, about nine months from now, we're going to find out, you know. Maybe granddaughter number six maybe.
It could be, whatever the Lord says, we're going to be happy with it. Your quiver is expanding. And, of course, I can relate to that.
Presently, I have six granddaughters, six grandsons, and my daughter Kendra, who used to hang out, well, hung out at your house for quite, our kids hung out together too over the years. Right. Yeah, Madeline and Kendra did, right? Yeah. Yeah. No, it was Madeline and Colby.
Okay, Madeline and Colby. Yes, it was. Okay. Yeah. Okay.
Yeah. And Kendra is my youngest. But Kendra, they're expecting their third. Because they have two girls and they're old school. They're like, they go down the path of not finding out.
They just like to, they want to know when the baby comes out the birth canal. Not to be too graphic here. But, so that'll be the tiebreaker though. So, six grandsons, six granddaughters, and we won't know till next year who the tiebreaker is there. But, so, and you're a business guy. We've been in business together over the years and a lot of, a variety of different businesses that we've been involved in. The nutritional business, of course, being one of them. But what are some of the other hats you've worn, besides being a dad, a husband, a granddad, what are some of the other hats you've worn?
Oh, boy, that's a good question. There's a good one there. So, I have, I had a decorative concrete company for, gosh, 25, 25 years. Marty Cox, right? That's an absolute friend.
A mutual friend, Marty Cox. Absolutely. Yeah. And I still do that occasionally. Oh, wow.
It still finds me. Okay. I just did a couple of projects for Multiply Church and a couple of things for Pastor Bill. Okay. Pastor Bill needed a couple of things. 25 years in the decorative concrete.
Decorative concrete? Right. Okay. Wow. Okay.
I had no idea. And then I did that and I transitioned to insurance. Okay.
Now, that's what you're currently doing, right? The insurance. It is.
It is. I do health insurance, life insurance, help people all over the state with it. Okay. State of North Carolina.
State of North Carolina. Okay. And what it actually does for me is really, what's the neat thing? It puts me in front of people, new people every day, but then repeat people every month, every week, every year that leads me to relationships with them. And that draws them right to the Lord.
We always got questions that way. And it's just that relationship building. I can – it's obvious why the Lord has me doing what I'm doing. Well, and being a marketplace guy that you are and all these different jobs or companies that you've owned or businesses you've been involved in, the one thing I've learned about you, Rogers – well, several things. One, you've never met a stranger.
In other words, you could talk to anybody anywhere at any time. You just have that gift, which I think is a real gift, but you're personable, you're friendly, you're approachable, which are some of the other strengths I've seen about you. And then the other thing I'll just kind of half-jokingly say is you could sell snow to an Eskimo. You just have the gift of sales. Some people do and some don't, quite frankly, but you have that ability to help people understand what it is you're selling and them wanting to purchase whatever it is from you, right?
And so what has been out of – so out of the different hats you've worn, has any one of those businesses kind of stand out over another or are they all kind of maybe in the same – on the same page, so to speak? Honestly, really on the same page, because I always tell people I'm not defined on what I do. That's something I – years and years ago, I just figured out that what do men normally do when they meet each other?
The first thing they say is what do you do for a living? You know, it's just that natural thing that people do. And you know what, the Lord told me a long time ago, that's not where we're defined at.
You know what I mean? Because a lot of guys – you bring up a very valid point. A lot of guys, their whole identity, which is what you're alluding to, their whole identity is wrapped up in what they do, right? And whether it's insurance, car sales or whatever it is, that's who they become. For the longest time – well, people identify me as – in many arenas, so to speak, as the pro wrestler, right? Oh, you're the wrestling guy, right? Kind of funny, I've had this happen a number of times, these younger girls, like I might be in a church service or something or out and about, and they'll go, Dad, that's the preacher guy. And well, Dad knows me as the wrestler guy, and they'll go, no, honey, he's a wrestler. And she goes, no, he's a preacher, because for a couple seasons, we were part of a reality TV show called Preacher's Daughters. And so some of those teenage girls didn't know I was a wrestler, only saw me as a preacher. And then the parent though, in many cases, knew me as a wrestler, right?
So they kind of have that argument back and forth. But all that to say, it is easy, I guess, would you agree, for people in general, but especially men, to get hung up or caught up in what they do as their identity? But when did you first recognize, that's just what I do, that's not who I am, that's not my identity?
Oh, boy, that's a good question. But I would say several years ago, maybe even longer, I just – I don't know, the Lord kind of downloaded it with me, and just kind of let me know who I am in Him, you know, obviously, that's what it's about. So your identity is in Christ. Yeah, yeah, it's not about, you know, I mean, you know, it's important to make money, and you can help people in what you're doing, but everything comes down to relationships.
Everything, when you're doing it, because you've got relationships with people, they'll call you once or twice a year, you will help them with their needs, and then, you know, you may – some of them I talk to a lot more than that, and some of them I don't. But it is, I don't know, it's kind of one of those things that it was freedom knowing that. Yeah, there is freedom and peace, right, that if you're secure, if you're secure, have peace about who you are in Christ. And there may be somebody out there listening today that doesn't have – that you said comes down to relationships, that maybe doesn't have that relationship with Jesus Christ. And I'll just take a moment right now and encourage you, you know, if that is you, no better decision you'll ever make in your life ever than surrendering your heart and your life to Christ. Would you agree with that, Roger?
Oh, absolutely. That would actually tie us back to the story when you were talking about Mandy, because, you know, a couple years later than that, when I was 27, I had non-Hoskins lymphoma. I had a tumor in my chest. I had cancer. I had a tumor in my chest as big as your hand.
Two surgeries, 12 chemo, 20 radiation treatments. You know, all my hair fell out. I look like you or look like I do now.
There you go. Hey, you know, that was the weirdest feeling in the world. I had a head full of hair.
I always say I had the high and tight before Schwarzenegger had it. You know what I mean? Come on. Come on.
I had it a long time ago. But I was, you know, after my first, after my third or fourth chemo, I kept telling my chemo nurse, I'm not going to, I'm not going to lose my hair. She said, oh, yes, you are.
Okay. So it was real thick and coarse. And all of a sudden I was laying on my mom and dad's couch because there was no nausea drugs then. So I was sick as a dog. So, uh, I was, I was, I was sick at the time and all of a sudden my scalp started tingling and I could literally pull my hair out by the hand. I could just pull it out.
Clumps of it. Oh, just, it was unbelievable feeling, you know, so went, went through all of that. But in the middle of it, I'd say my fourth or fifth chemo, I was a guy that Nick, I, I wouldn't have known the Lord if he knocked me upside the head. You weren't a Christ follower at that time. I didn't, I had been to church a couple of times in my life and, uh, I could say on one hand and start subtracting. Okay.
So I couldn't have told you where Genesis one, one was. I mean, period, didn't know anything about Bible, anything that lived, you know, had great, great parents, but that wasn't a priority. Yeah. You know, very moral people, perhaps good. Absolutely.
No spiritual, no, no drinking, no, it was just, just a clean lifestyle as in that. But we're morally bankrupt, obviously. We didn't, you know, we didn't, we didn't, uh, you know, like I said, I didn't know.
We're spiritually bankrupt. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. That would be a better way to say it. You're listening to the truth network and truthnetwork.com Would your company, business, or you personally like to partner with me in supporting co-op for Christ ministries, the man up show and man up minutes, go to colaf.net and click the donate button.
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Go to eyeassociates.com for more information. You're listening to the truth network and truthnetwork.com So I'm there and I'm laying on my couch and I'm saying, Lord, if you're for real, I need you to show up. And I'm going to tell you what, he put his hand on me and like nothing has ever happened before in my life, I knew that he had me. He just put his arms around me and things started changing, as you say, it was a time I had met my wife, which was a follower of Christ. Did she have her hiccups along the way?
Probably when I say that, but she grew up and I actually knew these things. So I started going to church and it was a radical change for me. I always say it was just a radical change that I knew what I had been missing. I understood the love of the father like I had never seen ever before in anything, and it was just that big arm that come down and picked me up and I went through the rest of my treatments and all of that stuff like it was just kind of breezed.
I don't say I breezed through it, but it sure was a whole lot easier. Darrell Bock Wow. Much more, now you're at peace in a sense, even though you're struggling in that particular trial or some might say tribulation, storm of life, but in the midst of the storm, God gave you peace when you surrendered your life to him. How long ago was that, Roger? That was …? Roger And you began, as we've been referring to a relationship, you began that journey and that relationship with him, and I know in spending time with you ever since then, you've been growing and growing and growing and growing in your faith, and that's not the only health issue that you've had to overcome, right?
Darrell Bock Oh, gosh. Roger I'm never sick, I take care of myself, I eat right, I exercise, I do all the things I think I should do, and when I was 55, I'm standing in a lady's yard and all of a sudden my left arm went really limp, so when it went limp, basically long story short there, I had a mini stroke standing there, and they didn't know why in the world that I had it. So I went to the doctor, I was in Salisbury at the time, so I drove myself from there. It was crazy, crazy story, so when I get there, they said, how did you get there? So they did all these tests on me, long story short, I have a blood cancer called polycythemia vera, that actually my bone marrow creates too many red blood cells, so my hematocrit number was over 60, which should have been in the 40s, so my blood was thick.
So they did some blood draws and different things, and I'm kind of experiencing some things to go with it now, you know, so then, okay, we'll go help things, so then when I was 59, from my first cancer that I had, my aortic valve, they found a problem with it during all this period of time, and it had to be replaced four years later. So I had open heart surgery, so I always just say this, I always say, Satan, every time he comes after me, I only get closer to the Lord, so he ought to just stop all of this is what I say. That's a great word of advice, just pause on that note, let that sink in for you listening out there, you know, he said whenever he comes out, he's referring to there is an enemy of our soul, you know, the Bible describes in many different ways, Satan, the devil, I mean, that's the reality.
There is a heaven, there is a hell, there is good, and there is evil, and, you know, he comes to steal, kill, and destroy, right? You know, go read the book of Job sometime if you want to see how he can, you know, attack us, and so all that to say, think about what Roger just said for a moment, and some pretty major health issues, things that he just described, that God has sustained him and helped him work through, and what he said was, whenever the enemy comes after him, it's been an opportunity for him to draw closer to the Lord. So I want to encourage you, you know, don't run in the opposite direction, you run towards the cross, right, Roger? Not away from the cross. As the song would say, run to the Father, run to the Father.
Run to the Father, Abba, Heavenly Father, right? So, incredible testimonies that God has clearly, over the years, had his hand on your life, and such amazing stories. You did some coaching for a while, too, am I correct?
Oh, yeah. Did you do some coaching? I have coached at a Christian school, started out doing middle school football, and probably, I wished I'd have probably never stopped doing that, I enjoyed that, probably had more of an impact there than I thought, then I started their JV program, then I coached with Mike Minter with the varsity squad, and, you know, I just enjoy competition, I enjoy kids, and believe it or not, you know, people say this is such a joke, I really like middle school kids, let me tell you that.
Well, God bless you, Roger, two quick stories right there. So you mentioned Mike Minter, of course, played for the Carolina Panthers, defensive back, and you may or may not even know this story, maybe you do, or I'd shared it, but I went to Mike's office, and I, because I'd considered coming aboard on staff, too, maybe in the same time you were there, I'm not even sure, I know he won like three state titles, right, with that Christian school, so it was during that window, that time frame, and he goes, I want you to coach D-line, and I'm like, Mike, I don't want to coach D-line, I'm a tight end, I played tight end in college, I want to, which I, actually looking back, I played defensive line in college as well, but in my mind, I wanted to coach tight ends, I'm like, dude, I want to coach tight ends, so I never followed through, it's like one of those things like, man, I wish I had, so, because my daughters were going to that same school and cheerleading, and man, I could have been coaching on the sideline, my daughter Kendra, who we mentioned, would have been cheerleading, so anyway, so a missed opportunity I feel like for me there, but, and then the junior high thing, I remember, I got a teaching degree from college, like when I graduated, I graduated with a physical education, minor in coaching, and a minor in health, right, and I remember, we had to do these, I think six week segments in a junior high, and six weeks in an elementary school, and I don't know which one was first, but here's what I do remember, whichever, it didn't matter which one was first, because I walked away from each one going, I don't ever want to teach at junior high, or I don't ever want to teach at elementary, you know, man, maybe I'll coach at the college level, or teach at the college level, but anyway, so to hear you say, man, I would have loved to continue, and even Nick here, the producer of the studio is kind of grinning on that one, when you said, my preference would be to be with the junior hires, so, what, what, just, we just got a few minutes left here, but what, what, what prompts that, that response, like what, why you say that? Because you had such an impact on them, they were just looking for consistency, the coach, the guy that had did it before, in between me and Tim, Tim was the guy that started all that, Tim Hagler, so when the guy in between, half showed up, half whatever, so, I don't even know his name, so I'm not talking about him when I say it, but what we did was, we showed up, we worked hard, and those kids, I can remember a story, this is, this is while I know what the impact you said, it was a friend of mine, they were going to a cookout, and these, some of these kids were in line getting food, and the guy said, do you want a soda?
He said, no, Coach Gad said, we can't have sodas during season, I'll take a water or a Gatorade. Come on, I love it. So I'm just telling you, those kids would run through a wall for you, but it took time to build that. So they were impressionable. Extremely. And you had an incredible opportunity to make an impact on their life, and which we can do, let's be honest, we can make a negative impact or we can make a positive impact, but with where you were at in life, your station of life, and the opportunity that presented itself, you were making a major positive impact on these kids' lives. I love that.
My dad said, we can't have soda pop in season, we got to wait until autumn season, so give you a bottle of water. That's amazing. Wow. And before we run out of time, Roger, where, like, if people wanted to, do you have a website or do you have, where could people find out more about Roger Gad, especially, you know, you're actively in the insurance world, where could they find out more about you?
Well, I reckon the easy way would just use my phone, which is fine. Okay. 704-425-8216.
Say it one more time. 704-425-8216. And, of course, you're in the, you said all, you can work all over the state of North Carolina, you're licensed across the whole state of North Carolina, and you said health, so what type of insurances do you offer? I do health insurance, life insurance. Okay. Individuals, corporations? Yeah. I have individuals and groups.
I have access to groups also. Okay. Okay.
And I assure you, you know, if you're a business owner out there or you're just an individual that needs some information regarding that, you know, write Roger's number down, go back and re-listen to this show, write his number down, and I assure you, you couldn't have a better agent working for you, looking out for your best interest than Roger Gad. I feel comfortable in saying that, 33-plus years that we've known each other, and just an amazing story, Roger, from what you've overcome. Last word, what parting words you would maybe want to leave our listeners with?
Wow. I would say that us men and women also, we are always defined on who Christ says we are, and we don't have to look very far, because he's not very far away. He's always there, and, you know, I could just go, I could probably do another 30 minutes on what we had spoke about the other day, about the ministries and the way that the Lord has showed me to, how to reach out to people and how to do, we kind of spoke about it a little bit, about that devotion list and how that the impact that you can have. The Lord has just showed me all kind of tools on how to share Christ.
You know what I mean? And that's what really, at the end of the day, insurance, whatever it is, that's what it's about. Those are just assignments, right?
So whatever chosen field you're working in are just assignments. It is about relationship, starting with that relationship with Jesus Christ. And then from there, just figuring out then what it is the Lord wants you to do. And the marketplace, I'll just kind of wrap up with this, the marketplace, when you look back at where Jesus, I believe, spent the majority of time, was out in the marketplace. Now he certainly spent his time in the synagogue and reading out of the Old Testament, reading scripture, but more than anything, he was out and about in the midst of people and even got criticized for some of the people that he had supper with or hung out with, right?
But that didn't stop him from his mission. And Roger Gadd is on a mission and Roger Gadd is making an impact and a difference in people's lives, whether it's wearing the coaching hat, the insurance hat, the concrete coating business or whatever else it is he's done as a husband, as a father, as a grandfather. And so I just want to challenge each of you today, I hope you were inspired by Roger's story and or encouraged by how he has overcome. And would you say, Roger, at the end of the day, I'm reminded of Philippians 4.13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me, would that be a scripture that you might say you've embraced over the years? That would be a great scripture.
So Philippians 4.13, I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. Check him out, check out Roger Gadd, thank you for tuning in once again to another episode of the Man Up show. Help spread the word, get the word out there, go to coloff.net and get the word out and go out today, here's my challenge to you, go out today and have a God filled and live a 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 coloff.net and donate 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. Hi, Nikita Koloff, be sure to check out the Man Up show now available on television, broadcast and podcast. Go to morningstartv.com or the Truth Radio Network, check out your local listings or better yet, download the Truth Network app today. Nikita Koloff here, if you're needing to buy a car and have marginal credit and considering using buy here, pay here, that's worse than taking the Russian sickle. Winston-Salem motor cars will put you behind the wheel of a car you can rely on while helping rebuild, repair or establish your credit score. Conveniently located on Silas Creek Parkway in Winston-Salem, be sure to check them out today at wsmcthenumberone.com because you are number one. This is the Truth Network.
