Why You Have Time For Nikita Koloff's Man Camp

This is the Truth Network. Welcome to Man Talk brought to you by TAWCMN, talking and walking Christian men's ministry, where they're devoted to breaking down the walls of race and denomination and challenging men to take their God-assigned role. Here's our hosts, Will Hardy and Roy Jones Jr., a black guy and a white guy. Welcome to Man Talk Radio and we're here in the studio with Nikita Koloff and we want to talk about, Nikita, you have a man camp coming up.

We do. Coming up in April of this year, one of my former wrestling peers, the Toto package Lex Luger and I. Lord gave us a vision back in 2015 for a ministry to minister to men. And so here we are in Man Talk, talking about ministering to men.

And so we launched, we kind of gave a soft launch and did some one-day workshops that we simply call Man Up, right? Calling men to be men, which I know is everything you guys talk about week in and week out. Calling men to be men.

Step up and man up and be the man that God intended for them to be. And so we do these one-day workshops, but those kind of feed into the five-day catalyst of man camps where we dive into, really a deep dive into showing men, teaching men, taking our experiences and how to be physically healthy, mentally healthy, spiritually healthy, emotionally healthy, and just be a well-rounded man. If there was a tag line there would be seeing whole men, W-H-O-L-E, living holy lives, H-O-L-Y, and holy available, W-H-O-L-L-Y, available to the Lord. That kind of be the tagline for man camp. That is so good. Yeah.

That is so good. Because I think most times we forget about the physical part of ourselves. I mean, as Christians, we want to, of course, develop our spiritual inner man and have him grow. And I think a lot of times that natural man, he goes neglected. That's the key.

And you just took the word right out of my mouth. Well, that just neglected, right? And again, balance is the key, but to your point, there's a lot of emphasis on the inner man, the spiritual man, right? I mean, sermon after sermon, week after week after week, is about growing in your faith and your belief and your trust. Well, all of which is good.

All of which is good. Well, at the same time, there's less talk about the mind and emotions, and clearly from scripture, we're to renew our mind. How are we transformed? By the renewing of our mind. So our mind becomes key to our spiritual growth. And then, I don't know about you guys, but there's some men, I've met that their emotions are all over the map.

It's all over the place. Absolutely. And so what does scripture say about being stable, right, mentally, having stability with our emotions?

Not that... I find it's what... Some men are overly emotional, some are detached from their emotions, but again, there's the word balance. Well, we have to balance our emotions. And then last but not least is the physical man, and the lack of emphasis on being healthy long-term physically. And I have found one lacking in one area affects all the others, because they're all really related and interconnected. Oh, absolutely. Because if you don't have enough energy because you're not in condition to do anything, then you certainly don't wanna go out and work for the Lord. No, you're exactly right, Will.

And there's a... What we were talking about before the show started is the rest and renewal. I think to Nick's point, in your point, you gotta take care of the natural man. But you can mentally get so exhausted mentally that it pounds your physical capability, because you just have no drive mentally to go do anything. You may have the physical capability, but you're mentally just so exhausted that you just will not do it. And we know what the mind does to the body. It convinces you of everything that you can or can't do, and in those times of exhaustion, it's gonna happen. You got worries of finance, worries about your family, worries about your job, all those things, job pressure, all those things are building up on you, and you miss the quality time with the Lord that you need to do, and the study, and the rest, and renewal, and the renewing of the mind. Yeah, right. So, what we're founded on is 1 Thessalonians 5 23, okay?

May God Himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through, and may your whole spirit, soul, and body be kept lameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. And that was the foundational Scripture that the Lord gave Lex and I to launch into these man camps. And so, you know, we launched in 2019, we did one in the spring, one in the fall. We had, on the first one, 19 guys from seven different states.

On the second one, we had 18 guys from nine different states. So, word is kind of spreading, getting out there, and men from all backgrounds. So, it's not like, oh, I gotta be a pastor to go do that, or I've gotta be an elder in the church, or no, you can be laying brick. But if you have a heart's desire to want to be whole in spirit, soul, and body, like we just read in Scripture, then perhaps man camp would be something that you would consider or entertain.

And I'll say this as well. One of the things I wanted to emphasize right out of the gate about man camp was this is not just another event. In other words, I don't want you coming and going, at the end of the day, when we send you home on Friday, you go, oh, yeah, that was a great event.

And then you go home, and three weeks later, you know, you're wallowing back in the same muck and mire that you're hoping to get out of or had some freedom from by coming to the camp. No, we want you to encounter God on an intimate, personal level, and walk away impacted by the experience. So, it's not just another event.

That's right. We believe it's an experience. And because you encountered God in that deep, intimate, passionate way while you were with us, you're going to go home and your family is going to see fruit. Your family is going to see change. And you're not even going to have to talk about it. It's going to be from the inside out. So, you're just going to live it out and not have to be talking about what's different and what was changed.

But you're going to be able to live it out. You know, because when you're bearing fruit for the Lord, that I think shows that you are, number one, serious about whatever it is that you're doing for the Lord or what the Lord has called you to do. And then, number two, you're taking the step forward to say that I am not whole in at least one of these three areas of my life, my spirit, soul, and body.

And I want to work on one. So, you might be well, so to speak, in two of the areas, but you want to work on that third area. Yeah, right. I ask guys, okay, some guys say, well, I feel pretty okay. Well, could you be healthier?

So, even if you consider yourself healthy, and let's say all three of these areas, well, could you be healthier? In other words, could you, is there areas, these areas, your mind, your emotions, your spirit man, your physical man, where you could, there's something new to learn that would even help you be healthier. And if you're single, then we want to send you home as a stronger man of God, right, being a single man. If you're married, a better husband.

You have children, a better father, a better dad. And that's kind of the vision, the goal for Man Up, one-day conferences, a taste of it, but the full-blown man camp, and guys experiencing that on a deep level. And I can speak to this from a personal level, and we've talked several months back when we had in the queue with us before, but, you know, you go into this, no matter where you're at in your spiritual walk, no matter where you're at, if you're fully, full-blown all in, or if you're just on the cusp of starting your walk, or maybe you've been one of those guys who's been inactive for quite some time, you love the Lord, but you've just not been living it out. This type of event is for every man, for every man.

We had Pat, the event I went on similar to that Nick happened to facilitate several years ago under a different heading was, we had pastors, we had business people, we had a marketplace of different venues there, and myself, and all types of men. Just my point is, it's across the spectrum. All ages. Yeah, in all ages, yeah.

So it's not limited by age, it's not limited by occupation. All you've got to do is be willing to get on the bus, as Nick used to always say, just got to get on the bus. And if you're listening, and there's just something missing, and you feel like, you know, I could be deeper, I could have a, I need some rest, but I could be at a deeper relationship with Christ. Get on the bus.

Get on the bus. It's five days, and trust me, they take great care of you. You'll do some things you've probably never done in terms of, won't let the cat out of the bag, but you'll do some things you've probably never done, been in a good way, and you'll have some close time with God. It's about you and God. It's not about you and the 15 or 20 other guys. It's about you and God and following the direction of the leadership team that's there to help you get closer in that journey.

And the rest that occurs for your soul is unequivocal to anything that you've ever been exposed to. Well, I know you're speaking for personal experience, Roy, and I was fortunate to facilitate your event, and I've spent about 13 years now targeting men and facilitating these types of experiences for men, and rest and restoration. Men come for a variety of different reasons, as you've both mentioned, and what does the Lord desire to do in you?

What does He desire to do? If you come... I remember in 2006 when I went on my experience, it was one of those that... I just went with an open heart, and I just said, God, I have no idea. I don't know what to expect.

Exactly. To really know anyone where I'm going, but I just wanna go, I wanna run after you. I wanna come after you with all of my heart, soul, mind, and strength, and I'm open for whatever it is you wanna do.

You know, there's always opportunities for men, and this is a great opportunity, men, to enhance and develop or redevelop your mind, your spirit, your body at the man camp. So be open to the Spirit of God and let the Spirit of God work in and through you in this way. We're coming up on a break right now, but we're gonna come back and talk more with Nikita Kolov, the Russian nightmare, right after the break. Live and in person. Live and in person.

Live and in person. Welcome back to Man Talk Radio, and we're here with Nikita Kolov, the Russian nightmare. And we've been talking about man camp. We've been talking about those things that men, you can find if you're searching diligently with your whole heart. Because when you are into yourself, listen what the Word of God says from Proverbs chapter 20 in verse 6. It says, most men will proclaim each his own goodness, each his own goodness, but who can find a faithful man? Fateful men. Are you faithful men to what God has called you to do? And if you're faithful, then you're going to be open and you're going to say, Lord, I need something that man camp can offer me.

And I want to explore that opportunity. So as Roy always says, and we always say on the program, get off the sidelines because there's something that man camp has for every man. Well, you bring up a very valid point.

It does. While at the same time, you guys talk about getting off the sidelines, you might ask me the question, well, what would prevent a man from coming? Well, in 13 years of being in 13 years of being focused on men and men's ministry, there's lots of, well, I could use, all right, there's a lot of reasons, but I might interchange that word with excuses as to men gave me for reasons they could not attend a man camp, right?

I mean, it's fascinating to me at the things that pop up that then prevent them from coming. However, knowing men, as I do, it seems like there's nothing preventing them from going to Kansas and hunting Bambi for a week or two, or going down to the ocean and deep sea fish for a week, right? Or so there's all kinds of things, recreational things they'll do for a week or 10 days. But you ask a man, would you be willing to commit five days and give it back to the Lord? Just five days out of your entire life, where you unplug from the world, shut your phone off, dial up the hotline to heaven and just say, God, here I am. What do you want to say? What do you want to do?

What do you want to show me? And just put yourself in a setting, in an environment where for 24 hours over the course of five days, your central focus is your relationship with God. Now here's what I know, Roy's already testified, the majority of men, and I'm not going to sit here and say 100% across board, because it's simply not true. 100% of the men that come and engage, don't go back home and still fully engage. It just doesn't happen. It's just not reality.

However, there is a certain percentage of men who do come and fully engage and one year, two years, three years, four years, five years, 10 years later, there's lasting fruit like with Roy, because of what they encountered in their experience. And so I tell men, I go, and a lot of times money's the number one excuse. Well, I don't have the money to go do that. Okay, well, let's eliminate that right now, because we have men who've paid it forward, who've gone before you.

We have scholarships, we have a scholarship fund. There's a way of raising those funds by sending a letter out to your family, to your church, Bible, men's study group, and just share your heart and go, I really feel God's calling me to go spend a few days with Him. And for most men who've never done anything like this before, it may be the only time they do anything like this, but a good majority of them are greatly impacted. You honor God with your time, God honors you. We only talk about a handful of days out of your entire lifetime. And just think about it, men, while you're listening, just think about that you cannot put a cost on how God can use you after experiencing man camp. You can't put a cost on that, because that's sowing into the kingdom of God. And see, it's like I talk to our church often, we overuse the term Christian.

Christianity and Christian, it doesn't mean what it used to mean. I consider myself a kingdom citizen. That's what I am. See, I'm just, I am a citizen of the United States. I am a citizen of North Carolina. And I am a citizen within the city in which I dwell. But I'm also a citizen of the kingdom. And I already have a seat in heavenly places. Now, men, if you are proclaiming the name of Jesus Christ as your Savior, and as your Lord, don't use an excuse for something that is going to give you eternal benefits many, many, many times over. Man, that's so good.

You know, I was just thinking about this too. You guys do this program every week, right? Every week. And it's basically a 30-minute program once a week. And I would venture to say there are men out there who dial in week to week and listen to your program and benefit from your program, because you guys just give real talk. That's why it's called man talk, right? Man talk. Because you guys just give real talk about real subjects and and try to help men become better men. So think about this for a minute. So you've got a captured audience, let's say, for 30 minutes once a week, going back to my point of 24 hours for five days, a captured audience.

God has a captured audience for the man that's willing to come, set himself in that place, and receive from whatever God has for him specifically. Specifically for you. Wow. Amen.

Amen. You know, man, if you're listening, it may seem impossible. Take five days out of your life to go spend pursuing God and allow him to catch you.

It may seem impossible, but I promise you that to Nikita's point, it will be worth your while. And what you do with it and what you take away from that event will be all on you to go back and implement in your life ahead of you to impact your family and your friends and your church and your community. But you need it because we know with the distractions and we talk about this often with the phones, in which we think Satan is using quite extensively to keep you off course.

And I heard a statistic, which I'll come back to in just a few moments, but with all the stuff that's going on in the business of life, how much time are you devoting each day to your relationship with Christ first? And if you can't come up with some measurable number, then you say, okay, father, I'm going to commit to five days and get back on track. It's like going to a mini training camp. It's exactly what it was, a mini training camp.

And that's no time better spent, man. So Nikita, how do they get more information about this? Well, they can go to a couple of different websites. They can go to colof.org or they can go to mancamp.info.

Either of those addresses will take them right to the page of information and they can email me right through the website. And our next one will be the last week of April. And we limit it. We limit it to 24 guys because we want to keep it just a smaller, more intimate group where men can be men and men can talk.

And men can talk. No pun intended. It's right with what we're all about. So great to be with you guys today, man. You guys are awesome. It's been great to have you, Nik. It's truly an honor. And God has used you in so many ways through so many people's lives. And just want to say thank you for being a warrior for Christ and being our brother in Christ.

And we look forward to being on the other side with you someday. You know, man, because righteousness exalt a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people. That's the word of God.

That's that's Proverbs 1434. When if you are in the kingdom of God and you are serving God fully with your whole heart, your whole mind, your whole body, your whole spirit, and you have that yearning and desire to just want to fulfill the void because everybody got one. Everybody has a void. And that void needs to be filled by the word of God getting into you.

That's the only offensive weapon we have. When we look at the bodies of armor as it's described in Ephesians Chapter six, we see a helmet of salvation. We see a breastplate of righteousness. We see shoes.

We see belt. But it's only one offensive weapon. That's the word of God, the sword of the spirit. And see, when you go to man camp, you're going to get that. You're going to get the sword of the spirit. All of us need to be filled with the word of God because it's the word of God you can stand on. You can rejoice with so many men, so many testimonies of men, but you can only stand and do battle with the enemy with the word of God. That is your only offensive weapon. I like that. I just think real quick, as you're talking about doing battle, that come and hang out for a few days with the Russian nightmare Nikita Kolov and the total package of Lex Luger.

And we're going to instill in you the idea of being what I'm going to call a tender hearted warrior, a warrior prepared for battle, but yet has the tenderness to hear from God and take care of his family. Wow. You know, I was doing a little bit of calculation here while we were talking about spending five days. It's one point three percent of a year's time.

So what man wouldn't give one point three percent of his time to spend five days with God? We do that watching TV on the Internet. That's right.

On your cell phone. That's right. Well, that was the statistic I was going to come back to. My son and I were talking last weekend, who's he is also a pastor. And he said, you know, dad, there's studies out now because he's getting really into it because he he gets himself getting tied up on the phone just with Instagram or whatever. He said 90 some study.

He read 90 percent of Americans. The first thing they did in the first 10 minutes of waking up is reach for yourself. Mm hmm. Mm hmm. Now, think about that. Mm hmm.

90 percent of Americans that assume that would be 90 percent of those that own a cell phone, which is probably 90 percent of the total reach for their cell phone in the first 10 minutes, probably before they get out of bed. Yeah, it is actually. Yes. OK. I was going to say probably for they even get out of bed. Yeah.

So the chemical reaction that occurs when you start to read positive news, negative news, all that stuff, you're messing your normal body cycle up. So, hey, we Nick, it's been a great show. Think about that, folks. And as always, if you want to become a believer, all you got to do is confess your sins, acknowledge that Jesus Christ died for your sins and ask him into your heart and be the be the lord of your life and turn to the ways and start following Jesus Christ and get in the body of fellowship. I'm Roy Jones, the white guy, and I'm Will Hardy, the black guy. And we appreciate your time. As we wrap up today's show, be assured that TAWCMM talking and walking Christian men's ministry is building a community of men that are Christ followers with a desire to be servant leaders in their homes, communities, churches and work environments. Check out our website for upcoming events and regularly scheduled meetings. Drop us a note for topics that you would like to have us visit in the future. Thank you for joining us on Man Talk today. Visit us at www.tawcmm.com. Men walking the talk. This is the Truth Network.