From the U.S. Capitol Police to the Pulpit

This is Robbie Dilmore from The Christian Car Guy 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. The Russian Nightmare, now The Devil's Worst Nightmare, and your tag-team partner, Nikita Kolov.

It's time to man up. Welcome back, Nikita Kolov, The Devil's Worst Nightmare here, and do I have a show for you today. A remarkable story that involves President Abraham Lincoln. Have you ever researched your family history?

Well, our story today dates back to 1860. My guest is a close and personal friend, a brother in Christ, Frank Shelton Jr., ministers across America and around the globe at various venues impacting lives for God's glory. Now, get this, he's addressed millions on television. I know he preached three years in a row to over 118,000 in Nelson Mandela Stadium in Uganda, Africa. Frank speaks at churches and citywide crusades, outdoor festivals, school assemblies, considered to be both a revivalist and a harvester. We'll talk about that today. And his television program, By Faith with Frank Shelton, airs weekly, get this, to over 150 million homes across America, Europe, Africa, and it's on DirecTV and Dish Network, Christian Television Network, and cable. Again, I could go on and on and on, but here's what you're going to hear today.

If you want to hear a story about a man that's making a difference, then stay tuned and dial in. Frank, welcome to the show today. Oh, brother, it's my honor, and I smile. I still can't believe we're friends.

I feel like a kid in the candy store. So, thank you for having me on, but I remember when we first met on that Priestfest cruise with the calls, and we both had the chance to speak on the ship, and we saw a lot of people touched, and then, you know, the greats are gracious, and that's you. And I gave you my number, and I thought, man, I'll never hear from this guy. Next thing I know, you're calling me, and let's do some ministry together.

So, man, I feel like every day is Christmas when you call me. Well, I appreciate it, and we have done some ministry together. Of course, you've been on, you know, you've been to Man Camp, and our listeners are hearing about Man Camp and some other events that we've done. And we've been side by side doing ministry, and we have things planned in the future to travel the globe together and do conferences, but, I mean, my goodness, some of the life experience that you've had just kind of blow me away.

I mean, you have story after story after story, I mean, going into, you know, almost behind the Iron Curtain, even though there isn't an Iron Curtain anymore, but into countries and places that the average person doesn't go, right? Yeah. What prompted you?

Yeah, correct. Well, what prompted you? Now, listen, so for our listeners out there, what prompted you, and I didn't even say this about your background, for many years you were up on Capitol Hill and involved in a different, you were really, your life was involved in something completely different other than ministry. Tell our listeners just to give them a snapshot of what that looked like before you felt God call you into ministry.

Correct. So thank you. So I was born on Capitol Hill, President's Day weekend, February, a snowy day in 1972, and we are five-generation D.C. Washingtonian. So a lot of people come to Washington to work or vacation or tourist, but I joke I was born to work here. My mom literally almost went into labor with me in the U.S. Capitol.

She was employed with the U.S. Capitol Historical Society, and my dad was employed with the U.S. Capitol Police, so they both were working at my favorite building in the world outside of the U.S. Capitol. And I just felt like God had put me right there, and I was going to go into politics, preach, or protect the president, not in that order. I will say this to all you listeners, the Bible says, whatever your hand finds to do, do it for God's glory.

So it's not the title, it's really our testimony. But having said all of that, you know, some people are mechanics and accountants and lawyers and et cetera, but I was going to go into politics. So for 18 years, I worked for the U.S. Congress, I worked for the U.S. Senate, I was a fundraiser for four years for George W. Bush at the Republican National Committee, I was an aide to the governor of Maryland, and then I volunteered in four White Houses.

And I also then thought about doing the law enforcement. My family has five generation D.C. cops, and you know this there, Nikita, but for your listeners, my family has protected the last 26 of 28 United States presidents. They go all the way back to Abraham Lincoln.

Wow. It was my ancestor, Joseph Gale Shelton, that escorted Lincoln to Ford's Theatre that night. He was two doors down, and when John Wilkes Booth shot the most powerful person on the planet in the back of the head, it was a Shelton who was one of the first to respond and was one of four men named in two obituaries.

He's recorded in two different newspapers that night to literally have hand-carried Abraham Lincoln across the street bleeding and then help gingerly lay him down across the street in a Peterson house where he died about five hours later. So having said all of that, my dad was the assistant chief of the U.S. Capitol Police, and you've been there out of 3,000 police officers in Washington with the Capitol Police. My dad retired as number two in charge out of 3,000. He was the assistant chief, and so I was thinking about joining the Secret Service, and I was going to be sixth generation D.C. police in a row going all the way back to the 1860s. And I had the interview with the Secret Service, and for our listeners, the special agent in charge said, Frank, you'd make one beep of a special agent. I knew what he meant. But even at college, I had the Clint Eastwood in the line of fire Secret Service poster in my dorm room.

I mean, you know, a lot of people try to make a living. My goal was to take a bullet. And so I felt like a lunatic.

Frank, I gave you a message, but this time I can't have you keep it a secret. And after two years with the U.S. Capitol Police, 18 years at some of the highest levels of the government, I walked away by faith. July 27, 2007, left retirement 401k health insurance without a single booking lined up to have 20 years.

By my 38th birthday, I started summer internships at 18 and then to still leave too soon to never get a retirement. A lot of people preach faith, but man, I had left it all by faith. And the first three Sundays go by, nobody called me to speak. And I thought, Lord, maybe he doesn't have my phone number, because the Lord didn't call me after all. And praise the Lord on the fourth Sunday.

He's never hurried, but always on time. I was pastor of a small church where I gave my life to the Lord at Colesman Hood once he came back and preached. And Nikita, I don't think I've ever told you this, but that Sunday at that country's small church, the love offering was exactly what my month's mortgage was that month. And since then, I've now preached in five continents and we're just still trusting the Lord by faith. But when the Lord opened up the door to have a TV show and the radio, they're like, do you have a title?

And all I can think of is it's by faith with Frank Shelton, because that's all I've ever had is faith. So, you know, praise God. But I just love people. We're in the people business.

I never really dreamt about being a preacher, but I knew I wanted to be a reacher. I just wanted to reach people, give them hope, encouragement. Too many Christians look like they've been sucking on lemonades for 33 months, and I just believe the joy of the Lord is our strength.

I believe Christians should be contagious. And, you know, to be salt and light, we're not always doom and gloom. You know, we're light in the dark, we're hope when they're hurting. And one of the greatest things is someone once said, if you have to tell someone who you are, you're not that big of a deal. So I've never been into the titles. You know, it's not Reverend, it's not doctor, it's not evangelist, it's just Frank.

You know, I've been, I worked five years on staff with the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, and everyone I know who's ever connected with Billy Graham, it wasn't doctor, it wasn't preacher, it was just Billy. You know what I mean? I just think the bigger the platform, the smaller the title, and definitely less ego. Because someone eloquently told me, ego is edging God out. So when I get out of the way and God shows up, that's where it's at. So we're just trying to get out of the way, but point the way. Well, that's, you just gave our listeners a lot right there. I mean, there's so much, I hope they had time to really take all that in. Because, I mean, just starting with your legacy, I mean, five generations dating back to Abraham Lincoln in 1860.

That in itself, I'm absorbing that for a moment right now. Because, you know, I know some of your story. Of course, I wouldn't say a lot of your story, but enough of your story to know it's pretty fascinating, which is why I wanted to have you on the show.

I mean, there's story after story after story that you could tell. So, how old were you, Frank, when you surrendered your life to Jesus? I'm just curious, how old were you?

No, it's good. I was seven, 1979, July, at a vacation Bible school. I got saved at a church running 33, of which nine of the 33 was the pastor's family. And I don't know who this is for, but I think we have to re-evaluate what success of the ministry is. You know, it's humbling. When I go through TV, I mean, you've been in the biggest arenas of the world, both wrestling and preaching.

I mean, you are the rare one. God's really blessed you over and over and over. But sometimes, many who are first will be last. So, if you're listening today and, you know, maybe you're a pastor of a so-called small church, obscure, and you just feel like the world's biggest failure. When we get to heaven, I hope you'll just remember to say hi to me, because the truth is, they may have a greater reward than us. You know, the goal is not competition, but it's just bigger than us.

But I like what one guy said, better is better. And we're just trying to be better dads, better husbands, better Christians, better men. And man, your man camp really not only blessed me, but blessed everyone around me. And I want to, I'm not only bringing a van of men back, I want to encourage everybody listening. You know, you need to go to man camp and man up, because you can hang out in the man cave, but man camp is exactly a game changer. So, thank you for your ministry, Nicky.

Well, and I appreciate it. And that's what this show's about, is just real talk with real men like yourself, and who realize that it is time to man up. And, of course, what we do in those camps is, Lex Luger and I co-facilitate these camps, and our goal is to equip men, to send them home, to hopefully be, you know, no matter how healthy you might be now, spiritually, physically, emotionally, mentally, you know, send them home. Ladies, if you're listening, send the men home, better equipped to be men of God, to be godly husbands, to be godly fathers. You know, if they're out in the marketplace, we have men from all variety of backgrounds.

I mean, from the last man camp we did, the one that Frank attended, we had from an 18-year-old up to a 73-year-old who was still running after the heart of God. And so, you know, that's part of our goal to impact men. I want to touch on something you said, Frank, too, because I know this is what really resonates. What you said really resonates with me, and this is why, you know, I think we're such good friends, is we're kind of on this parallel path, if you will, and by that meaning, you mentioned numbers. Now, I said in your introduction, you know, how many homes, your TV show, and, of course, you have a radio show of your own that goes into, but also, you know, speaking in front of 118,000 in Africa. But you and I have realized, whether it's 118,000 or an audience of one, that you'll leave the 99, right, to go reach the one. And that it's not about, and I appreciate you encouraging, you know, there's a pastor, you know, pastoring a small congregation out there, that you and I have never really been about numbers. We've just been about kingdom work, right?

Amen. Yeah, and it goes both ways, because I believe you'll never speak to crowds if you turn your back intentionally on individuals, but I also believe if you go after individuals, God may throw in the crowd as a bonus. You know, the fact is, there is a book called Numbers of the Bible, so it is important, but the key is really honoring the Lord, private and public, that our front stage matches the back stage, that, you know, really, I just want to be known as the guy who chased hell with a water gun. He didn't have any bullets left in his gun when he stood before the Lord, not because I was working my way to heaven, but by his grace, I was on my way to heaven, and I still believe heaven not hell is the greatest party of all time, and I'm just trying to get as many people to the party.

And, man, you've been a great, confident friend on and off. But, yeah, I got saved at age 7, 41 years ago, and by God's grace, it's the wildest ride in the amusement park. You have your highs, you have a few lows, but it's been everything but boring, and sometimes you hold on, sometimes he holds on to you, but other times, just with your hands straight up towards heaven, in a form of worship, and just let down a scream and a pray. It's been wild. When people say that Jesus is boring or the Bible is boring, they don't know neither. It's the greatest book of all time.

Right. Well, what I'm envisioning as you're speaking now, the wild ride, is, folks, my experience, and as you're even hearing some of Frank's story, is that being a follower of Jesus is not a ride on a merry-go-round. It is a roller coaster of a ride. Yeah, folks, picture in your mind's eye right now, if you've ever been on a roller coaster, you know, things chugging up, chugging up, and it reaches the peak, and then it, whoo, down you go, and it might careen to the left or the right, or I've been on a few of them, and I know you have too, Frank, but go loop-de-loop and upside down, and there's been a few times. And then the bottom falls out? Yeah, the bottom falls out. I know, I've felt upside down a few times. And then the light goes out?

Yeah, then you go to a tunnel and the lights go out. And the lights go out, right, and you feel like you're in the dark, and, God, where are you? And even for our listeners out there, you may feel like that right now. God, where are you? I'm faithfully serving you, I'm loving you, but just know that my experience has been, and, Frank, you would probably say amen to this, is that sometimes when God feels maybe the furthest away or I don't know where He is, it's, for me, it's just been a time of testing, a building of my faith, a building of my trust in Him, and just a time of testing. Amen, and, you know, the whole corona, it may have thrown a curve ball, but a couple things I've learned, just because we're still, doesn't mean we stopped serving God and worshiping Him, but also to get creative. You and I both were scheduled, I think I counted five or six countries, you and I were scheduled to be, and together, 2020, I was really looking forward to that. We were flying to Israel, we were going on that leadership trip, you know, opened the door for me to go to Bahamas, Honduras, Mexico, then we were going to fly to Tokyo to be chaplains at the 2020 Olympics, then from there we were going to go to the Philippines, trying to encourage pastors, and I may even be leaving out another one, of course, in the U.S., so that was six or seven countries, but I just think the main thing is just staying close and clean to Jesus.

Don't take God for granted. I asked the guy who was the best man at my wedding, he's a well-known speaker, and I said, I want to do what you do, and I said, where do I start? And I'll never forget, he goes, are you at home? And I said, yeah, he goes, well, walk out in your backyard. And I said, okay. He said, is there like a rock on the deck or on your yard? And I said, yeah. I said, there's a pebble. And he said, well, reach down and grab it.

I said, okay. He said, throw it up in the air, and I threw it up in the air. And he said, where that thing lands, that's where you start your ministry.

Just bloom where you're planted. I thought, you've got to be kidding. There's got to be more to this. And he said, no, you know, you're in the ministry, you love the Lord, and if you're born again, we're all part of his army, and just start where you're at. And I would just encourage folks, you don't have to be perfect, but you promote the one who is, you love the one who is, you follow the one who is, and just read his word and sing his praises, get plugged into a local Bible-believing church.

And, you know, a lot of people chase the platform, but I would encourage you to chase the person, Jesus, and just let your smile be your business card, you know, let your joy be your calling card, and just, you know, when people see you, that they'll see him. And that's the greatest sermon. Nikita will agree, some of our best sermons were probably not even on a Sunday, nor in a pulpit.

It was just day-to-day, being kind to a waitress at a restaurant, an anonymous good deed, just for God's glory, and just not only bloom where you're planted, but shine while you're going. And the key is, just we're all billboards. And spiritual warfare is real. And you'll like this, Nikita.

The reason I shout that Walmart is because Target is already on my back. So when you listen for the Lord, you're going to take some shots. And I did a men's conference one time, and someone asked me, did I know the difference between friendly fire and enemy fire?

And without missing a beat, the Holy Spirit gave me the answer. There's no difference between enemy fire and friendly fire. They'll both kill you. And it's sad when Mike from Michigan mishandles the machine gun and shoots you in the back, intentionally or accidentally.

It's just a lot less noble to be buried at Arlington. It's one thing to say you're fighting the Taliban or ISIS, but when one of your own brothers shoots you in the back, and that's why more than ever the Bible says there's life and death and the power of the tongue. And in a world of critics, I'm just trying to be a cheerleader to my colleagues, just push them on, bewinder their sails. And I've learned when we're kingdom-minded, we don't have any boundaries. But if we're trying to build our own kingdom, we're territorial, we're building walls, we're trying to, you know, this is my little turf, but with seven billion on the planet, the labors are few, and the harvest is ripe.

And I just think we need to get it going. Thank you for modeling that. You reminded me as you were speaking, you just reminded me, talking about blooming where you're planted, you reminded me of a book by Russell Conwell called Acres of Diamonds, and it's a very simple read for those of you out there.

If you've never heard of that book or never picked up a copy of that, I would encourage you to do that. And again, very simple read, but exactly what Frank is talking about, blooming where you're planting. You know, God's called him and I to travel the nations, and maybe that's not part of your calling, or whether it's the marketplace or ministry, but nevertheless, right where you're at, you can make a difference. Frank, you said something earlier, just to elaborate, we've got a few minutes left here, just a few minutes, but elaborate just for a moment on the, let the front stage, something to the effect, let the front stage be the same as the backstage, if you remember saying that, can touch on that just for a moment. Yeah, well, the fact is, what happens in the ministry, Nikita, it is all sincere, but somehow we may have started by faith and somehow slipped in by the flesh. And you can almost get on cruise control, even just good, godly people. Like when someone falls, you know, someone looks at the difference between most people and maybe you and I, if we're on a platform, there's literally only a three foot difference.

Some people think we're larger than life, we're ten feet tall, we go to bed with a halo on our head. And what happens is, you know, with the anointing of God, you get critics, but you also get maybe credit that really should just go to God. And if we're not careful, you know, Paul said he died daily to himself.

What's scary in the ministry, just like any other business, if you get on a roll and then you've almost got it down, or it becomes routine, and it's no longer real, and the relationship with God is getting less, it's almost like pull a string on a dummy and make us laugh, you know, talk, sing, tap dance, whatever. And if the quiet time is slipping, you may still fool the crowd for a while, and you may even still fool your pastor. One of the scariest verses in the Bible is, be sure your son will find you out. And more than ever, because God's coming sooner rather than later, Schwarzenegger was not the first to say, I'll be back.

You know, Jesus said it first. And I just believe we've got to be close, clean. And the Lord told me, about three years ago, Frank, tighten up every single loose screw in your life, whether it be on your phone, in finances, if there's any embellishment whatsoever, and that's why, because, you know, you can be all show, and then when you shine the spotlight, someone's not on the go, because it's like two different things, Jekyll and Hyde, you know, and so more than ever, I'm not even trying to wow anyone on a platform, I'm just trying to be humbly connected to God, because the word of the day is a lot of people listening may want to be the microphone in public for God, but until we get alone with God in private, we're not going to be good for anyone when we open our mouths. So we're just trying to press into God, just, are we right with God, and is he pleased with us? And as the doors of ministry open, like you said, to one, to ten, to one hundred, to a thousand, it's not the crowds, it has to still be about Christ.

But when we're right with Christ, we'll be fine with or without the crowds, but we're just trying to reach him, because the King is coming soon. Well, that's a good word, and we're just about out of time, and I'm going to have to have you back now, because you led into something I was hoping to have time to ask you, but that's the wow factor, I know with all the things that you have done, you have some real wow stories, so we're going to leave the crowd hanging here, like we used to do on a good wrestling show at the end of each show, we leave them hanging with that wow factor. So next time we have you back, we're going to talk about some of those wow stories, like you went, wow, God, that was so you, that certainly wasn't me. So appreciate having you on today, Frank, man, it's been great. I love you, brother, and I'm proud of you. God bless you and your listeners. Well, I appreciate it. As always, I like to end the show with a story, and here's the story, here's a little something I want to share with you today.

It says, hi, Nikita, here's a favorite memory. I think it was 1984, and I was 13 years old, attending a match at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, Virginia. You were wrestling Ricky Morton of the Rock and Roll Express, and even as a little kiddo, I had always preferred the bad guys. I love that. I don't remember who won that night, surely I did, but hey, I don't remember either, but I remember shouting for you, Nikita, to win, and everyone around me was yelling at me because they were not happy. That was amazing. Can you believe this? There was another night in the same Coliseum when I was cheering for you, Uncle Ivan and Don Curnodle, who were the World Tag Team Champions at the time, came over to my side of the ring and posed for a picture for me.

People were shouting at me then, too. Happy days. Thank you for entertaining us.

I've been a fan since the beginning. I love what you're doing with NWA Power and still involved in wrestling, and most importantly, in ministry. Very sincerely, Don Curnodle. Folks, send in a story at Koloff.org. If you have a story and somehow I inspired you or a favorite memory like Don today, I would encourage you to send that in, Koloff.org. We're going to continue to bring some amazing guests on this show, real men just talking about real life and who realize it is time to man up. We're going to, in the future, be sharing more with you, too, about other projects I'm working on, books and new books and revision of books and different projects that I'm working on.

We'll be bringing that to you as well in the future. I just appreciate you dialing in each and every week, and just know, just know as you heard some of Frank's story, you, too, have a story to tell. And if you don't know Jesus today, can I just encourage you to consider just bowing your heart and take a moment and invite him into your life. We thank you for listening today. God bless you. Men, I would like to challenge each of you to consider spending five days with Lex Luger and I at Man Camp, pursuing the heart of God. Ladies, if you're listening, we'll send your men home better equipped to be men of God, godly husbands and godly fathers. That appeals to you. Give them your blessing and encourage them to sign up today at mancamp.info. Pastors, if you would like to bring Koloff for Christ Ministries and Man Up Conference to your community, go to koloff.org and email me. Remember this, it's time to man up. . .