Dr Robert Nolen Testimony Interview
I first found Dr. Robert Nolen on Periscope. The Lord truly lit him up in my sights, and I was captivated by his deep insights into displaying the Kingdom of Heaven on Earth. His passion for seeing believers equipped and empowered resonated deeply.
Dr. Nolen serves the body of Christ in an Apostolic, Pastoral, and Teaching Ministry role. He retired from a successful dental practice to enter full-time ministry. Robert has been involved with men’s ministry for over 25 years, ministering globally and teaching the biblical principles of manhood, Christlikeness, and a man’s role in the Kingdom of God. His core message is to bring revelation to believers, to see them equipped to do the works of the ministry, and to put the Kingdom of God on display.
So, let's jump into my conversation with the incredible Dr. Robert Nolen.
A Supernatural Encounter: Dr. Robert Nolen's Testimony
When I sat down with Dr. Nolen, I wanted to hear his story. His answer began with his upbringing in a "semi-Christian home" with a very religious extended family. He was surrounded by religious influence but didn't spend much time in church. He harbored a lifelong fascination with God.
He was honest about not identifying with the "church world," even now. He felt he never quite fit in and that what he saw often didn't match what he read in the Word. This left him living a "confused life" with God.
The Holy Spirit's Relentless Pursuit
But here's where the story takes a powerful turn. Dr. Nolen could look back at his "before Christ" years and see how God was pursuing him. Then came the pivotal moment: Easter Sunday, 1986. He was 29 years old. He had no plans to go to church and had only been to one maybe 20 times in his life. He was sitting on his couch, watching Jimmy Swaggart, when a profound presence appeared on the other end.
He couldn't see it, but he knew there was a supernatural, spiritual being there. Then, he heard a voice say that today, he needed to decide who he would serve: Jesus, or himself. The voice made it clear, "I will never give you this opportunity again. This is the day you must decide what you’re going to do."
The impact was immediate. Dr. Nolen was more broken than ever before. He had an immediate understanding that he needed to find a church, walk an aisle, and "get saved." He went to a Baptist church in Arlington, Texas, and when the altar call came, he went up. That week, the associate pastor led him through the sinner’s prayer. And from that moment, he says, "The Lord radically, radically changed who I was as a man."
Why Jimmy Swaggart? The Lure of Truth
I had to ask him about watching Jimmy Swaggart. He believes it could have been anyone, but when he listened to Swaggart, he was greatly impacted. He was living a life consumed by "sex, drugs, and rock and roll." Yet, deep inside, something allowed him to respond to truth. He saw it as the grace of the Lord continually pursuing him, a divine point of contact even when he wasn't associating with Christians or attending church.
Cracking the Books and Meeting the King
Once he was set on fire for Jesus, he started cracking open the books. His background as a doctor taught him a studious lifestyle, and he transitioned that same methodology to studying the things of the Kingdom.
However, he offered a crucial caution: in the Western church, we often adopt a Greek model of learning that can lead us to learn all the principles of the Kingdom but never truly “meet the King.” It’s not just about accumulating head knowledge; it’s about a living, breathing relationship. As it says in John 16:13, the Spirit of Truth guides us into all truth.
The Crux of the Message: Displaying the Kingdom
This led us to the core of his ministry: demonstrating the Kingdom on Earth. He shared a powerful scripture from Luke 9:1-2: "Jesus summoned together his 12 Apostles and imparted to them authority over every demon and the power to heal every disease. Then he commissioned them to go and preach the kingdom realm of God and to heal the sick and to demonstrate that the kingdom of God had arrived."
Dr. Nolen emphasizes that Jesus didn't teach them how to build a church or prepare a sermon. "He taught them how to put the Kingdom of God on display." He pointed out that crowds came to Jesus to hear Him preach and to see Him put the Kingdom on display. If that's what Jesus called ministry, then that's what we, as believers, should be doing too.
He profoundly stated that what truly gives people hope is not just scripture alone. It’s knowing and encountering the presence of Jesus in another person. When we have the ability to display the love of God by putting His Kingdom on display, that brings hope to a hurting world.
The Kingdom in Action: A Prophetic Lifestyle
To illustrate this, Dr. Nolen shared a timely anecdote about the Baton Rouge flooding. He reflected on how the church in that area "probably did more good in the last couple of weeks... by going out and meeting the needs of the people... than they ever could in a year’s worth of Sunday sermons." Man, that will preach!
This brings us to a critical challenge for the church in America. We have got to get to the place where it’s not just about sitting in a Sunday service. We must migrate revival to be a lifestyle. That's what's going on now with the church in Baton Rouge. A pastor declared, "We're not having Sunday service... We're going out. We're feeding, and we're taking clothes, we're going to be gutting houses, we're going to be cleaning out all furniture and helping people in the Baton Rouge area."
That, my friends, is the church God wants us to be. The prophetic implication is clear: God will shake things up if that's what it takes for His people to rise up and truly embody the Kingdom. This isn't about judgment as much as it is about activation.
A Prayer for the Kingdom to Come
As we neared the close of our conversation, Dr. Nolen's prayer was incredibly powerful and perfectly encapsulated his message:
"Father, I just thank you today for Conrad, and I thank you for what you're doing in his life and in his ministry. I thank you that you have given him a heart, Lord, to reach out and to touch, to be a true change agent, to be one who changes culture. Lord, I thank you for this medium, for this technology that you've afforded us, Lord, that we can reach out and touch those beyond our sphere of influence... So Father, I thank you for that. And Lord, I ask that you would draw those that need to hear something that we've said today, and that you would use the words that we've spoken today to bring change, to help people understand, to speak to them something, Lord, that you just know that they need to know."
"And Father, I pray that your Holy Spirit, that you would anoint us, Lord... that you will give us an understanding of your Kingdom... Lord, that you would give us an understanding of what that means, that you would give us an understanding of the ability, the authority, the anointing, the power, Lord, that you give us as your church, as your ecclesia, to go forth and truly change culture. Lord, give us a revelation of that, Holy Spirit. I ask just as you did at creation, you hovered over the chaos, you hovered over the waters, you hovered over the chaos that was there, and you birthed the life of the Kingdom in that chaos. I ask Holy Spirit, that you would hover over everyone who would listen... and that you would birth the life of the Kingdom in their lives. Birth the life of the Kingdom, Lord, and begin to minister to them and impart to them the reality of what I just read in the scripture a minute ago, your Kingdom realm, Lord. And I pray, Father, that you would draw them closer to you, their King, in Jesus' name. Thank you, Father. Amen."
Truly, what a powerful, spiritual prayer that was.
Dig Deeper, Go Higher: A Call to Action
I'm so grateful to Dr. Robert Nolen for sharing his incredible testimony and his profound message of displaying the Kingdom. It’s exactly what we need to hear right now. I encourage you to meditate, pray, and act on what it truly means to display the Kingdom of Heaven in your own communities, workplaces, and homes. It's about living a lifestyle of Kingdom demonstration every single day.
I hope this interview has inspired you to get closer to Jesus. Before you go, I'm including links to Dr. Nolen’s Facebook page and YouTube channel in the show notes below. You'll find a treasure trove of his teachings there, so be sure to check them out.
And please be sure to share this episode with your friends and family on social media. Let's spread this message of Kingdom display far and wide.
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