iRetire4Him Show 78: Moving Forward, Part 1

Intro: [00:00:00] While retirement is generally seen as a time of relaxation and self-focus, God calls us to love, serve, and help others for a lifetime. He has been preparing us for this retirement season, literally our entire lives. In retirement, countless Christians enter a state of spiritual dormancy not knowing how they are called to have an impact for God's kingdom.

The Retirement Reformation seeks to encourage and empower the 50 million Christians approaching or in retirement. To embrace the calling God has been preparing in them. When the world says it's time to stop, you can begin to have your greatest impact. Welcome to iRetire4Him, the mouthpiece of the Retirement Reformation, where our goal is to journey from retirement to reformation so you can say, iRetire4Him!

Jim: Reaching out to the 50 million Christ followers in America who are approaching are already in retirement. [00:01:00] You've tuned in to iRetire4Him, the voice and resource of the Retirement Reformation. I'm your host, Jim Brangenberg, along with the founder of The Retirement Reformation, Bruce Bruinsma.

Please check us out online RetirementReformation.org and of course on Facebook, check out our page Retirement Reformation . The Retirement Reformation is founded on the main principle that your retirement years are the most significant years of your life. You take all the wisdom you've gleaned over the years and all the skills you've accumulated along with your retirement income, and you find yourself in a fully funded ministry model.

Your retirement years of are full of freedom and adventure. And Bruce Bruinsma has written many books to help guide you through the process of taking advantage of your retirement years. Bruce wrote a series of books called The Future Funded Ministry Series. Book One is entitled Finding Freedom. We covered that in podcasts 11 through 14.

Book number three is entitled, Charting Your Course, which we covered in podcasts 2 through 10. And book number four is entitled A Fruitful Retirement, which we covered in iRetire4Him podcasts 59 to [00:02:00] 62. Notice anything we didn't do? Book number two! So today we start a three part series on book number two in this series entitled, Moving Forward, putting Your Future Funded Ministry into Motion. Bruce Bruinsma is here to help flesh out all the details. Bruce, welcome back to iRetire4Him.

Bruce: Thanks, Jim. And, you know, well, we didn't do it in sequence. I think this will even stand alone just as a, as a really good reminder and encouragement to those who are stepping into that process of what the world calls retirement.

Jim: So what is the future funded ministry series all about, Bruce?

Bruce: Yeah. It starts with the fact that, you know, we are all ministers together. And that may be a new thought for some of our listeners, but it's very, very clear in scripture that a minister is not someone who necessarily is paid and leads a church and preaches a sermon.

But a minister is someone who spreads the word and represents Jesus to the [00:03:00] world. Therefore, we are all ministers. Therefore we are all ministers together. That then raises the question is, how long are we in ministry? And the answer to that question is for a lifetime. That then leads to another question of how does the financial part of that work?

And so what we talk about is instead of a retirement plan on the financial side, we talk about a future funded ministry plan. Ministry will continue for a lifetime. It must be funded., and that's a critical part of the Retirement Reformation message and encouragement to all of our listeners.

Jim: So let's talk about this future funded ministry. What, what do you mean a future funded ministry? Flesh that out more.

Bruce: We know that it takes money to live. I mean, it's kind of like, duh. What are you talking [00:04:00] about? Our lifetime that we have now is, and our time in retirement, maybe as long as 30 years. Most of you have heard me talk about that any number of times.

So it's 30 years. That 30 years requires funding in order to be able to represent Jesus as a minister and stretching out. So it takes, it takes money just to live for food, water, travel, you know, all the basic. And so funding now for those future activities. So future funding. And what will we be doing? We'll be engaged in ministry.

Jim: Hmm. It's amazing. So many of us didn't realize that when we gave our lives to Christ, that our ministry really started then. We had the ability, no matter where we went, to share what Christ did in our lives, but then to have the freedom to no longer have to work every day, but to be able to be in ministry all the time, not just full-time, but all the time. What an [00:05:00] opportunity! How important is it in Moving Forward for us to understand those three stages of retirement?

Bruce: Well, it's important to understand the three stages of retirement because each one of them is a, is a new conversation with the Holy Spirit in terms of what's next . So those three stages that we talk about are critically important. And in the book we, we talk about those three stages in some detail. Well, should we run through them ?

Jim: Yeah. Yeah. I think that'd be really important. And, and we'll just note if you get a copy of the book Moving Forward we're talking about in pages 25 through 30 is where Bruce goes into details on the three stages of retirement. Bruce, why don't you just, yeah. Help us out there a little. .

Bruce: Well, you know, that's as we grow older, things do change physically, mentally, all kinds of ways. And so to be able to understand what to have an appropriate expectation of what a stage is going to involve, be involved with, and [00:06:00] how I can step into it and answer the questions.

A friend of mine, Bob Buford, who' s now passed wrote a book where he talked about moving from success to significance. And when he talked about that, that was in the stage of men and women who are typically in their late forties, early fifties. And, and so they have a new adjustment to make if their desire is to go from success into significance.

Well, in the three stages of retirement, many of the questions that Bob posed for us, for us to think about, come back again in terms of how do we know what's next? Well, that first stage, it is primarily driven by the fact that the majority of us, obviously not all, and there's exceptions, but, but that generally we are capable of being very active.

It doesn't change that much when we go from 65 to 75. That period of time is an extremely active period of time, and it's [00:07:00] the ability and the capacity to put into practice the things that you've learned to that point where you can lead and be very productive. So you should look for that period of time between oh 65, 66, 67, and 75, 77, 78, somewhere in that range. And so you can look forward to an active period and plan accordingly. Now then, when we move from active, let's call that 78 to the next stage, which, oh, we've talked about it in a variety of ways, but in this particular book, we talk about it as being insightful stewardship.

Another way to think about that is, is a priority of mentoring, of being able to speak into problems, issues in people's lives based upon the experience that you've had. You may not in fact be the chairman of the board, but you in fact may be a wonderful board member just to use that kind of an analogy.

And [00:08:00] so some people talk about it as middle retirement, the ability and energy to bring wisdom and insight into problems, people's lives and circumstances. And so it's a much more "let's go out for breakfast and talk a little bit" and "what questions do you have and how can I mentor you or how can I speak into your life?" Or "how can I help answer a question?" So that's the second one and, and that's quite different than that leading opportunity that we talked about in the first.

Jim: When we come back from our break, we're gonna get to do another neat interview with somebody who's gonna share their story of living out their faith in their retirement years. And during segment three, let's jump into and catch back up with what's that third stage of retirement. Then we're gonna talk about a future funded ministry attitude. You're listening to iRetire4Him with Bruce Bruinsma and we'll be right back.

Break: Recreating Retirement is an interactive small group study helping you to move from nothing to what's next. You can [00:09:00] join us on Wednesdays at 6:00 PM East Coast time on Facebook Live.

Our goal for this study is to provide a group setting for interaction and new ideas while leading you through a first step in your journey from retirement to reformation. Here's the big idea. During the next five years, 5,000 small groups will experience this journey of discovery in churches and faith-based organizations across the country. Is your church a place where Recreating Retirement needs to be planted?

Join us online to experience the study or prepare to lead a small group at your church or ministry. Email us at contactus@retirementreformation.org or go to our website at RetirementReformation.org.. That's Retirement Reformation.org.

Jim: Hey, welcome back to iRetire4Him. You know, during every second segment of every show, we always bring on a special guest and Bruce gets to choose those guests. Bruce, who do you have for us today?

Bruce: Well, as a result of a really outstanding conversation and so [00:10:00] on that I, I had with Ron, I'd like to introduce our audience to Ron Clarkson.

He has a story and a journey that he's on, which I think will be encouraging to all. Ron, just give us a little executive summary of who is Ron Clarkson and kind of how did you get to be doing what you're doing and where you are?

Ron Clarkson: Well, it is a long story. I am the father of five, husband of the most awesome woman in the world, but then I have 11 fantastic grandkids. Started out the first third of my life just doing the education aspect. Ended up going to Dallas Theological Seminary. Came out of there, went into church planting for the middle section of my life and planted three churches. And then at the end of that I moved, transitioned into the marketplace, initially into sales.

Now I'm a regional manager for Kemper Health and so I lead an office of about 15 or so agents and just train them, recruit agents. And we are in the [00:11:00] health insurance industry currently, and that's where I am.

Bruce: So in some ways you are, in lots of ways you have been, and you are, and you continue to be a mentor. So how in fact, as you move from a life of professional ministry to a life in the secular world, how do those two things kind of now come together for you?

Ron Clarkson: Well, it's a lot easier in the secular world than in the ministry world. Plus I have to practice what I preached for all those years as I was telling people, you really need to be, you're in ministry wherever you are.

You're not in ministry just cuz you're professionally or vocationally employed and that your greatest ministry is where you work. So now I have an opportunity to do that. I have an opportunity to mentor and build into the lives of my agents. We're a values- driven office, not a production driven office.

So I can attract people that are looking to improve their lives personally, professionally, and I can have a [00:12:00] spiritual influence in an appropriate way. I'm also, I sit in a seat every Sunday instead of on the stage. And part of that is to be able to build into some of the leadership at our church.

And then I also lead a young group of about 30 year olds, 20 and 30 year olds in what I call an emerging leaders small group. And I just train them on Monday nights in leadership development and in increasing their leadership quotient.

Bruce: So as you think about those different areas where God is using you, what is the common theme that runs? What is the passion that drives you to those different activities? And although the activities are different, I suspect that the passion is similar. So can you describe that?

Ron Clarkson: Yeah. I think it's entrepreneurial leadership. My spiritual gift is leadership. I've practiced leadership development and training, but that's what I love. You know, last night we had these seven young leaders in my house [00:13:00] and my wife and I, we just laid in bed afterwards saying, this is awesome, because we're building into their lives.

We're building into them biblical leadership. And a lot of them, some of them former Air Force, some of them just in the marketplace, high tech. They just never understood that they could apply biblical leadership in their marketplace. So that's kind of what makes me tick is, is that realm in exercising that gift.

Bruce: When you think of retirement as a 30 year period as, as you look forward. Can you ever imagine a time when you wouldn't in some way, being able to respond to that passion even if you're 80 or 90 or whatever, is there a time where you think it'll stop and it's all over? Or do you think we're faithful for a lifetime?

Ron Clarkson: We are called for a lifetime regardless of what that location is. And because I love people, I love developing leaders that's what my passion is. So why would I stop doing it? Then you might as well do my funeral if I stopped. [00:14:00]

Bruce: There you go. Well, as you know, often when I do webinars or seminars, I'll ask, you know, how we know that God still has a plan for your life?

And the answer is because you're still here. Yeah. And we go from there. So, Ron, I just really appreciate the passion that God has put in you and the way that you're applying it, and we'll continue to do that. So thank you for being one of God's. men

Ron Clarkson: Well, thank you. Thanks for this opportunity, and I hope to one day catch up with you in not retiring.

Bruce: We'll not do it together!

Jim: Before we go and finish our conversation with Ron, I have a question for you. Since you've played in the, you worked for 30 years in the four walls local church, and now you're out there in the marketplace, there is this misnomer that's been taught within Christianity, certainly in the United States of America, that the sacred - secular divide.

And you have now breached the sacred - secular divide because really isn't it true as you've learned that everything that we do [00:15:00] is sacred and everywhere we go is sacred?

Ron Clarkson: Exactly. And like I said, I taught that and tried to ingrain that into the marketplace. People for, you know, 35 years that I was in ministry and now I'm living it out and I truly believed it then, but I am able to demonstrate it now in my life and I love it. It's just I'm just making more money and it's less pressure than ministry. That probably wasn't a good thing to say.

Jim: No, it's fine. But isn't it true though, Ron, that most people think the ultimate experience of Christianity is for them to quit their jobs and go to work in a full-time ministry? That's what most Christians think.

Ron Clarkson: Yeah. And, and that's noble. And if it's what God has called him to do, that's awesome, but where you are, that's your ministry. And it doesn't matter the vocation or the paycheck or the location, that's where you're supposed to practice Christ-like servanthood.

Doesn't matter if you're in the church or outside of the church, [00:16:00] and some of the most amazing people I've ever met and that I've admired are those that are able to live it out. Live out their personal values, biblical values, and their love for Christ outside of the church walls. They just need to be encouraged and trained and built up to do that cuz there's no encouragement on the corporate side.

Having been in that for the last 15 years, we're not getting encouraged to practice our core values. We have to live them out and then influence up, down, you know, 360 degree influence, up, down, and internally.

Jim: Hmm. Ron Clarkson, thanks for being on iRetire4Him today.

Ron Clarkson: All right, thank you. Have a good day.

Jim: We'll be right back with more on iRetire4Him.

Break: Our work on this earth doesn't end when the paycheck stops. God calls us to be faithful for a life. Whether you're looking forward to retirement or you're already there, our all small group study Recreating Retirement will help you understand, engage, and activate what God has for you in [00:17:00] this fourth quarter of life.

Join Retirement Reformation founder Bruce Bruinsma as you consider your past strengths, spiritual gifts, and your passions. And how they all come together is the call God has for you in these years. Connect with us on our online community group at Facebook.com/ Retirement Reformation. Wednesdays at 6:00 PM Eastern.

Or if you'd like to bring Recreating Retirement to your church, email us at contactus@retirementreformation.org. Are you ready to start your life-changing journey today?

Jim: Hey, welcome back to iRetire4Him as we talk about the book Moving Forward, putting your Future Funded Ministry plan into action, your Future Funded Ministry into action. Bruce, you right before the break at segment one, you were talking about the three stages of retirement, and then we had that interview with Ron Clarkson and wanted to make sure that we get back to doing that third stage of retirement and, and make sure we don't miss that. What is that third stage of retirement? [00:18:00]

Bruce: As a matter of fact, Jim, I'm gonna take an opportunity just to go back to review very quickly. We first talked about that age 65 to say 78. We call that active application. Matter of fact, here's some of the problems, some of the questions that come up during that period: what do I do with my time? Where are we gonna live? How do I manage my money and expenses? Does anybody value my experience and what can I do?

And then we talked very quickly about that second stage. So age, say 79 to 87, which we called insightful stewardship or some call middle manage. Some some would refer to it as a mentoring stage.

And so the, the questions that come up again, that you're faced with as you step into that one is, where can I fit in? Who needs me? Physical challenges increase. You don't wanna be irrelevant. You wanna be relevant to your community, to your family, to your church. And how do I keep up with the new ideas and technology?

Well, that then leads you to that third stage that[00:19:00] you were asking about, which in, in the book Moving Forward, we call reflective sharing. And then that idea of reflection is, is really important because it's that time when you're able to take all the years and all the experiences of all those years to be able to package them together and come up with some perspectives on life that are now as full and complete as you will be.

And so for example see Billy Graham wrote his last book when he was, I think 94, 95. Jimmy Carter, regardless of what you think about his politics, wrote two outstanding books after age 90. Both of those are really great examples of being able to collect a lifetime of experience and be able to bring it in. So here's the opportunity with grandchildren, great-grandchildren, friends and neighbors to, to be able to be reflective.

And some of the issues that come up during that period of time is there are energy [00:20:00] issues. How do I keep my energy up? Fighting a shrinking world. People are dying all around me. How do I keep from having a shrinking world, loss of friends and loved ones? Making sure that we're focusing outward, not just looking inward.

Jim: You know, all of this is conversation about our book Moving Forward, putting your Future Funded Ministry into Action. And here's, you know, if you're looking at the video, you can see a picture of the book, but it, it has to do with an attitude. Bruce, we need to have an attitude, a future funded ministry attitude. Can you describe that for us?

Bruce: Well first of all, that opportunity to make sure that we are looking forward and when we're not just stuck in our past. The value of our past is what we've learned. The value of what we've learned is in fact what helps us to move forward and to not be stuck in a, in the downward spiral of retirement loneliness.

And so that ministry attitude - first of all Moving Forward represents in just a [00:21:00] couple of words, that attitude, but it's focusing on what is God's plan? God's plan isn't for what's happened. God's plan is for what's next. And so focusing and being connected with God's plan and our response to it, that's, that's a critical part of that attitude.

 It connects us mentally with the issues, problems and challenges of those who God puts in our life and the role that we can play in prayer, physical help, whatever it may be. But again, looking outward towards working with other people. And then encourages the, the planning need to, to recognize the changes that are true in our life, whether it be physical, whatever the changes are and, and to be able to listen to the Holy Spirit and be able to take steps into God's preferred future and to do it. And then experience the fruits of the spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, [00:22:00] kindness, gentleness , goodness, and self-control. And so that, that is a encapsulation of the attitude.

And when you have that attitude, it will change your future.

Jim: It also has to do with some financial preparation. Now, it's not to say that people who have less financial resources have less opportunity for ministry, but it has to do with seeing your resources as resources to fund your ministry. How, what are some of the keys that are, that we need to consider in determining the financial landscape that will shape our future funded ministry?

Bruce: Clearly are what I call our financial landscape. And when we talk about our financial landscape, that's more than just, that's more than just the money you got in the bank. It's more than just the accumulated assets, your home investment property, what other in investments you may have. That's an important part, but it also includes a, [00:23:00] a compilation and an understanding of our landscape of the opportunities that are ahead of us .

That's a part of our financial landscape, the plans that we have and that God has put in front of us that we can step into. And then the application of those. So it, it is the net sum of all of the individual categories that make up that financial landscape, which is important that we get our hands around.

It's not just the money in the bank or in our 401k or our 403B plan. It's not just the money in an IRA account. Again, it's not just the value of our house or our other property, but it's also those future activities that are either going to require resources or will perhaps generate resources.

Jim: Bruce, I think it's important that people understand how to get a copy of all of the books in the future funded ministry series. I should have had 'em all in my hands. I'll make sure I do in our next [00:24:00] podcast. Where can people go to get not only Moving Forward, but all four books?

Bruce: Matter of fact, what I would recommend is that you do get all four books and you read 'em in sequence. Because I wrote 'em in sequence with, with the idea of initially that Finding Freedom and Moving Forward and Charting Your Course and a Fruitful Retirement, so reading them in series probably be the most effective way to do that. You can find those on our website, retirementreformation.org. You can find them at any place where books are sold. You can find it on, You know, I don't know. Pick one.

Jim: Amazon. I mean, they're, they're out there.

Bruce: Yeah, Amazon. That was what I was thinking.

Jim: but we'd love for you to get 'em off our website, Retirement Reformation.org. But Bruce, you, you've also, in addition to the future funded ministry series books, you've got the Retirement Reformation book, you've got several books, but you've got now Recreating Retirement groups. Tell people really quickly how they can get involved in those groups.

Bruce: Well, one of the things that we realized is that after an individual, someone listening to this podcast, for [00:25:00] example, or going to one of our seminars or going to an Oxygen for Life event that we'll do, they have what I call an aha moment, and what that aha moment is, is, oh my goodness, there's more.

The question then is, what does that look like? What does that mean? And so we then wrote and created Recreating Retirement, which is a small group series where you can go, go through it in community, but will come out with an action plan of what's next for you individually, and you're able to connect on those.

We're in the process of setting them up with, with different leaders around the country, but you can also, right now we're doing a virtual one that' s for everyone in the country to be able to join. And you can find that information at Retirement Reformation org. I'll tell you, it's really an exciting experience.

I'm loving leading those groups and [00:26:00] the other people that will join us to lead those groups because the discovery, the community, the relationships, and the additional aha moments are just wonderful to to be a part of.

Jim: So make sure you check out all the resources at RetirementReformation.org or also on our Facebook page. Just look for Retirement Reformation. Bruce, great conversation today. Thank you.

You've been listening to iRetire4Him, the Voice and Resource of the Retirement Reformation with your host, Jim Brangenberg and of course Retirement Reformation' s very own founder, Bruce Bruinsma. We're Christ followers, journeying from retirement to reformation so we can ultimately say together iRetire4Him!

Outro: Thanks for listening to iRetire4Him. With your host, Jim and Martha Brangenberg and Retirement Reformation founder Bruce Bruinsma. IRetire4Him is the mouthpiece of the Retirement Reformation.

Most Christians tend to follow the world's pattern of rest and self pampering [00:27:00] during retirement. However, in your retirement, you can be focused on God's unique call to love, serve, and help others. This can be your best season of life if you take advantage of a life's worth of knowledge and experience and combine it with a greater freedom of time and money and invest it all in the generations, both preceding and following you.

The Retirement Reformation is encouraging Christians to find and follow God's call in all seasons and aspects of life, especially in retirement. Take time to sign the manifesto at RetirementReformation.org and explore the wealth of resources available on our site. Join this movement of God and journey from Retirement to Reformation so you can say iRetire4Him. Go to Retirement Reformation.org.