iRetire4Him Show 77: Recreating Retirement, Part 3

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. Piece 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 already retired, [00:01:00] or are fast approaching retirement. You've tuned into, iRetire4Him, the Mouthpiece for the Retirement Reformation. I'm your host, Jim Brangenberg, along with the founder of The Retirement Reformation, Bruce Bruinsma.

We invite you to check us out online at retirementreformation.org. Of course, on our Facebook page, retirement reformation. So many of you have asked over the years, how do I get a Retirement Reformation started in my local church or my small group? Well, today we step in to show three of a three part series introducing our brand new Recreating Retirement small group curriculum that's available right now on our website, Retirement Reformation.org, in our resource page for these three podcasts.

We've been doing a high level overview of that material from the Recreating Retirement small group. We hope to inspire you to start a small group study in your neighborhood, in your small group at church, or anywhere else where you find retirees who are looking for purpose in their retirement years as they [00:02:00] prepare for retirement or are already in retirement.

Recreating Retirement is all about the conversation. We've got Bruce Bruinsma here to help us to the next level as we talk about the final part of the Recreating Retirement curriculum. Bruce, thanks for being back here today.

Bruce: It's good to be back. I'm so glad we've done this. You're doing this three part series and just, you know, just pray that all the people that need to hear about it will hear about it. And when then will take action.

Jim: Bruce, as we've done the past two podcasts, we've done this high level overview. You've been taking people through the Recreating Retirement series. For years, maybe it wasn't all in a small group curriculum, like you've got this neat book today, but you've been taking people through all of these pieces as part of the Retirement Reformation. How have you seen it impact the lives of the participants?

Bruce: You know, I think there's, there's a part of all of us that, that is curious, that wants to know what's next. And when we [00:03:00] hit these different stages in our life, we're talking about retirement now, or one of the three stages in retirement. That question is gnawing at us.

Is there more in what's next? And as a Christ follower, when we read through our Bibles, Jesus makes it very, very clear that there is a plan for what's next, that there's a goal for what's next. There's preparation for what's next . And there's the love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self-control that come as a result of being a Christ follower and taking those steps.

And so what, what God has really led me to do was to follow in the footsteps of some others who have done good work and helping people to bring together their understanding of what's next. But to be able to take all the research and all the, all the experience that, that God's blessed me with and to be able to say, how can we condense this to be as insightful [00:04:00] as, as complete and as satisfying and as transparent as we can possibly be for each individual to be able to take those next steps?

When we talk about the financial side of retirement, we talk about something which we call what future funded ministry plan. Well, here is the plan that goes along with the future ministry.

Jim: I love the fact that you used the word transparent in there because there's no value in being in a small group if you're not gonna be transparent people. Because we learn from each other in our own experiences and how we grow and, and being transparent is so powerful.

Bruce, in the final three weeks of the Recreating Retirement study, you start out talking about stewarding our gifts and abilities. What do you mean?

Bruce: First of all, that understanding of stewardship is critical to our Christian faith, our Christian walk, our Christian experience, and what it means that is that we put ourselves in a, [00:05:00] in the role of a steward, not in the role as an owner.

We acknowledge that everything that we have, everything that there is, was either created and is owned by God. And, and now as a Christ follower, we've accepted the responsibility as well as the great opportunity and the joy that comes with it to be able to manage those resources. Some of those resources are the resources that are inherent in us - the talents that we have, the experiences that we have, the wisdom that God has given us.

And so it is those talents. In stewarding those, it means using them for the benefit of others. Using them well for the benefit of others. And so the challenge is to be able to steward the resources that God has given us and to be able to not only acknowledge them, but to be able to apply them and to help build the kingdom.

Jim: You know, I love the fact that you [00:06:00] review within this study all the preparation that God has taken us through in getting us ready for retirement years. But most people, however, think that they're just done when they're retired. It's not true, is it?

Bruce: You know, it's interesting. I really believe that God knows that we grow older. Not only does he know that we grow older, but he's made provision for that . And the provision for that is to reflect because of the things that do happen just because we are growing older and physically, mentally, and so on. But I think even more importantly, he's made provision for us to be able to use the experiences, the faith and the, the relationship that we have with him to be able to make a difference for our whole life, not just a 65 or 70 or 80 or 90, but for our whole life.

And we don't have a lot of experiences of understanding what that all means. And by going [00:07:00]through Recreating Retirement, by being able to see how in fact he has prepared us, we will have that better understanding and able to experience that love, joy, peace, patients kindness, gentleness, and self-control for these 30 years that the world calls retirement.

Jim: All right, so how do we match up our desire to be good stewards with the preparation that God has taken us through right up to our retirement years? How do we match that up? Because that's not a teaching you hear about a lot.

Bruce: No it's not because it does have the different complexities. And if you listen to the first and the second series that we've done on the subject, and with this overview, you'll, you'll begin to realize that there's a lot of pieces to our puzzle. life is complex and we are complex, and I will tell you, retirement is complex. Unfortunately, many people have a misconception and need to have a reformation in their thinking and a recreating of their actions [00:08:00] to realize that there are complexities in this retirement.

And the ability to deal with that complexity and to deal with it in a way that reflects who Jesus is in our lives is just is, is a real challenge.

Jim: Yeah. I love that it. God has got so much for us and every experience builds on each other. And when you think of a lifetime of work experience and a lifetime of family experience and a lifetime of relationship experience and applying that all into our retirement years and how we can impact our local communities and our neighborhoods and our small groups, there's just so much in there.

And the Recreating Retirement small group curriculum, Bruce, it helps people get through all of that and put all the pieces into one place. It's really a great and valuable resource. Bruce, I'm so grateful you put it together . Listeners, check us out: retirement Reformation.org and get a copy of Recreating Retirement, our small group curriculum for reforming the retirement in your mind.

We'll be right back with a conversation with Bernie May and then we'll finish up our high [00:09:00]level overview in our third segment. We'll be right back with more on iRetire4Him.

Break: Recreating Retirement is an interactive small group study helping you to move from nothing to what's next. You can 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 contractus@retirementreformation.org or go to our website at retirementreformation.org. That's Retirement Reformation. org.

Jim: Hey, welcome back to iRetire4Him, segment two of Show 77, as we are so excited. 77 shows, Bruce, it's amazing. [00:10:00] And in every show, Bruce, we, you have invited a special guest on to share their story of how God's working in their life. Who do you have for us today?

Bruce: Oh, I'd like to introduce to a very unique individual that God has used in special, special ways and has used them for a long time and continues to do that. His name is Bernie May. Bernie, welcome to the show.

Bernie May: Glad to be with you.

Bruce: I noticed that you behind you on your, on your wall there you have I believe those are Chinese or are those Japanese letters?

Bernie May: No, that's Chinese.

Bruce: Well, why in the world would you have a Chinese alphabet on your wall?

Bernie May: It's not the Chinese alphabet. It's John 3: 16 in Chinese.

Bruce: Oh, that's even better.

Bernie May: Yeah. And I've been, I've been privileged to work with some of the believers in that country that are interested in Bible translation. And there's a number of bible translations underway there in China. [00:11:00] And I've had the privilege of working with them and accomplishing that. So that's, that's a joy. There's a lot of languages spoken in China that do not have the scripture, and there's people that wanna see that change.

Bruce: What was it and when was it, Bernie, that God made that change in your life? That, that you would be dedicated, you would be dedicated in such unusual ways to Bible translation What transition process that God used to plant that so firmly in who it is that Bernie May is?

Bernie May: Well, when I graduated from college and was starting into business, I had an experience with the Lord and I surrendered my life to Jesus Christ. And I wonder what happens to you when you surrender your life?

What's he do with you? So I went to church and I heard a missionary speaker [00:12:00] talk about all the languages in the world that had no Bible. And I was trying to figure out what's God's agenda and how do I play in? And, and I thought, wow. And I didn't realize there was, first of all, I didn't realize there was so many languages in the world.

And secondly, I assumed everybody must have a Bible. We had dozens of them in our house. And I thought, gee, that's, that's a good thing to do. and they said the thing they needed most right then was a pilot. And I happened to have a pilot license and so I signed up and said, I will go and I'll play a role and I'll have a small part in helping people get the scriptures.

So I went, they took me down to Peru and I started flying missionaries up and down the Amazon river and the languages that were just being used for the very, very first time. So that was my beginning. That's almost 70 years ago.

Bruce: I was gonna say. How long ago? That was 70 years ago. Listen, when you get as old as you and [00:13:00] I are, we don't mind saying how old we are. So share with our audience how, how many years God has blessed you.

Bernie May: Well, I just passed 90 and I'm working on the 10th decade now.

Bruce: There you go. There you go. Yeah. God's been kind enough to tell me that, that it's gonna be about 104, so I'm, I'm looking for the next 20 years.

So of the two or three key highlights that God allowed you to experience in the Bible Translation movement, what would be those two or three things that really stand out to you as you, as you think to yourself

my goodness, I have been so blessed by God to be part of this? What are those two or three things?

Bernie May: Well, I do feel very favored in recently I was in a small group and they asked everybody to, they were just meeting each other and they asked everybody to identify themselves with one word that they thought, how they felt and where they were.

And [00:14:00] it was interesting. Some young people, they felt fearful. And you know, when they got to me, there was only one word I could think of and that is favored . And if they gave me two words, I would say undeservedly favorite. I feel very, very favored in life. I was favored while I was in my mother's womb.

My mother was a teenager, a young teenager, and she found herself pregnant and she wanted an abortion, and her mother said, no way. That baby is a gift from God. And I was born in the same bed that my 13 year old mother was born in.

And so God favored me. And my father married my mother right before I was born. He was only 18. And they became believers when I was three years old, and then finally great parents. And so God favored me. I felt like David and, and others in the [00:15:00] scripture said, you know, I, I saw you before you were, while you were in your mother's womb. And for sure God had a plan for my life.

From then I grew up, and when I was 21, I surrendered my life to follow Jesus. And I, I just look back on life and how would I have been, and now here I am in the 10th decade and and God's allowed me to just - I'm in fairly good health and fairly active and just rejoicing in God and what he allows us to be part of.

Bruce: Yeah, indeed. What do you have a remembrance of a, a Bible translation that was completed that you either played a role in or you were there that you could share with our audience? I know and in the Bible translation work that I've been privileged to be part of, you know, the excitement in, in people when they get the scripture is really amazing.

Bernie May: Oh yeah, yeah. I've had the privilege of being involved in small ways in [00:16:00] a number of translations, but one of 'em, I just was looking at it yesterday. The whole Bible is in Obolo, a Nigerian language, and I was speaking at a church in Detroit. This is 45, this is 45 years ago. And it was a missions conference .

There was a black man up in the balcony on the last seat. It was a crowded church. And at the end of the service he came forward and he said, you know, I'm graduating. My, my country sent me here to become an engineer. I'm graduating from engineering school in a week to go back to my country to be an engineer.

He says, but God's been speaking to me and my father's language, my mother tongue has no Bible . And I believe God wants me to go back and translate the Bible into my language, my original language. His name was Uchi . Uchi Aaron. And he said, how do you [00:17:00] do that? And I said, well, let me help you. You gotta go through this school.

And he committed his life to Bible translation, went back, translated the New Testament. He was, he was a very bright young man and he translated the New Testament. He wanted to translate the Old Testament. So went to Israel and studied Hebrew. He got his P - he came to the United States after he did the New Testament, got his PhD in linguistics, so a smart guy, and then he went back and he wanted to translate.

So he went to Israel, studied Hebrew, and he translated. And he completed - I think it's only the second national language there that has the whole Bible . And he sent me a copy of it and wrote about how I encouraged him through years. I discipled him and, you know, we, we were just partners in this. One Christmas after he did the book of Luke, he wanted to do the Jesus film.

And so my [00:18:00] family, instead of - I have three sons and a large family - and we decided on Christmas, instead of giving gifts to each other, we would pull all our resources and pay for the Jesus film in Obolo. So we did, and we sent him the funds, they made the Jesus film.

And he told me the other day - oh, that's been years ago - every year they go to every village once a year and play the Jesus film and have had over 1800 decisions for Christ through that film. So when I look at that Bible and I realize, and churches have been planted, having the scriptures is the foundation for our faith. And you don't plant a church, you plant a church on the basis of the scripture.

And so having the scriptures in a, in a language that they understand, it's very fundamental. And that's been very true, but that's just one language. When I went to the Bible museum recently they [00:19:00]invited me up to the Bible Museum in Washington, DC and actually I went for the dedication. And on the fourth floor, they have a copy of 2000 Bibles and 2000 languages, and they said that 1800 of those have been done by Wycliffe or its associates or the people they trained.

And I looked at that. I knew many of those. I'd been to many of those locations. So of a sudden it hit me. This is my legacy. Because when I joined Wycliffe back in 1954, they'd done two new testaments and now there's 2000.

Bruce: Praise God.

Bernie May: A Billion people can read the scripture now.

Bruce: The blessing that you have been to so many in the Bible translation movement and to the people in the untold thousands of lives that have been impacted by you. We thank you. And we're also encouraged by the fact that in your, in your ninth and your 10th decade [00:20:00] that you know God is, is using you and that you're still building the kingdom. And that's a, a message of the Retirement Reformation to all of our listeners that, that we are, we are called to be faithful for a lifetime. And I can't think of a better poster boy for being faithful for a lifetime than Bernie May. So Bernie, thank you so much for joining us today. Jim, do you have any questions for Bernie?

Jim: Bernie, I got just in 30 seconds or less. What's next for Bernie May?

Bernie May: Well, I've just I'm training young people to be beekeepers because a lot of places will not accept missionaries. But the bee problem is a world problem and bees are dying. And I think by, in fact, I know this is happening and we can go to places and help save the bees because if bees die, we all have a problem. The environment is a problem worldwide and most of the remaining [00:21:00]people are subsistence farmers. So if I can help them save their bees, that will gimme entrance into those places where I can share the good news of the Gospel .

So I just started a program and I'm training some young people now who have been able to go to places as a beekeeper, maybe would not be able to go with any other occupation.

Jim: And that's an inspiration for everybody listening today, that at 90 you're not done. God may have something new for you. Bernie May, thanks for being on. iRetire4Him today. Bruce, great interview. 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 lifetime. 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 this fourth quarter of life.

Join Retirement Reformation [00:22:00] founder Bruce Bruinsma as you consider your past strengths, spiritual gifts, and your passion and how they all come together in 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?

Jim: Hey, welcome back to iRetire4Him as we do a high level overview of our brand new Recreating Retirement small group curriculum. Bruce, this has been such a fun conversation and I, what I love about it is that everybody who goes through this as listeners, call 'em the studiers, their lives are gonna be transformed cuz they're gonna learn things about themselves that they never even knew.

And what I love is that in the, in the final three weeks of the study - so week five, you [00:23:00] talk about discovering and living out your calling, but we're talking about a 30 year time of relaxation and vacationing. Isn't that what retirement's all about? What does calling have to do with retirement?

Bruce: Well, we use the word calling because it's the word that that comes outta scripture and, and comes out of a faith-based environment of listening to what God is saying to us and responding to his call. You remember back in in the Old Testament with Samuel? And Samuel as a boy, he heard this voice calling him, and, and he went to see the prophet and the prophet said, no, I didn't call. Go back to bed. Went back to bed . He heard the call again, and he went back to see the prophet and the prophet. It wasn't me, but I tell you what, listen to the call, it might be God. And in fact, it was God calling on his life. And, and that was the, you know, that was a transition point in Samuel's life.

Each one of [00:24:00] us has transition points where God has a plan for us and he communicates with us. In one of our, I think the interview we did with Barak Strickland, he talked about listening to God's small voice of what it is that he is saying to him when he's in his quiet time in the morning. And I think that's, that's something that is achievable for all of us, is available to all of us, and is helpful to all of us learning how to listen to what God is calling you to do.

I talked about in a prior segment about the choice of going to Timbuktu. Well, it was God's calling in a different way, and my response to Him . So God calls in lots of different ways. I had a conversation earlier this morning with an associate of mine and I was suggesting to him a course of action, and he kinda looked at me and he says, that's funny. This morning during my devotions, here's what happened. And it was the same message. And he said, that's [00:25:00] also very strange because yesterday, in another set of circumstances, I got the same message.

Hmm. And so God calls, And it's not just once it may be, but he calls us and it is what gives us the insight to what it is that he's prepared us to do, and that will be the most satisfying things of our lives when we do them and help build the kingdom.

Jim: Bruce, is there any doubt about the calling on your life in your retirement years?

Bruce: It doesn't appear to be.

Jim: And so tell us the tell us that call .

Bruce: Yeah. The transition, I, I started a firm called Envoy Financial 30 years ago. Still give some leadership to that, starting in the beginning of this next year will reduce in that leadership role.

And starting at six years ago with the Retirement Reformation it is clear to me that this is God's calling on my life for the balance of it. And, and so to be able to engage and [00:26:00] challenge the 40 million Christ followers who need to reform their thinking, recreate their thinking, and move forward, and then to be able to train those who will come behind me when my time is up, to be able to continue that message and to make a difference in the world.

Jim: We're talking today about the Recreating Retirement small group curriculum that has just been rolled out from the Retirement Reformation on our website, Retirement Reformation.org on the resource page. Bruce, towards the end of the study, you talk about vision and mission, but I thought those were business terms. What do they have to do with me and my retirement?

Bruce: Every call that God has on our life has two parts to it, both the vision and the mission . Matter of fact, when we talked to Barak Strickland he, he took us through how God had painted a vision for him, and then the action that came from it. And so it's [00:27:00] vision and its action and response and learning and thankfulness and then next steps.

Jim: Hmm. But it seems weird. but I love the fact that you take concepts that almost all of us are exposed to at work and applying to ourselves personally and our 30 plus years of retirement, to have a vision, to have a mission, to understand who God created us to be. You know, this is all about recreating a retirement plan for ourselves.

Why is it so important, Bruce, that in our retirement years we have a plan? And we're not talking about money. Why?

Bruce: One of, one of the prior books that I wrote, it's called Moving Forward, talks all about the importance of planning of what is next. And so it is so critical to know what is next. Judy and I just returned from a trip [00:28:00] and we were at a crossroads on Martha's Vineyard and I said, which way do I need to turn Judy?

And she said, I don't know. I said, I think we need a plan. And so in every part of life, we need a plan for what's next, and then be open to how God opens and closes doors and gives us guidance in terms of how that plan is going to be carried out. It may be quite different than what we think, but if, if we are in tune with God's plan for us, we will always find meaning and purpose and we'll experience freedom and joy.

Jim: You know what I think would be great Bruce? In our next series we focus on Moving Forward your book, I think that'd be a great thing for us to do.

Bruce: Very good, my friend.

Jim: All right, so when I get to the end of this six week study called Recreating Retirement, and am I gonna be perfectly fixed? I mean, what's gonna happen in my life?

Bruce: What's gonna happen is you're gonna go, wow, I'm so glad I [00:29:00] finished that. Cuz you would've thought a couple of times during it because it asks to be introspective and to think and to reflect and so on, which isn't what many of us are comfortable in doing. And so at the end of that you go, wow, I guess I'm kind of glad that's over, but my goodness, look what I have, I have next steps.

Will it be the plan for the rest of my life? Probably not, but it'll be the plan for the next steps in your life. Mm, yes. That will be there. And you'll be able to sit down in your, in your prayer time and be able to pray your way through that and continue to listen to what God is saying. And then, and then as we've seen in many of these the people that we've interviewed recently that, you know, God brings that next opportunity to them. And what they do is then step into that opportunity and then be led forward.

Jim: It's exciting. I can't wait for the thousands of people that get to go through Recreating Retirement to be able to see the [00:30:00] impact. And, Bruce, for for us to be able to capture some of those stories right here on our podcast of people that have gone through that study.

We've gotta make sure we line up some of those as this rolls out across the country, as people get it on our resource page, on Retirement Reformation.org. We've got to line up those people. If you go through the small group study, make sure you contact us at etirementreformation.org and let us know. We'd love to be able to hear your story.

Great series. Super excited about Recreating Retirement, the small group study. So glad you took your time to get that done. So excited. It's rolling out across the country. Bruce Bruinsma , thank you so much for being here today with us on iRetire4Him.

Bruce: It's such a pleasure to be able to roll it out and as you say, to look forward to the impact that it's gonna have and our being able to hear those stories and to be able to share them.

Jim: Hmm. Amen to that. You've been listening to iRetire4Him, the mouthpiece for the retirement reformation . With your host, Jim Brangenberg, and of course, the founder of the Retirement Reformation himself, Bruce Bruinsma. We're Christ followers, [00:31:00] 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 during retirement.

However, in your retirement, you can be focused on God's unique call to 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 [00:32:00] 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.