Jim Brangenberg: You've tuned into iRetire4Him, the voice and resource of the Retirement Reformation, an organization dedicated to you, the retiree who loves Jesus and wants purpose for all of your days, especially the ones ahead of you. Bruce Bruinsma joins us today. As the founder of the Retirement Reformation, he's here to encourage and walk with you through retirement. I'm your host, Jim Brangenberg. Please check us out online at RetirementReformation. org, RetirementReformation. org, and on Facebook, just look for Retirement Reformation.

I was at a conference a few weeks ago and I met a gentleman from Australia who now lives in Texas. He said that the largest untapped kingdom resource in the world are the Christ following retirees and those with disabilities. He knew what you already know, the generations of retired believers is equipped with decades of wisdom and knowledge and rarely tapped into. So today we decided to start a conversation about how someone like you, a retired believer, can see themselves as worthy and capable of making a kingdom impact.

Bruce and I know you can do it, so let's get talking about it. We need you, your local community needs you, and our country needs you once again. Join us in making a kingdom impact right where God has you placed. Bruce, my question to start us off today is, why do so many seniors feel that they've outlived their ability to make a kingdom impact?

Bruce Bruinsma: I think there's a couple of reasons, I think there's a couple of reasons, Jim. One is, I think, frankly, for many, they never realized that a kingdom impact was something that they were already a part of, and that it's not a matter of leaving that behind and moving to one, it's a matter of finding out that God really does have a plan, and that each one of us has a kingdom impact, and then, as we say in the Retirement Reformation, because we are to be faithful for a lifetime, not for just a season.

Jim Brangenberg: That's so important. And I think it goes back to people understanding, Oh, they could have been living out the kingdom in their work and nobody ever told them that their work mattered to God either. So let's start with some basic concepts. So what does it mean to bear fruit for kingdom impact, Bruce?

Bruce Bruinsma: First of all, Kingdom Impact refers to what? To the active role, not the passive role, but the active role for believers in extending the kingdom of God. In that activity versus a passive perspective, there's so many of us that are passive about a lot of things.

We're passive about our family, passive about our community, we're passive about our country, we're passive about our religious relationships, are passive about our church. And when we talk about kingdom impact, we're going from passivity to activity. So as we think about how are we to be active in bringing the kingdom of God.

Now, where's the kingdom of God exist anyway? First of all, it exists in us, doesn't it? It's not a geographical place. It is a universal place that is brought together by God's people as when we accept Jesus as our Savior, the Holy Spirit is now in us. And now we are part of the kingdom of God.

Jim Brangenberg: So is it different between passivity and activity or passivity and proactivity? Is there a difference there?

Bruce Bruinsma: There is, I think. We can talk about activity. Activity can be, playing golf. Activity can be actively yelling at the screen when your team is losing. Activity can be going out to dinner with your wife. Activity can be taking a trip. And all of those things fit into a bigger picture, but the proactivity, and I think that's a good distinction, has intent and a purpose other than just relaxation and satisfying our own needs.

Jim Brangenberg: Oh, and I think that's really why you wrote your latest book, Living the Fruitful Life. Does that fruitful life naturally lead to a kingdom impact?

Bruce Bruinsma: It does. It does if, in fact, you are engaged in listening to what the Holy Spirit is saying to you. I know after I wrote the Retirement Reformation and some other books in between, I was really bothered by the fact that what is the message to us seniors that says, here is the direction here is what you can do, here is what I have prepared you to do, here's how you can be proactive? And I said, what's the real key to that? And the Holy Spirit provided that answer. He said, I want you to write a book about being fruitful. I said, fruitful, what do you mean? And then he took me back to scripture, obviously.

And so we've got love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness and self control. But the key He said was love. And then seeing all of our actions through those lenses. My goodness, does that make a difference? And it takes us, it cannot help but take us into a proactive set of activities.

Jim Brangenberg: I've heard you say, and I've seen you write it, but to quote you, overall bearing fruit for the kingdom is about embodying a life that reflects God's character and contributes to his mission in the world. What are those four things that display bearing fruit that we'll talk about in the final segment? There's four things that are fruit bearing activities, Bruce. What are those four things?

Bruce Bruinsma: Four things that are fruit bearing activities are, first of all is what is our relationship with God? And with that relationship, that sets the stage for what comes out of that. Secondly, what's our relationship with those who we love and how does that - let me just share a story. I'm in a caregiver role. Through the door behind me is my wife, Judy. And since the 5th of June, I have been a caregiver. I've never been a caregiver before. I've been a giver. But never a caregiver. I've been someone who loved and was concerned, but I never had to fix three meals a day. I never had to do the laundry. I never had to clean up things. I never had to do any of that.

And so as Judy's health has been a challenge and I've been into that role as a caregiver, I would find myself periodically with starting to be resentful about why don't you? And how come? And why for? And that's when the fruit of the spirit would evidence itself in my mind. And I would say, Oh, wait a minute. I have to look at this differently. Why am I doing this? What am I to do? How can I be a caregiver with love and then the rest of those fruits of the spirit? So dealing with those that we love, then dealing with our community and in our community of believers and our community at large.

How do we represent Jesus to the rest of the world? And as we do that for them to say, huh, there's something different about that guy. Or there's something different about that woman. There's something different about that relationship in the marriage. There's something different. What is that? And that difference is in fact the fruit of the Spirit evidencing itself in the kingdom of God.

Jim Brangenberg: And you living out in this caregiving stage, taking care of Judy, is like making a kingdom impact because your kids are watching, your grandsons are watching. They're watching how you care and they're learning what does it look like to be married for a lifetime. And what an impact that's made because you're passing on a legacy that you didn't have before.

Bruce Bruinsma: That is absolutely true. And the opportunity to be able to share both the struggles, the moments of clarity, the times of fear and confusion, and then the joy that comes from being able to do something that God has equipped me to do, but that I've never done before.

Jim Brangenberg: He's helping you be equipped on the fly. That's the best part of it. You're listening to iRetire4Him. We're coming up in the next segment, we're going to hear from John Avant from Passion Promise Ministries. And we'll finish up in segment three with those four things that are fruit bearing activities as a kingdom minded, kingdom active, kingdom proactive Retiree. We'll be right back.

 

 

 

Jim Brangenberg: Hey, welcome back to iRetire4Him. As we do in every second segment, we always bring on a special guest, sharing out how they're living out their faith in their post 55 plus part of their lives. Today, Bruce, who do you have for us?

Bruce Bruinsma: Hi, Jim. It's just my pleasure to introduce to our audience, John Avant. And I met John through when his role was as president of Life Action. And the reason why I asked him to join us today is because he's so committed to Kingdom Impact and is in the process of transition. So John, I'd like to have you just talk a little bit about the transition that you're making and how you see being called for Kingdom Impact and where God is leading you at age 65 plus.

John Avant: Yeah. Thank you, Bruce. It's been great to get to know you and just thankful for how God's using you in such a powerful way. And yeah, I've been a pastor for many years, but for the past seven, I've been president of what's known as one of the most significant revival ministries in the country.

But over recent years we've really narrowed our focus and our greatest passion to keeping missionaries thriving on the fields and collegiate revival, which we're in a, I believe a collegiate national movement right now and helping pastors reform their churches in ways that will actually connect to the great commission.

We do some of that at Life Action, but a lot of what I had to do at Life Action wasn't that. And plus, when you're leading in a large organization, you got a lot of meetings and things to be in. So over the last several months, with goodwill, with everybody at Life Action we started a new ministry specifically to concentrate on the three things I mentioned.

It's called Passion Promise Ministries. And before this call today, I've been on the phone for hours with with missionaries. We just finished a major four day collegiate event at Houston Christian University, and we're going to focus the rest of our lives with with very little overhead and no buildings and facilities, to going after what it's going to take to fulfill the great commission in the next 10 years. And that's what retirement is going to look like for me.

Bruce Bruinsma: John, that's always exciting. I love to talk to you, my friend. Your enthusiasm is certainly catching, and I'm sure our audience will pick that up. How would you describe kingdom impact?

John Avant: Yeah Jesus said it's the most important thing in your whole life. Doesn't matter what you do. He didn't say seek first your church or seek first your job, and not even seek first your family. All of those things can be taken from you. The kingdom of God cannot. It is led by a king, not you or me. And first of all if we're not seeking that first, we're missing the most important thing in our life.

Second of all kingdom impact takes a lot of pressure off me. I can join the king in what he's doing and I don't have to create stuff that I think we ought to be doing. And so everything we're doing simply over the last seven years, we've watched the king at work. And there are some of these things we can do that Life Action can't and we get to join the king and then we share his impact.

We don't think we're out there saying boy, Jesus, you sure needed us to make an impact. The king has reached out his hand. He says in second Corinthians 6 that he's become our father and we're his sons and daughters. Reaches out his hand. He says, son, daughter, come with me and and you get to share in the same impact I have.

And he's pretty impactful. And so we, the Passion Promise Ministries comes from my book, Passion Promise which talks about Ephesians 3: 20 that says God promises to do more than we can even imagine. And that's kingdom impact. I can imagine plenty that I can do. Kingdom impact is beyond imagination, and we're invited into that. When we hit retirement season of life, most of us have the ability to be more free to do it than we ever have before. That's what excites me about this.

Bruce Bruinsma: Preach that message, brother. That is certainly the heart of the Retirement Reformation. We know that the kingdom of God was the core theme of Jesus ministry. And then as we understand that and then are called into it, the ability then to be able to speak for it and to be able to impact others with it. So are you partnering with your wife in this or are you in this by yourself?

John Avant: Absolutely partnering with my wife. And because I've been in a mission agency and a pastor, but two, two mission agencies and a pastor for four decades, when you combine all that together, we've got tons of relationships. And another thing we think is important about the older years is that if we want to, we can leverage our relationships for the kingdom. And so today I've been planning. to take a team to the Muslim world to care for missionary families from four countries.

This is not far away. Four weeks from now we leave. They never get a break from their children. We're bringing some retirement age people who will change diapers for the kingdom. We're bringing young people as well who will learn from the retirement age people. But we've also got a lot of other people that are retirement age that can't go to that, but they can pray.

They're the ones that make it happen financially. When we come back, we'll have all kinds of things that will be needed from people that may not even be able to leave their home very much. So we think the ministry that my wife and I are leading, we're blessed to be healthy, but we see this as something that anybody can be involved in at any age or even at any health level. If we're willing to put self second and kingdom first.

Bruce Bruinsma: So, John, do you have a website for your new ministry?

John Avant: We will in about a week. Thank you for asking. We're literally, this is the first week of existence and we have all the pictures are in We hope that it's going to be Passion Promise. org.

Bruce Bruinsma: Passion- taking those two words and putting them together - Passion Promise. org. Please let us know when you got that live and we'll let our audience know about it. So John, we just really appreciate you. Jim, you got a question?

Jim Brangenberg: I got just one question, John, you're changing things up at 65 years old.

That gets a little scary. And a lot of people that are listening are going, I wouldn't change jobs at 65 and start something new. What are you, crazy? What do you, what's your biggest fear, biggest apprehension that you have right now you're dealing with?

John Avant: Yeah. I think most of, a lot of change is just hard work, and if you're afraid of hard work, I probably can't help you. My wife and I are working our tail ends off to get the 501 completely set up, all of these things. One of the great things about our philosophy is that if we fear God, we don't have to fear much else. And we define the fear of the Lord as the fear, of the dread of missing his presence and power.

And that is our number one fear. We don't want to miss his presence and his power. Everything else in our lives has tended to work out okay. During the few seasons where we've walked and we look back and go, man, we were pretty much in the flesh then, a season of marriage struggle, another season of, I think, kind of arrogance.

And we can look back and see that we weren't fearing the Lord and we ended up fearing almost everything else. Our biggest fear is that we would miss the presence and power of God. I think on a more practical position, I think my biggest fear is Lord,, how do I get word out to people in an effective way to know how to be involved?

For instance, I just got off, jumped off to do this podcast with the ministry we partner with that can right now can give any missionary that has a struggle, a problem, free care. It'll cost them nothing. But our missionaries are quitting - on average missionary quits after two years, seven months. They burn out, they're done.

We can fix that today. We have teams that mission agencies take overseas. And we train 20, 30, 40 missionaries for 5 days. Then they can train others. I fear Lord, how do I get out there? The financial need that people can help meet, the practical needs, that's something that I've got to be careful when I lay my head on the bed, the pillow at night that I don't end up worrying.

Jim Brangenberg: It sounds like one day you may need to do your own podcast. John Avant, thank you so much for being on iRetire4Him him today. Make sure you check out passionpromise. org when this podcast comes out. John, thanks for being with us today.

John Avant: Thank you guys.

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

 

 

 

Jim Brangenberg: Hey, welcome back to iRetire4Him. Bruce, fun conversation with John Avant. It's fun to see him get launched on a new mission at 65, and knowing that he knows he wasn't done, but that God just had a new mission for him and he's starting it off. I loved his answer on the fear thing. I just don't want to miss what God has for me. That's pretty good.

Bruce Bruinsma: Boy, it's well said, and I just love his passion and his energy, and I would urge our audience to connect with that ministry if there's something that touches your heart.

Jim Brangenberg: You said that there's four stages, four things that are fruit bearing activities that retired believers can do. Living a Christ like life, serving others, advancing God's mission, faithfulness, and obedience. What do you say it looks like to live a Christ like life?

Bruce Bruinsma: Living a Christ like life is evidenced by your priorities and by the actions that come from them. So those four things that you just mentioned of demonstrating the characteristics in your life of those fruits of the spirit that God has put in us and that represent him. And so as we demonstrate those in little ways - matter of fact my, the furnace in our house went out, Jim.

Yeah, it did. Fortunately it's going to be 79, 80 degrees so we're okay. So I had a furnace guy come out and he came out yesterday and then came back this morning and brought a $600 motor to put back in the furnace. And so as I'm writing out a check for him, for his services and for the motor and for so on and so forth, I said I've got to get going cause I've got to do a podcast. And he said to me, are you famous? And I said, I am well known in some circles. And he said, what circles? And I said, God's circles. So an opportunity in a very brief time to be able to bring God's characteristics to a furnace guy in my basement, fixing my furnace. And that's just one instance.

Jim Brangenberg: And to help that furnace guy recognize what a ministry he's got, because without a furnace, Colorado Springs would be a little rough come a couple of months from now.

Bruce Bruinsma: It would be. It would be. And so I've got I've got his name and his address and I'm going to send him a copy of Living the Fruitful Life, for him and others.

And so it's the process of looking, being open. So how do I serve others? Identifying the needs that are around you, and there's needs everywhere. Boy, are there needs that are around you. So we've got Judy in hospice. And so as the hospice team comes and talks with her and talks with me and the service that they're providing, I'm listening very actively to what in their lives do they need to be encouraged about as they are being encouragers? And so it's that attitude of openness, transparency, and helpfulness, and not being just someone who responds or sits in the corner, but is open.

Another one is that we have a number of people that have been kind enough to bring us some really great meals. And so I don't have to, I don't have to prepare the meals. I just have to organize them.

Jim Brangenberg: And Judy called me and said she was very grateful because you're cooking still. I'm just kidding. She didn't call me, but I don't know, maybe you've been getting better at cooking. I think.

Bruce Bruinsma: Oh yeah. Being better and adding things to it.

And so to be able to minister to them as they come in and are ministering to us. So to always be open to the opportunities that God has put in front of you, to represent him and to not only experience, but to share those fruits of the spirit by your actions, and what you say and obviously then what you're doing.

Jim Brangenberg: And what's really cool, Bruce, isn't it true that anybody can live a Christ like life and anybody can serve other people? You don't have to have a degree to serve other people, do you?

Bruce Bruinsma: No, as a matter of fact, you certainly don't. And all you have to do is you have to accept Christ as your Savior. You realize that the Holy Spirit is in you. Listen to what He's saying. Walk through the open doors that He provides. And then continue to, as a friend of mine used to say, and then continue to fall forward towards Jesus.

Jim Brangenberg: Boy, that's tripping and falling along the way. You say that advancing God's mission is one of those four things that a fruit bearing kingdom proactive retired believer can do. What does it mean to advance God's mission? Is he okay doing the mission on himself or does he want us involved?

Bruce Bruinsma: No, our mission, and he created us to be able to deliver his mission. We're the hands and the feet . Were the hands and the feet. And so he did that starting with Adam and Eve. Part of it didn't work out really well. Then he did it with the Israelites. Part of that didn't work out very well. Then he sent his son. That worked out really well. On the other hand, there was, as you read the stories, it was the bringing of Jesus and his message, God's message, to an expanded group of people, and then a whole bunch of folks that just flat didn't get it.

And so now as we live in our lives, that he has positioned us to be his hands and feet and to expand the kingdom. That's why when Jesus used some of those wonderful parables, the parables of the sower, for example, and of the mustard seed, that it is through us that his kingdom grows and it is for him that we grow it.

Jim Brangenberg: I think it'd be great to finish this up by talking about what does it mean, faithfulness and obedience. Again, one of those bearing fruit activities for a kingdom impactful senior. Most people have gotten rid of their disobedience streak by the time they're a retiree, but faithfulness, still learning how to be faithful. What does it mean to you when you say you're - you're famous for saying we need to be faithful for a lifetime. How does obedience, faithfulness and obedience, fit into that producing a kingdom impact?

Bruce Bruinsma: So as an example, when you go to church on Sunday, do you just sit in the pew, then go to the lobby and greet your friends and say hi and how you doing and so on?

Or when it was pastor's appreciation month here a month or so ago, you take one of your pastors or a couple of them out for lunch and ask them how they're doing. Do you encourage them? And then you just say, what can I do to be of help to you? And so that you're not just always on the receiving end? As seniors we get grabby and selfish.

And so to be able to be outwardly focused, loving, kind, and take the experiences that we have, and then be able to share them in ways that are others. I'm sure that there are people in the congregation that the pastor wishes he could go see, but he can't work it out. You can be hands and feet for Jesus, and him, and you can be the hands and feet on the phone or give him a call and go stop by and see him. It goes on and on the opportunities that are there if we are what? If we are faithful, if we're obedient, and if we're available,

Jim Brangenberg: A lot of people and I know, a lot of stories. Can you think of one short story of somebody who's making a kingdom impact and maybe we haven't interviewed yet? Maybe we should be interviewing in the future, making an impact in their community, a kingdom impact their community in their retired years.

Bruce Bruinsma: Yeah, we interviewed him quite a while ago. He was the pastor of our church when we came there, Dr. Bob Bender, and when he stepped down from the pulpit here about two years ago, he took about a year to find himself, if you wish. And what does God want him to do? And he now is in a position of being able to be a connector between Christian organizations in our town here.

And because he knew so many people, he's in his early seventies now, and is making connections that he never did when he was pastor of a church 'cause he was so focused there. Now his focus has expanded kinda like John Avant. His focus has expanded and with the energy that he has and the connections that he has, he's really making a difference. As a matter of fact I convinced him and he and I are going to be in Oklahoma doing eight events in the state of Oklahoma at the end of October.

Jim Brangenberg: Wow. Very exciting. So it's right after this podcast gets released. If you, if people want to find out more about those events and they happen to live in the state of Oklahoma, Bruce, where can they go?

Bruce Bruinsma: Go to our website and you'll see when we're going to be in Shawnee and when we're going to be in Oklahoma City and when we're going to be in Tulsa and so on. So yeah, go to our website and it will lay that out for you. Come join us and say hi for Pete's sake.

Jim Brangenberg: That's right, retirementreformation. org, retirementreformation. org. That's also where you can go into the resource tab in the bookstore and get a copy of Bruce's latest book, Living a Fruitful Life. It can be really helpful to each one of you as you try to figure out how do you live out kingdom, impactful kingdom, proactive activities that are fruit bearing in your senior years? Living a Christlike life, serving others, advancing God's mission, and being full of faithfulness and obedience . Living a fruitful life. Get a copy of that by Bruce Bruinsma. Bruce, great conversation today.

Bruce Bruinsma: As always, thanks, Jim, and blessings to our audience. And please do, after you read the book, give me a call.

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