Ministry Leaders

Not everyone plans for “golden years”.

In our prior post, we were challenged to tap into God’s wisdom for our lives on a regular basis. With that understanding and response to the challenges of life as we live it, how do we begin to think about that abundant future of meaning?

Our ministry plays itself out through our actions.

In the last few blogs, we’ve established that our pre-retirement lives are filled with highs and lows, rewards and meaning, and failures. Hopefully, we have learned something from all of these experiences. Maybe, though, there is something that is awakening in you now; something that perhaps was always there but never acknowledged. A gentle whisper in your ear, or a tug on your heart. A quiet moment of reflection along with an open Bible often brings amazing insights. Try it now.

Connecting with Biblical Truth is life changing. How and when we are confronted with that Truth varies person to person and one set of circumstances to another. Unfortunately much of it comes when we are “crying out for help”; we finally turn to the source of all wisdom only after we seem to have exhausted our own.

My experience is that I tend to hang onto my wisdom much too long and turn to the ultimate source of wisdom much too late. Many of us have been reminded often through our reading and being encouraged by spiritual leaders to spend time in the word, regularly. When I follow that advice, the learning, confronting, and growing as a spiritual person is much nicer.

The bumps and grinds of everyday life begin to have a spiritual context. I am able to respond to those activities of daily living in a better way, a more loving way, with greater wisdom.

Solomon lays out the bottom line to living a fulfilled life in the last few verses of Ecclesiastes: Be in total awe and reverence of God and follow closely what he lays out as the wisest ways to live life, relate to others and give honor and glory to Him. (My paraphrase of Ecclesiastes 12:13)

He then continues in verse 14, and I paraphrase: “(Do this) because all that we do, every day and for the rest of our lives has a cause and effect impact.”

The good things we do will leverage more good, and those inconsiderate or those actions that separate us from friends and family and put distance between ourselves and God, will produce pain in both the short and the long run.

Each of us is challenged to figure out our future path….yes, the time after retirement.

The good news is that our current and past experiences are the proving ground for our future. By staying connected to the source of ultimate wisdom now, will help pave the way for a more joyous, productive future. Let’s do it together! Listen to that “tug on your heart”.

I encourage you to head over to www.futurefundedministry.com and download a free copy of my newest eBook: Live with Meaning: Understanding the Power of Future- Funded Ministry. The book will challenge the way you view retirement and give insight into why it’s important to plan for the years ahead where the paycheck stops but the call to ministry continues.

Discovering our future together,

Bruce

What truly then constitutes our call to ministry? As we see it, four elements come together to produce a valid, and obedient call (that counsel of God mentioned in Psalm 32):

“I can do anything I want”, shouted the 10 year old at his older brother. “And you can’t stop me!”

As Christians, we believe that we are challenged to use our unique gifts to give, teach, support and love for a lifetime; this is our crucible, where meaning and action intersect, and reveal part of God’s divine plan. The grace-filled outcome of this intersection and the changes made in people’s lives is what we call ministry.

It’s a fact that people are living longer than ever before. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, since 1970 there has been about an eight-year increase on average in how long both genders of Americans will live. Most people live well into their 80s, and there are more centenarians and super-centenarians alive than ever before. According to National Institute on Aging (NIH), life expectancy nearly doubled during the 20^th century with a tenfold increase in the number of Americans age 65 or older. There are approximately 35 million Americans age 65 or older. The oldest old-people 85 or older-constitute the fastest growing segment of the U.S population, about four million people.

“Freedom!” they shouted as the last child went off to college.

Last time we took a look at common perceptions about retirement and began to challenge that how we’ve defined retirement in the past needs to change. Today let’s dig into why those definitions are not adequate and explore what purpose God might have for us in our later years.