{"id":301752,"date":"2009-01-23T12:00:00","date_gmt":"2009-01-23T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/impacting-the-world-in-your-retirement\/"},"modified":"2009-01-23T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2009-01-23T17:00:00","slug":"impacting-the-world-in-your-retirement","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/impacting-the-world-in-your-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Impacting the World in Your Retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Retirement:  go ahead, go back, or go away?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2009-01-23.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"11.05M","filesize_raw":"11585710","date_recorded":"","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2913],"tags":[4103,4806,5024],"podcast_series":[7628],"cwp_profile":[9154],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-301752","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-empty-nest-and-midlife","tag-empty-nest","tag-retirement","tag-second-half-of-life","podcast_series-halftime-changing-your-game-plan-from-success-to-significance","cwp_profile-bob-buford","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/301752\/impacting-the-world-in-your-retirement","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/301752\/impacting-the-world-in-your-retirement","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"MFZVXOAx3Q\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/impacting-the-world-in-your-retirement\/\">Impacting the World in Your Retirement<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/impacting-the-world-in-your-retirement\/embed\/#?secret=MFZVXOAx3Q\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Impacting the World in Your Retirement&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"MFZVXOAx3Q\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Retirement: go ahead, go back, or go away?","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2009-01-23.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> He drew a box on a sheet of notebook paper, and he put a dollar sign on one side of the box and a cross on the other side.\u00a0 He said, \"I want you to write down what the primary loyalty of your life is, because when I talk to you, you're talking about business things, and you're talking about ministry things.\u00a0 And which is it?\"\u00a0 And the air was so thick in that car that you could cut it up and make bricks out of it.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Lepine:<\/strong> And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us on the Friday edition.\u00a0 Before we introduce our guest and talk about what we want to talk about today, this is Day Number 19 in our 40-day Love Dare.\u00a0 We're about halfway through the Love Dare, and this is taken from the book, \"The Love Dare,\" which was featured in the movie \"Fireproof\" that was out in theaters back last fall.\u00a0 We thought between the beginning of the year and Valentine's Day we ought to have our own 40-day Love Dare and give ourselves a little love tuneup so that we can love like we mean it.\u00a0 And if you'd like to get a copy of \"The Love Dare\" book, you can go to FamilyLifeToday.com and order one from us.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tBut each day we are giving out an assignment for you that's your Love Dare for the day.\u00a0 It's also posted on our website at FamilyLifeToday.com, and today we read from 1 John 4:7 that says \"Let us love one another for love is from God.\u00a0 Everyone who loves is born of God and knows God.\"\u00a0 The title on today's Love Dare is Love is Impossible.\u00a0 The reality is the source of our love for one another ought to begin with our love for God and His love for us.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tSo your assignment today is to look back over some of the Love Dares from the previous days.\u00a0 Which were the ones that seemed really hard to almost impossible to you?\u00a0 Have you realized your need for God to change your heart and to give you the ability to love?\u00a0 You need to ask Him to show you where you stand with Him and then ask for the strength and the grace to settle your eternal destination.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd, again, if you have not been following along with us on the Love Dare, you can get a copy of the book from us at FamilyLifeToday.com. You will also find information on our website about our upcoming season of FamilyLife Weekend to Remember Marriage Conferences.\u00a0 They kick off in three weeks, and we hope you'll make plans to attend one of those conferences when it comes to a city near where you live.\u00a0 Or if you want to attend on Valentine's weekend, we have a number of conferences being hosted in cities all around the country that very weekend, and, again, all the details are on our website, FamilyLifeToday.com.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tNow, today what we want to talk about, or I guess I should say what you want to talk about because, in reality, the guest we have on today is a guy that you just wanted to have in the studio so you could sit across the table from him and ask him a bunch of questions that are on your own heart.\u00a0 Our listeners are welcome to listen in, but today's program is really designed primarily for you, isn't it?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Well, it actually is for our listeners, Bob.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Lepine:<\/strong> Yeah?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Because I know we're seated across the table from a very talented, gifted man who has had some experiences that I think our listeners can benefit from.\u00a0 And I happen to like him and have personally benefited as well from his writing as well as just interpersonal interaction, and our hearts tend to beat in kind of the same direction, shall we say?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Lepine:<\/strong> Yeah.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> And so I thought we'd introduce our guest to our listeners and let them benefit personally.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Lepine:<\/strong> But when it comes to the questions, this is just the stuff that you want to know, isn't it?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Well, yeah, because he's a lap ahead of me, just a lap, and I thought, \"Well, what better opportunity to get together and kind of pick his brain and find out what he's thinking.\u00a0 Well, our guest is Bob Buford from Dallas, Texas.\u00a0 Bob, thanks for coming back and being a part of our broadcast again.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> Pleased to be here.\u00a0 But I think I should say in the spirit of Texas, \"Aw, shucks,\" after that. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Yeah, yeah, yeah.\u00a0 Bob is the founder and chairman of the board of Leadership Network.\u00a0 He has authored four books including an updated version of \"Halftime,\" which has sold over a half million copies.\u00a0 Did you ever believe that book would sell a half million copies?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> How in the world could I be arrogant enough to think such a thing?\u00a0 And I'll just say about the book, it carries an original foreword by Peter Drucker that is worth the whole book, and it carries a new foreword by Jim Collins that is \u2013 that's two or three of the greatest pages you'll read.\u00a0 So I think you'd get your money's worth in about the first six pages without reading a word that I say.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Well, as we've already mentioned, he lives in Dallas, along with his life, Linda, and I just want to take some of the things you've experienced since you wrote this book \u2013 well, now, almost 15 years ago, Bob.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou know, you're talking about in the book, \"Halftime,\" of deploying a massive number of businessmen and women who fill the pews in the church all around the United States in Kingdom work.\u00a0 Now, we're not talking about them becoming paid to be good and moving into full-time Christian ministry.\u00a0 We're just talking about them taking a sliver, a slice, or a portion of their life and using it in Kingdom work.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAs you've interacted with individuals at your Halftime Institutes, what have you noticed about this group of halftimers that are emerging?\u00a0 What are they grappling with, and kind of, how are they counting the cost, and what's their conclusion that they're coming to?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> Well, there are two or three things.\u00a0 First of all, the phrase that I hear most often coming back to me is, \"I read your book.\u00a0 You are describing exactly the way I am feeling at this stage of my life.\u00a0 I've been there and done that, and I don't have a clue what to do next.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> In other words, they don't know how to deploy in Kingdom work?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> They don't know how, and the Christian organizations that they are part of really don't know how to deploy them either.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> The church?\u00a0 How about it?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> I think they're in the face of highly successful people often intimidated by those people, and I want to say, I've spent the last 24 years working with megachurches, so I'm on their side, but I think their strength is to win people to Christ and grow people up in Christ and get people in small groups.\u00a0 But what recent research has shown is that there are something like 25 percent of the people that are the most mature believers who say that the church isn't quite there for them in this stage of their life; that they're either stalled or dissatisfied.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHowever, having said that, the Halftime Institute is a 24-hour program that goes noon through noon, and what we see is, when we ask people at the beginning of the program to describe their lives, is a very elementary kind of picture.\u00a0 And within 24 hours of thinking about what their strengths are \u2013 most people know what their roles are.\u00a0 They know they're a lawyer or car salesman or a nurse or something like that, but they don't know the underlying strengths.\u00a0 And once they discover that and begin to dream a little bit about what might be done with their time, talent, and treasure for the Kingdom, it is buried two feet below the surface.\u00a0 I mean it isn't real deep there; it's something that's been in their life a long, long time.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You're talking about what they do well and what they can succeed at.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> And what they can succeed at if they change their mission from making more money or getting promotion to serving other people in God's name.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Lepine:<\/strong> But you know, Bob, that a lot of guys in their 40s and their 50s are still feeling the pressure to provide.\u00a0 And when you start to think about, \"Okay, I'm going to channel my time, talent and treasure for Kingdom work,\" here a guy is thinking, \"I can't do that yet, because I've still got college educations to pay for and weddings that are coming up, and I've got to wait to do that until after I've taken care of all the financial stuff.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> Sure, well, I had that experience and very directly.\u00a0 When I was in my most intensely burning first half of my life, growing a company at over 20 percent a year, my wife and I visited with one of the world's great strategic planners \u2013 Mike Kammy, who is a guy that got bonused $1 million to move from one firm to another.\u00a0 And he drew a box on a sheet of notebook paper, and he put a dollar sign on one side of the box and a cross on the other side.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHe said, \"I want you to write down what the primary loyalty of your life is, because when I talk to you, you're talking about business things, and you're talking about ministry things, and which is it?\"\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe room fell stony silent, and I said, \"Well, of those two, kind of doing the math, I think I'd put Jesus in the box, because the longevity on that is longer than longevity on money.\"\u00a0 We spent an hour in the car afterwards driving to our next stop, and the air was so thick in that car that you could cut it up and make bricks out of it.\u00a0 I mean, Linda saw her life pass before us.\u00a0 I think that's kind of what you're talking about.\u00a0 She was looking for a life of polyester and poverty the rest of her life and driving used cars that didn't work and whatever \u2013 I mean, all this had these terrifying \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You've seen Bob's car.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t[laughter] \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> I mean, we all have these terrifying stereotypes of what it might mean if we ever let go and let God have our life.\u00a0 My experience is that that seldom happens; that God usually builds on someone's history, even negative history \u2013 a history of alcoholism or abuse or things like that frequently are the things that allow people to be ministers to others in that situation in that area.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Lepine:<\/strong> But you know how a guy feels a responsibility to make sure he can provide for the basics of life, and if I abandon it all for Jesus, is that going to happen?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong>\u00a0 Whoa, whoa, I didn't say abandon it all for Jesus.\u00a0 In \"Finishing Well,\" my fourth book, there are four or five ways to go about this.\u00a0 The way I went about it was to develop a parallel career where I allocated 10 percent and then 20 percent of myself to Kingdom initiatives and still had 80 percent of me involved in business.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWhen I was 42, I said I'd like to change the relationship and get 80 percent of me involved in ministry.\u00a0 It took me eight years to do that, and it took me another 10 or so years to get to the point where I was ready to sell my company and do that.\u00a0 So pretty soon I am where I am now.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You're out of business now?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> I cashed in the business, put most of it in a foundation and intend to die broke.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> So your foundation is not going to outlive you?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> It's not going to outlive me.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You're going to give it all away.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> It's ready to go.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Good.\u00a0 Having said all that, and you said you're out of business, I want to know how you view retirement?\u00a0 Because there's a lot of discussion right now with literally millions of baby-boomers \u2013 the first one is going to turn 62, 63 this year.\u00a0 There's going to be a line of them \u2013 77 million going to move right on up to the brink and decide what do I do with these years in my 60s and 70s?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong>\u00a0 Yeah, well, look, you've got three choices right then.\u00a0 The three choices are go ahead, go back, or go away.\u00a0 The go away choice is that you take whatever your limited funds are, move to a time-share condominium in a very warm climate and play shuffleboard the rest of your \u2013 or golf, or whatever, which doesn't seem \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You're making that sound so appealing.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t[laughter] \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI'm looking out on our engineer, Keith Lynch, and he's already practicing his moves.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t[laughter] \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> Well, look, most people I know that have any energy and ambition at all can get all the golf they need played, that sabbatical vacation they've always longed to have done in 90 days or six months.\u00a0 And then there is the whole rest of your life.\u00a0 If you're 50 years old, odds are on that you're good for another 30 years \u2013 a whole second adulthood.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd are you just going to go away and watch Jerry Springer all day long?\u00a0 I mean, I really don't think so.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Okay, so go away \u2013 that's not a good idea.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> I'm not fond of that idea.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> I don't think that's biblical.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> If I've said that clearly, I'm not for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> I think we're clear.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> The second is go back \u2013 doing business or doing the job that I'm doing is all I know how to do.\u00a0 You know, it's structured every day of my life for the past 30 or 40 years, so I'm going to go back and do that because it's who I am, and it's what Peter Drucker called \"a failure of imagination.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Lepine:<\/strong> So what does going back look like?\u00a0 If somebody goes back \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Are they just going back to their career?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> Go back to their career \u2013 mainly go back to their career and \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Lepine:<\/strong> You don't really retire, you just kind of keep \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> No, you retire on the job, but you kind of run at half speed and, you know, you've mastered something, so you're in the master class, and you don't do it the way you did it when you were 22 that required all that energy. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Lepine:<\/strong> You just kind of coast, basically.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> You coast.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Okay, so \u2026\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> The chore for the second half of life is to figure out what to do with the second half that is season-appropriate to that stage in life.\u00a0 Find something that uses the person you are and that serves the God you believe in and that makes a living, too, if that's a necessity and get on with the program.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> You tell a story in your book about a Quaker prayer that had to do with how a person's hands were placed before God, and it was at a key point in your life.\u00a0 Why don't you share that with our listeners, because I think it really does symbolically represent how we should live our lives.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> Yeah.\u00a0 It's based on a very, very deep medieval prayer that is probably well-known to some people that uses the words A-C-T-S, ACTS.\u00a0 And the words are Adoration, Confession, Thanksgiving, and Supplication.\u00a0 So when I pray, I pray in that order.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tHowever, the way I learned this prayer was a guy taught it to me on the way into the Denver Airport, and he was driving.\u00a0 So, you know, he didn't want to say \"Close your eyes and bow your head to pray.\"\u00a0 So he did it with his hands, and taught me this Quaker thing.\u00a0 The first stage is adoration, where you raise your hands, you know, make a gesture of adoration; the second, for me, is confession, and in that I put my hands forward as if they were on the chest of Christ, and pass through all the rottenness that's in me into Him.\u00a0 Pass your sins over, and you're as clean as the driven snow.\u00a0 There really is a second chance in life.\u00a0 There are multiple second chances.\u00a0 The third is, in Thanksgiving I open up my hands, palms up, and just receive the things that God has given me in my life, which have been incredible.\u00a0 And the last is I turn my palms over and release my life and everything in an act of supplication, or prayers for other people or prayers \u2013 my prayer now is a version of just show me the way.\u00a0 I'm up, I'm available, as they say in the Nike commercial, \"Let's Do It.\"\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Yeah, and I'm thinking of maybe a listener who might have tuned into this broadcast who needs to hold their hands up in a form of surrender.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> Yeah.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Because I think the relationship with Christ begins as we surrender our lives fully and completely to Him by faith.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Buford:<\/strong> One of the people who endorsed very graciously \"Halftime,\" was a man named Henry Now [sp] and a Catholic priest and a great writer.\u00a0 Some think the successor to Thomas Merton, the great Catholic writer.\u00a0 And I had dinner with him one night, and he said, \"You know, I understand what you're saying about success to significance, but I believe there are four stages in life, and you've described two of them.\u00a0 The first is struggle \u2013 half the people in sub-Saharan Africa live on less than $2 a day.\u00a0 The second is success, and I define success as building up your own portfolio \u2013 making your mark in life, being \u2013 you know, acquiring a reputation or funds or power or any of those things.\u00a0 They are all in Matthew, chapter 4, if you want to look them up, and they're still the same things \u2013 they're money, reputation, and power.\u00a0 Just like Jesus was tempted.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThe third is significance \u2013 significance is using your \u2013 what you're good at and what your passionate about to serve others.\u00a0 But it's pretty much like success.\u00a0 It just, you know, has a different mission.\u00a0 He said, \"I think there is a next stage, and the next stage is to surrender.\"\u00a0 And he said \u2013 this is a very cryptic and unusual thing.\u00a0 I mean, it took me a couple of days to process that, so I'll just say it.\u00a0 He said, \"I don't think people can pass from success to surrender in one jump because they'd be too angry.\"\u00a0 I said, \"What do you mean?\"\u00a0 And he said, \"They would be so conscious of what they were giving up that it would be hard for them.\u00a0 So people can give themselves over in the area of their own strengths and gifts in serving others, and that's kind of a passageway to the other side, and the other side is surrender.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Dennis:<\/strong> Well, there is no question for a person to come into a relationship with Christ ultimately at some point they do have to come to that point of personal surrender, placing their faith in Him.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>Bob Lepine:<\/strong> Yeah, you've got to come to a place where you say, \"The way that I've been running things isn't satisfying the longing in my own heart and my own soul.\u00a0 It's not accomplishing what I was designed by God to accomplish.\u00a0 I'm not bringing glory to Him,\" and at that point, you are ready to say, \"Okay, my way is not only not working, but I've made a mess of things, and I need God's forgiveness, I need transformation in my life, and I need hope.\"\u00a0 And that's the offer of the Gospel.\u00a0 Jesus Christ came to reconcile us to God; to take the broken relationship between us and God that had been broken by our sin, to pay the penalty for our sin so that that relationship with God is repaired, is reconciled.\u00a0 And what we have to do in response to that is just as you've said, surrender, yield, and put our faith and trust in the saving work of Jesus to re-establish our relationship with God, which is where the real search for purpose and meaning and significance in our lives really begins and ends.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd I want to invite any of our listeners, Dennis, who have sensed in their own heart and soul, that longing, that yearning, for life to have meaning and purpose and significance to find it today by turning away from their own self-directed life and turning to Christ and putting their faith and trust in Him.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe have a book that we'd love to send to any listener like that who wants to trust Christ today.\u00a0 It's called \"Pursuing God,\" and it's designed to explain to you what it means to have a relationship with God through Christ.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tYou can call us a 1-800-FLTODAY to request a copy.\u00a0 We'll send it to you at no cost to you and with no obligation so that you can understand what it means to walk in a relationship with God through Jesus Christ.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd then let me also encourage you to go to our website, FamilyLifeToday.com, where there is information on how you can get a copy of Bob Buford's book, \"Halftime.\"\u00a0 Get a copy of this book and read through it and begin to ask the question \u2013 how does my life need to be re-prioritized so that Kingdom objectives are at the center of what my life is all about?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAgain, our website, FamilyLifeToday.com, you can also call for more information about the book, \"Halftime\" at 1-800-FLTODAY, and when you call someone on our team will let you know how you can have that book sent to you as well.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tLet me say a quick word here at the end of the week to those of you who help support the ministry of FamilyLife Today.\u00a0 We so appreciate your partnership with us.\u00a0 FamilyLife Today is listener-supported, so when folks like you call or go online and make a donation to help support the ministry, those funds go to help defray the costs associated with the syndication and production of this radio program making it available on this station and on other stations all across the country.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tThis month, if you are able to help support FamilyLife Today with a donation of any amount, we have a gift we'd like to send you.\u00a0 It's the book, \"Moments With You,\" written by Dennis and Barbara Rainey \u2013 a daily devotional guide \u2013 365 devotions designed to help husbands and wives communicate with one another more effectively, grow closer to one another and grow closer in your relationship with God.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tIf you'd like to receive a copy of the book, \"Moments With You,\" all you have to do is write the word \"moments\" in the keycode box on the donation form when you make your contribution to FamilyLife Today online, or call 1-800-FLTODAY, you can make a donation over the phone and just request a copy of the book, \"Moments With You.\"\u00a0 Again, we are happy to send it to you, and we very much appreciate your support of the ministry and your partnership with us.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tAnd we hope you have a great weekend.\u00a0 I hope you and your family are able to worship together this weekend, and I hope you can join us back on Monday, when we're going to talk to a former NFL pro football player and his wife.\u00a0 While John Bramlett was experiencing great success in the NFL on the field, his marriage was a mess off the field.\u00a0 We'll talk about that next week, and I hope you can join us for that.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tI want to thank our engineer today, Keith Lynch, and our entire broadcast production team.\u00a0 On behalf of our host, Dennis Rainey, I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 We'll see you back next time for another edition of FamilyLife Today. \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tFamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas \u2013 help for today; hope for tomorrow.\u00a0 \n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tWe are so happy to provide these transcripts for you. However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website. If you've benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/donate\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\tCopyright \u00a9 FamilyLife. All rights reserved.\n\t\t\t<\/p>\n\t\t\t<p>\n\t\t\t\t<strong>www.FamilyLife.com<\/strong>\n\t\t\t<\/p>","theme_header_position":"","post_header_is_sticky":"","is_header_overlay":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast\/301752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/podcast"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301752"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/294104"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301752"},{"taxonomy":"podcast_series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/podcast_series?post=301752"},{"taxonomy":"cwp_profile","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/cwp_profile?post=301752"},{"taxonomy":"series","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/series?post=301752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}