174: A God-Shaped Mind for a Purposeful Retirement

September 07, 2026
00:00 29:55
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FEATURING: Dr. Chuck Coker

ORGANIZATION: LifeThrive; A God-Shaped Mind

God designed our minds for more than simply surviving. He created us for human flourishing, spiritual growth, and a life connected to Him – and that purpose doesn't end when we retire!

In this episode of iRetire4Him, Jim and Martha Brangenberg talk with Chuck Coker, author of A God-Shaped Mind: The Neuroscientific Path to Spiritual Maturity, about the fascinating connection between Scripture, spiritual maturity, neuroscience, and human flourishing. Chuck explains how our minds were designed with the capacity for spiritual perception and how growing in our relationship with God can change the way we think, serve, and interact with others.

Chuck also challenges the idea that retirement should be a time to simply slow down. Drawing from Scripture and research on longevity, he highlights five principles that can contribute to a longer, healthier, more purposeful life: faith, exercise and food, purpose, Sabbath, and intergenerational relationships.

In this episode, you'll hear:

  • Why Chuck believes our minds were designed for human flourishing and spiritual growth
  • How salvation and spiritual maturity should transform the way we think and live
  • The biblical concept of kenosis – Christ's example of humility, self-emptying, and serving others
  • How to move from a survival mentality toward a service mentality
  • The connection Chuck sees between the fruit of the Spirit and emotional intelligence
  • Five principles associated with longevity and how they align with biblical principles
  • Why purpose and intergenerational relationships are especially important during retirement
  • Chuck's encouragement to make glorifying God the central purpose of every season of life

For retirees, this message offers an important reminder: you don't retire from God's purposes. Your experience, wisdom, relationships, and spiritual maturity can be invested in the next generation in ways that have eternal significance.

  • Enjoyed this episode? Help iRetire4Him show more retirees that God still isn’t finished working in and through them. Support us for $5/month at iwork4him.com/iretire4him-donate
  • And if you want to pursue Kingdom obedience in your investments, visit InvestBRI.com to connect with Biblically Responsible Investing expert Luke Andrews.

See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Meet Your Host
Although Jim is not yet at retirement age, he and his wife Martha lived twenty years residing in 55+ communities in Florida. Their experience has highlighted the harsh reality of retirement in the United States, showing the discontent that can come when people lack purpose in their later years. Surrounded by parents in their nineties and friends in their sixties, seventies, and eighties, Jim and Martha find motivation in observing those who live out their faith in retirement, while also witnessing the frustration of those who do not.

Jim has been hosting the iRetire4Him Podcast for nearly five years, has spoken at conferences, and has co-authored the book iRetire4Him: Unlock God’s Purpose for Your Retirement, with his father-in-law. Although he currently Works4Him, he looks forward to Retiring4Him one day!
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