Live a Legacy

Proofread Broadcast Transcript

Reading from John chapter 10, verse 10.

Jesus said, I have come that they may have life and have it to the full. That was John chapter 10, verse 10. Oh, magnify the Lord with me.

Let us exalt his name together. It's Tuesday, October 6, 2026. And welcome to Mark & Friends.

For the fourth week, we're returning to the Pinnacle Forum National Conference held in Arizona this past April, where high impact leaders who follow Christ are engaged and equipped to influence culture for him. And today's speaker is entrepreneur and author Jeff Reeter. Jeff has spent decades in business leadership, including serving as a longtime managing partner with Northwestern Mutual and Texas Financial Group.

He's also the author of Do Life Differently, and his passion is helping leaders discover and live their God-given purpose. Today, Jeff talks about something many of us think about as we get older, legacy. In fact, approaching retirement after 32 years of leadership, Jeff thought God was leading him toward the theme, leave a legacy.

But the Lord began turning that idea around. Don't merely leave a legacy, live a legacy. And Jeff says an extraordinary life isn't ultimately about being extraordinary ourselves.

At the center is Jesus Christ and a purpose greater than ourselves, helping others pursue the life God created them to live. Learn more about Pinnacle Forum at PinnacleForum.com. Now here's Jeff Reeter on today's Tuesday edition of Mark & Friends. I am so excited to get to spend a few minutes with you.

I'm inadequate, but I'm prayed up. You know, I was thinking about this. Kelvin, unbelievable, and we did not consult.

You're going to think that Kelvin and I have spent hours consulting back and forth on how to present similarly. It's amazing. In fact, I'm kind of shucking and jiving some of my stuff because Kelvin covered it so well, you don't need it twice.

And so I'm thinking to myself, OK, they've got Kelvin who's academically extraordinary. He's basically a martyr in our society. So that's amazing.

They get Anne Graham Lotz. She's a saint. And so they're like, OK, we got to get this next speaker.

Probably ought to be a sinner. So they go on a national search. You know, it's like all across America.

Who's the sinner we can get for this stage? And they got me. So here we are. Bless your hearts.

I have some slides. And I did this collage. And I really, you know, thought about this collage more just as a thing for me to kind of think about what I want to communicate with you guys today.

That word abundance right in the middle is huge. Ride forth victoriously. Do awesome things.

This group of people, you know why you're so hard to speak to? Because you're so amazingly able to do beyond what's normal. And I'm not sure you even know it. And so how do we catalyze for purpose, powerfully focused on a future that's different? Every year, I kind of have a fourth quarter strategy that leads to a life book.

And so much of what Kelvin just shared is part of this book. It's a master action plan is kind of the focus of it. But I think about what should my theme for the next upcoming year be? And so in 2025, I was thinking about 2026.

And 2026, this year, on October 31st, I retire as managing partner of this amazing group of unbelievable people that I've gotten to serve as managing partner for 32 years. And so the old guy is stepping down. And I'm so grateful for it.

And so as I went into the fourth quarter, I really thought that I already knew my theme for the year. And it was going to be leave a legacy. I thought that's a perfect theme for that year, the year of my retirement, leave a legacy.

That's the focus. So I went into October and I said, OK, Lord, I already know the theme. He's like, no, I don't think you do.

I'm like, I think I do. And so we're back and forth again. No audible voice, but but I'm, you know, in my heart.

You know, I've got this real check in my spirit on leaving a legacy. My Lord, I want to leave a legacy. He's like, no, you don't.

And like, really? I mean, so then I think I get kind of freaked out. I buy two books on legacy, read them both. You know, I'm thinking I got to learn about this, you know, and here's what I got.

You don't want to leave a legacy. You want to live a legacy. I really challenge you with that, living this legacy.

And so I came out with legacy life as the theme for 2026. You know, I am here because of that theme. I'm so grateful to get to spend a little time with you.

It's just that I'm daunted by whether this is going to matter to you. Truly don't want to spend 45 minutes with you and have you go, yeah, yeah, well, I don't think that's helpful. Or you're too kind for that.

So you just say, yeah, it was helpful, but then it isn't. Right. And so what I want to talk to you about is this word.

Can you see it? Okay. Yeah. What do you think about that word? You like this word? What are some synonyms for this word? Plain.

Average. Status quo. Normal.

Regular. Boring. All right, y'all.

So it's not lost on me that I'm talking to a group of people that are not ordinary about ordinary. Let me ask you a question because I want to stimulate your thought on this. You just said the word normal.

If you're not normal, what are you? You're abnormal, right? I really want you to take a minute on this and think personally for yourself. Okay. You're like certain you don't want to be ordinary, which is normal.

Right. So now you're saying you don't want to be normal. Then that means you're willing to be abnormal.

And y'all, what I want you to know is different and called out is what God has called us to be. But it's different. And it is abnormal to this society.

In fact, we're freaks to the world we live in. And that's moving in a better direction. But the reality is you're going to have to be different if you want to be.

What do we need to do here, y'all? We're just going to add a, we're going to add a word. Aren't we? Just one word. Move in the board.

Extra. I got to keep going here because I want it to be a little more dynamic. Got one more color.

And I want you to notice the middle of extraordinary. Are you seeing the middle? That's Jesus. And it doesn't seem like it.

And that cross is the only reason why we have hope. And the only reason why extraordinary is possible. And you know what? Why we know that for sure is that he came that we might have life and have it to the full or have it extraordinarily.

And he is the way, the truth and the life. And everything we can do to be that person in our firm, in our community, in our country, in this crazy world. Has everything to do with the middle letter of extraordinary.

Life with a purpose that is phenomenally greater than us. A purpose that is greater than any and each of us. Can we grasp that and see it pursuing our best life? So I'm going to do some crazy acronyms.

Best bold hope. Best has four acronyms. You can see them on the board.

I'm going to cover them a little and then bold will have four acronyms. And then hope ties to legacy life. Helping others pursue extraordinary.

That is a purpose greater than ourselves. If we just dedicate ourselves to helping others pursue extraordinary. What do you think happens in your life? It becomes extraordinary.

And yet you don't know it. You would never be talking to somebody. Oh, yes, I've arrived at extraordinary now because you never feel like you have.

But the more you pour yourself in to the hearts and lives of others. The more the reality of extraordinary, which is in Christ, occurs. So balance.

Our firm. I love this. Our internal mission of our firm in in Houston, Texas, about 170 financial advisors, about 400 people, 70,000 clients.

Our internal mission for our firm. My mission to them is for them to wholly develop a team of champions dedicated to excellence in serving others. Balance.

Now, on this crazy board, I'm going to flip this board and you're going to go, Whoa, he shouldn't put all that on that board. It's too busy. Really ties to a lot that Kelvin was talking about.

OK, that's busy. I know. We call this the integrity compass at our firm.

And so it's kind of thought to be a compass. You know what I mean? Compass. We don't really have we have GPS, I guess now, but we don't have compasses too much more anymore.

And I'm trying to find north. And then I give you a hint of that. But here's what I want to ask you about.

Time to Kelvin's thoughts. OK, so are you excellent at work? I bet by and large you are, although some people in the room are going and I have been, but I'm not or whatever. All right.

But that's usually an area that we're pretty. I'll say it this way. You're not in pinnacle form if you're not pretty good at what you do vocationally.

OK, so where's your faith? Y'all. And I just sat over here last night and was like, OK, Lord, excuse me, but I'm like a speaker here. And he's like spoke to my heart.

I was like, man, there's a few things. The church at Philadelphia for me. I keep getting to be in rooms like this and I keep being certain that I don't deserve to be there.

Shouldn't be there. God's made a big mistake. How do you get there? And it doesn't honor God.

Right. Where are we in our faith? Where are we mentally? All the mental health or our country is extraordinarily bad. And some of us are dealing with that personally.

And in our mental health ties to our faith. But some of us aren't. But we need to be far more aware that people around us are.

And we didn't meet them where they are, which, again, ties back to that cross. And then not just mental health, but mental growth. In other words, what books are we reading? Are we stimulating our mind or what are we learning? What are we choosing to learn on purpose? And what's our strategy for that by design, not by default? Say it again.

By design, not by default. Right. What about our marriage? I'm married way over my head.

Unbelievable. Bless her heart. I'll talk about her in a bit.

Family. We call our family Team Reeter. And we love family.

What about our social life, our friendships, our hobbies? Serving in our community, in our country? What about health and fitness? What about our financial lives? Does financial success lead to generosity by design and not by default? The isms. I think there are three ism words. Anybody got a theory already? What do you think the bottom ism right here is? Anybody? Okay, I got it.

Pessim. Pessimism. What do you think about pessimism? It's never helpful.

If you're pessimistic, your life will literally be shorter. Pessimism never helps. What's the top ism now you know? You guys are gamers.

Optimism. How important is optimism? If you're optimistic, you'll live longer. Optimism like pie in the sky? What's the middle ism? Did you get it? I think they got it.

That's unbelievable. Nobody ever gets it. See, you guys are really smart.

Never pessimism. Pursuing realistic optimism. Data-centric optimism.

What is reality? It is the truth that will set us free. You get to decide. You are a leader in your firm and in your community.

In your forum. You move people toward realistic optimism. We are not at the mercy ever of a pessimistic outlook.

And I would ask you, is there anything over here in the integrity compass that you're pessimistic about? It won't work. It's not going to be okay. So we're going to move from pessimism to realistic optimism by design and not by default.

Now, here's another funny thing. There's a guy named Garrison Keillor. So I'm the realistic optimism guy, right? I really want to be somewhat self-aware, which is not always easy.

Especially when you're leading a firm. Or you know what I mean? Do you have people that will tell you the truth? Or do they all just say what they think you want to hear? But I love this quote. And so I want to buffer realistic optimism with this one.

And here's what I want to tell you. I really feel like we live in a day and time. This crazy world where we live is nuts.

And it is nuts. Like it's biblically not germane. And yet we're going to look that reality in the eye.

And we're going to deny it because of the power of Christ. Next word. Excellence.

Not mediocrity. So when you look at the integrity compass, where would you say I'm excellent? And where would you say I'm mediocre there? Excellence. Good enough isn't good enough.

Especially for the people in this room. Service. Back to the firm for a moment.

The go-to-market strategy for the firm. Seek first. Tell me if you know where this came from.

Seek first to serve and love and care and matter and make a difference and be a catalyst in the life of another person and see if everything else doesn't just work out. And so seek first to serve and love and care and matter and make a difference and be a catalyst in the life of another person and see if everything else doesn't just work out. That's Matthew chapter 6 verse 33.

In my firm that I never talk about. So at work as it relates to faith, are we strategically intentional biblically? Are we learning a language? Because look y'all, the Muslim advisors in my firm love that we're seeking first. The Hindu advisors, the atheist advisors, the Jewish advisors, they love it that we seek first to serve and love and care and matter and make a difference and be a catalyst in the life of another person and see if everything else doesn't.

Now if I told them that it was in the Bible, several of them would not like that. It is kind of funny because I teach them stuff. I teach them overcome fear with power, love and discipline.

Have one of them. That's pretty secular. Walk through a YMCA and it's like up on the wall.

God has not given us his fears, fear, but a power, love and discipline. He calls me on his cell phone. He says it was the Bible.

He says, I said, excuse me. I know just overcome fear with power, love and discipline. I don't have to focus on exactly where that came from because God's word won't return void.

Now I am a little nervous that I'm going to get to heaven and God's going to say, you plagiarize me all the time. You kind of tend to declaim my stuff. But memorizing and hiding God's word in our heart and then correlating it around to other areas of our life by learning a language that is uncommon.

This whole separation of church and state and oh, we're not going to integrate our faith that our work. These are separate. And I know you know this.

I'm preaching to the choir, but I want you to go deeper on that because the truth will set them free. And so put the truth out as much as you can. And God's, I think, going to be OK when we get to heaven.

And he's like, yeah, you didn't always give me credit. I think he's OK with it because it's strategic, which leads us to the final word of best truth. Y'all, we've come through a period of relativism and we're moving to a period of AI.

So relativism said, I know the truth, the truth. I know my truth. Here's my truth.

I got sent to some high level thing where I learned, by the way, I'll just cut out of the bag. Woke high level thing where I learned that whatever somebody says to you is their truth. So you treat it as truth.

I mean, that was training by a 300 billion dollar company, Fortune 100 company. Whoa. And I'm like in the room going, OK, hang in there.

Just don't lose it immediately. You know, be strategic in how you offset this. You guys see the movie A Few Good Men.

Do you remember Tom Cruise's famous line? I want the truth. Do we? Do we want the truth? Do we want the truth? In the areas of our life where the truth is difficult or concerning or uncomfortable. And then there's Colonel Jessup, Jack Nicholson.

You can't handle the truth. Can we handle the truth? Do we want the truth? And can we handle the truth? And how deep into the truth are we going? And how important is this book to us? Like, are we staking our life on this book? Because if we are, we ought to be spending a little time in it. This is God's love letter to us.

How often are we going to read it? And then the movie Liar Liar by Jim Carrey. And the truth will set you free. Okay, Jim Carrey gets it right.

That's kind of crazy, isn't it? The liar gets it right. Y'all, truth is huge. The pursuit of truth leads to character.

And tough times are coming. This is Houston, Texas, Hurricane Harvey. That's my office, office building.

Three floors up, completely underwater on that office building. It was so amazing to watch that firm of people come together for each other and then reach out from there. Count it all joy, my brothers and sisters, when you experience trials of many kinds.

Because you know that the testing of your faith will produce. The first word is perseverance, and then it goes all the way out to what? Godly character. How cool is it to be pursuing godly character by counting it all joy when we experience trials of many kinds? Okay, so best life, balance, excellence, service, and truth.

Listening friend, I like Jeff's challenge. Don't simply think about someday leaving a legacy. Ask God to help you live one today.

And notice where Jeff keeps bringing us back. Balance, excellence, service, truth. Not success in one area while everything else God has entrusted to us is neglected.

Not excellence merely so people will notice us. Not service simply because of what we might receive in return. And not my truth or your truth, but God's truth.

The truth that sets us free. Jeff also reminded us that an extraordinary life isn't ultimately about making ourselves extraordinary. Jesus Christ is at the center, and our lives become richer as we pour ourselves into helping others.

And we're not finished. Tomorrow on Mark & Friends, Jeff moves from living our best life into living a bold life and gives us four more words to consider. Be, own, love, and do.

We'll pick up there tomorrow. Learn more about Pinnacle Forum at PinnacleForum.com. And if you missed part of today's broadcast, want to hear it again, read the transcript, or explore additional scriptures, takeaways, applications, and ministry resources, stop by GreatNewsRadio.org or WLUJ.org and click on the Mark & Friends tab. Thanks for listening.

Thanks for being a part of our radio listening family. This is Mark Burns with the Ministry of Great News Media. God bless you, and have a great day and night.