Do you want a wealthy retirement without worrying about money. Welcome to retire in Texas, where you will discover how to enjoy your faith, your family, and your freedom in the state of Texas. And now here's your host financial advisor, author, and all around good Texan Darrell Lyons.
(00:29): Hey, welcome to retire in Texas. My name is Dar Lyons. I'm your host. I'm the co-founder and CEO of P's financial group. P's financial group is the sponsor of this program. So be sure to visit P's financial group.com for more information. And remember the information in this show is not intended to provide specific tax or legal advice. Is it PS financial group.com for more information? So I have a good friend here with me today. Bill Loveless, bill. Thanks for being here. Great To meet with you. Darrell. Be Aggie. I can say that, right? Yeah. Gig . So, um, are you getting excited or your wife getting excited about football season coming up? You know, my wife is a football fan probably more than I am, so she's getting real excited and yeah, I that great and expectations too Great ex every year. Great expectations every Year. That's what keeps me, That's why we Agis are, you know, she graduated from a and M as well. So we, uh, well of course, you know, the old saying is next year army. So we're hoping maybe next year will be This year. That's right, exactly. And the UT saying it, Baylor saying it. Yeah. Okay. So there's a lot to talk about and I'm excited, but let's kind of start from the beginning. Are you originally a Texan? Yes. Born in college station. so I had no choice, but to be an Aggie, you did. I mean, when you go to a kindergarten called we Aggie land, you know, they brainwash it. No, seriously, what was the kindergarten call? We Aggie land. I didn't think you're joking.
(01:51): No, uh, it's true. And uh, yeah, we were all, they put us in khaki uniforms, took us up to col you know, the campus once a month. And so all the brainwashing took place. So yeah, we, uh, we took burnt orange out of our color chart and all we love was smooth and white, So , you know what, but you know what, today it's unbelievable how a and M is really a special place. I mean, just a community of people. They're still doing some cool things. So take a lot of pride in that. So going to a and M well, let me go back a little bit. What did your parents do? Well, my mother was just a homemaker and housewife and, uh, my dad was in the insurance business life insurance. Oh, is that right? Mm-hmm okay. So who do you work for? He worked for American general. Okay. Yeah. They're still around. They're still around. Yeah. They're bought by AIG and I know that AIG had to take some bailout money to get on the other side. Cause, but uh, still around in fact, I think in some of our, you know, we have the insurance company that we have and then, um, we get life insurance quotes, so they come up quite a bit. They're so competitive in that space. Oh, Interesting. Yeah. Yeah. So it's a good business, especially, especially probably about the time you grew up. It was very lucrative. I mean, obviously volatile and income. Did they ever teach you about money in any way? Oh, You know, just typical ways of saving and uh, of course, you know, we had a great work ethic with him, so yeah. That, uh, they taught us those principles early on.
(03:15): Now you say we, so how many siblings Got three, two brothers and Sister. Okay. Are where are you at in that? I'm third. Your third. Okay. So growing up, did you find that you were middle class, upper class, lower class? How did that look? A sibling middle class. Middle class. Mm-hmm yeah. Sounds about right. And there was enough, but not like over abundance of anything. Right. You never felt that you went without no Uhuh. No, he was a great provider. Yeah. And so kind of fast forwarding a little bit, you ended up without any options going a and M and forward , I'm sure it wasn't that re restrictive, but you went to a and M and then you're at a and M did you know what you were gonna do? Or how did that look? You know, I initially thought that what I was gonna do, I got a degree in business management, so I just felt like I was just gonna go in the corporate world and wherever that took me. So that was really, as far as I took it just assumed that once I got out, I'd find a corporate job and start climbing the corporate ladder, But you got into the construction business. Right. So how did you, how did you get there? well, I, I did graduate, uh, one in the military for short stint. I didn't know that. Yeah. I was in the court at a and M and, uh, got a contract and went up for sale to do my artillery basic. But, uh, at that point I was, I had a two year contract, but they were kicking everybody out because they're bringing everybody back from Vietnam. Okay. So I just did that, came back, started working on, uh, just some advanced degrees and took a job as a trim. Carpent one summer with a guy that was, you know, taught me from the beginning. And I just so loved it. I thought, well, I'll go back to school the next year. And then ended up working with a guy who built cabinets, took over his business. And so that's kind of how I Oh, was that residential work?
(04:55): All residential mm-hmm okay. Mm-hmm like those that are listening right now, would you say that? Let's say they have a lot of the listeners are probably in the age group, I'd say 55 to 70, but it's funny because we've gotten some calls lately. They're 20 year old saying, I just wanna know how to do live. And I'm learning it from all these people, which is smart, but a lot of our listeners are grandparents. And would you encourage a grandson or anybody that's just starting out to start doing some basic carpentry work. I mean, does that, did you find that to be pretty valuable for you? I really did because we just didn't grow up with that. You know, my dad was not handy with anything, whether it was mechanics or woodworking or anything. And so for me to get into that, I had no idea my interest level mm-hmm and it's just served me well, because then I got into other things. Right. So around the house, it's a lot of the home improvement I do as a result. Okay. So, uh, yeah, so I would encourage 'em to work with their hands, enjoy it cuz uh, you get to see something you've actually done and built and It's finished. Yeah. Versus like your dad with insurance. He, you never really, I mean like how do you take pride in delivering a claim? Check to a widow actually. Yeah. that's a tough, it's a tough gig. Yeah. So then you, you started the, I guess the snowball effect took place with the construction business. One thing led another people started to see that you had a skill you started to pitch and you, you started your business. Right. And was it residential?
(06:16): Initially? It was, I mean, I don't know how far you want me to go in the evolution of it, but uh, started out with a trim carpenter, then went with another cabinet maker and then we, he basically gave me his business. So I was running two or three trim crews doing all residential then, uh, went from there into residential remodeling and did that for four years, which was the worst part of my construction career. And then hooked up with a former roommate of mine who was registered architect and we formed benchmark design build. Okay. And so we started doing ground up from There. And so he was doing the design, you were doing the build, right? Yeah. And so how long did you do that from that point to, I'm gonna, you know, I know that you retired and I'm gonna, I'm using air quotes, retired outta that business, but how long was That? I'd say the total tenure in, in the construction business was 25 years. Okay. That's a good run. Yeah. It's a real good run. Long run. So what made you transition out ? Well, that's an interesting story. Uh, yeah. Kind of ties into part of where I am now. And um, because I had trusted Christ when I was 18 and just not a very strong believer. I was really told it was kind of up to me to walk in this life, walking the spirit, produce these freedom and victory and couldn't do it for 30 years and, uh, really struggled with some areas drinking and uh, some other areas, real fears and anxieties and rejection and thinking somehow going to church and doing all those things was gonna help. And it didn't. So finally, uh, in, uh, 1998, uh, it was 48 at the time. And uh, just things began to fall apart, run to a deep depression, even in the business, even though it had turned around, cuz we actually bumped bankruptcy for about five years and then things began to turn around.
(08:05): So it was the end of uh, 1998 that I just realized that I, I just couldn't go in any further. And that's when the Lord brought a guy to our church by the name of I Thomas, who said some words that actually revolutionized my life, got me outta the construction business and into what I'm doing now and the way of the words where God never intended for you to live the life that only Christ could live in and through you. Mm. And so the shift for me was, is that I tried to live this thing called the Christian life. I'd ask God to help me. And only to realize that, uh, when Jesus says apart for me, you can do nothing. That means I can't do that. And so when I discovered he's the way, the truth in life, and I'm not, that began this whole new idea. And actually from that, the Lord I was in October of 98 and by March of 99, the Lord said, I want you to close your business and cuz you're done in the work world.
(08:57): So that's obviously fascinating and I wanna unpack it more. Right. But there's a layer of that. I think it's interesting, first of all, your dad was in the insurance business. And so I get that like that's performance driven that you've and it's a hard business. So you must have observed a degree of performance type of, I mean the insurance is hard. I mean I did that for four years, five years and I had to grind, I mean, and knocking on doors in the city of San Antonio. And, and I believe that people needed insurance, but it is just a hard self mm-hmm . So for your dad to do that as a career, there must have been a degree of performance that you grew up with, whether it was expressed or just observed. And then, so this is where I'm putting pieces together and then that never leaves you. And so you're performance driven in the construction world. So when you close a deal and finish a project, these things are just Val. And again, don't let me put words in your mouth. These things are just validating you. And then all of a sudden you wake up 48 is what you said and you're done with it. Like you have built a legacy, you've built a reputation, you have built some financial assets and you're done. Like you just hang it up. That was just like that Pretty much You went to a and M right, right. yeah, yeah. Yeah. I, I think that the pivotal part of that story is, is that when we got in kind of in bed with one developer and we were gonna do six apartment projects, $35 million worth of work and in one phone call, all that went away and by then we recorded million dollars in debt. So we moved from college station to Dallas just to survive, never thinking we would. So part of what this whole process of coming to the end was the bumping bankruptcy for six years. But then we turned the corner cause my partner and I split off our end of the business was profitable. So our growth chart was vertical for the next six years. His architectural wasn't working.
(10:48): Right. You know, our problem was we were 50 50 partnership. We just didn't have the funds to fund both of us. Yeah. So we had a friendly parting and uh, but yeah, he took that end of it. And I was doing tenant finish construction in high rise in Dallas at the time. So yeah, that's a good, I mean, it is a good business. So that was taken off and you were finally going, okay honey, we can breathe. Yeah. Right, right. And then you say, ah, no, just kidding. I'm doing something else. That's right. Yeah. Yeah. Y'all are still married though. Yes We are. Okay. Just a quick commercial real quick. Okay. I want those that are listening to retire in Texas to make sure that if you need a financial advisor, you text Texas to the number 7 48, 68. That's Texas to 70 48 68. And we're here with bill Loveless, walking down the, the journey here of his construction industry and then had an opportunity, a moment that God pinged him. And now he's full-time ministry. Is that, that's it? And so what does the full-time ministry thing look like? I mean, is it street corner preaching? Is it, is it, I mean, what is it Kind? Yeah. Well its yeah, that's for sure. So, uh, well we closed our business in July of 99 and then in 2001 joined a ministry called exchange life ministries, uh, Dallas and basic. They were a counseling ministry, discipleship ministry. And that's where the Lord really did a work in my life. Cuz all these truths that I had been learning about Christ is my life Christ living his life. And in, through me, these people embodied 22 of the most Christ centered people I've ever been around. And you know, the Lord was using them, do a lot of healing. Cuz one element of growing up was a lot of woundedness, my father. So, uh, just a great healing process. These trues got, just grew them deeper into my heart. Things began to change being set free from the fear and the anxiety and various things. And so, uh, I thought I'd be there for the rest of my life, but I was with that ministry for two and a half years.
(12:42): And then the Lord said for him Christ life ministries moved to San Antonio. And I thought he lost his mind because we only knew two people there. Oh wow. All we were fully supported by individuals. So all our support bases in Dallas and we were thinking this can't be of the Lord. And sure enough, he had told my wife, which he always does about two weeks before me so we literally packed our bags and moved down San Antonio. And of course our vision was we were gonna partner with churches in the year of discipleship and that, and, but had no idea what the vision was. And of course being a builder, I wanted a blueprint and God said, I don't trust you with the blueprint. So I'm gonna give you, I am two words I am and then we're gonna see what he does from There. I don't know if I could have done that. That meant it's really scary. Did you ever doubt yourself? Oh yeah. I mean that, I didn't even tell my wife for two weeks because I thought surely this isn't of the Lord, because I, I just felt like I wasn't ready to go into ministry and doing new work. I felt like I was just, you know, just getting my legs under me at the ministry I was with. Did you feel like you had to be a little bit more perfect to be in ministry? Did you ever get that sense? Like I gotta clean up this syndrome. You, you gotta clean up my act. Yeah. Yeah. Well, yeah, you have that hypocrisy, you know, you're teaching one thing and, and you're struggling and some of the same areas, but uh, yeah, you get past that one and realize that we're just human beings. God uses instruments for his work. Yeah. But we're still in process. Yeah. That's good. That's that's really good to hear. And so your wife, Paige, right? What was her thoughts? I mean, obviously she had settled on the fact that this is the direction that you're going and God had revealed that to her. And so when you made that, you know, when you shared that with her, Hey, we're, we're moving to San Antonio. What was her reaction?
(14:20): Yeah, she had already had two weeks to process. Lord had told her and uh, of course what's what you don't understand about Paige. We'd remodeled a home and really enjoy she's a nester and you know, and all that. And so to pry her out of a home, so for her to say yes to that, that was probably the ultimate confirmation. It was the Lord saying we gotta pack our bags and, and move. So the way I kind of look at your life just as you've shared this with me is you retired at 48, Right. And full time ministry and people are gonna wanna know like, okay, full-time ministry, but who do you minister to Mm-hmm mm-hmm Mm-hmm like, I mean, what is that? I mean, was it look like you like kids or international? What, so who, how would you answer that? Yeah. Well, I had not planned on writing any curriculum, but I've written probably 12 curriculum now that we go into church. So our vision is to partner with churches in the area of discipleship. Okay. So we build the relationships with the pastors, we introduce the curriculum, we help them build a discipleship program. And so that's really our primary focus. Let me do that through conferences and retreats. But ultimately the objective is, is to, for their congregations to grow in the same trues that I, that I've been talking about. So this seems like an uphill battle. You've got to go tell the pastor that his congregants aren't getting the right information. Is that , is that how you do it? It's like, and I'm gonna go in there and start this special class. Yeah. For the people that really don't know. Yeah. I mean, I know I'm framing it up kind of stating the obvious or, or in, in such a very basic way, but am I stating it accurately to a certain degree?
(15:54): Yeah. To a certain degree you, I mean, there's some, the pastors are very like-minded, but uh, one of the pastors you introduced me to, right. I mean, people were being under the law and legalism and performance and he was burned out. And so I just said, here's a, here's a drink of living water and try this. And through that, God's changed him and his entire church. I mean, it's just not the same. So some churches were front door churches where the pastor were, like-minded some, uh, went to megachurch here in San Antonio, kind of in the back door and worked with a group there and kind of filtered from the bottom up. Oh, I could see that. Yeah. So anyway, it's just kind of the Lord orchestrated all that because we never intentionally knocked on doors. We waited for the Lord to kind of open them. And so whichever door we went into, that was the one he opened. So I wanna, gosh, we've only got a few minutes left, but I want to just, you said something about legalism and performance driven. So what does that mean when a church has, and nobody's gonna announce, Hey, we're legalistic and we're performance driven, but what do you see that, that kind of shows some of the fruit of what that looks like? Well, if it's a legalistic performance church, what I see is people not growing up spiritually, you know, Paul talks about in Ephesians four grow up. And so that's what I'm really seeing is that people think because they've been in church, reading their Bible, doing all the checklists that equals spiritual growth. So for me, the number one thing I see is people that think they're spiritually mature, but really are not experiencing any of the freedom, victory transformation that God promises. So the real question I ask is, tell me what you believe and then tell me how it's working for you. And that's the way I can determine kind of where they are in terms of their spiritual growth.
(17:31): So do you think there's any correlation between what you're the message that you're sharing and the degree of anxiety that we're dealing with today? I mean, is there any way that you can be a solution to this yeah. Even if it's on a micro level. Yeah. Well, you know, Christ himself says, I am your piece. And so what, you know, I used to live in chronic anxiety. So the reason I live in a peace now in a, in a world that's creates more anxiety is just really, and truly appropriating Christ to be my peace. And as this Christ, who is our life, Paul said that, what does it mean? So I've been as the, Lord's renewed my mind to the reality, I've got Christ in me who is my piece. As I walk in that, then I guess I don't have to choose to take ownership of the anxiety and the anger that I actually see in so many Christians today, which, uh, is a tragedy because we have the piece that passes all understanding, living in us. And a lot of people listening to this are transitioning or have retired. And there's some anxiousness with that as well, obviously that we have to work through that and from financial cash flows and markets. And so I know I keep going back to this, but are you suggesting that some of what you're saying is also applicable to that? Like for example, I might be able to give them information, a client information on, Hey, the stop market's gonna come back and they intellectually get it, but there's like this still. I can sense it when they leave and I can sense it in every conversation that they're still struggling, even intellectually, they may get it, but they're still struggling. Are you suggesting that for those in the Christian community, that there's still a element of legalistic or something missing there? Yeah.
(19:05): Well, I think we just all wanna be in control, right? And so when we're not working now, we're depending on other forces other than our own to be in control. And so I think we're just all wanting that. And yet when we, the reason I can be in this piece, in the midst of what I do, because we totally depend on individuals to support us, you know, we trust in the sovereignty of God, who is a good God, loving God is you got all this prepared for us. So we just trust in him that we can walk in his peace, his sovereignty, his control, and, uh, know with great confidence. He's gonna take care of Us. Yeah. That's helpful for a lot of people listening, cuz obviously there's a lot, you know, in fact there, the rate of heart attacks go up 40% the day after somebody retires. Mm. Most people commit suicide on Monday. I mean, you can see what is triggering our chronic health issues is a byproduct of this chronic anxiety we're just living in and, and we do have ways to put bandaids on it, but we all know it's, we're just bandaid it. Right. Yeah. I mean, we all know, it's like, okay, Hey, maybe CBD, which may help. And maybe this book, which may help maybe yoga. Right? Like, but then eventually you're like, okay, look, there's gotta be something else. Right. And that's what you're preaching. Is that what I'm hearing? That's it. Okay. And what you're saying is, is the church has, and I'm saying with air quotes, the church has in some way kind of forgotten the message. I mean, the book's full a bunch of people who forget. So are you saying that's part of the problem right now? Yeah. Yeah. Cuz people say, you know, bill, this is your message. And I said, no, this is the message of Jesus and Paul. And we've just lost it in translation and in the institution because the church is made up of people. But the institution unfortunately has really moved away from the simplicity and period of devotion to Christ as Paul talks about.
(20:43): Yeah. That's interesting. This is obviously a longer conversation. It's very good. So I'm gonna make the assumption that this is you're calling for the rest of your life. Right. But I do have the most important question. I didn't Ask you yet. okay. What's your favorite salsa? I've had to think about that. No, we have a great Mexican food restaurant in Bernie called Las guitars. Oh yeah. Yep. That's gonna be my favorite for today. Is it hot or is it No, it's, it's mild. I'm not a hot, hot. Yeah. But just got that tomato. Just a lot of a tomato base in there too. So it's uh, yeah. You know, you just let thousands of other people know about your precious place. I know. And Bernie, Texas. Yeah. Yeah. That's not sure that was a wild, You're trying to keep the secret. Aren't you It's too late. I shoulda have said pace PE Connie and just been done with it. But uh, Well, you know, what's interesting is this also gets re aired on Bernie radio Saturday morning. So I'm sure you have a lot of people agreeing with you. well, the owner will be very happy. I've given him a plug. There you go. Hey, thanks so much. It's been a blessing for you to be here and I'm enjoyed it. Thank you, Dar. Appreciate It. Thanks for listening to retire in Texas. Remember if you want to visit with an advisor text, Texas to the number 7 4 8 6 8. That's Texas to 7 48 68. And I just re want to remind you guys, you think different when you think long term have a great day.
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