10 questions with Richard Brunton

Richard Brunton was a pioneer of the market research industry in New Zealand. He co-founded Colmar Brunton in 1981 and built the business into the country’s best known and most trusted research company. In recent years, he’s become more extensively involved in Christian ministry, including as a frequent speaker at Promise Keepers, and we at Castle Publishing have had the privilege of working with him on the two books he has published to date – The Awesome Power of Blessing (2016, now in its second edition) and Anointed for Work (which came out in June this year).

He’s been busy – but we had the opportunity to ask him a few questions:

How did you come to write your latest book, Anointed for Work?

I had felt throughout my business life that as a businessman I was a second class Christian – that I was engaged in the ‘worthless’ in order to give financially to the ‘worthy’. But I came to realise that work is a calling – that over 90% of us are called to the marketplace or the home. God has chosen a plumber to be a plumber not a pastor and He has chosen a pastor to be a pastor and not a plumber. It’s up to each of us to do what God has called us to do and to do it “as unto the Lord.” We are to work in partnership with the Holy Spirit for intimacy and  joy and satisfaction – ours and His. The outputs of such a partnership – with gifts of the Spirit – will be excellence, beauty and creativity, and God will be glorified. Yes, the gifts of the Spirit are for the marketplace and not just within the four walls of the church. It follows that if there is an anointing and an equipping for pastors then there should also be an anointing for those called into the marketplace or the home. So I’ve tested this out on hundreds, if not thousands, of people and I’ve found that the Holy Spirit is eager to anoint marketplace ministers as per Exodus 31.

In a nutshell, what’s the message of the book?

That work is where we live out the Kingdom to the glory of God.

How has the new book been received so far?

I’ve sold around 1,300 copies since June, with very good feedback.

You were involved in setting up one of NZ’s best known companies. What is one key way your faith informed your business success?

I brought love to work (via the Holy Spirit); through this we built a great culture that attracted and retained the best talent. In our business, people are everything.

What’s your number one tip for a young Christian person starting their career?

Strive for excellence in all you do, have a servant attitude and seek to help make the business great. Engage the Holy Spirit in everything you do – you walk in the Spirit to the degree that you talk to the Spirit.

How has your previous book, The Awesome Power of Blessing, been received?

This book has been and still is amazing – nearly 18,000 copies sold in New Zealand. Nearly every day I get a testimony or a book order or an invitation to speak. I’ve just printed 10,000 in Australia for Australia, am about to print another 10,000 in Swahili for East Africa, and French and Hindi translations are freely available on my website. All this in 14 months.

What is your ultimate dream for the new book, and your earlier book?

For Anointed for Work I want to see marketplace ministers acknowledged, anointed and equipped by pastors. For The Awesome Power of Blessing I want to see one million people around the world actively blessing their homes, spouses, children (especially the father’s blessing), workplaces and those that curse them. This can change the world.

What are you most passionate about?

Christians moving in the authority that Jesus won for them on the cross – in blessing, healing and deliverance. Too many Christian are waiting on God without realising that He is waiting on us. We are asking Him to move the mountain when He has authorised us to speak to it and shift it.

What’s next on the horizon for Richard Brunton?

Short term: Africa, Fiji, book sales, speaking, equipping the saints in blessing, healing and deliverance. Longer term: I don’t know – I’m on a Holy Ghost treadmill – He keeps moving and I try to keep up!

Head over to the Castle website for more information or to purchase Anointed for Work or The Awesome Power of Blessing.