I am so sorry for your loss. Brian was such a good man. I love his knowledge of God’s word.  He always inspired me to read the Bible.  Brian was also a great listener. He cared for others in so many ways. 

I attended about 3 or 4 Bible Hour teachings 24 years ago when I was new at Crosspoint, then Evangelical Bible Church. That is when I first saw Brian teaching, but I knew very little about the Bible and felt somewhat intimidated. I stopped attending the classes. I seldom saw Brian after that and was sure he didn’t know me. One day about 3 years ago, I was coming out of the gas station on 103rd and Fort Street at the same time Brian was coming in. With a very warm smile, he said “Hi, Yolanda,” to me. I could hardly believe it because I didn’t think he knew me. I always attended the second and hardly ever saw him, and I had never spoken to him. I knew that he was teaching the Bible Hour classes because Nancy was going to them and told me they were very good. But because I often have trouble sleeping, I thought it would be better for me to keep going to the second service. But after Brian so kindly said, Hi Yolanda,” I thought to myself, “Yolanda, you really should go to that Bible class and learn from a good teacher. So the Lord made it possible for me to attend the first service and the Bible classes. This has been a great blessing to me. From the very start, I felt completely comfortable and am so thankful I got to listen and to learn from Brian’s down to earth manner of teaching. I will never forget it because it drew me into participating in the discussions, which had never been easy for me other than in a very small group. Here, I was so comfortable I felt right at home regardless of the size of the group. Brian had such an approachable demeanour, not only during class, but anywhere else in church. It was a joy running into him and talking with him for a little while. Like many of us who got to know him, I am going to miss him very much. He made a huge impact in my life and I thank God for him.

Our loss is heaven's gain. So sorry for this unexpected and sorrowful loss. I still remember Brian preaching a sermon probably 10 years ago at Timberlake during our little "Sunday Service" where he was speaking on Exodus 17. As long as Moses held his hands up, the Israelites would win the fight, but when Moses put his hands down, the Amalekites would win. Later, when Moses' arms became tired, the men put a large rock under him, and he sat on it, and Aaron and Hur helped hold his hands up. I remember he had a kid come up and try to hold something over their head for a long period of time as an illustration. May you be surrounded by the Body of Christ who can help hold you up during this time when you suffer and feel weak. May God be glorified in even this. Praying for you all! His smile and peace and warmness will be missed at Orion.

If there was one thing I could always count on, it was Brian greeting me every day with a smile and a kind word. You could tell that Brian cared about the people he was surrounded by. I am going to miss his his wry smile and positivity. Godspeed Brian.

I remember hanging out with Brian on campus at Grace. Being a part of a group that would walk down to Conagra and walk around the lake, chorale and tour, living across the hall from he and Christa in a small apartment house in south Omaha…he was a part of some very good memories for me. 

Christa, you are in our thoughts and prayers. Psalm 34:18 reminds us, “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.” May you feel His presence and love surrounding you during this difficult time. I am deeply grateful for Brian’s faith; he inspired others in their walk with God. His legacy of devotion and kindness will forever shine.

I have known Brian at work for about 5 years but really got to know him and a grow our friendship over the last 3-4 months. He sat across the wall from me and we usually were two of the later to leave teammates.  He was always so positive, friendly and talked about his family in every conversation we had. I miss his smile and his friendly words, he is missed dearly.