Today my guest is Dr. Bud Bence.

It’s hard for me to put into words just how much this man has meant to my life. In certain circles -- this is a man who needs no introduction. Certainly there’s a timeframe where if you were a student where I went to school -- Indiana Wesleyan University  -- just the name Bud BEnce elicits all kinds of emotion.

There was nothing so stirring as a Bud Bence lecture. I mean it could really get your heart pounding. Undergrad in Philosophy at Houghton College. M. Div in Church History at Asbury Theological Seminary. Ph.D in historical theology at Emory University.

I remember him teaching classes like Church History and learning about Martin Luther. I took a course called The Theology of holiness with Bud. But what I and most of his students remember most about him weren’t his lectures -- and, I’m telling you -- his lectures were memorable. It was Bud’s heart that endeared students to him.

And that’s been evidenced in Bud’s retirement years as he’s sat with countless students like me to talk about life -- to be that counselor and that friend. This conversation  is similar to one Bud and I have had multiple times over the years -- and one I know he’s had with many of my classmates.

Things that struck me:

1. The need to be vulnerable. To have a few people in your life you are vulnerable with and put yourself out there with. The layers of friends, and how important that inner-circle is.

2. The transition from success being defined by "power" to success being defined by "influence."

3. The importance of failure and providence in finding your purpose.

4. Earning the respect of your kids.

I was struck by this quote where he talked about not getting what he wanted, and a transition time in his life:

"How can I focus on on what I'm good at, not some image of what I think people would say, 'Wow!' about?... That's an important strategic moment in life.... What are the gifts I have that I ought to be honing rather than what's the dream that I'm chasing."