Hi Donna,
   I think the reference to the "41st year" being the year that Israel left Egypt only means that it was "year 1" of the 40 years mentioned in Numbers 14:29.  This passage reference could mean it was inclusive of the first of the 40 years.    If the time they spent around Mt. Sinai, [Ye have dwelt long enough in this mount"] was almost a year and a half, then Pastor Riley is correct.
 
  God does not contradict His Word. And Deut. 2:14 says
"And the space in whch we came from Kadesh-barnea, until we were come over the brook Zered, was thirty and eight years; until all the generation of the men of war were wasted out from among the host, as the Lord sware unto them."
 
  So we have two Scripture references referring to a generation being  38 years ( Deut. 2:14)  and 40 years (Numbers 14:29). We also have the witness of the other Scriptures such as the woman with the issue of blood, pointing to 1993, when Oslo was signed [i.e.1993+12= 2005] and the Scripture referring to the woman who had the infirmity 18 years.
 
  With all due respect, these Scriptures do not clearly indicate that a generation is 41 years. I think we see in the other passages of Scripture that they point to a generation being 40 years, while the 38 is referring the Israelites leaving  from Mt. Sinai.