Samuel Carlston "Red" Berry Funeral

Well, good afternoon. I'm watching what's going on out here, and it looks like a family reunion.

And it is, I hear in the background. My name is Brian Barceló. I'm one of the elders here at Sunnyside, and we want to welcome you, and on behalf of the family, we want to welcome you with whole hearts.

And we pray that as we spend this time and paying our respects to our brother,

Samuel Carlston Red Berry, that we'll do it well.

And if this is your first time at Sunnyside, so this is a commercial plug, you're welcome to come back anytime and worship with us.

I know some of you have traveled more than a hundred miles, maybe a little more than that, maybe 500 miles.

I don't know. But thank you again for your presence. It honors Red and the family and our sister

Paula. Before I pray for us to begin this service,

I'm going to ask the men in the group, young men and old men alike, Red had a favorite song,

Brethren We Have Met to Worship. And there are music sheets on the pew to my left on the front, and we would like to ask you to come down en masse as a men's choir to sing this song when

I finish praying. Way to go.

You firemen all alike. So when we do that, and we want to sing with gusto, and we want to sing with heart, and we want to give honor to the

Lord, and I know you will. So if you would join me in prayer.

Father, it is a privilege to come into this place and spend time with friends, new and old, to hug on necks and recall our experiences with our brother

Red. May this service be honoring to him, honoring to the family.

May it be encouraging, may it be comforting, and may we come away today having been better for having brother

Red in our lives. And so thank you, Lord, that you have joined us today.

And may your Holy Spirit minister in a sweet, full manner.

And we ask these things in Christ's name. Amen. All right, gentlemen.

Good afternoon. My name is Jason Samuel Jones.

I'm the third born, possibly best -looking grandson of Samuel Carlston Redberry.

They called him Red because when he got mad, he would turn real red. Right, Mom?

I didn't have a dad. This was it. This is what I got. And I'm so thankful that I got this because I grew up around kids that didn't have dads, or even a an image that they could look at and say, okay, this is kind of how that's supposed to go.

And then just geography and time. A young man who thought he knew everything about everything.

An old man who thought he knew everything about everything. And we spent like 20 years not talking.

But I could always hear his voice in my head when

I was about to make a bad decision. And I always knew what he expected from me, even when

I was doing the exact opposite thing. And I spent all that time running away from being like him, or being him, or just...

And I guess now that I'm 43, I realize most fathers and sons have some dynamic like this.

But a few years ago, I realized that I'm just like him. My biological father is this tall.

My mother is this tall. My grandfather was the giant, and I look like him.

And I treat people the way he treated them, in good ways, and sometimes in bad ways.

He was my protector. I call my grandfather Dad. When I talk about him,

I refer to him as Dad. My sisters refer to him as Dad. We grew up as very young children around him and my grandmother, and my aunts called him

Dad and Mom, and my uncle Greg called him Mom and Dad, and my mom. So we just thought that's what we were supposed to call him.

So it's interesting in conversations, even in the family, when me and my sisters are talking about Mom and Dad, we have to clarify who we're talking about.

But Dad's the only Dad that I've ever called. Dad, and I guess about a week after he was gone,

I woke up and that hit me like a freight train. All that time we wasted.

All that pride that we, he and I, did not swallow. And everything

I'm about to say was really inspired by three or four conversations in the last few months of his life.

When he collapsed in May, my aunt called to tell me, or I think she texted me, and I didn't even think about it.

I called my cousin because I don't have the money for a last minute plane ticket, like most people don't these days.

And I was lucky enough that my cousin did, and she put me on a plane and I came and spent five days making it right with my dad.

And letting him make it right with me. So everything that I'm going to say is based on those conversations, and the final conversation that we had face to face when he asked me to do this today.

He would be in a coma within a month, and he would be gone in less than two months from that day. I think that the time frame is even shorter than that.

It just all happened so fast. The conversation we were having when he asked me to do this was around the sacrifice that my grandfather made when he answered what he described to me as an irresistible call to preach.

To serve behind pulpits like this, for churches like this, 10 ,000 hours.

About 50 years ago, some scientists got together and said it took 10 ,000 hours to become a master chess player.

And athletes and musicians and other people have all kind of coalesced around 10 ,000 hours makes you an expert.

My conservative estimates put my grandfather just in pulpit time.

Over 10 ,000 hours. Preaching, teaching, prayer meetings,

Bible studies, Sunday morning, Sunday night, guest appearances, traveling across Montana to preach at some podunk church that nobody ever heard of, and probably 16 people were there because somebody asked him to go.

10 ,000 hours, and for every one of those hours, there was dozens spent preparing.

And I'm here to tell you what I saw when my dad prepared to preach the

Word of God to you. I lived with them from 11, 12, and 13, or 10, 11, 12

I lived with my grandparents. And so thankful for those three years because I learned so much and they were so foundational to what

I would have to go through in the future. Homelessness as a teenager.

Things that you shouldn't have to go through as a kid, I went through and the only reason I got through it, not the only reason, but a huge reason

I got through is because my grandfather had three years to lay some foundation. 10 ,000 hours.

When he closed his office door, he was unavailable. I wasn't supposed to knock.

Mom, you didn't bother him. He would come out when he was ready to come out. She would let him know lunch was ready and he would be out, he'd bless the meal, we would eat, everything was great and he's back to the grind.

That's what I call my job, it's the grind. And I never really knew what he did in there, other than read one of the thousands of books he had.

But one time or two times, he would not quite close his door all the way and it would be cracked about that much.

An 11, 12 year old mind just couldn't leave it alone, he had to go check it out, what's going on in there.

And to get to his study, you had to walk through my grandma's study. And grandma's study was also where I did my school lessons because I was homeschooled one of those years.

Mostly because I like to punch kids in the face. I went in to get a book.

Complete lie, I went in to go see what he was doing, but under the guise of getting a book and I found this 6 foot 4, 350 pound beast of a giant man on his knees, face in his chair, praying for guidance.

So that when he delivered his next message, it wouldn't go the wrong way. At my heaviest,

I was 350 pounds. And getting up off my knees was physically painful for me.

And I wonder how many sermons required that much preparation that he was on his knees, not on a carpeted floor.

On that plastic piece you put under your chair so it doesn't tear up the rug. Go home and get on your knees and stay there for a minute.

He did that. He had to have done it regularly and he did it for us. You. And all of you.

His results weren't always top notch. He made mistakes. He had a heavy hand. He was short -tempered.

And he told me that. And he apologized to me for that. In these final conversations, multiple times, not just to me and for what he did with me, but for my mother, for his youngest daughter,

Holly, who are no longer with us, and for his two living daughters, and for his wife.

Dad and I both married up, had no business being with the woman that we caught. Too good for us in physical sense, attitude, heart, generosity, you name it, my wife is just, she's perfect.

And sometimes I don't appreciate her the way I should. Sometimes I take her for granted.

My grandfather and I talked about that. And I'm able to stand up here in front of a bunch of strangers and talk about it because my grandfather said it was okay to learn from it, to do better.

There were mornings, as he was preparing for those 10 ,000 hours, when mom was still in bed and the house was dark and quiet.

It was in the wintertime and snow had settled on Montana the way it does, and it's just quiet.

And you could hear this 6 '4", 350 -pound man in the living room crying out to God.

Literally crying. I don't know what he was saying, but he was crying. And he was begging for something.

I kind of forgot about that until he was gone. And I woke up in the middle of the night, my wife was freaking out because I just sat up and was just crying.

I woke up in the middle of the night with some of these memories of him preparing for us. The message that he was going to deliver.

And when I went to talk to him and spend time with him in those final days, he expressed to me all these regrets that we were just talking about.

And it made me realize that I needed all this time to hear this 6 '4", 350 -pound giant beast.

I wish I could think of a better word for him to look me in my eye and tell me he was wrong about some things.

And that he regretted waiting so long to say it. It set me free to be a better father, to be a better husband, to be a better friend.

Clarence Stiefel is here today. Clarence, you and Greg have been with my grandfather in his orbit since before I was born.

And he wished he would have been a better friend to you. And he told me that. Greg, he told me about the regrets he had.

And it's just, when you live your whole life looking up to a guy and thinking he can't make mistakes, to find out he can, it's so...

relief, I felt relief that my grandfather made mistakes because for a long time I didn't think he did.

And part of the problem in that whole scenario was that he had a problem recognizing his own mistakes, like all of you do, like I definitely do.

And I just, I know that there's a list of people that will come up here and talk next about the preacher and the theologian.

And the brainpower that went into those sermons. And the technique.

He drove this pulpit like it was a Corvette, guys. Like he just knew how to do what he did.

But it wasn't, it wasn't without sacrifices that he made, that we made.

The scrutiny that comes with being the family of a pastor is sometimes unbearable.

When you're a 13 -year -old boy figuring out the whole world and you feel this immense pressure from people you don't even know because they know your grandpa, your dad.

And I know my mother felt that because she talked to me about it. Not a lot, but at times it came up.

When he answered that irresistible call, he answered it and he brought every one of us with him.

Not just his wife, not just his daughters, his grandchildren, his great -grandchildren. My son, in some distant ways, has been impacted by the ripple of being a preacher's kid.

For better, and just like everything else, for worse. I'm always worried about what other people are thinking because when you're a preacher's kid, there's an essence of that in everything you do.

But it was a privilege because I got to sit in the front seat and watch him preach. And if I got squirmy in my seat, he would call me out mid -sermon.

Jason Barry. If you're not a preacher's kid, that's the thing you're thankful for right now.

Be thankful for that. It's scary. I finally, dad was trying to understand or help.

It was weird because he's asking me, who's the kid in the situation, I'm 43. I still feel like I'm 8 when

I'm sitting at his bed in the hospital. And he's asking me what he could have done differently or better as a father.

Or not even asking what he could have done better, but trying to understand where he went wrong.

Knowing, as every father in here better know, we all make mistakes as dads, like huge ones sometimes.

And I just asked him, I was like, dad, do you understand how hard it could be being your kiddo?

And he paused and he looked at me like I had said something he hadn't really heard before. And it was quiet for a minute.

And he said something to the effect, I guess I hadn't really thought about it that way. And it was so nice to feel like I had given my grandfather some piece of knowledge, even if it was like that big, because he had given me so much.

Dad was a complex guy. He set a standard that was very high.

And sometimes he hurt himself trying to hold up to his own standard. Sometimes he had to get on his knees.

To try to get to that standard and beg for help and cry out in the darkness while me and my grandmother were sound asleep.

I'm sure you knew, mom. I'm sure you'd heard it before. If I heard it in the three years I was there, I mean,

I'm not breaking news to you, but I only had five minutes.

I think I've gone past that. I was waiting to go past it to address the fact that I was going to go past it. When I was told

I had five minutes, I thought about 10 ,000 hours and how dad got up here and gave the full measure every time. And I'm just not going to leave anything unsaid.

And if somebody's going to burn a pot roast, mom, burn a pot roast, because dad would not stop because of a pot roast.

Woody, mom, did mom ever end a sermon for your pot roast? I was there on a couple of times when he should have. He did not.

I have all this stuff written down that I want to tell you. But really, I'm going to leave it with two things.

Bible verses. As kids in the church,

I know that you kids that are here now and me, the biggest kid here,

I remember a lot of times in my childhood where I would hear the book of Ephesians, chapter six, verses one through three.

Greg knows what they are. I love it. Clarence knows what they are. I love it. Children, obey your parents for this is right.

Honor your father and your mother which is the first commandment with a promise so that it may go well with you and that you may enjoy long life on earth.

What I didn't hear enough of and what I'm asking the adults in the room to focus more on in your daily life with your children, grandchildren, great -grandchildren, neighbors, kids, whatever kids.

Fathers, do not exasperate your children. Instead bring them up in the training and instruction of the

Lord. As adults, I'm guilty of telling my son how to be, how to act and only recently after my trips here with my grandfather have

I really started to make a conscious effort when I fly off the handle at my son for something stupid that he did that I overreacted about to stop in my tracks and to ask his forgiveness.

And to apologize and explain to him that I wasn't being short with him because of him.

I was being short with him because of something else that I have going on. Sometimes I wish my grandfather would have taken the time to do that for me.

A lot of times he did. He just didn't do it in such a way that he was admitting all the real depth of what was going on and I try to do that for my kid.

I try to tell him, hey, dad's upset about something that happened at work or Krista didn't or the mail didn't come.

Just different things, right? But it all comes out on him because he's there making mistakes. Forgiveness is not something that I think we need to ask for and that's where I'm going to leave this.

I had forgiven my dad a year and a half before I went to go see him. Or make peace with her.

I forgave him before he went to the hospital and Aunt Lou Anne called and said get down here or do you want to come, come?

Everything was up in the air so I just went and I rushed into it and for like 30 seconds within the first 24 hours

I was regretting it. I was like I bit off more than I can chew. I'm in Oklahoma, to me the worst place on earth, no offense.

And I've been back three times this year. I haven't been to Oklahoma three times in the last 20 years. Three times this year.

That's awesome, dad. The forgiveness that I'm talking about is radical forgiveness.

I've started calling it. My dad didn't ask me for my forgiveness to get it.

I gave it to him before he asked for it and he gave me his forgiveness before I had asked him for it.

And I had a bunch of different verses kind of set aside about forgiveness because there's a few in the Bible, a few verses about forgiveness in the

Bible, Uncle Greg, look it up. The most important one to me is

Romans 3 .23 as he hung on the cross. Who am

I to be mad at somebody for cutting me off in traffic? As he was hanging on the cross to forgive them because they just didn't know what they're doing.

Those are pretty much his words. I'll quote it because I don't want to just give you hyperbole but he said, sorry, that was not

Romans 3 .23. Man, dad's mad at me for messing up verses. That's what

I get for writing this entire eulogy on the back of recipes I stole from my aunt. At the end though,

Jesus didn't say if they get right with God, Father, forgive them.

He didn't say if they find a good church home, Father, forgive them.

He didn't say any of that. He just said forgive them and they were literally killing him.

So if anybody in here right now is holding out some kind of animosity towards somebody that you were supposed to love because God commands that we love one another and I'm not just talking about people in your church or people at your job.

I'm talking about your family. 20 years we wasted. 20 years and I probably needed him more in that 20 years than I needed him ever before but pride and not just my pride.

My grandfather had pride but we found what we were looking for in each other when we turned around and looked at each other and we sat down and I got to run my fingers through his hair.

Forgiveness. Find your family members that you've decided you're not talking to anymore or your co -workers or whoever it is because God commands you to forgive them.

Well, my comments will be brief. I had the privilege of being

Red and Paula's and still Paula's elder. It's a little awkward when you're the elder to the elders and at times

I felt like they were being a little more generous than they needed to be because I got taught how to elder.

Right, Paula? She would often say to me well, that's your responsibility.

You need to take care of that. Yes, sister. I did. Red and Paula joined our little band of merry folks here at Sunnyside October 21st in 2018.

So it's been about five years and they brought with them an obvious love of people, music, talents, lively fellowship, a passion, and they were and are a joyful addition to our body and so Paula has this new thing that she has a cane now and she is a member of the

Caniacs Club. I'll let you work that out but personally

Red became a very genuine friend and brother in Christ.

He displayed a worn demeanor he loved a good joke and frequent conversation with anyone he spoke.

He could easily walk you into a conversation. He became your friend but most of all he loved to talk about our

Lord and as a former pastor he divided he knew he could handle the word rightly and he loved his savior

Jesus Christ fully. Red and I had a little ongoing battle and banter regarding his poor parking skills.

For some reason he could not get that van between the white lines on Sunday mornings.

I don't know and I'd bring it to his attention I just felt that as his elder I had the authority and privilege to do that and he would he'd look at me kind of oddly and then he would the next

Sunday if he did much better he'd seek me out and he'd say better now? And I'd smile at him and I'd say yeah for this

Sunday and he would chuckle and laugh. Little known fact about Red was he wore driving gloves.

I don't know if he thought he was a race car driver or a member of British royalty and he also had a consistent habit that any time we parted company he would say mind how you go and I often would try to say that before he would and if I'd beat him he'd just chuckle about it.

During the last couple of months of his life when I visited him frequently in either the rehabs or the hospital we had frequent conversations about going home.

Now Red was referring to it in two ways one the going home to his home to be with Paula but he also meant going home to be with his

Lord. He was keenly aware that his days were numbered by the

Lord and his his were brief to come.

He was aware but throughout this time

I watched him do something that was consistent with his character and his as you say

Jason 10 ,000 hours of training there was not a caregiver that walked into his room that he didn't speak to about the gospel and wanted to know their their personal relationship and where was their eternal destination made some of them uncomfortable and others rejoiced that he'd asked and then that conversation would become elongated he left me with a scripture during one of our visits it's 1

Corinthians 16 verse 13 and 14 it says be on the alert stand firm in the faith act like men be strong let all that you do be done in love that was an affirming scripture from a man to a man about how we are to walk and lead and guide and be examples and we have some of us have failed miserably at that and at times we are successful so I will as I suspect you will miss and continue to miss our brother

Red but I have been I am better for having known him and having him be a friend and a brother in Christ and he would want me to say in closing mind how you go good afternoon

I'm Greg brother

Red as you refer to him is my dad that's my mom those are my sisters my nephews my nieces this is going to be a little hard just bear with me

I'm a qualified certified preacher man supposed to be able to stand up here and just do this right right well

I just want to say something about preachers we're an odd bunch preachers are odd let me tell you why that is

Pastor Mike right I think you'll agree with me on this brother we're couriers of the word of God it's our job to deliver a message that is so heavy so much bigger than what we are that we we often times stand up against it and say how in the world can

I live this amazing gospel this amazing truth because remember we're just finite creatures with real limitations we have clay feet some of our feet are bigger than the others but regardless they are clay and we break easily

I have Brother Red's Bible it was given to me on my 50th birthday which was last year oh excuse me a slight miscalculation there but I want to read you something and you have to understand this these are his words not mine although I thoroughly do agree with them these are his words in that you have to understand that in his statements there was a lot of wit he is a witty character and I'll just say this maybe you don't know him this way or mom this way or my sisters this way he was a prankster they are pranksters and living them with them for the years that I lived with them was a mixed blessing of acceptance and joy and comfort and complete terror because you didn't know when they would jump out scare you and ladies and gentlemen

I don't mean to say this freeze your undergarments in the refrigerator I mean we lived life like normal people this man of God was hilarious have you ever seen the movie the movies the

Pink Panther Kato he and I had that relationship and I'll just say he won

I scared many years of my life but anyway I wanna read you this little statement and then

I'm gonna take the five minutes that I've been allotted and just to read to you guys some of the things

I've experienced with this man of God this was to me well

I'll try excuse me Lou Ann come here a minute will you hon she's gonna read this part for me so he thinks

I am to Greg White my son in the faith and in the ministry and the son my wife could not give me read the rest ok that was a dab that was humor ok go ahead my gift to you on your 50th birthday

November 8th 2006 goodness you're my son making me feel old you once said you wanted this

Bible I hope you still do because it's yours now love Paul Berry 11406 this is my treasure thank you sweetheart but that little that little jab mom could not give me you may not appreciate that but I understood what he meant and he always picked on his wife and so I'm sure she understood what it meant so my first I want to share about basically a couple of encounters with this huge man my first encounter with brother

Red was at a place called the Solid Rock Jesus Center I was not a

Christian I liked my way of life that was not pleasing to God but these girls and of course young men follow girls right invited me to come to this

Solid Rock Jesus Center to tear down walls okay I'll tear down walls with you just to be with them well this was back in the 1970s when the

Jesus Movement was happening have you all heard of that yes okay so I'm in this

Solid Rock Jesus Center not speaking to anybody just swinging a sledgehammer and all of a sudden

I saw this guy walk in with a red afro stood six foot four and I looked at him and I said what is this he had his

Jesus jeans on they had patches all over him

Jesus is Lord one way Jesus crosses I said what is this

I never got a chance to talk to him but that was my first encounter he made an impression big guys love

Jesus my second encounter God sent him to share the gospel with a couple who owned a kennel while having his dog trained again

I did not meet him but I heard him speak of Jesus to the couple he invited them to his church and of course

I went with them and saw Luanne and Leanne my sister

Susie and Holly all there I was very uncomfortable because people came up to me and had the audacity to hug me they treated me with hugs and welcoming me there

I didn't know what to think of it so I was very nervous felt very uncomfortable that somebody would love me and care for me my third encounter was

I was playing my harmonica for the dogs as I took care of them keeping down the kennels he heard me play and asked to meet with me he was producing an album a recording at that time of Christian songs and asked if I could play my harmonica on some of the songs there was a song a particular song called give it all to Jesus you ever hear that song

Leanne used to sing it and writing back from recording in his old white

Ford Jesus van he shared the gospel with me and I was miraculously transformed at this time in my life

I was living in a storage closet at the kennel because of the vicious home life

I had left so many years ago I believe I was 13 or 14 and I was just now turning 18 eventually events happened that took me to live in his home he

Luanne Leanne Suzanne and Holly mostly I'll just say

Susie and Holly like I said earlier loved to torment me and play pranks on me but through it all

I was deeply loved it was family to them and they to me they took me in I was so much into this family that Mom when

I would do wrong had no problem chasing me with her broom when you go into Mom's house and I was looking for it just a little while ago you will see a small shelf with four eggs sitting in the nest representing

Luanne Leanne Holly and Susie and then there's a fish line that hangs off the side and on that fish line is an egg dangling the four eggs are the daughters and I'm just that egg dangling but family nonetheless

I could tell you Brother Red lived a life like any other Christian man as I stated he had clay feet and at times a very loud intimidating voice and very intimidating presence he was not afraid to correct to encourage he made mistakes like you and I he had regrets he struggled with his own fleshly desires many times victoriously and at times he even failed he like the rest of us depended upon the grace of God and looked forward of one day being set free from his own very carnal nature at times he expressed to me his hatred for his inconsistency in his walk with Jesus but he knew without a doubt that nothing could ever separate him from the love of God Amen some people loved him some people put up with him and some people even hated him because of his uncompromising stand on the word of God but he delivered it faithfully in love to all that would listen

I would remember one of my fondest memories in the evenings this was back in 1975 that was a long time ago by the way people would show up to speak of Jesus into the late hours

I would eventually have to go to sleep and when I woke up in the morning there would be many many more people who came in the night laying in chairs on the floors or anywhere they could find a place to lay their heads just so that they could hear from this preacher he was a man who extended much grace he was a man of grace even though he was stern he was a man of grace this was evidence in the fact that he allowed his wife of 67 years to continue to pronounce his name incorrectly as you all know his name is

Carlston and not Crawlston he had so many interests he loved to ride his bike brother the riding gloves yeah and man he decked out leather jacket hat he was a cruiser he loved to explore new coffees it was always a new coffee he wrote songs he loved trout fishing loved to teach write commentaries and had just about every new gadget that ever showed up on TV you may know this about him but he put together a traveling music group called the

Barry Family Singers which was some I was a member of that which included brother

Clarence Stiefel who for many many faithfully years faithfully served alongside brother

Red and mom the Lord used brother Red even in brother

Clarence's life to lead him to Jesus I'll just say that we were a heavy Christian band and we're all very cool because we guys were matching white socks and the girls fixed their hair in the banana curls and matching plaid dresses he would take us to play at revivals and we

I'm sorry and traveled by faith in his old white

Ford van plagued with a steering problem with Jesus that kept the driver fully exercised by trying to keep it between the two white lines he had no father so he had to learn to be a father he deeply deeply loved his daughters and many many many times confided in me you see he encouraged me to go on and become a doctor in marriage and family counseling my idea of being a doctor is that I just get to stoop lower and wash feet in maybe a little more professional way but he would call me and we would talk about some of his regrets and some of his struggles and God always had an answer for him and made him understand of his unconditional love for him so as a man he struggled with his own issues but I never once ever heard him deny the

Lord or walk away from Jesus or quit the ministry as a man of God he experienced love friendship hurt betrayal encouragement and disappointment from brothers and sisters in the

Lord and from those of the world he struggled financially on a pastor's salary but God was his supply in all the years

I knew him he never quit because of those things and he would tell me Greg you must depend upon the power of the

Lord that comes from his daily portion of grace if you want to walk faithfully with Jesus while being a target he gave me my first opportunity to preach from the pulpit at his church it was such a meaty incredible sermon that lasted a total of five minutes a congregational delight right but he stood up and he put his armor on me in front of the church

I'll never forget it he did a great job didn't he and later privately encouraged me to go to Bible college and learn more on how to handle the word of God so I did so for many years

I just want to share two more things and I'll be done one was Raidersburg, Montana do

I hear groaning and moaning we like I said were a really hip traveling gospel band and it didn't matter where we went we would go and we would play for hundreds and hundreds of people at some revival events and then this one in Raidersburg and Raidersburg was a ghost town out in the middle of Montana and I mean if you like westerns it was like a western town gray weathered buildings with an old church that had a pump organ brothers out of tune and we drug our heavy equipment praying

God get us there with this band it's showing up we set up all our instruments pianos and microphones amplifiers and me with my harmonica and we had a great turnout the two residents that lived in Raidersburg who had hearing problems showed up and as my nephew

Jason just shared earlier the time and preparation it made no difference those two poor ladies they could not duck he shared the word of God powerfully and mightily and that's the way he was he believed in divine appointments and that God would send him on those divine appointments to speak the word

I would like to share something I wrote of my time with brother red it's not too long

I had the privilege when they lived on the hill to watch brother red get up early in the morning while it was still dark and make his way to his study and like Jason pointed out it was one of those places you did not disturb but I'm an early bird so I had no problem going and listening at the door at times don't tell him

I did that a day for the preacher man of God Carlson Berry awake from night for another early morning visit he crossed the yard to his office in the dark done so often a light was not needed once again fingers open tattered pages of the book he had come to love and depend bird vision blurred vision until a rub and a wipe a yawn or two a stretch a groan then a subtle quiet asking exhaled from his lips another scoot another squeak from the chair to get him near he leaned down to look deep at the page just knowing for sure the

Lord has something to say and then it happens the

Lord's voice the

Lord's the Lord's voice the Lord's the Lord's voice the

Lord's voice the Lord's voice the Lord's voice the the

Lord's voice Lord's the

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Lord's voice the

Lord's the And this is hard for me because I came to him at a very dark time in my life.

I was aggressive. You know, my whole family, all I've ever learned my entire life was to fight.

My family are not Christians. When I became a Christian, I was kicked out of my home.

I was attacked in a lot of ways. I was threatened. And so I had no one to teach me.

I had a church who took me in, but they couldn't answer a lot of my questions. They didn't tell me how to deal with my family, so all

I did was just read. And through reading, what I found was I am really bad at relating to people, but I can relate to dead authors quite a bit.

And so when I found Red, he was a lot like me, meaning that he related to dead authors better than people.

And so he knew exactly how to communicate to me. And he's one of the first who told me that I was called to preach, and he was one of the first to teach me how to do it.

In fact, several of the sermons that I've preached already are based on devotionals that he wrote.

And he would criticize me for changing them and then tell me he better see some royalties for what

I get. But anyway, he stood by me and supported me in really rough times.

If I needed advice, I'd call him, and he'd tell me where I was wrong or where I was right and how to go about things.

He inspired me to get my job, which is at Christian Heritage Academy. He was one of my references.

And when I have issues with people because I can't relate to what they were saying, he would help me filter through the nonsense to see what

I need to see. And so instead of telling you about a lot of my experience with him, which

I would love to do if you would ever want to sit and talk through it, I want to read you some of his own words because this is the best way that I know how to honor him.

This is from a devotional he wrote. I shortened it a little bit, but it's called The Worst Thing in Life.

He said, As I originally wrote these words years ago, my wife and I had the most unusual precious pet we ever owned in our entire lives, a little seven -pound terry poo we named

Smidgen. We considered her our most personal puppy dog.

She was almost 11 years old then, and we dreaded the day we would have to tell her goodbye.

That day came about two years later. This sort of thing seems to run in the family because my uncle

Bill once had his own most personal puppy dog, a German shepherd he named

Shadow. One day, someone who was watching them together turned to my aunt and said,

If Bill died, you'd have to have Shadow put to sleep, wouldn't you? And she replied,

No, if Shadow died, I'd have to have Bill put to sleep. Uncle Bill and Shadow are both gone now.

Nothing in this life is permanent. No matter how wonderful and loving a relationship between a husband and wife is, it will last only for this life.

A day of separation will come, and only God knows when it will be. Neither life itself nor anything in it is going to last forever.

That leaves us with only this. Either settle for the morbid thought that this life, with its disappointments, is all there is, or you could search for something eternal and unchanging to give us hope and joy in the here and now.

Is there such a thing? Yes. The Apostle Peter wrote shortly before the end of his own life that those who know the

Lord are destined for an inheritance that is incorruptible and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you, and that we are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation, ready to be revealed in the last time.

Not only that, but the Apostle Paul assures us that for all eternity we will wear an incorruptible crown on the head of an incorruptible body.

Here's the glory of it. Incorruptible things do not change. In this life, the only constant is change.

But once we are in glory, there will only be good, wonderful, and glorious things that will never change, never end, and can never be taken away.

The final picture of that unchanging world comes at the end of the Bible in Revelation 22, verses 3 through 5.

Amen. Thank you.

Hi, I'm Jeremy Caith. My wife and I live in Nashville. We have three kids.

And so I haven't been out here as much as I would like. I want to say, first of all, that kind of like Jason, my sisters and I call

Paula and Red Ma and Dad. And we just always have. I don't exactly remember the genesis of that.

But that's who they were to us. And I call my own real dad, Dad, too, so it was kind of confusing sometimes when you're hanging out.

But when I talk about Dad tonight, I'm talking about Crawlston. I want to start first just by saying thank you to this church.

I've heard both from Dad and then from Ma and then from my mom what good friends y 'all have been to them, taking care of stuff at their house, their yard, taking

Ma to and from women's events. That's just like the normal blocking and tackling of Christian faith and friendship, and I really appreciate it.

So I'm grateful for y 'all. I thought just really quickly I would share a couple memories that I have of Ma and Dad.

One thing, kind of the main thing that I'm grateful to Dad for, and then one thing about the most important thing to him.

So we grew up in Fort Worth, Texas. They lived in Bozeman at the time in Montana, so we would still go visit them most of the time driving up there.

So I remember driving up in winter freezing conditions to visit them. But they were always great trips.

I remember fishing with them. We went to Glacier National Park for the first time with them.

And then Dad always had motorcycles, a Honda Goldwing, for at least a number of years, and he would give us rides on those.

So we'd take our turns. I'd get to go first, and Emily would go, and then Melissa would go, and we really had a great time doing that.

So those are just some of the things that I remember from visiting them up there. When they moved down here to Oklahoma, we saw them a little bit more frequently.

Everything I'm saying here that I'm going to cover has been covered in some way by you all. So Dad obviously loved coffee.

As I got into middle school and high school, I loved coffee. Dad loved reading, especially theology, obviously. I had kind of a natural interest in philosophy and theology.

So as I got older, that's how we would hang out. I remember they would come to town, and I'd say,

Dad, let's go get some coffee. So we would go drink espresso at Starbucks or whatever local coffee shop was, and we would talk about what we were reading.

I always really enjoyed that. The thing that I'm probably most grateful to him for is that he was really the primary introduction to me to reform theology.

By that, just generally meaning the sovereignty of God and his providence, that he is indeed in control of all things.

He ordains whatever comes to pass. That's a great comfort to us because he is in control.

Brian, I think, mentioned talking with Dad toward the end, and our days are numbered according to what

God sees best. So these are sad times, but we do have the comfort that God is in control.

I'd just like to end with that comfort. The thing that was most important to Dad that you all know was

Jesus, and Jesus was his only comfort. His faith in Christ was he knew the only thing that he could count on.

All of our days are numbered, and we also will eventually pass away according to whatever the

Lord sees best. I know that Ma, that's her only comfort. Especially when

Dad started to get sick, and I mentioned it to my church, and of course they were praying for him, and especially for my grandmother.

Our comfort is that that was Dad's comfort. That's really the only thing that can get us through this when we lose someone like this.

It isn't the end if you have faith in Christ. And so I thought I just might end by reading you something from the

Heidelberg Catechism, which describes this very well. That catechism was written in 1563 in Germany.

If you haven't heard of it, it's a document that's a series of questions and answers that was just put together by the theology faculty at the university there as a way to help instruct youth.

And it's really great. You should check it out if you haven't. This is the first question in the Heidelberg Catechism, and I'll read it.

And this is what I'll remember about Dad, his only comfort, and it's our only comfort. What is your only comfort in life and in death?

That I am not my own, but belong body and soul in life and in death to my faithful Savior, Jesus Christ.

He has fully paid for all my sins with his precious blood and has set me free from the tyranny of the devil.

He also watches over me in such a way that not a hair can fall from my head without the will of my Father in heaven.

In fact, all things must work together for my salvation. Because I belong to him, Christ, by his

Holy Spirit, assures me of eternal life and makes me wholeheartedly willing and ready from now on to live for him.

So that's what I'll remember about Dad. Thanks. Well, I echo my fellow elders' welcome to all of you.

We love Red so much, Paula. What a joy, answer to prayer,

Luann and Leann moved up. And we've really come to love

Red and Paula and Luann as members of our church, our family.

I didn't get to meet Red until the sunset.

I met Red at the sunset. You all have known him at various other times.

Sitting with an old preacher and listening to him talk, something

I've done a lot recently, not just Brother Red, but others. And old preachers are old warriors, and they don't sit easy in the chair.

They have wounds. He didn't lie easy in the bed in the hospital because he had wounds.

And every time he began to think about what had happened in his life, he took me back to the dawn.

A day, oh, what a pitiful -looking morning for our dear

Brother Red. One glimmer of light was his mother, who knew beyond the shadow of a doubt that this son of hers would preach the gospel.

So she named him Samuel. As the day moved on, not much to look at, not much promise in it.

But there began to be a glimmer. There began to be a strengthening light. And then the storms would roll in.

And they'd clear out again. And the storms would come back.

But nothing can beat the glory of that high noon up on the hill in St.

Louis. And as the sun began to move along in that hot late afternoon, the toil and the long work in Montana, the day moving on down to Oklahoma, I only met him at the sunset.

And here all we are around the campfire telling stories, as it should be, remembering all the blessings and all the good, how

God proved himself true and faithful all along the way. As many have shared, as you sat with Red, especially at the sunset, he told stories.

Told stories, and these stories were always about people. And he told these stories with broken heart and tenuous hope and prayerful desire that his children, his grandchildren, great -grandchild, family, friends, you name it, his great desire was that they would love

Jesus, that they would be delivered from the enemy, that they would be delivered from sin and peril.

Often wondering the value of his life, the value of his ministry.

Had he done enough? Could have done more? If only, if only, if only. He never sat easy in the chair.

He didn't lie easy in the bed. We really enjoy

Brother Red. There's a couple of verses in the Bible that says, Greet the brethren with a holy kiss. We don't actually follow that to the letter here, because this is

Oklahoma. This is not the Ukraine or Russia or one of those eastern cultures who do that.

But Brother Red knew how to greet one another with a holy kiss. And the thing about Christians, you've got to understand, if you didn't know this, is that we just never say goodbye.

We just greet each other when we show up, and we greet each other when we leave. That's the way it works in Paul's letters.

He's greeting everybody at the beginning, and he's greeting everybody at the end. We just say hello both ways. And Brother Red had a way of saying hello when he showed up, and he's had a way of saying hello when he left.

And when he showed up, he'd say hello by giving you the secret handshake. And some of you know the secret handshake. In the name of the

Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And if you know the moves, then you're in. Now, the way he would leave it is how it's already been mentioned.

He would say, mind how you go, mind how you go, which I think is in more than one country western song, which he would know by heart.

I began to ponder upon that, mind how you go, and I think that he meant it most carefully, most sincerely, most warmly, and most lovingly.

And I began to meditate on that as I knew his time was drawing near, and so my attention was to Philippians 3, 7 through 16.

But what things were gained to me, these I have counted loss for Christ.

Yet indeed, I also count all things loss for the excellence of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my

Lord, for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and count them as rubbish that I may gain

Christ. And be found in him, not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith.

That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings being conformed to his death, if by any means

I may attain to the resurrection from the dead. Not that I have already attained, or am already perfected, but I press on.

That I may lay hold of that for which Christ Jesus has also laid hold of me.

Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended, but one thing

I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forward to those things which are ahead,

I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.

Can I just say, that whatever seat was granted to our brother

Red, in the presence of his Lord, he's sitting easy there. He's resting well, because of Christ.

Therefore, let us, as many as are mature, have this mind, and if anything you think otherwise,

God will reveal even that to you. Nevertheless, to the degree that we have already attained, let us walk by the same rule, let us be of the same mind.

Now brother Red would be very encouraging in various areas.

He would mind, he would be careful, he would be concerned, that we would mind how we would go in a variety of ways.

He would want us to go in prayer. He would want us to be a people of prayer.

And even if we didn't know how to pray, to pray until we have prayed. He would want us to mind how we go in spiritual warfare.

As the battle was always near his doorstep, and near his concern for other spiritual good.

He would want us to mind how we go in old paths laid down. The doctrines of Martin Lloyd -Jones and Charles Spurgeon, and the

Puritans. And he would want us to mind how we go in love, and unity within the church.

That there would not be division within God's church. But above all, he would want us to mind how we would go with Christ.

As you read Philippians 3, 7 -16, what is it? Have this mind,

Paul says, have this mind. Mind how you go, have this mind, let us walk by this mind. Let's have this mind as we go, what is that?

The mind is simply, not I, but Christ. Not I, but Christ.

Not my qualifications, not my credentials, not my worthiness, not my merits.

Not my qualifications, but Christ's reigning authority.

Count all things lost for the excellence of the knowledge of Jesus Christ my Lord. Not my qualifications, but the fact that he has all authority in heaven and on earth.

And a name which is above every name. Brother Red had a lot of qualifications, but Jesus Christ is king.

Brother Red had a lot of accomplishments, but with Paul, what do we say about these things?

Counting these things as loss, even rubbish, that we may know the fellowship of his sufferings.

What are my accomplishments? What are any of our accomplishments in light of what

Jesus Christ accomplished upon the cross? Not my qualifications, not my accomplishments, and not my experiences.

Brother Red had a lot of experiences. Amazing experiences. But what of these?

Lay these aside to recognize that we might know him and the power of his resurrection.

Whatever miracles we enjoy of God's grace and power in our lives, nothing compares to the resurrection of our Lord and Savior from the dead.

On this, everything depends. Not our attainments. Not our attainments.

Not what we have gained. Not what we have put down as our record. But know the ascension of Jesus Christ.

His glory. Not that I have already attained or am already perfected, but I press on that I may lay hold of that for which

Jesus has laid hold of me. I forget those things which are behind and reach forward to those things which are ahead.

I press forward to the goal of the prize of the upward call of God in Jesus Christ. Not my attainments, but the glory of Christ.

Not my duties. Not what I have checked off the list and been faithful in. But the fact that Jesus Christ is at the right hand of the

Father, making intercession for me. Not my graces. Not the bounty of the grace that has been poured out of my life, but the life of Jesus himself.

What did Paul lay aside? What does it matter at the end of all things when we may rest easy in him?

Not my qualifications, but the reign of my Lord Jesus Christ. Not my accomplishments, but the cross of the

Lord Jesus Christ. Not my experiences, but the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ.

Not my attainments, but the ascension to the glory of my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.

Not my duties that I have accomplished, but the intercession of Jesus at the right hand. There's my confidence.

And not my graces that I have enjoyed, but the life of Christ himself.

Let us walk. Let us be of the same mind. That's the real final evaluation.

I was very grateful to have known Red at the sunset. What a beautiful sunset that was.

Sail on. When the weather gets hot. Sail on.

When the wind starts to die. Sail on. It's just a matter of minutes till his ship comes to get us.

And we'll all get in it. When we're all born.

We set out to sea. Looking for answers. Continuously.

Then when we find out. To him we belong. We watch for the signs.

And keep sailing on. Sail on. When the water gets high.

Sail on. When the wind starts to die. Sail on. It's just a matter of minutes till his ship comes to get us.

And we'll all get in it. Cast up your sails. And let the wind blow.

Jesus will never let your ship lose control. Just keep your compass.

Set on the side. He'll guide you safely to his beautiful home.

We can't afford to throw our lives to the wind. To the wind.

We got the Lord in control of our ship. And he'll guide us safely in.

He'll guide us in. Sail on.

When the water gets high. Sail on. When the wind starts to die.

Sail on. It's just a matter of minutes till his ship comes to get us.

And we'll all get in it. Sail on. When the water gets high.

Sail on. When the wind starts to die. Sail on. It's just a matter of minutes till his ship comes to get us.

And we'll all get in it. Sail on. When the water gets high.

Sail on. When the wind starts to die. Sail on. It's just a matter of minutes till his ship comes to get us.

And we'll all get in it. Sail on. There is a

Redeemer. Jesus, God's own

Son. Precious Lamb of God.

Messiah, Holy One. Jesus, my

Redeemer. Name above all names.

Precious Lamb of God. Messiah, hope for sinners slain.

Thank you, oh my. Giving us your

Son. And leaving your spirit till the work on earth is done.

When I stand in glory, I will see his face.

And there I'll serve my King forever in that holy place.

Thank you, oh my. Giving us your

Son. And leaving your spirit till the work on earth is done.

There is a Redeemer.

Jesus, God's own Son. Precious Lamb of God.

Messiah, Holy One. Thank you, oh my.

And leaving your spirit till the work on earth is done.

And leaving your spirit till the work on earth is done.

Your release seems like it's all just a dream.

And how can it be that the world will go on when something has died within me?

Leaves will turn, my heart will burn with colors of you.

Snow will fall, but I'll recall you're warm.

Summer breeze, breathing in your memory.

Miss you, but there will be a time when

I'll see your face. Then I'll hear your voice and there we will laugh again.

There will be a day when I'll hold you close.

No more tears to cry, cause we'll have forever.

But I'll say goodbye for now. I can't imagine my life without you.

You held a place all your own, right?

And just knowing you would be me.

The same sky, oh what a joy.

I have known. On rainy days, in many ways, you'll water my heart.

On starry nights, I'll glimpse the light of your smile.

Never far from my heart, you'll stay with me.

So I'll wait, for there will be a time when

I'll see your face. Then I'll hear your voice and there we will laugh again.

There will be a day when I'll hold you close.

No more tears to cry, cause we'll have forever.

But I'll say goodbye for now. There will be a time when

I'll see your face. And I'll hear your voice and there we will laugh again.

There will be a day when I'll hold you close.

No more tears to cry, cause we'll have forever.

But I'll say goodbye for now. But I'll say goodbye for now.

May God bless you. May he keep you. May he cause his face to shine upon you and grant you peace.

And may he lift up his countenance upon you and be gracious to us all. We are dismissed.