Charles Stinnet Funeral Service

One of a Kind

Charles Stinnet was one of a kind. He reminds me of a friend of ours that we have a saying about. The Good Lord only made one of him, because he knew the world probably couldn’t handle two.

Charles lived a good life. Not everyone can say that. He had his challenges for sure, but when your life comes to an end in this world, it’s a testament to the person for that to be said of them. He lived a good life for a several reasons.

He laughed and enjoyed life- He loved teasing, joking, pranks and fun. He could take em just as well as he gave em.

Proverbs 17:22 “A merry heart does good, like medicine, But a spirit dries the bones.”

A person that laughs is a person that brings joy to those around him brokenand memories to those who laugh with them.

He loved guns, hunting and fishing. Some of you wondered if he loved his guns more than he loved you and you might have even heard him say “well the guns don’t talk back.”

His motto was if you knew how many guns you had, you didn’t have enough.

Guns were a part of who he was, which is why he gave the grandkids and great-grandkids a gun on their first birthday for when they were older. He wasn’t just giving a gun. He was giving a part of himself…something you can all remember him by.

He might be up in heaven right now whistling his whistle thinking y’all will hear him so he can tell some of y’all he needs some bullet money!

Ted- Rides with Ted- “Where do you want to go?” “Hmmm let’s go this way” and they would just go off on an adventure for that day and then the next time he might say “We went that way last time so let’s go this way today.”

He enjoyed the things you all did with him…fishing, hunting, Bible discussions, good conversations, but he enjoyed you even more.

He loved well- Family was everything to him. He loved God and he loved family. He also loved people he didn’t know, but got to know…even if he just met them at Whataburger.

He was generous.

He would give you the shirt off of his back if you needed it.

His word meant something. If he said he was going to do it…you could count on it.

If he knew someone needed help…he would send them some mail with “a little something” in it.

He would bless a waitress with a big tip in order to help her out with her baby.

If he knew you needed something and he had it to give…it was yours.

One of his great joys was sponsoring people on a Walk to Emmaus. He lost count of all the people he sponsored. He wanted them to encounter the loving God that he knew about. He sowed into their lives and I’m sure the ripple effect has been huge! If you want to honor him and what he meant to you, sponsoring someone to go on a Walk would be a great way to do it. If you haven’t been on one, I have no doubt he would want you to go!

He loved his wife fiercely and he has left a legacy of love for each of you to follow in his steps.

He was an encourager and a supporter. Renee said that whenever she messed up and got in trouble he would say “I may not like what you do, but you are mine and I love you.”

Some of you today are in a mess. Some of you are struggling and aren’t sure what the future holds. Those words are being spoken over you today through the memory of his voice as the echo the voice of our Heavenly Father. Much like the father of the prodigal son, Your Heavenly Daddy is saying, I love you no matter what and I’ve got something better for you.

Charles reminds me a lot of Peter. Peter was a down to earth guy. He was a fisherman and loved the outdoors. He loved intensely just as Charles did and he was a defender of those he loved. When the soldiers came to take Jesus away, Peter pulled out his sword and cut off the ear of one of them. I’m pretty sure that y’all could see Charles doing that! Except he would have used a gun!

Peter loved Jesus with everything that he had and he didn’t want to see Him hurt. Just like Peter, Charles never wanted to see those he loved hurt and I’m sure that he would want you to know today that Jesus is the only way to have those hurts healed. Jesus had to suffer so that He could help you in your suffering.

That reminds me of 2 Corinthians 1:3-4 “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our tribulation, that we may be able to comfort those who are in any trouble, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”

Jesus knows you are hurting today. As you grieve the loss of this man, Jesus wants to walk you through it and guide you along the way.

Lazarus was a dear friend of Jesus. When Lazarus died, Jesus went to where he was buried. He knew that he would bring Lazarus back from the dead, but even knowing that we see the heart of our Savior.

John 11:32–44 NKJV

Then, when Mary came where Jesus was, and saw Him, she fell down at His feet, saying to Him, “Lord, if You had been here, my brother would not have died.” Therefore, when Jesus saw her weeping, and the Jews who came with her weeping, He groaned in the spirit and was troubled. And He said, “Where have you laid him?” They said to Him, “Lord, come and see.” Jesus wept. Then the Jews said, “See how He loved him!” And some of them said, “Could not this Man, who opened the eyes of the blind, also have kept this man from dying?” Then Jesus, again groaning in Himself, came to the tomb. It was a cave, and a stone lay against it. Jesus said, “Take away the stone.” Martha, the sister of him who was dead, said to Him, “Lord, by this time there is a stench, for he has been dead four days.” Jesus said to her, “Did I not say to you that if you would believe you would see the glory of God?” Then they took away the stone from the place where the dead man was lying. And Jesus lifted up His eyes and said, “Father, I thank You that You have heard Me. And I know that You always hear Me, but because of the people who are standing by I said this, that they may believe that You sent Me.” Now when He had said these things, He cried with a loud voice, “Lazarus, come forth!” And he who had died came out bound hand and foot with graveclothes, and his face was wrapped with a cloth. Jesus said to them, “Loose him, and let him go.”

There are two things to take away from this.

Jesus hurt when His friends hurt. He knew this was not the end of the story and yet his heart went out to those around Him that were hurting and He wept with them. Today Jesus is weeping with you. His heart is with your heart.

In a very different sense of Lazarus, today is a day to loose Charles and let him go to be with Jesus. It’s a day to remember and celebrate his life, but also a day to bring closure and hopefully peace. Grieve the loss, but don’t get stuck there. Hold on to the memories, but don’t sink into the pit of loss. Charles followed Jesus because Jesus said, “Let’s go for a ride and go this way.” Charles would want you to go that way too.

One of his favorite verses was Joshua 24:15 “And if it seems evil to you to serve the Lord, choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served that were on the other side of the River, or the gods of the Amorites, in whose land you dwell. But as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.””

I’m praying today that you will make a choice today to follow his legacy of love and serve Jesus as well.

John 14:6 “Jesus said to him, “I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me.”

In the words of Charles Stinnett “God said it and that settles it!

Let’s pray

May there memories be long and their grief short