Like I said, this concept is seemingly completely simple at face value, but it is difficult to truly grasp in its fullest. If God has a story, then we are to be living inside of one story and one story only. All other stories we try to live in are false… Satan is a fabulous storyteller.

Think about it. I feel like the root of suicide is depression. You won’t find a suicidal person who is not depressed. I feel like the root of depression is a misplaced sense of belonging… which includes feeling like you belong nowhere at all. Therefore, to what reality do we belong?

False realities would include the things we consider to be important; money, power, sex, drugs (yes, I put money in the same category as drugs). They are anything we cling to as a source of joy because let’s face it, we are all trying to make ourselves happy one way or another. The American culture is especially wonderful at teaching us to be a feel-good, do-whatever-makes-you-happy people. But God’s story is so contrary to our own stories that it is almost hidden from our understanding.

God’s story is one of love. Living in the ultimate story of love requires a habit of selflessness; something our culture sneers at.
God’s story is one of war. Good and evil stories are warring with one another in an epic battle for our souls.

Two great things exist here:
1)If you are female, you may be intrigued by God’s story being the greatest love story of all time. He is that man you dreamed about that pursues you no matter how many times you jeopardize your Love.
2)If you are male, you can be the greatest warrior of all time because with every temptation rejected, you become a greater, stronger warrior in God’s story, serving under the King.

As cool as all this is, it does not help very much in terms of application so, let me tell you what appealed to me the most about this concept. God has made us all to fit into this story in our own unique ways. The scriptures are the best way to identify our own unique roles in God’s story because they provide examples of ways people have fit into that story and ways they have not.

The most encouraging thing I learned this year came from the mind of Dr. Earl Lavender who said, “Don’t neglect the arts.” I have been involved in a community of believers for the past 5 years who not only devalue the arts but pretty much reject them altogether. What is the point of imagination, sculpting, painting, writing, music, scrapbooking, programming, videography, photography, etc. if not to express our experiences of His story?! That does not mean we are constantly expressing the same surface-level understanding of God’s story (like the latest WAYFM praise songs) but quite the contrary! It means that the deeper our relationship with God grows, the more aspects of our lives we see Him in! We begin creating lots of things that glorify Him in lots of ways (by the way, I consider the arts to be anything created… God created beings that enjoy creating)!

This story is communal; our experiences are collaborative, and our creations are edifying. Do you want to feel like you belong? Find your place in God’s story because there are many pages reserved for you and many people waiting for you. Most importantly, the truest and purest of all loves awaits you.
I’m not talking about 2010: I’m talking about 2,000 years that have rotted a torn temple veil and preserved the story of a Savior who died so that veil could be torn and God could fully integrate us into His story so we could truly know we belong to Someone.

Y’alls bro in Christ,
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Listened about Randy Harris in class. Decided if I ever am picked up by a major label, to spend 40 days after signing (prior to recording and touring) in wilderness of Texas in catacomb room with just myself and God and silence to prepare (like Randy). Thought about the irony that I make a living from noise. Decided a description of my calling can be competing with the offending noises of the world. Walked out of class. 10 feet away, talked to Gleason. Love that man. Conversation short. He was in a hurry to meet a professor. Remembered discussion from class of hurrying being a detriment to silence. Hurried to car. Not sure why. Stopped in stairwell of parking garage to search for silence. Echo of my footsteps faded, roar of engines increased. Silence in stairwell a failure. Walked to car. Truck passed with dual Flowmaster exhaust system, designed to make truck louder. Irony found. Turned car on. Turned radio off. Box of jars on right rattled. Change in door on left rattled. Noise in stereo. Began driving out of parking garage. After second turn in garage, reached for radio. Stopped. Hand confused. Got to road. Road noise loud in back of car. Noise in surround sound. Silence while driving a failure. Realized going 10 over speed limit on Harding Place. Not sure why. Had idea. Drove in right lane at 65mph on interstate. Several cars passively went around. Thought about radio. 70mph. Oops. 65mph. 75mph. Oops. Came up on back of tractor trailer truck (TTT). Unacceptable. Drove in right lane at 60mph on cruise control. TTT number 1 went around. Passing cars more angry and aggressive. TTT number 2 went around. Got into Murfreesboro. Feeling more comfortable with uncomfortable “slow” speed. Thought about radio. Apparently, still uncomfortable without music. TTT number 3 went around. 3 cars passed me in Exit Only lanes just in time to cut back to right lane. TTT number 4 went around. Laughed and continued smiling. Not sure why. Truck with nice fishing boat went around and out of sight. Could I convince my wife to let me practice a closer relationship with Christ through the silence of fishing? Last fishing experience was without cell phone service. Man with canoe stopped and joined. Silence in fishing a failure. Got off on New Salem exit. Drove behind truck with nice fishing boat. Drove over river with nice fishing spot underneath. Thought about radio. Reached subdivision. Went 30mph in 30mph limit. Car illegally passed me. Pulled in and turned off car. Silenced engine broken by wind groaning to move around vehicular obstruction. Silence in back of house a failure. Walked in house. Security system beep seemingly louder than normal. What is that noise? Has my refrigerator always been that loud? Silence downstairs a failure. Bag from iPhone purchase yesterday on counter, boasting AT&T as having the “world’s fastest 3G coverage.” Irony found. Bathroom… Now. Construction noise in subdivision more apparent in recording room. Silence in recording room a failure. About to turn on TV. Silence hidden. Round one of experiment goes to the Enemy.

Ya’ll’s bro in Christ,
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I am doing this because somewhere along the way, I conjoined my relationship with Christ to my music. What I mean is, I let my joy/depression rise and fall with the success of my music. This is wrong. I should be able to separate my joy and have it as a constant in Christ, and music should truly just be a tool used to give Him glory and point others to Him. I defined myself through music, and I’m breaking to redefine my identity through Christ. I feel like I’m doing a lot better now, but it is a process.

Something that astounds me is why not one single person has said to me, “Wow, I think I should do that too,” when I tell them why I’m breaking. Most will maybe say, “Yeah, that’s easy to do.” or “Yeah, I’ll pray for ya.” One man who has written over 40 number one hits told me over the phone, “You can’t do that, son, you’ll lose momentum!” It’s like I’m the only one that struggles with a misplaced source of joy and pride. Really? I know that I am not.

We’ve built a society on pride. Before you argue that, at least think about it with me. The early Christians sold what they had and gave to the poor of their numbers. These days, a lot of giving is met with, “No, we’re cool. We can take care of ourselves.” Ever seen that? We don’t have a pride of “I’m awesome!” (although some do), but our pride is one of “I can do this myself.”

A good friend of mine tried to give me money early last year when I was in need. I said, “No, man, I’ll be fine.” Frustrated, he said, “Page, you have to let others be Christ to you!” What a resounding call to the proud! And what’s worse, that made me happier because I was depressed with my lack of money! We need to be humble enough to take the help of Christ when He is offering it… We have to be humble enough to know we need the help… We have to be humble enough to recognize that we were depressed by what was needing the help.

What have you tied your joy to? My guess is that if you are allowing God to fit into the bubble of your life plans, rather than trying to fit into the story that God has laid out in Jesus, then you are probably pridefully thinking, “I can do this. Watch, God. You’re gonna be proud of me.” That’s how I was with my music, “Check out what I’m doing for you God! Bless me!” That’s how many of us are with our jobs, with our stress points, with our addictions (not talking drugs here). I’m starting to at least get a pinky finger’s grasp on a joy, an excitement, a freedom that we were intended to have in Christ… A freedom we threw away somewhere earlier down the road: The freedom of being Christ’s slave.

We cannot have the freedom of true joy in Christ unless we first knock out of the way the wall of pride that is hiding Him by admitting that we have placed our joy elsewhere, which will also be the thing that we trust the most. What if we admitted that we have been fitting God into our own narrow view of existence? What if we admitted that we have reduced God to being a provider of joy and forgotten that He is the reason for it? What would it look like if we admitted trying to make a god out of what we love most and cast it aside like a worn out tool? Yes, even our talents! We wouldn’t “lose momentum.” After spending that time with Christ, I bet our talents would look different. So different in fact that we couldn’t fathom using them the same way that we did before. Indeed, they would have an all new purpose for the one who makes all things new. And that would result in a far bigger momentum push than we could have ever given our efforts on our own.

“God, if I have said anything that is not consistent with you, I ask that my words would fall to the ground and that people would only see your Word of Truth.” -Chris Siedman

Ya’ll’s bro in Christ,

page lynch

Ya’ll’s bro in Christ,
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As they were playing, Caroline, who is three, noticed that Abby did not have a glow stick. Concerned, she walked over and said,
“Do you not have one?”
“No.”
“Do you want one?”
“I’m OK.”
“Mom! Mom! I need another one. Can I have another one?”
Caroline retrieved another glow stick from her mother and walked over and handed it to Abby.

At first, I thought there might be some gain for Caroline in this. Maybe she wouldn’t feel left out. Maybe she could then have the second one instead of giving it to Abby. But she gave it away. She was legitimately concerned with Abby’s being left out. She wanted Abby to partake in the fun… Caroline decided that Abby must be in on the fun of it all.

“Faith like a child;” that’s what we drill into each other’s heads. But what does that really mean? Is it simply being so gullible that we believe everything we hear? What if our faith’s personality was actually like that of Caroline’s? What would that look like? How would we act?
“Excuse me, but are you in the Kingdom of God?”
“No, I’m OK.”
“Oh, but you HAVE to try it! You just must!”
“Why?”
“Because it’s so awesome! You can’t understand it until you give it a try! I want to show you! I don’t want you to be left out!”

Faith like a child wouldn’t cause us to be push-overs: It would cause us to care if someone was not saved. It would make us want to share the love of Christ. It would make us want to make sure that no one on this planet was being left out. Then again… children have to be trained to share.

Adonai on garageband.com

Praise God!  Only He could do something like this!  Download “Adonai” or the NEW album now on iTunes!

PAGE on iTunes!

Ya’ll’s bro in Christ,
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Whenever Thumper was rubbed in the right spot, he would Thump his foot. My cat does this too. John Wayne’s, my cat’s, spot is under his neck, close to his cheek. Get him there, and his foot will start going like a Thumper.

We don’t scratch John Wayne constantly. If we scratched him as much as he would like for us to, we would have to quit our jobs. He will ask for it in various ways, but we only do it if we have time, or if he’s been good… or if he’s had a hard day.

Not that we thump our feet (although some of us might), but do you think that God ever provides that scratch in the perfect spot just when we need it the most?

Amy and I just moved into a new house. For the first time in a year, I was able to belt out praises to God in my morning shower today… It felt great. Not that an apartment is a terrible place to live, but for a loud musician, it is torture. It’s kind of like an artistic prison. I wasn’t able to do what I loved… After all, many of my songs were born in the shower. It’s like, if you’re an artist, not being allowed to draw, or if you’re wanting to own your own business, having to work for a mean boss. I was not allowed to be me.

Amy and I keep saying, “We don’t deserve this! God, we don’t deserve this.” What about those families with four kids, stuck in an apartment the size of ours? What about those who don’t have a home at all? Why us? What about those who have lost job, home, and all possessions in this recession? Why us?

I can’t answer that, but I can say that I totally feel like thumping my foot. I feel like God scratched my heart, and now, I need to work harder than ever at this music ministry that He has charged me with… Because He answered my prayers for freedom. How has He scratched your heart?

Ya’ll’ses bro in Christ,
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