Here is a link to Rick's funeral service. Roger Allen is doing the service; the speakers were Rick Page, Jr., Parrish McAnelley (Rick's nephew), myself, and then Joe Patch.
http://www.grahamfuneralhome.com/adv_tunnel.php
Copy this link and put it in your browser and hit go.
Select Rick Page's name.
Select ENTER.
Select Webcasting.
Under Past Events in the top middle of the page, select "Watch Webcast".
Saturday, July 24, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Visitation for Rick Page
This evening, Eileen and I went to the funeral home for visitation. Rick looked pretty good, I thought, but my youngest daughter said it didn't look like him. I was a bit surprised, so I asked her what she meant. "There's no smile on his face," she said. "He always had at least a little bit of a smile." She was absolutely right - that was the one thing you could bank on with Rick - there would always be a smile. I think maybe there's no smile because there's no Rick there. Rick is with God and I would bet he has the biggest smile on his face that he has ever had.
Rick Page Music
Through the efforts of Sharon Daniels, Beth Patch and Eileen Frost, I have put together a slideshow with some songs Rick sang while at Bethel Baptist Church. The quality of the sound could be better but the quality of his heart was superb. I love you, Rick. I am having trouble getting it to load... probably because I have exceeded the upload limits. I will edit the slideshow and try again later.
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Rick Page Is My Friend
Rick Page is my friend.
Now, you might say "Ed, shouldn't that be 'Rick Page was my friend'? After all, he is gone." To which I must emphatically say "No!" I am not denying that Rick is gone but he is still my friend. You see, he is eternal and so am I. As a matter of fact, you are eternal as well, but in your case it might be that 'Rick Page was your friend'.
Let me explain. Rick knows Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Consequently, he is in the presence of God right now - worshipping, singing and (perhaps) dancing before God. I say perhaps because as far as I know, Rick didn't dance much. However, in the presence of God, I would guess that he would not be able to NOT dance so maybe I should leave the (perhaps) out of the sentence. At any rate, I also know that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and that means there will come a day when I will also be in the presence of God and I will see Rick there and we will live eternally in the presence of God. What our relationship will be like is not knowable, of course, but I WILL be with him in heaven and I would suspect that we would still be friends although our focus is going to be on Jesus Christ and not each other.
If you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you will also live eternally but it will be out of the presence of God. While I do not know exactly how that will be, I know that God tells us that it is a place of grief and sorrow. In Matthew (18:9), it says "...fiery hell." That tells me that it will be a place of unbearable suffering - have you ever burnt yourself badly? Then you know the pain associated with hell - at least in part. 2nd Peter (2:4) says "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment." That tells me that there will be darkness - whether complete darkness or only partial, it does not say. Revelation (9:2) says: "He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit." That's a lot of smoke.
So, hell will be hot, hell will be dark and hell will be smoky. Hell will also be without the light of the presence of Jesus Christ; it will not have that "peace which passeth understanding." It will, in other words, be a place that I do not want to experience. But, thanks be to God, I won't experience it. Will you? Will you continue to let your desires, your doubts, your disdain, your arrogance purchase a place for you in hell? Or, will you join Rick and me in the presence of God? It is your choice.
So, you see, Rick Page IS my friend!!
Now, you might say "Ed, shouldn't that be 'Rick Page was my friend'? After all, he is gone." To which I must emphatically say "No!" I am not denying that Rick is gone but he is still my friend. You see, he is eternal and so am I. As a matter of fact, you are eternal as well, but in your case it might be that 'Rick Page was your friend'.
Let me explain. Rick knows Jesus Christ as his Lord and Savior. Consequently, he is in the presence of God right now - worshipping, singing and (perhaps) dancing before God. I say perhaps because as far as I know, Rick didn't dance much. However, in the presence of God, I would guess that he would not be able to NOT dance so maybe I should leave the (perhaps) out of the sentence. At any rate, I also know that Jesus Christ is my Lord and Savior and that means there will come a day when I will also be in the presence of God and I will see Rick there and we will live eternally in the presence of God. What our relationship will be like is not knowable, of course, but I WILL be with him in heaven and I would suspect that we would still be friends although our focus is going to be on Jesus Christ and not each other.
If you do not know Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior, you will also live eternally but it will be out of the presence of God. While I do not know exactly how that will be, I know that God tells us that it is a place of grief and sorrow. In Matthew (18:9), it says "...fiery hell." That tells me that it will be a place of unbearable suffering - have you ever burnt yourself badly? Then you know the pain associated with hell - at least in part. 2nd Peter (2:4) says "For if God did not spare angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of darkness, reserved for judgment." That tells me that there will be darkness - whether complete darkness or only partial, it does not say. Revelation (9:2) says: "He opened the bottomless pit, and smoke went up out of the pit, like the smoke of a great furnace; and the sun and the air were darkened by the smoke of the pit." That's a lot of smoke.
So, hell will be hot, hell will be dark and hell will be smoky. Hell will also be without the light of the presence of Jesus Christ; it will not have that "peace which passeth understanding." It will, in other words, be a place that I do not want to experience. But, thanks be to God, I won't experience it. Will you? Will you continue to let your desires, your doubts, your disdain, your arrogance purchase a place for you in hell? Or, will you join Rick and me in the presence of God? It is your choice.
So, you see, Rick Page IS my friend!!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Mr. Rick Page
My best friend, Rick Page, died yesterday (July 19th) a little after 3 PM. Although there is not yet an official cause of death, all indications point to a massive heart attack. It's hard to fathom that I will never again on this earth hear him sing, pray, laugh or ask for a cup of coffee. Rick and I were all about a good cup of coffee and good food. I will miss him.
He mentioned last Friday at our small group that he was ready to go. I said that I wasn't ready for him to go. Stubborn man that he was, he won that argument. Most arguments he won simply by being right. Of course, our arguments were never of the serious kind - just the sort of "disagreements" that friends have - which brand of coffee was better than the other; was creamer better than heavy whipping cream, etc. But we agreed mightily on almost everything - God, salvation, family, politics, food, music, fishing, life in general. I will miss him.
At our next to last small group, he cooked the meal - sausage and peppers with penne pasta. What a meal. The Sunday before that, he cooked a soup (which we agreed was NOT specifically a fall/winter thing) for the 2 of us (neither wife wanted any) which was potatoes, sausage, onion, garlic and fresh kale - what is known at Olive Garden as Zuppa Toscana - except that he added crushed tomatoes. In the vernacular of my granddaughters - OMG (which I am careful to let them know that it means "Oh, My Gosh" rather than the one that uses God rather inappropriately, I think)! I will miss him.
Rick went on several mission trips which he thoroughly enjoyed. Unfortunately, I was never able to go with him but I heard of how he used his voice and his guitar to worship God and invite those who did not know Jesus to come join Him. He was always a great addition to any mission team. At our last small group, he played his guitar and sang (the rest of us sang along, too) and it was a rare treat. I told him that I was thinking of learning to play the bass guitar so I could play with him and Jack Piccolo - I won't have that opportunity here on this earth. I will miss him.
Lord, how I will miss him.
He mentioned last Friday at our small group that he was ready to go. I said that I wasn't ready for him to go. Stubborn man that he was, he won that argument. Most arguments he won simply by being right. Of course, our arguments were never of the serious kind - just the sort of "disagreements" that friends have - which brand of coffee was better than the other; was creamer better than heavy whipping cream, etc. But we agreed mightily on almost everything - God, salvation, family, politics, food, music, fishing, life in general. I will miss him.
At our next to last small group, he cooked the meal - sausage and peppers with penne pasta. What a meal. The Sunday before that, he cooked a soup (which we agreed was NOT specifically a fall/winter thing) for the 2 of us (neither wife wanted any) which was potatoes, sausage, onion, garlic and fresh kale - what is known at Olive Garden as Zuppa Toscana - except that he added crushed tomatoes. In the vernacular of my granddaughters - OMG (which I am careful to let them know that it means "Oh, My Gosh" rather than the one that uses God rather inappropriately, I think)! I will miss him.
Rick went on several mission trips which he thoroughly enjoyed. Unfortunately, I was never able to go with him but I heard of how he used his voice and his guitar to worship God and invite those who did not know Jesus to come join Him. He was always a great addition to any mission team. At our last small group, he played his guitar and sang (the rest of us sang along, too) and it was a rare treat. I told him that I was thinking of learning to play the bass guitar so I could play with him and Jack Piccolo - I won't have that opportunity here on this earth. I will miss him.
Lord, how I will miss him.
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