I wonder if Mary Knew?

Getting in to the Christmas mood!

 As we all know now that Thanksgiving is over Christmas will be here before we know it, but in this very busy time of year let us not forget the real reason we celebrate Christmas!

Forgiven Qt

Forgiven Qt with the one and only Haskell Cooley!!!!

Guitar Solo

I wanted to share this with you all, this is our very own Dave Buckingham playing a guitar solo at the DSQC this past weekend in Sperry Ok.

Straiten It Out

Well alot has happened since the last blog post, such as our bus breaking down... we are now trying to raise the funds to get our bus fixed, but we know that no matter what happens God has a plan for us and he knows how to "Straiten It Out"... we are headed out to Texas this weekend, be looking for live updates on our Facebook page and please keep us in your prayers.

God Bless
Ryan

When God Has Another Plan

Just a quick update...we have been staying very busy since we left NQC this past weekend Sept 16th 17th & 18th we headed south to Keene, Joshua, and Goldthwaite TX were we did four concerts in two days...we will also be very busy the month of Oct so please keep us & the bus in your prayers.Also don't forget about our 5,000 at $5 Blitz, check out the store page of our website!

 

 

I feel like someone needs to hear these words today! Just remember even though you may not understand why God is putting you through this trial, just remember he has a very detailed plan for your life!

 

 

Forsaken by his brothers, he didn't fit the scene

Being made a slave was not what Joseph dreamed

The coat of many colors was stained with blood and lies

But from this divine appointment a ruler would arise

 

Chorus

When God has another plan, walk on and just say yes 

When God has another plan, be assured that He knows best

If all your dreams are shattered, rest in His sufficient grace

We don't have to understand, when God has another plan

 

Alone and broken hearted, questions fill your mind

Changes can be hard that come by God's design

But if you could see tomorrow with a view from Heaven's Throne

Every unexpected struggle has led you closer home

 

When God has another plan made popular by The Greenes

(Daryl K. Williams, Amy Shellem, Chris White Music/BMI, Christian Taylor Music/BMI)

 

God Bless

-Ryan

 

 

LIVE from NQC

We are live at NQC!!!!

It has been a very good day here, we have had several meetings today and we have also been doing a lot of PR work. We have met lots of great people and made some new friends, and of course it has been good seeing all of our old friends that we have met over the past few years.  

We are looking forward to our last day at NQC, we will have a couple of LIVE interviews tomorrow as well as live updates on our FB page! So stay tuned for the latest updates from National Quartet Convention!

-Ryan

Tour of the Bus

FORGIVEN QUARTET PERFORMS ON CAM AT PACKED OUT SIGHT & SOUND THEATER

Check out this article found on WWW.SGNSCOOPS.COM & Be sure to check back for LIVE updates from NQC all next week!

 

God Bless

Ryan

 

 

 

Written by SGN Scoops on September 7, 2011 – 3:45 am -

{Crescendo Gospel Music Management} Forgiven Quartet was recently selected as one of the 12 finalist to perform at Branson, MO CAM sing off!
Branson's Sight & Sound Theatre rocked with gospel music Sunday, September 4th. Christian Action Ministries' 3rd Annual Gospel Sing-Off started at 2 PM, as twelve finalists competed for a $3,000 prize purse and a chance to perform at Silver Dollar City on Monday, during the closing festivities of SDC's Southern Gospel Music Picnic Fest.CAM's board chairman Jack Burke said that this was a critical fundraiser at a critical time for the operation of CAM's two food pantries, "We trusted God and the good-hearted people of our community to sell out all 2,200 seats at the theater. This is the only fundraiser of the year to help cover are operational expenses and we've never seen the need as great as it is right now. Normally we can catch our breath during the summer and get ready for the upcoming winter. However, this year demand has continued to increase and we've been helping over 1,000 families per month to keep food on their table."Aside from an extremely talented, multi-state group of finalists, selected from over 40 entries, one of Branson's hottest acts – SIX – opened the Sing-Off with a special guest appearance. Additionally, last year's winner – The Peterson Family – also be made a guest appearance, along with noted saxophonist Gary Dooms.For the third straight year, Bob Hubbard emceed the event. Bob is an ordained minister and the lead singer for the Foggy River Boys Quartet. Bob was also the original lead singer for the Jordanaires Quartet, the most recorded group in the music industry. At last count in 2006 the Jordanaires were on 2.5 billion recordings, having recorded as the back-up vocal group with almost every country music star who has recorded in Nashville, including Elvis Presley, Ricky Nelson and Patsy Cline.The finalists selected to compete were: Todd Braschler from Wichita, Kansas, Larry Moore of Branson, Missy Essary from Kirbyville, Southern Raised of Crane, Connected from Branson, Debra Lynn Paxton of Branson, Jerichofrom DeSoto, Harrison-based One for All, The Branson Hawaiians, Forgiven Quartet from Bartlesville, Oklahoma, 2nd Generation of Berryville,Arkansas, and Roger Null ofBreckenridge,Missouri.The tough job of selecting the winners was handled by six celebrity judges; Ronnie Page of The Downing Street Boys gospel quartet and former baritone singer/emcee with the Oak Ridge Boys; Jak Knudsen, of the vocal group SIX; Ben Dutton, of The Dutton Family; George Dyer, world famous tenor; Bogie Bohinc, nationally noted guitarist: and John Bartley, former entertainment photojournalist for the Chicago Tribune.Forgiven Quartet has been spreading the good news of Jesus Christ through songs and testimonies since July 1981. According to Green, "God has truly honored our corporate prayer of 1 Chronicles 4:10 we've been praying over this ministry the past six years. Just as He did for Jabez, God has provided outstanding ministry opportunities and allowed us the privilege of sharing the Good News of Jesus Christ with so many wonderful people! We give God all the glory! Our ministry is truly a labor of love!"
Daywind Producer and nationally-known song writer, Marty Funderburk from Nashville, TN says, "I have had the privilege of spending many days in the studio producing nine of Forgiven Quartet's recent recordings. I'm very impressed with their vocal capabilities and their incredible blend. Even more impressive than this however, is their commitment to ministry and to preserving the rich heritage of southern gospel music. These are Christian gentlemen of the highest order, obviously committed to spiritual and musical excellence. You can see it in their live performances and you can hear it in their recordings."

Cruise

Check out the awesome cruise we will be going on in February!


I have been on a couple of cruises and let me tell you they are a lot of fun, but as you will see in the video below one of the best parts of the cruise (for most people) is the food! The people on these cruises wait on you hand and foot and the food is not pizza and hamburgers (although they have that if you want it) I'm talking prime rib and lobster here, they also have a 24 hour ice cream bar and 24 hour room service! Not to mention you will be traveling to some of the most beautiful places God ever created. This cruise is going to be great, if you think Forgiven QT is fun on stage come spend 5 days on a boat in the middle of the ocean with us.




If you would like more information please visit www.paradisetoursandtravel.com and make sure you tell them you heard about the cruise through Forgiven QT.

We are personally inviting you to come with us on this great cruise.

God Bless
-Ryan

Iowa Tour

This was my first trip to Cedar Falls with Forgiven Quartet, and let me tell you if you have never been to Praisefest, you need to go! It is a weeklong event, with Bible study in the mornings and Gospel singing in the evenings and on Friday and Saturday the singing starts at 10am and runs until about 10pm. We sang with several groups such as The Allen Family, Phil and Pam Morgan, Soul'd Out QT, FourTwelve, Spoken 4 QT, The Crist Family, Higher Power, The Gosplemen, Tribute QT, and The Perrys. We had a great time talking with a lot of our friends and also getting to make new friends. Speaking of Friends I have to give a shout out to my buddy Evan and the Venema Family, our great friends from Fulton Illinois (below is a picture of my and Evan at the Forgiven booth).

While we were in Cedar Falls we had some downtime to kill, so we did a few little projects on the bus that included installing some new step lights, a new brake light and other little odd jobs that needed to be done. We also had a little fun and took a tour of Hansens Dairy Farm (near Cedar Falls). We got to see the whole process from feeding the cattle, to milking, to bottling. They even make ice cream there! We also got to see the dairy's mascot, a New Zealand Wallaby, which if you don't know what that is, it's a miniature kangaroo. We were able to pet the baby calves (below I have a picture of a baby that was born the day before we toured the dairy).

More exciting news!!!! Our new project "Livin Forgiven" is now available. This project, in my opinion, is the best project that Forgiven Quartet has done (I am not just saying that because I am on it!).

An update to my last post…it is still HOT in Oklahoma, I heard a report on the Radio that Tulsa is the 4^th hottest city following Oklahoma City OK, Lubbock TX, and Charlotte NC! It has been over 100 degrees almopst every day since the end of May with the heat index at or above 112 degrees many times! PLEASE pray that we get some rain and cooler weather soon!

God Bless!

Ryan

Hot In Oklahoma

Well just like much of the south we have hit a heat wave here in Oklahoma...but not only is it hot, we have not had much rain here so it is very dry. Someone asked me the other day just how dry is it in Oklahoma and this was my response. It's so dry in Oklahoma that the Baptists are starting to baptize by sprinkling, the Methodists are using wet-wipes, the Presbyterians are giving out rain-checks, and the Catholics are praying for the wine to turn back into water. Now thats dry... now to show you how hot it is in the south, below I have added a picture that was taken of me laying on top on the AC vent at one of our concerts last weekend.

Forgiven is headed to Cedar Falls Iowa this week, we hope to see some of our great and have a WONDERFUL time in the Lord. -Ryan

4th of July Weekend

Well to start off this last trip we made another Triple D stop at Brints Diner in Wichita Ks, it was like a small town diner with good down home cookin, if you like the small town feel with good southern cookin, this is the place for you.

After we made our stop in Wichita, we headed for Lincoln Nebraska (aka "Cornhusker" country). We had three concerts in the Lincoln area and all three were great...Saturday night (Piedmont Park Church in Lincoln, NE) and Sunday morning (Great Plains Community Church in Goehner, NE) the churches were packed even with it being a holiday weekend, and Sunday evening we were at one of the prettiest churches I have ever seen (Salem United Methodist Church in Clatonia, NE).

All the people we met this weekend were so nice, it was just such a wonderful holiday weekend. Below I have a couple of pictures from the weekend.  One is a picture I took from the stage of Great Plains Community Church during our performance of "Old Convention Song" (ask me how I can take pictures while we are singing?).  The other is the church we sang at Sunday evening.

This next weekend we are in Oklahoma City, Stay tuned for updates.

God Bless,

Ryan

"On the road again"

Well I have an update from my last post...our trailer has been fixed, as well as our bus and we are so glad to have the bus up and running! Praise the Lord!!

This past weekend we had 3 shows in 36 hours and 1 of them was outside.  Our 1st show was at the Baptist Village (nursing home) in Hugo OK, the residents at the Baptist Village really enjoyed our concert and they were so sweet. Our 2nd show was in Battiest, OK, WAY out on an old back country road...(this was the show outside) and it was HOT, we sang with several local groups from the area and we had a great time.

Now this is where I learned a lesson this weekend, when in southern OK... have a MAP...our GPS was a little confused due to the service in that area not being great, needless to say we took a wrong turn and went about 45 mins out of our way, and finally got to our hotel about 3AM on Sunday morning.

We sang in McAlester OK at the Calvary Baptist Church on Sunday morning and had a GREAT service, the people there were great and we had such an awesome, spirit filled serivce. All in all it was a great weekend and we are looking forward to many more in the next few weeks.

God Bless

-Ryan

Stay tuned I will be updating this weekend from Nebraska.

What a weekend

I have to tell you all about our weekend this past week. . .

First of all the bus is down, several problems with it... there was a small fire, we are not sure how it started but there was no damage and it was put out quickly, but that's not why the bus is down. We still have an air leak that we can not locate, but that's still not the reason we can't take it out. There is also a diesel leak in the generator which has a very steady stream of diesel shooting out of it while the generator is on...so with small fires and the leak we had to leave the bus in Tulsa.

We decided to hook up the trailer to my Tahoe and head out to Turpin, OK for our Saturday night concert.  We arrived 2 hours later than planned but managed to start the concert only 30 minutes late.  Everything  went well.  Our hosts from Turpin Mennonite Church were very gracious.  The concert was held in the beautiful high school auditorium and a nice crowd showed up.  They responded well to the messages in the songs and we were greatly blessed!  We headed to Liberal, KS for the night without further incident.

First Baptist Church in Liberal hosted us for a Sunday morning service and we had a great time in the Lord!!! The crowd was very enthusiastic and God was certainly moving! It was wonderful to see many respond to the invitation to visit the altar for prayer at the conclusion of the service!It certainly appeared we had made it through another incredible weekend... until...the drive home!

We had a blow out on the trailer just east of "The Middle Of Nowhere" AKA east of Turpin OK! It was 103 degrees outside but we got it changed and headed on down the road. We dropped Stanley off in Enid and made it all the way to Sand Springs OK, almost home, before we had ... blow out # 2 on the same side of the trailer. Now this time we had to put a smaller tire on, and we were only able to drive 30 MPH back to the shop. What should have taken 20 mins took an hour. In all, a trip that should have taken 7 hours ended up taking about 9 hours. Needless to say we were exhausted! Please be praying the bus and trailer get fixed asap!

Below are a few pictures of our new bus (my Tahoe) and trailer, and also our blow outs.

God Bless!
Ryan

The New Prevost :-)

Blow out 1

Blow out 2

The tire that was smoking when we stopped.

Diners, Drive-ins and Dives

Hey everyone I wanted to let everyone know what Forgiven has been up to the last few weeks, we have been very busy traveling from Texas all the way to Illinois. Singing and ministering everywhere from a prison to a drive in service. In our travels we have started stopping at restaurants that food network star Guy Fieri has visited on his show Diners, Drive-ins and Dives.

Several week ago we were in Dallas TX and visited Twisted Root Burger Company, they have huge burgers anything from Buffalo,Venison, Elk, Ostrich, Emu, Boar, Antelope, & Lamb burgers, I ordered to Western Burger; which comes with pepper jack cheese, onion strings, and jalapenos and it was awesome. The way they let you know your burger is ready is pretty cool to, they give you a card with a characters name on it and yell your character name over a loud speaker followed by your burger is ready, for example Mark Brooke's name was Gumby and Mark Green had Luke Skywalker, now the big question would I go back to Twisted Root? YES the burgers were GREAT and we all had a good time!!!

This past weekend we visited Charlie Parker's in Springfield IL, home of the 16 inch pancake and famous for their horse shoes. We had been in IL two weekends in a row and we visited this restaurant twice, the first time I had the breakfast shoe which is two pieces of toast, sausage, covered with hash browns and covered in gravy and the second time I attempted to eat one of the 16 inch pancakes. This place has everything from breakfast, to hot dogs, burgers, and club sandwiches. All in all this was a GREAT restaurant and I would go back and plan to go back.

I have a few pictures from our trips to these great places below and I will post more on the Forgiven Facebook.  You can find a Triple D stop near you...
just visit http://www.flavortownusa.com/ 

 Stay tuned for more Triple D updates from Forgiven QT.


 God Bless,
 Ryan

For my first blog post. . .

Let me provide some thoughts on the types of things I intend to post as we travel across the country spreading the good news of the Gospel of Jesus Christ!!!

• Every trip we are blessed to appear at some of the most beautiful places we have ever seen.  We are also privileged to minister to and with many of the best people we have ever met.  Read this blog to get a feel for what we were able to experience!!!
• We get to see much of God's creation as we travel across this great country.  Read my impressions of places we visit and the things we see.
• I'm a huge fan of the Food Network show "Diners, Drive-ins and Dives".  We have started trying to visit as many of the places featured on the show as our travel allows.  Read my reviews and see if I agree with Guy Fieri!
• Of course, almost anything could pop into my head!  So check back often to see what I've dreamed up!!!