Life has been fun lately. A couple of things, first, Genevieve my wife is 6 months pregnant, and she's never looked more beautiful, I'm so excited about her pregnancy, also we found out it's a girl!!!! We're chatting names right now but haven't landed on one, I like Melody, but we'll see. Second, I've been leading worship at our satellite campus Fiesta Fellowship(fiestafellowshipsa.org) and that has been great. I love the people and the team over there, it's been a real treat to be apart of that effort, I'm excited about continuing to help out in 08. I'll try and post pics of worship sometime, here's one though of a sweet little finger painting that a little girl did, I liked it.


so...

Here's a video of a new song I've been mulling over, the name of it is Lonely in my Dreams, this is from Joshua Cole Lee's CD release, I sang it that night. I hope you like it, at least this 52 second part of it.



This last weekend just about did me in, I was TIRED Sunday, I played a lot...but the beginning of this week is proving to be good recoup time, but Christmas Eve is coming, so it'll be right back to all the fun :)

Merry Christmas to all out there!

grace and peace

ryan

it looks like this!

We had a scary night this past week. This is my dad, his blood sugar dropped, so did his conciousness, so I called 911 and they revived him...what amazes me is Christ in all this, his presence and faithfullness, the verse below sums up our feelings lately...
Psalm 91
1 He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High
will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. [a]

2 I will say [b] of the LORD, "He is my refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust."

3 Surely he will save you from the fowler's snare
and from the deadly pestilence.

4 He will cover you with his feathers,
and under his wings you will find refuge;
his faithfulness will be your shield and rampart.

5 You will not fear the terror of night,
nor the arrow that flies by day,

6 nor the pestilence that stalks in the darkness,
nor the plague that destroys at midday.

7 A thousand may fall at your side,
ten thousand at your right hand,
but it will not come near you.

8 You will only observe with your eyes
and see the punishment of the wicked.

9 If you make the Most High your dwelling—
even the LORD, who is my refuge-

10 then no harm will befall you,
no disaster will come near your tent.

11 For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways;

12 they will lift you up in their hands,
so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.

13 You will tread upon the lion and the cobra;
you will trample the great lion and the serpent.

14 "Because he loves me," says the LORD, "I will rescue him;
I will protect him, for he acknowledges my name.

15 He will call upon me, and I will answer him;
I will be with him in trouble,
I will deliver him and honor him.

16 With long life will I satisfy him
and show him my salvation."

*********************************************
This was just a great thought for me, hope it can be for you too:

“Having no more roll to play in these parts,
I moved on.”

Your self esteem ought not to be based upon your productivity, but on your essential person in Jesus Christ.

I am who I am not because of what I do, but I do what I do because of who I am.

Who I am proceeds what I do. If I define myself in terms of what I do, that is when the existential philosophy takes over, and experience becomes the sole definition of who I am.

its going good, I'm a little tired...rehearsed today with the band and it went well, should be a lot of fun...I made a new friend yesterday in San Jose, we stayed with a friend of mine named Tony, and he has this great little Pug, I became quite fond of this little critter...O, and San Fransisco is a cool cool place, the weather is pretty unbelievable, there's a pic of us having lunch on Pier 39. O, this guy in the Civic rear ended this lady in front, so I thought I'd show you that, and also Colton getting his pong on....

That's it for now, tomorrow the worship commences...peace from the west coast

r

great weekend, tons and tons of fun.
We did the Oak Hills Fall retreat up in the beautiful hill country of Texas. It was great, the noise was huge, the words spoken powerful and inspiring...I'm tired, very tired, PA systems are not light, very heavy in fact...off to California this coming weekend for a Young Life Camp, looking forward to it...young life rocks, almost as much as Randy and Joel from OH student ministry.

later!
r

CAUTION TO ALL TEXAS ROAD BUGS...BEWARE OF BIG RED FAST MOVING OBJECTS

currently listening to: Chaos, by Mute Math

before we talk Rhodes, get a good chuckle out of this...







I recently purchased a Fender Rhodes, this thing is amazing, tone is huge, I love it and craigslist...proceed with gawking.
650 bucks, I think a steal, wife differs, agree to disagree.

peace

r

it's insane how fun this game is.

Free Ezone.com Game: The Missile Game 3D

hey yall!

listen up!!! no really, listen to KUIW.ORG, it's the official online radio station of
Incarnate Word University and I'm on it!
well, tuesday's and thursday's at least, from 10am-12pm.
so tune in!!!

thanks for the support


r

hope all are doing well, here's some pics of our latest adventures...

those are pics of my dad, he's playing a Gretsch Chet Atkins Country Gentleman...

I want my money...

Genevieve and I backstage @ a recent festival...

pre-rehearsal...


peace ya'll!

r

this is a cool even in New Braunfels that me and the band will be playing @...I'd absolutely love for you and yours to come out. Hope you can make it, much love.

r

sitting here with my wife in Sacramento airport...this past weekend was great, we spent it @ a Young Life camp just North of here, called wood Leaf...I led some songs and threw an acoustic concert, it was cool...I'll post more pics @ myspace...
pic #!
gettin my email on...
pic #2
my wife and me in our room...
pic #3
band practice @ Wood Leaf


r

hey check this out, a buddy of mine remixed Shour our Love, off of Life Again, it's sounds pretty freakin cool too!!
Great job Seth! keep on mixing!!

Take a listen.

@

myspace.com/the0rymusic

peace

r

I can only dream of being this cool in the studio.

r

My wife Genevieve and me, and our buddy Allen, went to see Ravi Zacharias (rzim.org) in Austin this past Monday night, and he shared with us this horrific story of these missionaries in Turkey who were murdered last week...brace yourself and I encourage you to read...

much love

Ryan



A letter to the Global Church from The Protestant Church of Smyrna...

Dear friends,

This past week has been filled with much sorrow. Many of you have heard by now of our devastating loss here in an event that took place in Malatya, a Turkish province 300 miles northeast of Antioch, the city where believers were first called Christians (Acts 11:26).


On Wednesday morning, April 18, 2007, 46 year old German missionary and father of three, Tilman Geske, prepared to go to his office, kissing his wife goodbye taking a moment to hug his son and give him the priceless memory, "Goodbye, son. I love you."

Tilman rented an office space from Zirve Publishing where he was preparing notes for the new Turkish Study Bible. Zirve was also the location of the ..:namespace prefix = st1 ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com:office:smarttags" />Malatya Evangelist Church office. A ministry of the church, Zirve prints and distributes Christian literature to Malatya and nearby cities in Eastern Turkey. In another area of town, 35 year old Pastor Necati Aydin, father of two, said goodbye to his wife, leaving for the office as well. They had a morning Bible Study and prayer meeting that some other believers in town would also be attending. Ugur Yuksel likewise made his way to the Bible study.

None of these three men knew that what awaited them at the Bible study was the ultimate testing and application of their faith, which would conclude with their entrance into glory to receive their crown of righteousness from Christ and honor from all the saints awaiting them in the Lord's presence.

On the other side of town, ten young men all under 20 years old put into place final arrangements for their ultimate act of faith, living out their love for Allah and hatred of infidels who they felt undermined Islam.

On Resurrection Sunday, five of these men had been to a by-invitation-only evangelistic service that Pastor Necati and his men had arranged at a hotel conference room in the city. The men were known to the believers as "seekers." No one knows what happened in the hearts of those men as they listened to the gospel. Were they touched by the Holy Spirit? Were they convicted of sin? Did they hear the gospel in their heart of hearts? Today we only have the beginning of their story.

These young men, one of whom is the son of a mayor in the Province of Malatya, are part of a tarikat, or a group of "faithful believers" in Islam. Tarikat membership is highly respected here; it's like a fraternity membership. In fact, it is said that no one can get into public office without membership in a tarikat. These young men all lived in the same dorm, all preparing for university entrance exams.

The young men got guns, breadknives, ropes and towels ready for their final act of service to Allah. They knew there would be a lot of blood. They arrived in time for the Bible Study, around 10 o'clock.

They arrived, and apparently the Bible Study began. Reportedly, after Necati read a chapter from the Bible the assault began. The boys tied Ugur, Necati, and Tilman's hands and feet to chairs and as they videoed their work on their cellphones, they tortured our brothers for almost three hours*

[Details of the torture--

* Tilman was stabbed 156 times, Necati 99 times and Ugur's stabs were too numerous to count. They were disemboweled, and their intestines sliced up in front of their eyes. They were emasculated and watched as those body parts were destroyed. Fingers were chopped off, their noses and mouths and anuses were sliced open. Possibly the worst part was watching as their brothers were likewise tortured. Finally, their throats were sliced from ear to ear, heads practically decapitated.]

Neighbors in workplaces near the printhouse said later they had heard yelling, but assumed the owners were having a domestic argument so they did not respond.

Meanwhile, another believer Gokhan and his wife had a leisurely morning. He slept in till 10, ate a long breakfast and finally around 12:30 he and his wife arrived at the office. The door was locked from the inside, and his key would not work. He phoned and though it had connection on his end he did not hear the phone ringing inside. He called cell phones of his brothers and finally Ugur answered his phone. "We are not at the office. Go to the hotel meeting. We are there. We will come there," he said cryptically. As Ugur spoke Gokhan heard in the telephone's background weeping and a strange snarling sound.

He phoned the police, and the nearest officer arrived in about five minutes. He pounded on the door, "Police, open up!" Initially the officer thought it was a domestic disturbance. At that point they heard another snarl and a gurgling moan. The police understood that sound as human suffering, prepared the clip in his gun and tried over and over again to burst through the door. One of the frightened assailants unlocked the door for the policeman, who entered to find a grisly scene.

Tilman and Necati had been slaughtered, practically decapitated with their necks slit from ear to ear. Ugur's throat was likewise slit and he was barely alive.

Three assailants in front of the policeman dropped their weapons.

Meanwhile Gokhan heard a sound of yelling in the street. Someone had fallen from their third story office. Running down, he found a man on the ground, whom he later recognized, named Emre Gunaydin. He had massive head trauma and, strangely, was snarling. He had tried to climb down the drainpipe to escape, and losing his balance had plummeted to the ground. It seems that he was the main leader of the attackers. Another assailant was found hiding on a lower balcony.

To untangle the web we need to back up six years. In April 2001, the National Security Council of Turkey (Milli Guvenlik Kurulu) began to consider evangelical Christians as a threat to national security, on equal footing as Al Quaida and PKK terrorism. Statements made in the press by political leaders, columnists and commentators have fueled a hatred against missionaries who they claim bribe young people to change their religion.

After that decision in 2001, attacks and threats on churches, pastors and Christians began. Bombings, physical attacks, verbal and written abuse are only some of the ways Christians are being targetted. Most significant is the use of media propaganda.

From December 2005, after having a long meeting regarding the Christian threat, the wife of Former Prime Minister Ecevit, historian Ilber Ortayli, Professor Hasan Unsal, Politician Ahmet Tan and writer/propogandist Aytunc Altindal, each in their own profession began a campaign to bring the public's attention to the looming threat of Christians who sought to "buy their children's souls". Hidden cameras in churches have taken church service footage and used it sensationally to promote fear and antagonism toward Christianity.

In an official televised response from Ankara, the Interior Minister of Turkey smirked as he spoke of the attacks on our brothers. Amid public outrage and protests against the event and in favor of freedom of religion and freedom of thought, media and official comments ring with the same message, "We hope you have learned your lesson. We do not want Christians here."

It appears that this was an organized attack initiated by an unknown adult tarikat leader. As in the Hrant Dink murder in January 2007, and a Catholic priest Andrea Santoro in February 2006, minors are being used to commit religious murders because public sympathy for youth is strong and they face lower penalties than an adult convicted of the same crime. Even the parents of these children are in favor of the acts. The mother of the 16 year old boy who killed the Catholic priest Andrea Santoro looked at the cameras as her son was going to prison and said, "he will serve time for Allah."

The young men involved in the killing are currently in custody. Today news reported that they would be tried as terrorists, so their age would not affect the strict penalty. Assailant Emre Gunaydin is still in intensive care. The investigation centers around him and his contacts and they say will fall apart if he does not recover.

The Church in Turkey responded in a way that honored God as hundreds of believers and dozens of pastors flew in as fast as they could to stand by the small church of Malatya and encourage the believers, take care of legal issues, and represent Christians to the media.

When Susanne Tilman expressed her wish to bury her husband in Malatya, the Governor tried to stop it, and when he realized he could not stop it, a rumor was spread that "it is a sin to dig a grave for a Christian." In the end, in an undertaking that should be remembered in Christian history forever, the men from the church in Adana (near Tarsus), grabbed shovels and dug a grave for their slain brother in an un-tended hundred year old Armenian graveyard.

Ugur was buried by his family in an Alevi Muslim ceremony in his hometown of Elazig, his believing fiance watching from the shadows as his family and friends refused to accept in death the faith Ugur had so long professed and died for.

Necati's funeral took place in his hometown of Izmir, the city where he came to faith. The darkness does not understand the light. Though the churches expressed their forgiveness for the event, Christians were not to be trusted. Before they would load the coffin onto the plane from Malatya, it went through two separate xray exams to make sure it was not loaded with explosives. This is not a usual procedure for Muslim coffins.

Necati's funeral was a beautiful event. Like a glimpse of heaven, thousands of Turkish Christians and missionaries came to show their love for Christ, and their honor for this man chosen to die for Christ. Necati's wife Shemsa told the world, "His death was full of meaning, because he died for Christ and he lived for Christ… Necati was a gift from God. I feel honored that he was in my life, I feel crowned with honor. I want to be worthy of that honor."

Boldly the believers took their stand at Necati's funeral, facing the risks of being seen publicly and likewise becoming targets. As expected, the anti-terror police attended and videotaped everyone attending the funeral for their future use. The service took place outside at Buca Baptist church, and he was buried in a small Christian graveyard in the outskirts of Izmir.

Two assistant Governors of Izmir were there solemnly watching the event from the front row. Dozens of news agencies were there documenting the events with live news and photographs. Who knows the impact the funeral had on those watching? This is the beginning of their story as well. Pray for them.

In an act that hit front pages in the largest newspapers in Turkey, Susanne Tilman in a television interview expressed her forgiveness. She did not want revenge, she told reporters. "Oh God, forgive them for they know not what they do," she said, wholeheartedly agreeing with the words of Christ on Calvary (Luke 23:34).

In a country where blood-for-blood revenge is as normal as breathing, many many reports have come to the attention of the church of how this comment of Susanne Tilman has changed lives. One columnist wrote of her comment, "She said in one sentence what 1000 missionaries in 1000 years could never do."

The missionaries in Malatya will most likely move out, as their families and children have become publicly identified as targets to the hostile city. The remaining 10 believers are in hiding. What will happen to this church, this light in the darkness? Most likely it will go underground. Pray for wisdom, that Turkish brothers from other cities will go to lead the leaderless church. Should we not be concerned for that great city of Malatya, a city that does not know what it is doing? (Jonah 4:11)

When our Pastor Fikret Bocek went with a brother to give a statement to the Security Directorate on Monday they were ushered into the Anti-Terror Department. On the wall was a huge chart covering the whole wall listing all the terrorist cells in Izmir, categorized. In one prominent column were listed all the evangelical churches in Izmir. The darkness does not understand the light. "These that have turned the world upside down are come hither also." (Acts 17:6)

Please pray for the Church in Turkey. "Don't pray against persecution, pray for perseverence," urges Pastor Fikret Bocek.

The Church is better having lost our brothers; the fruit in our lives, the renewed faith, the burning desire to spread the gospel to quench more darkness in Malatya …all these are not to be regretted. Pray that we stand strong against external opposition and especially pray that we stand strong against internal struggles with sin, our true debilitating weakness.

This we know. Christ Jesus was there when our brothers were giving their lives for Him. He was there, like He was when Stephen was being stoned in the sight of Saul of Tarsus.

Someday the video of the deaths of our brothers may reveal more to us about the strength that we know Christ gave them to endure their last cross, about the peace the Spirit of God endowed them with to suffer for their beloved Savior. But we know He did not leave their side. We know their minds were full of Scripture strengthening them to endure, as darkness tried to subdue the unsubduable Light of the Gospel. We know, in whatever way they were able, with a look or a word, they encouraged one another to stand strong. We know they knew they would soon be with Christ.

We don't know the details. We don't know the kind of justice that will or will not be served on this earth.

But we pray-- and urge you to pray-- that someday at least one of those five boys will come to faith because of the testimony in death of Tilman Geske, who gave his life as a missionary to his beloved Turks, and the testimonies in death of Necati Aydin and Ugur Yuksel, the first martyrs for Christ out of the Turkish Church.

Reported by Darlene N. Bocek (24 April 2007)

-.-.-.-.-.-.-

Please please please pass this on to as many praying Christians as you can, in as many countries as you can. Please always keep the heading as "From the Protestant Church of Smyrna" with this contact information: izmirprotestan@gmail.com // http://www.izmirprotestan.org

well, writing has commenced...Album numero 2...mostly lyrics and scratch tracks is the name of the game right now...
here we go again...hold on to your hats. Please note the amp...along with Camie who is hiding for fear for her life from our dog...

pics coming today...


here are some pics from our latest adventures...they include, a cute pic of our sweet little friend Tyler, playing @ a ritzy little country club, Baxter nosing through the trash, our new terrified kitty Camie, and the winter Blast!!!!! that hit San Antonio recently...and Jack

well another one of my best friends is leaving...last night we played one more worship set with Josh Lee, and I'm sad, but thrilled that he's venturing off to new things...Josh is moving to Jacksonville Florida with his wife, and he's gonna hold it down on the east coast...

may Christ lead, and you chase...love you much brother, I'm gonna miss you sorely...

much love, respect, and music,

R



ps--- Passion 05 ;)



Currently Listening:
David Crowder Band
Illuminate
Open Skies

This is cool, Vows, the song I wrote for my wife and sung at our wedding made a top ten love song list on this review website...Click Here to take a look :)
Trying to Get This Right: Andrew Osenga

I Hate Everything (But You): Derek Webb

The Way We Mend: Bebo Norman

Faithful Man: Ryan Long

Vows: Ryan Fonseca

Icicles: Jonah Werner

Song of Songs: Late Tuesday

Melting: Riley Armstrong

Stephanie’s Song: Denbigh Cherry

Joined at the Heart: Kevin Lawson





Happy Love Songs to you

peace

r

fun day here in the fonseca house...good day to make music and wrestle with the dog...
my wife is kind enough to kiss my funky cd cover...and our Bax's(our dog) house froze all over...our plants froze, and.......behold....The touring van!! at least the front of it, and it's a bit frozen too, please don't laugh at our funky van, we hold it very dear to our hearts.

Stay warmy!

r

well this is a special that google is running in collaboration with Independent Bands.
Google is taking off 10 bucks off of cd's that are $10 or more, and all you have to do is use google checkout, kinda like their version of paypal....so we beg of you to help us get the word out about this, and send them all a runnin to this Independent Bands.com link and purchase lots of cd's for only a silly $2.98!!

thanks for your help and support :)

before we get on with the blog, here are some pics from recently...we went to a melodrama my brother starred in and first pic up there in one of the opening acts from that evening, very funny(not my brother)
next Colton and Tiff(his wife), next is me and my birthday cake, next is all of us that night...now....




















2006 was a great year, here are some highlights:

Celebrated a year of marriage
Got a dog
Bought a house
Released my first album
Bought a smokin hot tour van(94 Chevy Sports Van)
Got a website
pushed nearly a 1000 cd's!!!(small for some, huge for me)
went to NYC (vacation)
went to Chicago (conference)
worship @ OHC nearly every weekend and wednesday

here are some lowlights:
my uncle died
my dog is hyperactive
mortgage payment


so I mention all this not to boast, of course not, or sulk...I mention all this for my sake mostly...cause if all this was taken away, low and high, if all was stripped away, I'd have Christ, my best friend, Lover of my stubborn soul, Dad to a wandering child, Friend to faithless friend...and that's all that really matters, right? for me and you, that if all the highs and lows were taken away, we'd have Christ...he's the most important, seems that when things are right with him, there's peace...

so...cheers and here's to an outstanding 07, I'm so excited for what's about to happen...

r

Currently listening:
Gnarles Barkley
Crazy