Category Archives: Tony Funderburk

Tony Funderburk is THE Rhyme and Reason author, singer-songwriter. He’s written and published 30+ books for kids and adults in addition to scores of articles. And he’s composed hundreds of songs (and a couple of books) for businesses and loyal listeners.

Tens of thousands of families have enjoyed and supported his recorded music and live performances for many years. Tony believes our existence is a beautiful gift from God to each of us, including our gifts and talents.

So, we should use them to create and serve others. When you tune in to Tony Funderburk’s The Power of God’s Love Podcast, you’ll get rhymes, reasons, and songs delivered to your inbox for free. AND click here to get free songs and a book right away. And Click here to learn more about Tony’s story.

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They, whoever they are, say that patience is a virtue. But I’ll let you in on a little secret. I have a lot of room for improvement in that area. How ’bout you? If so, what if I told you God is willing and can help you be patient?

Interested?

First, I bet you don’t always lett God help you be patient with all. Because you’re human. And you fail and fall. Just has all the rest of us do. So, believe me, I’m telling myself this same stuff, too. Because I need to hear it as much as anybody (and more than a lot of people).

Sure, patience is a virtue. But can too much hurt you?

Here’s a little rabbit trail sort of on that question.

Colorado legalized pot back in 2014. And I drove on Colorado highways, a lot, for 30 years. But something I noticed, after they legalized pot, was the scent of pot coming through the vents and windows of my pickup just about everywhere I drove. And it wafted through the air during walks through the neighborhoods. And that includes the so-called “nice” neighborhoods.

If you’re a dope smoker, here’s a statistic I’m sure you won’t care about. But it’s still true. When you smoke weed, your reaction time is significantly slower. Sorry to be such a killjoy, but da facts is facts.

And that means the minority of us who don’t smoke pot have to just be patient with those who do. We have to tolerate the nuisance of the smell, the slow reaction times, and every other negative thing that comes with it.

But I can’t be that patient without God’s help.

I had to deal with what I call “drifters” as I made my way across town or across the state. I’m talking about drivers who couldn’t seem to be deliberate in their actions. They’d drift into different lanes. Or they seemed to have to make up their mind about turning. And then sort of drift around the corner. And if I added up all the time I waited on those drivers to respond to the changing lights, I could possibly add a few days to my life.

That’s what I mean about me lacking patience. And about needing God’s help.

(side note: those drifters are in every state, even here in “conservative” Florida)

OK, I know there are lots of reasons people resort to smoking pot. They use excuses like pain, depression, or physical “conditions”. And they’ll say a guy like me, who never smoked pot, will never understand. On some level, I suppose that’s correct. But I DO know that inhaling smoke of any kind is not a better answer than real foods, fresh air, sunshine, and plenty of good water.

You should read about the real harm weeds does to you.

But if you’re a pothead, you probably won’t. So, I’ll just have to…

“Be patient. Be wary. Sing songs and be merry.
Then focus your attention on more than this world’s dimension”
(excerpt from the lyrics to my song, “Worldliness”)

If you’d rather get high on the power of God’s love, let’s stay connected. It’s super easy. Here’s how:

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I share my rhymes and reasons based on the power of God’s love. And, I’ll send you download links to music and The Very First 6 Days (a rhyming book for kids about the creation week) right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies. Just add your email to the form and let’s connect right away.

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Yeah, you might be one of the best and brightest minds of our time. But when you trust in yourself to do the right thing, all that intelligence flies out the window.

There’s a great Proverb that says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, And lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge Him, And He shall direct your paths.” Because the allure of this world is so powerful, you and I need supernatural help. Fortunately it’s abundantly available. Even though many would have you believe all hope is lost.

Hope is not out the window.

Nope, it springs eternal when you trust in the one true, living, loving eternal Creator of Heaven, Earth, and you. Yeah, He made you, too. So He knows what makes you tic better than the finest Swiss watch. Don’t just trust in your own limited knowledge, and become your own worst enemy in the process. Instead, admit that maybe God knows the best way for you to live your life?

The first step is to admit you have a problem.

You’ve heard that line from the 12 step program for alcoholics. And it’s true for just about anything wrong in your life. Not just drinking. So, no matter what issues you’re dealing with, admit you have a problem that you can’t overcome on your own. Then ask God for help. And get back on the path He made.

I’ve heard some Christians use that Proverb I mentioned earlier to say God is in control.

They say, “See? He shall direct your paths.”

And that’s not the meaning at all. Sure God shows you the right way to go. But He won’t MAKE you go there. Because He wants you to have freedom to choose. And that’s why He equipped you with AI.

Actual Intelligence. Don’t toss it out the window for some pagan Greek philosophy.

Intelligent design and DNA,
Scholars can’t explain it all away.
Get ready to be awed
By the handiwork of God.

If this didn’t make you wanna toss me out the window, let’s stay connected. It’s super easy. Here’s how:

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It’s good stuff based on the power of God’s love. And, I’ll send you download links to music and The Very First 6 Days (a rhyming book for kids about the creation week) right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies. Just add your email to the form and let’s connect right away.

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I’ve talked about Nilsson, a songwriter favorite of mine, before. He was a popular singer with some very catchy songs. One of my favorite songs by him was called “Without You.” And the main line of the chorus said, “Can’t live, if living is without you.” If I tell you that the song reminds me of the building blocks of DNA, you might think I’m tetched in the head, as they used to say. But I promise I didn’t sit out in the sun, at the beach, too long.

Of course, Harry Nilsson wasn’t singing about the building blocks of DNA.

But the concept of one thing needing another thing to even live is in that song. And that’s kinda what the building blocks of DNA show us.

You’ve heard me talk about DNA (if you’ve listened to The Rhyme and Reason Podcast), or you’ve read some of the things I’ve written about it here on the blog. Right? And maybe you’ve heard me mention how proteins are the building blocks for DNA. Yes? Alright then. It’s important to talk about them both at the same time. Because DNA and proteins are each a dependent variable for the other.

And like the lyrics to an old song about love and marriage say, “you can’t have one without the other.” But they’re separate components.

So, do you realize what the means?

One couldn’t evolve without the other. One component couldn’t simply wait however long it took for the other to evolve into something useful. Because each one is too complex. It just simply couldn’t happen. But being designed in place at the same time by the most brilliant scientist in existence makes perfect sense.

I just watched a video that featured Seth Godin, a well-known author and marketing dude. And I really enjoyed this following quote. He said…

“Make things better by making better things.”

Well, you know who does that better than anybody and everybody else? You guessed ‘er Chester. God. And He designed proteins to do things like decode, store, transcribe, assemble, and protect. As a matter of fact one protein, known simply as p53, stifles cancer and protects DNA. So, how could DNA have ever survived some lengthy evolutionary process without p53 being there from the beginning? Short answer (and the only right one). It couldn’t.

There are intangible reasons why I trust Jesus to be my savior and creator. His love and goodness and righteousness immediately leap to mind. But I believe it’s important to share tangible, scientific evidence for God’s existence in this day and age. Because more and more people think science doesn’t require God. And actually quite the opposite is true.

And you’re a dependent variable whether you like it or not.

You wouldn’t exist if it weren’t for the one, true, living, loving Creator. It’s scientifically, mathematically, and statistically impossible that the complexity found in your 30 trillion cells could have happened and function so well simply by chance.

And I don’t know why anyone would prefer it to be another way. Oh wait, yes I do. Because most people would rather be their own selfish god. Why serve, when you can be served? Right?

I invite and encourage you to look into the mountains and oceans of evidence for creation and the building blocks of DNA. I bet you’ll discover much more than reasons. You’ll discover love deeper and fuller than you can ever imagine. And here’s a related question for you. Why would you not want that kind of love?

And something inside you too tiny to see
Says you will be you and never be me.
It was God who designed it and made it that way.
He gave you a code, and it’s called DNA.  (From You Need)  © 2016 TF

If this at least boosted your curiosity, let’s stay connected. It’s super easy. Here’s how:

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It’s good stuff based on the power of God’s love. And, I’ll send you download links to music and The Very First 6 Days (a rhyming book for kids about the creation week) right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies. Just add your email to the form and let’s connect right away.

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This morning I recalled when the accelerator cable on my awesome pickup, Ol’ Blue, broke. That’s the kind of stuff that’ll make you ask, in exasperation, “What in the world?!” And then, when you figure it out, you might say something like: “Oh, for cryin’ out loud!” And when these things happen, they’re not some unexplainable part of God’s plan of action for you.

Broken stuff happens because of this broken world. Not God’s plan of action.

It’s eternally important to put your faith and trust in the one true, living, loving Creator of Heaven and Earth, Because He’s willing to help you in some awesome ways. And when you read Paul’s writings, in the New Testament, you discover how important it is to know this. You also see how God didn’t decree a plan of action for your life. In fact, He’s the one who can (and will) help you through and over the mistakes YOU make.

Paul said it like this: “For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace…”

When Adam and Eve sinned in the Garden, their actions literally broke the world and our spiritual connection to God. After they did that, everything changed. Everything started to break down. And things have gone downhill ever since. You can actually trace everything bad in the world back to sin. But certainly not to God. Rust, mold, slime, germs, and ultimately death, all happen because we live in a broken world. And we broke it. Not God.

So, please don’t fall for “everything is part of God’s plan.”

Sure, God has an ultimate plan of action. He will ultimately bring justice back to the world He made. And He will make a new Earth and new Heaven. But I know beyond a shadow of a doubt He didn’t break my accelerator cable to teach me some sort of spiritual lesson. He wrote a book to teach me those lessons and help me fix broken stuff. It’s called the Bible. I hope reading it is part of your regular action plan.

I’m broken, but God didn’t do it.
In fact, only He can get me through it.
He heals me with love on the inside,
And I’ll live forever because Jesus died…

And rose again!

If this landed somewhere good with you, let’s stay connected. It’s super easy. Here’s how:

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It’s good stuff based on the power of God’s love. And, I’ll send you download links to music and The Very First 6 Days (a rhyming book for kids about the creation week) right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies. Just add your email to the form and let’s connect right away.

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Today, I’m gonna share a poem I wrote that has a hidden meaning. I remember writing this, way back in the 70’s. And I remember wanting it to sound serious, classic, and important.

But I can’t remember the whole hidden meaning.

Has that ever happened to you? But I actually like that I can’t remember because it means I’ve moved on. I’ve allowed those thoughts and feelings to have their place. And now that place is in the past where they should be.

So, if you think you can come up with any hidden meaning in this poem, and any reasons for it, share your thoughts with me. Here’s the quirky poem called…

For The Love Of Remandee

On a cold and windless morning
With a magical, icy mist…
There flies a raven across a ravine.
The tips of its wings are kissed by the dawning sunlight.
It carries a message to the chateau of Cheron.
The message reads…

There lies a man
In an auburn casket
Whose heart has been stilled by the cold.
His life had its shortcomings…
He wasn’t old.
Ferry him awhile lest, by chance,
He lives again.
Be kind to the poor soul.
He died bleak and penniless.
Death stole his wealthy future.
He was to be a writer
Writing stories for the world,
But it seems apathy was a spear
Aimed at his heart and hurled.
Therefore he died of hunger to be seen.
Pity poor Remandee.

So fly splendid raven,
And end your long journey.
Give Cheron the message
For the love of Remandee.  © 1974 TF

If this landed somewhere good with you, let’s stay connected. It’s super easy. Here’s how:

Get my Rhyme and Reason Daily Devotionaldelivered to your inbox for free.

It’s good stuff based on the power of God’s love. And, I’ll send you download links to music and The Very First 6 Days (a rhyming book for kids about the creation week) right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies. Just add your email to the form and let’s connect right away.

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For about 20 years evolutionists and the media made the silly claim that human DNA and chimpanzee DNA were about 99% the same. Now keep in mind, no one had completed sequencing human DNA. And sequencing of chimpanzee DNA hadn’t even started. Sheesh. And evolutionists like to make fun of Christians for prophecy and predictions. But I guess you gotta expect such behavior from adults who believe in fairy tales and fables.

Ladies, you’re actually closer to call your man a “snake in the grass” instead of a big, dumb ape. According to evolution snakes should be more closely related to other reptiles. But a computer-based study found the genetic distance between a particular protein, cytochrome, from a snake was actually closer to the cytochrome protein from a man.

Wow! Imagine the poisonous fairy tales and fables and sci-fi movies around that.

And speaking of computer-based measuring of genetic distance, the number of organisms that have had their genes sequenced is doubling every year? So, that means our molecular information bank has increased exponentially. And on the molecular level, there’s no evidence to support the evolutionary fairy tales and fables of how life began. None.

Now, I realize Christians are just supposed to have blind faith in “a god” we “created in our own image as a crutch.” But the Christian Faith is based on so much more evidence. And that’s important because Christians place their faith and hope in someone they’ve never seen. I say He’s the one true, living, loving Creator of the universe. And the universe of evidence backs up that claim. By the way., the Bible (bestselling book of all time and only book supported by evidence almost daily) talks about evidence and how important it is.

So, don’t monkey around with evolutionary monkey business.

Even though only about 4% of human DNA differs from that of chimpanzees, that 4% represents “thirty-five million single-nucleotide changes, five million insertions or deletions, and various chromosomal rearrangements.” And the differences between the males from each species is around 30%.

See what I mean, ladies? Guys are not apes. Nope. We’re just as fearfully and wonderfully made as you. Even if we aren’t the eye candy you are. Hey, too much candy isn’t healthy anyway.

Anyway…

For more information on genetic distance and the way it relates to how we all got here, click on most of the links I just shared. They’ll take you to Dr. Walt Brown’s online book, “In The Beginning“. While you’re there, be sure and check out so many other compelling reasons to believe in the Creator rather than evolution.

And save the fairytales and fables for reading to the kids at bedtime.

In awe of all creation and how it all could be,
The fairy tale illusions increase with every year.
The wrinkled plans expand, exponentially,
Until one day, perhaps, a duck becomes a deer.   (yeah, right)
(from my song, Fast Forward)

If enjoyed this science-based shot of reality, let’s stay connected. It’s super easy. Here’s how:

Get my Rhyme and Reason Daily Devotionaldelivered to your inbox for free.

It’s good stuff based on the power of God’s love. And, I’ll send you download links to music and The Very First 6 Days (a rhyming book for kids about the creation week) right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies. Just add your email to the form and let’s connect right away.

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You might’ve heard the entrance to Heaven is some kinda pearly gates. And maybe you also heard that Saint Peter is there deciding who gets in. C’mon man. That’s just silly kid stuff.

Ol’ Pete doesn’t get to decide who comes and goes to Heaven. No more than you or me (or I) or even the manager of your local 7-Eleven or club bouncer. But he did get to be sort of a doorkeeper while he was here on earth. I’m one, too. And you can be one, too. See if you can meet the job requirements. You must…

  1. Wanna live forever
  2. Trust Jesus as the only way to live forever
  3. Be willing to share this information

So…how’d you do? Do you think the requirements are too difficult? If so, what part or parts would you change or want to be easier?

Being a doorkeeper could be the most awesome and most rewarding job you’ll ever have. You won’t get many tips (if any), but the pension plan is out of this world. In other words, the perks outweigh the jerks.

Of course, I’m not talking about being a doorkeeper for some mundane hotel, or exclusive high-rise, or even a swanky tech company. Because the best you’ll get from those jobs will be handshakes, smiles, and crossing of the palms with some crumpled cash. Big deal. You still won’t be invited to the CEO’s house for the holidays.

And it’s basically a metaphorical job beyond the entrance to heaven.

I’m talking about in the house of God. And King David wrote, in a psalm, what his thoughts were on being a doorkeeper there:

For a day in Your courts is better than a thousand. I would rather be a doorkeeper in the house of my God than dwell in the tents of wickedness.

I can tell you, from personal experience, I need the gift of grace for eternal life. Because I’ve done thing in my life I’m not proud of. And those things prove I’m not good enough, on my own, to live in God’s house. That’s why I’m so grateful I’ll be living in a Pure Place forever…thanks to Jesus. And I don’t mind being a doorkeeper to His house. Would you like to go in? Here…let me get that door for you.

If this helped open a door of understanding for you, let’s stay connected. It’s super easy.

Get my Rhyme and Reason Daily Devotionaldelivered to your inbox for free.

It’s good stuff based on the power of God’s love. And, I’ll send you download links to music and The Very First 6 Days (a rhyming book for kids about the creation week) right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies. Just add your email to the form and let’s connect right away.

Stay tuned,

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