Category Archives: Words and Music

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Who cares if you sing truth to a kid? Especially if it’s a very young kid. Because they’re not even gonna know or care if it’s true or not anyway right? They’ll just trust you. Or whatever grown up is in charge.

Bingo! That right there is why you should sing truth to a kid.

Well, at least if singing to, and with, a kid is part of your approach to spending quality time together. But if it’s not, then you can at least talk truth to a kid. Because, no matter, what truth matters. Or maybe I should say THE truth matters.

And here’s the main reason why I say that.

Because THE truth makes them free and gives them hope. But you know what doesn’t do any of that? Being taught that we all just got here by chance. That we all just crawled out of the ocean and started our happy journey toward turning into human beings. That’s right boys and girls. You used to be slime. Then you were a fish. Then you were a monkey. And finally, you were a brilliant human. And everyone lived happily ever after.

The trouble with all that stinkin’ thinkin’ is that it teaches kids to believe they’re just another animal. And you know how animals are. Whatever they feel like doing they do. Including having sex right out in the open. Going to the bathroom wherever they feel like it. And even eating other animals alive.

So I made it a mission of mine to sing truth to kids (from 3 to 103).

Because I want everybody to have hope. It’s good to know that you were made in the image and likeness of God. And it’s mighty nice to realize there’s a paradise waiting for you when your time here on earth is over.

Who knows? Maybe if most people knew that, there wouldn’t be so many dark, apocalyptic movies. Maybe there would be a lot more happy ending movies and TV shows. And maybe, now this is a big maybe, positive respectful language could be the norm. And most F-bombs and other filthy talk would just fade away.

I remember, from several years ago, a couple of people we know using foul language around their kids. And Elgielene asked them why they did that. And the mom said “They’re gonna learn it somewhere.”

That’s probably true. But it doesn’t mean they have to learn it in at home. And certainly not from their own parents. Yeesh

I’d rather help little kids grow up, knowing the one true, living, loving creator of the universe will never leave them nor forsake them. And help them have the hope of a glorious, perfect eternal life. So I write that message. And I sing that message. And I share that message just about every chance I get.

Like I did in this lullaby from my Bedtime Buckaroos  lullaby songs collection:

Music Pajamas

It’s time…to let the daylight fly
Away, but we don’t have to cry
Because…another day will dawn real soon.
So smile…and say a sweet goodnight.
They won’t, if you’ll just slip into this tune.

And wear your music pajamas.
And sing the songs of your mamas
Because they gave you a life of your own.
Through all the cartoons and dramas…
Through all the triumphs and traumas…
Slip on your music pajamas,
And know that God is on His throne.
And you’re never all alone. 

Night winds…float down from falling stars.
Lights blink…from Jupiter and Mars.
They bounce…across the water on the grass.
Inside…you’re in a soft cocoon
Of down…the color of the moon.
Dreams come…when you just let the sandman pass.

Chorus

© 2011 Tony Funderburk

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Molotov cocktails. And my original music. What do they have in common? Boulder, Colorado.

Maybe you already read about that terrorist in Boulder Colorado today.

He actually tossed Molotov cocktails into a crowd and burned people. And if we had an actual justice system in America, he would be put to death early tomorrow morning. But don’t hold your breath for that.

So, let’s not focus on the dark side of this Boulder, Colorado connection. Because I believe you’ll find it much more enjoyable to watch a video of one of my songs.

It’s a song called “Feed Me”. And it was actually played on KBCO, a radio station in Boulder, Colorado. This was way back in 1989 when I lived in Lakewood, Colorado, a suburb of the Denver Metro area. KBCO featured it in a segment they called “Home Grown”. Little did they know what they were playing.  😉 Anyway…hope you get a kick out of it…

The lyrics go by pretty fast in the video. So here they are just in case you wanna follow along:

Feed Me

I don’t wanna leave this moment.
I don’t wanna get to the future.
And I don’t wanna find out I was wrong.
I just wanna be successful.
And I don’t wanna be a failure.
I want more of what can keep me strong.
If I leave it up to you, will you show me what to do.
If I give my total trust, will you wash away the dust, and

Feed me…keep me alive.
Yeah, feed me…give me the drive…feed me.
Feed me…open my eyes
Feed me…conquer the lies…feed me.

I don’t wanna be alone now.
And I don’t wanna live in a dark cloud.
I need to know the light is just ahead.
I don’t wanna be an old man,
But I don’t wanna be a young man.
I just wanna be me till I’m fed.
If I leave it up to you, will you show me what to do.
If I give my total trust, will you wash away the dust, and

Chorus…long instrumental…repeat chorus to end

© 1989 Tony Funderburk

Get my Tony’s Daily Devotional . Because the flashes of light I share on my website come directly to your inbox. So you can spend your valuable time reading instead of searching. And, to show my sincere appreciation for your time and attention, I’ll send you download links to books and music, right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies.

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Read the following list of names and see if you can tell me what the common denominator is with them.

– Ferguson’s suicide-by-cop Michael Brown
– Aurora theater murderer James Holmes
– Islamic Boston Bomber Dzhokhar Tsarnaev
– Miami cannibal Rudy Eugene
– Trayvon Martin
– Baltimore’s Freddie Gray
– Vegas Strip murderer Lakeisha Holloway
– Planned Parenthood shooter Robert Lewis Dear
– Infamous murderer Jodi Arias
– Devin Kelley murdered 26 at church massacre
– Chattanooga’s Islamic terrorist Muhammad Abdulazeez
– Tucson massacre mass murderer Jared Lee Loughner, and many more including:
– Japan’s pothead legalization activist Satoshi Uematsu killed 19 handicapped people
– England’s Manchester jihadist Salman Abedi killed 22
– France’s Bastille Day jihadist killed 86 at the beach.

Do you know the common denominator?

And for those of you who attended public school in the last 20 years, do you even know what a common denominator is? I’m not asking that question to publicly ridicule you. It’s a legitimate question because public schools don’t tend to teach beyond feelings anymore. Mathematical terms, like common denominator, aren’t common in your everyday feelings and emotions. So, why spend any time teaching something nobody’s gonna use anyway? Right?

Well, let’s get back to that list. Yeah, all the people on that list have something in common. It’s something other than the fact that they murdered people. They all have a substance in common. And that substance is pot. Weed. Wacky tobacky. Now, if you love your smoke, just can’t live without it, and you know you would never murder anybody, you probably would rather I would just move on to and talk about something else. And in fact, I don’t tend to talk about marijuana all that much here on my website or in my newsletter or podcast.

The only reason I brought it up now is because someone recently mentioned how it might help my recovery process from the recent stroke I went through. I suppose their recommendation came from a place of “good intentions.” But, when someone recommends mari jane’s can o’ biscuits or products related to those, I immediately think they just haven’t read enough about it to make a good decision. At least I hope that’s all it is.

I’ve read and watched enough to know that pot ain’t the way to go.

Of course, if you’ve followed me here for a while, you know, I’m not a fan of pharmaceuticals either. But generally speaking, they have more guidelines and monitoring in place for the dosage you get. Plus, you can find all kinds of information about the side effects that come with them. And most people don’t wanna talk about side effects from lighting up those little smoky joysticks. Especially when one of the side effects can be murder.

I don’t like the way the left side of my body feels (or should I say doesn’t feel) at this point. But I’m not willing to sacrifice mental acuity for a false and temporary “warm glow.”

And I’m grateful to God for keeping me on that path throughout my life. That saved me a lot of money. And it also kept me from a potentially destructive lifestyle that could’ve been way worse than a stroke.

If you’d like to know a lot more about how harmful weed can be, let me know. And I’ll send you a link to some excellent peer reviewed information. It’s the same page where I got the list of names above.

See how many drug references you can find in the lyrics to this song I wrote way back in the 80s:

Nothin’s Gonna Happen To You

Well you’re human and it’s hum-drum
So you find yourself in front of a screen
The remote control slowly takes its toll
Then you’re thumbing through a magazine
Years a go you had to know
You had to stand out brave and true
You said, “Don’t wait for nothin’, or
Nothin’s gonna happen to you”.

You were Ghengis Khan and Napoleon
You were king of cool to all your friends
But the juggernaut fell into the pot
And so this is how the story ends
But I have to know what could change you so
I have to see what cut you through
And don’t tell me nothin’, or
Nothin’s gonna happen to you

Why the empty stare…nothin’ nothin’
Tension in the air…nothin’ nothin’
You just can’t admit…you’re too mortal to conquer it
And nothin’s gonna happen to you

Well, it’s so posh how you whitewash
And the truth starts falling through the crack
So your winter scheme is a broken dream

And the pieces stab you in the back
Time gone by can make you cry
And the tears can freeze inside your heart
But don’t obsess in that icy mess
Blow the danger and the pleasure apart
On the inner side it feels like a ride
And you rollercoast into the sky
But the outer side shows the demon lied
Give him anything to keep you high
Years from now they’ll wonder how
How it ever got to you
And I’ll just say “nothin’
Nothin’ ever happened to you.”

Get my Tony’s Daily Devotional . Because then the flashes of light I share on my website come directly to your inbox. And that means you can spend your valuable time reading instead of searching. Plus., to show my sincere appreciation for your time and attention, I’ll send you download links to books and music, right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies.

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Yes, miracles are real. And I believe God can manifest one anytime He wants or desires. Are you with me so far? Well, get ready to jump off this train. Because I’m about to make a stop where many, if not most, Christians (and pretty much everybody else) don’t wanna go.

Miracles are real. But God isn’t using them right now.

And that’s mostly because He observed how miracles don’t tend to change hearts. And the most important example of that is the miracle of the resurrection of Jesus. He literally predicted He would rise from the dead in three days, then He did, and there were lots of eyewitnesses. But to this day, 2000 years later, most people in the world don’t wanna believe in a miracle, don’t wanna hear about it, and prefer to mock anyone who does. Jesus also predicted it would be that way:

He said,”If they do not hear Moses and the prophets, neither will they be persuaded though one rise from the dead.”

I found this definition of the word miracle in my digital dictionary: a surprising and welcome event that is not explicable by natural or scientific laws and is therefore considered to be the work of a divine agency: (the miracle of rising from the grave.) It’s interesting how they used the rising from the grave example.

Anyway…

The reason I bring it up is because of my current, and recent handicapped status. I’ve been dealing with it about five or six weeks now. And not once have I prayed for a healing miracle. As I’ve already said, it’s not because I don’t believe miracles are real. And it’s not because I don’t have enough faith that God could heal me.

I still pray the way I did before I had a stroke. Each prayer is a message of thanks for the multitude of blessings. I receive every day. Blessings I receive in spite of my human selfishness.

I do ask God to give me strength.

And I ask Him to help me to lean on His love through each and every step of my recovery process, however long it takes. That kind of prayer focuses on my relationship with Him instead of the wondrous things He can do. And the more I read Paul’s letters, the more I believe those are the kinds of prayers. God prefers from us. The prayers that show we want Him to be with us no matter what. The prayers that acknowledge, just as He told Paul, His grace is sufficient.

So, even if the left side of my body never fully recovers, I’m gonna bask in that grace, knowing that one day I’ll receive a flawless, new, glorified body that will never suffer this kind of stuff again.

And that reminds me of a song I wrote, seven years ago, for a young man who bravely fought a battle against cancer. He lost the battle, but he praised the Lord. So I know he’s in paradise forever. Here are the lyrics:

Jeremiah’s Prayer

I don’t deserve your healing Lord.
But you deserve my praise.
Your great name and your Word
Will lift me up and fill my days.
Oh Lord, please give me strength
So I can fight this battle well”
And courage even satan will
Remember down in hell.

You’re the breath in my lungs.
And you’re the song upon my tongue.
You’re the source of life no doubters can erase.
And through sickness and health,
Lord I consecrate myself
And I just can’t wait to see you face to face.

No one deserves your healing Lord.
But you deserve our praise.
Your great name and your Word
Will lift us up and fill our days,
If we will look to you for strength
And courage to declare
The love and Truth about You
Found in Jeremiah’s prayer.

© 2018 Tony Funderburk

Get my Tony’s Daily Devotional . Because the flashes of light I share on my website come directly to your inbox. So you can spend your valuable time reading instead of searching. And, to show my sincere appreciation for your time and attention, I’ll send you download links to books and music, right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies.

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1977. I remember that year like it was, well, day before yesterday. But it was almost 50 years ago. Wow. And that’s the year NASA launched Voyager 1 into space. And that little spaceship is still traveling through space. In fact, I just read a cool, short blurb about it. The headline said…

Voyager 1: A Time Capsule Still Exploring The Cosmos

They followed that up with…

Over 15 billion miles from Earth, Voyager 1 runs on 69 KB of memory, an 8-track tape recorder, and code written in FORTRAN. It’s controlled using 50-year-old blueprints and takes 22 hours to receive a single command.

Why it still works?

  • Rugged, radiation-hardened parts
  • Simple, reliable design
  • Backup systems
  • Engineers who think like it’s 1977

And they finished up the blurb with “A true marvel of human ingenuity.”

Then, they showed a rendered picture (because there aren’t photographers snapping shots of it) of Voyager 1 superimposed over a backdrop of the Milky Way.

And as I checked out the picture, I thought about what the “great minds” of aerospace, in their ongoing search for extraterrestrial intelligence, would say if something that simple wandered into Earth’s orbit.

No doubt, they’d be all a-flutter. And they’d rave on about finally finding proof of other intelligent life “out there.”

Because they’re goo goo gaga over a spaceship in the cosmos.

But the cosmos?

Not so much. Naw, it’s just a big bunch of space to explore. Oh sure, they love to bandy their big numbers around. This is 2 trillion light years away from that. And the speed of light is 299,792,458 meters per second. And how the largest black holes in the universe are more than 70-80 billion times bigger than the sun.

But those YUGE numbers are mostly to reinforce their big bang skewed idea that there MUST be other intelligent life “out there.”

And that’s ironic, since the cosmos, itself, is the evidence.

Yeesh.

Little Voyager 1 runs on a fraction of one megabyte of memory. That’s tiny. The whole spaceship wouldn’t even be a fraction of a dimple in God’s smile. But people are amazed at how it can still operate all those miles from Earth. And they’re so impressed with engineers who could design such an amazing thing.

And that awestruck amazement runs through brains that are exponentially more complex. Brains so complex they can run a system of systems, your body, even while you’re asleep and not even consciously aware of it.

But that’s just the start.

Because your body lives on a planet ideally suited for human life. And that planet is part of solar system that runs consistently and dependably through the galaxy.

And the galaxy moves consistently and dependably through the universe. A universe (aka: the cosmos) that is observably stable enough to contain everything in it. A universe that’s the ultimate sign of intelligent life. And design.

Design ALWAYS points to a designer.

I’m not foolish enough to look at the big, beautiful sky, day or night, and say there is no God and that it all happened by chance. Sadly, most people ARE that foolish.

I know just about all my listeners and readers aren’t that foolish. So, I urge you to not give up on those who are. Because their eternal souls depend on us sharing the hope of the power of God’s love. And the power of that love made eternal life available to all.

If you’re like a little Voyager 1, traveling through the vast space of non-believing or skeptical people, remember, you have WAY more than 69 kilobytes of memory to draw from. You can use your incredibly complex brain to tap into the infinite source of Life. So, ask God to help you increase your knowledge, understanding, and wisdom.

Then, remember, you are…

In This World But Not Of It

I’m in this world but not of it.
I like this life but don’t love it.
My Savior rises above it.
I’m in this world but not of it.

This world can beat me up.
But this world is not my home.
I have a finer place where I will forever roam.

This world’s no easy street.
This world is not so nice.
It costs a lot to leave, but my Father paid the price.

So: (Chorus)

This world has lots of love,
But this world is filled with hate.
One day it won’t be so, and so I can hardly wait.

This world has moans and groans.
This world has aches and pain,
But soon even this shall pass, Jesus the King will reign.

Chorus…inst…chorus 3 times

© 2008

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It sounds silly when you say it out loud over and over. Try it. Gimme Gimme Gimme. In case you’re not familiar with what the word is (I can only imagine who wouldn’t be), it’s pronounced like you’re saying give me, but in a fast, slang way. Clear? Good.

Now, Gimme Gimme Gimme what’s mine.

And what’s yours is mine. Just kidding. Sorta. OK, I gotta get to the point. Because I’m not one of those knuckleheads who grew up thinking I “deserve better.” Or more. Nope. I’m not that kind of entitled. But there are some gimme gimme gimme’s that I DO wanna make known.

As I write this, it’s Sunday. And I haven’t been the praise and worship leader in a church for a long time. But when I was I wrote a couple of “Give Me” songs. And I’m just gonna share the lyrics with you today and hope they bless you in some way. (psst…if you’re subscribed to the The Power of God’s Love Podcast podcast, you’ll be able to hear ’em)

Give Me The Whole Jesus

Oh give me love…give me justice…
Give me Grace and the strength to endure.
When the world comes against me,
Give me Your Spirit steadfast and sure.

Give me words…give me courage…
And give me time and a powerful voice.
And when many still may hate me,
Give me Your love and I’ll always rejoice.

Give me the whole Jesus;
The whole Good Lord…
The One who shields the child…
The One who wields the sword.
Give me the whole Jesus
Son of God and man…
‘Cause only Jesus saves…
And only Jesus can! Only Jesus can! Only Jesus can!

Then give me dreams…give me wisdom…
Give me peace at the end of my days.
And give me life…everlasting…
In Your world and in Your higher ways.

Chorus

© 2010

Give Me What I Deserve

You gave me life…
Gave me love, and gave me freedom.
You took my sins…
And You nailed ‘em, and You beat ‘em…

‘Cause this person who you bought never had the nerve.
So I’m glad that you did not…
Give me what I deserve.

You gave me hope,
Gave me bread and living water.
You gave your blood…
When I led you to the slaughter.

But you never even fought or let your focus swerve.
And I’m glad that you did not…
Give me what I deserve.

Lord, don’t give me…what I deserve.
If I stand in the middle of the road,
Nudge me to Your side.
Lord, don’t give me…what I deserve…
‘Cause I’m the reason and the cause
Why Jesus died…But then He rose again!

You gave me joy…
Gave Your word you’d leave me never.
You gave Your life so that I could live forever.

And on this earthly azure dot I can choose to serve.
So I’m glad that you did not…
Give me what I deserve.

© 2010

Get my Tony’s Daily Devotional . Then, the flashes of light I share on my website come directly to your inbox. So you can spend your valuable time reading instead of searching. And, to show my sincere appreciation for your time and attention, I’ll send you download links to books and music, right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies.

Daily Devotional

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Tony Funderburk Posted on by

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A social media friend of mine shared a link to a video of John Wayne throwing a kid into deep creek. Actually it was John Wayne playing the title character from the movie, Hondo. And the movie was based on the book, by the same name, written by Louis L’Amour. His books were partly the products of imagination and largely a part of Mister L’amour’s exceptional ability to visualize terrain. I didn’t know that before today.

No, his storytelling skill wasn’t just a product of imagination.

But his books are fictional accounts of the old west. In fact, if you bring up the subject of old west fiction, anyone who’s lived more than two or three decades will almost immediately think of Louis L’Amour.

My friend’s reference nudged me to do a little research on Louis’ visualization skills. I discovered this:

~ His knack for describing landscapes wasn’t just a product of imagination. It was deeply rooted in his real-life experiences and meticulous research. L’Amour traveled extensively across the American West, working jobs like cowboy, miner, and lumberjack, which gave him firsthand knowledge of the rugged landscapes he later depicted. He walked the trails, climbed the mountains, and crossed the deserts he wrote about. And he absorbed the details that brought his settings to life. ~

And I saw a snippet that mentioned Hondo specifically. It said:

~ For instance, in novels like Hondo, the terrain isn’t just a backdrop; it’s a character. And it helps shape the plot and the people in it as much character descriptions and dialogue. ~

Apparently Louis L’Amour could paint a mental picture of a canyon’s twists or a river’s flow so clearly that readers felt they could navigate it themselves. And that was a result of his habit of studying maps, hanging out in locations, talking to old-timers, and even sketching landscapes to lock them into memory.

L’Amour said he could “see” a place in his mind before writing about it.

He said he’d “mentally walk through it.” And that’s how he could visualize the sun’s angle, the scrub brush’s texture, or how a horse’s hooves would kick up dust on a dry ridge.

But there’s nothing mystical about his talent. He honed his skills by actually living in those kinds of places. And he had a genuine, lifelong curiosity about the land’s history and geology. Plus he photographed locations and studied the pictures to double-check his mental images of them. And he researched historical records to be sure his stories were accurate and authentic.

I guess his imagination and ability to visualize stories was pretty good. Because he wrote over a 120 books. Not to mention (but I will) all his short stories and other writings. And plenty of those were turned into big screen, and even made-for-TV, movies.

Sure, that’s all impressive. But I always “see” something else at work when I read or hear about “special skills.” And I know they aren’t just a “product of imagination” or “ability to visualize.” Those talents are gifts from God. And no matter how amazing they might seem, they’re just a shadow of what God wants for us.

Paul put it this way: “For now we see in a mirror, dimly, but then face to face. Now I know in part, but then I shall know just as I also am known.”

In the chorus of my song, Perfect Point of View, I visualized it this way:

I fly…till tangled thoughts untie,
Up where my dreams are all true blue.
So high…ideas electrify
And charge a perfect point of view.

And one day, sooner than you might imagine, the Lord of creation is gonna give everyone who loves Him that perfect point of view. I, to that, I say “Hi yo, Hondo! Let’s go!”

Be sure you subscribe to my Tony’s Daily Devotional . Because these flashes of light I share on my website come directly to your inbox. Then, you can spend your valuable time reading instead of searching. And, to show my sincere appreciation for your time and attention, I’ll send you download links to books and music, right away. Kids from 3 to 103 can enjoy these fun goodies.

Daily Devotional

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