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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13 years ago I wrote about writing for kids. And I said, “whether it’s a song, a poem, or even ebooks for kids, I often find a way to challenge them with their own lingo.” This morning I discovered Lingokids bubbles. I never heard of that before. And I’m still not sure what it’s all about.

But, so far, Lingokids bubbles videos seem cute and harmless.

Looks like they just want to encourage kids to learn their ABCs, wash their hands, and other kids stuff like that. I don’t know anything about them, so I don’t endorse them. Just looks like the typical cutesy content, you can find all over the internet.

Anyway…

You might not remember those AT&T commercials, from several years ago, where a man sat at a kids’ table and asked some kids if doing two things is better than doing one. Then, he watched the kids and their reactions, comments, and funny movements. Funny stuff.

I’ve always been that way with kids. I love to challenge their perception and perspective. And then give them goofy alternatives. The looks on their faces, as they try to process the information, is priceless.

And that’s why I enjoy writing for kids so much.

It gives me the opportunity to turn on the switch to the imagination I’ve always had but don’t always tap in to. I can be anything or go anywhere. And I can hopefully write it in a way that takes kids along for the ride. Not just cutesy, wash your hands stuff, like Lingokids bubbles.

But songs and stories where colors can have sounds. And sounds can come to life and sprout wings and fly up into clouds that turn into eyes. Then, the eyes can blink out tears that drip into pools of color. And the whole thing can start over again going in a new, fun direction.

And I look for opportunities to show kids how even our imagination comes from our loving Creator. Because I want as many kids as possible to be part of the eternal, heavenly family of God.

Then, again, sometimes, I share music that makes no sense but sounds fun. Like this goofy song…

Holla holla moolah…holla holla moolah
Holla holla moolah molay

Joppa jeepa joopah…joppa jeepa joopah
Joppa jeeppa joopah jopay

Kenna keena kyna…kenna keena kyna
Kenna keena kyna konay

Wella weela wyla…wella weela wyla
Wella weela wyla wolay

Soli Oh Yo…Soli Oh Yo Yo
Soli Ay Yi…Soli Ay yi yi
Soli Oh Soli Ay Soli Oh Soli Ay
Soli Oh Yi Oh Yi Yo    © 2013 TF

If you speak the lingo, 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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Yeah, right now is the right time to ask yourself this question…

“Am I doing what I’m doing right now because it makes me happy…or am I doing what I’m doing because I’d like to help someone else be happy.”

Either one is OK. But it’s really so much better and so much fun to help someone else.

If you only look at what makes you happy everyday, you can become selfish. And being selfish means you’ll spend even more time on what makes you happy everyday. And then you’re stuck in a circle that’s like a clock. You go ’round and ’round but never get anywhere.

So, right now is the right time to go find someone who needs a smile.

Or right after you read the short poem below. And go ahead and give them two or three smiles. If you do, they might even give you one or two back. And that makes a circle that looks like a wheel. It spins ’round and ’round and goes wherever you steer. So, steer clear.

This Minute Is

This minute is your minute.
Go ahead and jump in it.
One sparkle and one twinkle
One snowflake and one sprinkle.

Be sunny and be cheerful.
Skip worried and skip fearful.
Keep smiling and keep living.
This minute is for giving. © 2013 TF

If you prefer to live in the here and now, 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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Wow. It’s America’s 250th birthday. And I bet there’s a good chance you get to enjoy an awesome fireworks display wherever you live. I hope you also get to enjoy the company of family and friends and good food and great fun. After all, on Independence Day, 2026 you can actually sing along to Saturday In The Park by the band Chicago, and the lyrics will actually fit.

Because Independence Day 2026 falls on a Saturday!

I read somewhere that won’t happen again until the year 2037. I haven’t verified that. But it seems plausible. Because I sure don’t remember the last time it happened. And it might only mean something to boomers. But I think it’s cool.

Freedom of expression and creativity, the kind we’ve had in America for my whole life, is a big reason why happy, upbeat songs like that ever get written. But most people don’t know that our freedom didn’t start with a declaration of independence from England or a constitution.

And that’s why I take at least a moment on 4th of July to thank God for the ultimate freedom He gave us through the death and resurrection of His Son, Jesus. Yep, without that, I doubt very seriously there’d even be an America that made it to Independence Day 2026.

Here’s my song, in a video, about how truly fortunate we are to live in a country whose founding fathers recognized a dependency on our Creator for our ultimate freedom.

Happy and safe Independence Day 2026 to you. I hope and pray there will be more to come.

Faith working through love…
Let’s praise God for our liberty…
Christ paid off our debt…
Only in Him are we truly free. (lyrics from Freedom)   © 2010 TF

If you enjoy this kind of freedom, 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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My mom was not an evangelist. She wasn’t an apologist. And she was never a missionary or even someone who stayed active in a local church. But if anyone ever asked how she could believe that Jesus is a risen savior, she would just quote Henry. I heard her say, more than once, “Because He lives within my heart.”

Yeah, Henry wrote a song in 1934 that’s still sung in churches.

Now this Henry isn’t to be confused with the Henry who was my mom’s brother-in-law for a while. I guess I should share his full name. Alfred Henry Ackley. He’s the one who wrote that famous hymn…

He Lives

I serve a risen Savior, He’s in the world today;
I know that He is living, Whatever men may say;
I see His hand of mercy, I hear His voice of cheer,
And just the time I need Him He’s always near.

He lives! He lives! Christ Jesus lives today!
He walks with me, and talks with me along life’s narrow way.
He lives! He lives, salvation to impart!
You ask me how I know He lives: He lives within my heart!

In all the world around me, I see His loving care,
And though my heart grows weary I never will despair;
I know that He is leading Through all the stormy blast,
The day of His appearing will come at last!  (chorus)

Rejoice, rejoice, oh Christian, Lift up your voice and sing
Eternal hallelujahs to Jesus Christ the King!
The hope of all who seek Him, The help of all who find,
None other is so loving, So good and kind!  (chorus)

I really like how Henry composed three strong verses.

And all three illustrate how he could see evidence, so he didn’t have to just rely on a feeling. But the evidence he saw gave him such a glorious feeling in his heart he had to sing about it. And my mom couldn’t recall all the lyrics, but she sure remembered, and quoted, the last line of the chorus a lot.

I read an article that talked about how and why Henry wrote the song. Here’s a snippet from that article:

While in California in 1932, Ackley began witnessing a Jewish man who attended some of the evangelistic meetings. This young student kept saying, “Why should I worship a dead Jew?”

This bothered Ackley and it stayed on his mind. After waking early to prepare his Easter Sunday message, he was amazed to hear on the radio a famous liberal preacher in New York say, “Good morning. It’s Easter! You know, folks, it really doesn’t make any difference to me if Christ be risen or not. As far as I am concerned, His body could be as dust in some Palestinian tomb. The main thing is, His truth goes marching on!”

What the liberal preacher said on the radio made Henry so mad that he threw the radio across the room. That’s my kind of songwriter right there. And he popped up on my radar because he died on this day, July 3, back in 1960. So, I’m honored to say that he and I shared some time here on planet Earth. And I’ve sung his song more than a few times.

If you enjoy a good hymn like this, 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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Much of the world has gone mad when it comes to genders. Or maybe you’re one of the goofballs who think it’s only beginning to make sense (you’d be wrong, of course). But here’s something you can’t deny. At least not if you’re into science and reality. Men and women have major differences. And because they do you have yet another big dose of evidence against life on planet earth magically popping up from non-life.

So, three cheers for the men and women differences.

It’s amazing when you think about how the sexual reproduction systems in men and women are different. But they appear to be so made for each other. Of course, that’s a little bit tongue-in-cheek. Because they don’t just appear to be made for each other, they’re perfectly made for each other.

But just imagine the earth millions and millions of years ago (and that requires even more imagination than I have, which is ginormous). That’s when some so-called scientists say the separate reproduction systems were said to have been “evolving.” They expect us to believe that two radically different, yet highly compatible, systems could time their evolution so well. Just think about a few off the compatibility issues:

  • Physical
  • Chemical
  • Emotional
  • Environmental
  • Accidental

And not only men and women are different.

The reproduction systems in the male and female of all the other species had to have been simultaneously evolving at the same (or similar) rate and speed, too.

And then there are the plants. Don’t get me started.

You can boil it down to timing. If one or the other, of the reproduction systems in any of the species, had been off only a little, that species would quickly become extinct. The number of miraculous accidents that would require is mind-boggling. So mind-boggling, in fact, it’s impossible to calculate.

Dr. Walt Brown talks about this in more detail. And I recommend you read his book “In The Beginning.” In it you’ll discover lots more amazing and awesome reasons you can know that you know you’re created by the one true, living, loving God of all creation. It can help build your confidence and hope in the Truth.

If you don’t already have the hope of eternal life,

Then my hope is you’ll check into the scientific evidence. Yes, I’m a Christian, and I have an agenda. But it’s not to scam you or lure you into one of those churches where you’d better hold onto your wallet. My agenda is simple. I call on my vast expertise in Rhyme and Reason to share the faith, hope, love (and mountains of evidence) that comes from knowing and trusting Jesus. Especially with anyone who’s looking for better answers than evolutionary science fiction.

What does this all mean?
And why should we care
That we didn’t come from slime
And there’s a God out there?   (from my song, Fast Forward)

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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I’ve already lived longer than my Dad, his two brothers, and several other relatives and friends I’ve known. But I don’t believe I would’ve lived this long if it wasn’t for a loving wife and God’s mercy on me. I don’t want to imagine the hopelessness and depression I’d probably feel if I didn’t have my Creator to lean on, trust in, and talk to. Even if I lived to be 100, I’d still know that there’s an end.

And that’s a dark hopelessness and depression I want no part of.

Have you ever thought about why you’ve lived as long as you have? Well, I have. And I know life’s not an accident. Or a set of random processes. Yes, you and I were put here on purpose. But how did it happen? And why? And does it even matter? Should you even care or try to figure it out?

Well, you and I do things we shouldn’t do. If I decided to make a list of the those things, I’d have to dedicate every article I write and every podcast episode I record to those things. And I still wouldn’t have enough time.

But here’s the ultimate cool thing that trumps all those other things on the “bad” list: God’s mercy. He is able and willing to wipe my bad slate clean, and all I gotta do is humble myself, ask Him to, and trust that He will. And knowing that keeps hopelessness and depression from having any control over me.

God doesn’t make you and me do the bad things we do. Even though we’re here on purpose, we’re not robots. And God hasn’t planned our lives for us. He doesn’t work that way.. And most televangelists and churches tend to give the impression, to the world, that He does. But here’s what God does for you…

  • He gives you a brain and a soul.
  • And He wants to see what you’ll do with them.
  • You have freedom to love God.
  • And He even allows you to hate Him.

All that because God knows that true love must be freely given. Not coerced, cajoled, or colluded.

God’s mercy on you and me gives us more time to make a difference.

My mission, in this life, is to use rhyme and reason to share the faith, hope, and love available to anyone who wants it. Anyone who’ll ask for it.

Since I didn’t receive what I actually deserve a long time ago, I’ve been able to grow and learn more about my Creator. That gave me much more knowledge and wisdom to share with anyone and everyone who’ll listen or read. And that word, anyone, is important. Because it’s both plural and singular. Any is synonymous with all. So, you’re one of the any.

You’ll find the spirit of that word in one of the most famous Bible verses. John 3:16. Click that link and read it.

I’ll share this song, lyrics below, about God’s love and mercy in the Rhyme and Reason Podcast .

And, one more time, I avoid hopelessness and depression when I remember God didn’t give me…

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.

© Copyright Tony Funderburk 2010

If you didn’t get what you actually deserve, 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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Truly successful people will live forever.

It doesn’t matter if you can:

  • build empires,
  • become a trillionaire,
  • employ tens of thousands of people, or even
  • change the world for the better

Those things are fine. And if you’ve done, or are doing, any of them, then you’re one of the successful people. By worldly standards. But if you never trust your Creator, you will lose your soul. And that’s the complete opposite of success. That’s failure on a scale you can’t imagine.

Truly successful people also know what success isn’t.

And the main thing it isn’t is temporary.

That’s why I say the key to success can be found in 13 letters. It’s not like the DaVinci code using 13 special letters in an obscure alphabet. Far from it. In fact, no letters could be less obscure than these. You’ll find them in the bestselling book of all time.

I’m talking about the 13 letters Paul wrote to the Romans, Corinthians, Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, Colossians, Thessalonians, and Timothy, Titus, and Philemon. Over and over in those letters Paul shares the key to success. And it’s clearly trusting in Jesus to change you and give you eternal life. Not temporary wealth and influence.

Without eternal life all your efforts and influence lead to failure.

So, what are you doing to make a difference for now and forever? Do you think a new computer software, or so-called artificial intelligence, or self-driving car is gonna be a lasting legacy? Will you be able to create something so powerful the world will never forget your name? If so, I say…think again. But feel free to leave me a comment or send me a message showing me where I miss the point.

A word to the confounded,
Pour light into your eyes.
If you expect more than neglect,
Get wisdom; yeah get wise.

If you appreciate Paul’s letters, 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.

Daily Devotional

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