thought provoking thoughts Archives - Tony Funderburk

Have you ever read the list of the perils of Paul? It’s an epic list, to say the least. And it was because he shared the unvarnished, hard truth. About the only peril preachers, in probably 99% of American churches, face these days is obesity. And my guess is, that’s not because they’re sharing that same unvarnished, hard truth in God’s word. Here’s the list of the pe...

It’s summer time. And no doubt you’ve been in the garden yourself, or you know someone who has. Or you’ve been to someplace to get some of the good stuff that comes out of a garden. Right? And I can tell you, from a LOT of experience, how good it is to go into a garden to feel the dirt beneath your feet and smell the variety of scents. But you don’t go in the garden to lose...

19000 days. Yes, that’s nineteen thousand days. And that’s a lotta days. But I didn’t just pick a number off the top of my head. No, it’s the approximate number of days I’ve written poetry. Some might say that’s a huge waste of a large number of days. To those I say, “Ouch. You hurt both my feelings.” So, the number of days also closely represents th...

Why are there so many people hell-bent on the destruction and torment of other people? It’s like the world is literally filling up with slime from Satan’s cup. And you don’t even have to watch the “six o’clock news” to see and hear it anymore. Because the internet, a bag of tricks for those on the dark side, has billions of channels you can tune into 24/7/365. A...

They’re everywhere. In almost every household. Certainly in every politician’s office. And in the heads of most every kind of person there is. From young graduates to old tyrants. Big plans. For good. And not so good. And downright evil. Big plans and dreams are fine. If you’d like to achieve and receive awards, scholastic achievements, and trophies, there’s nothing inheren...

God? Or environmentalists? Where is your trust? Let’s say God told you something like, “While the earth remains, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, winter and summer, and day and night shall not cease.”Would you believe Him? Or do you put your faith in those who’ve been incorrectly predicting “the end” of humanity for decades? Um…I’ll take “t...

Something is either right or wrong. And, it goes without saying (but I’m saying it anyway) some of those right or wrong things are more important than others. And some are of great importance. But the foundation of the statement remains the same. Because right or wrong can mean the difference between joy and torment. For example, I’ll share a snippet of conversation I had with someone...

“All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing.” If you’re a principled person, or if you’re someone who knows the difference between good and evil, you’ve probably heard that quote by Edmund Burke. Or did Eddie actually come up with that one? Hmm, there appears to be some good evidence he didn’t. And, it’s a great way to say yo...

Did you see that movie “This Is Spinal Tap” about a fictitious rock band in a fictitious rockumentary? If not, no great loss. I never saw the whole movie either. But I saw some funny clips. And one that stands out is one of the members of the band is asked why the knobs on his power amplifier go to 11 instead of the usual 10. And in a fictitious English accent he answers, “Well,...

Just think if you lived back in the days of gladiators. And imagine if you had to go out and fight for your king with an invisible suit of armor. Sure, it would be much lighter. So, it would be so much easier to stand up than if you wore that heavy metal armor they had back then. But do you think you’d feel powerful and safe? I bet you’d be more likely to feel vulnerable. Right? But wh...

An old friend of mine, from back in my days as a full time musician in Texas, loved REO Speedwagon. And I think she even got to meet them one time. I wasn’t a fan. But there’s no denying they were a pretty successful band. They had hits like Can’t Fight This Feeling, Keep On Loving You, and Take it On the Run. But their hit song, Ridin’ the Storm Out came up in my head when...

Today marks the 157th anniversary of a speech President Lincoln gave. So, I’m gonna share that whole Gettysburg Address with you with only a couple of comments.   Gettsysburg Address was short. And Lincoln was tall. Ok. So much for my couple of comments. (rimshot) But seriously. Honest Abe was able to sum up a whole lot of feeling and meaning in only 271 words. And I read that it only took h...

I just watched an interesting video about social media anxiety. And the guy shared some disturbing statistics about how toxic social media can be. But, of course, none of his information matters to you and me. Right?   Wrong. Social media anxiety isn’t contained to certain areas. And you can see signs and results of it all around America (and the world) right now. And way too many of those r...

It’s the last day of August, in case you hadn’t noticed. And when I went outside, early this morning, there was a delicate, cool wind blowing. So, I checked my weather app, and it was 45 degrees. Considerably different than the previous nights. And the dry, cool air transported me back to my boyhood days.   When I was growing up, the last day of August was like a timer bell. And it mea...

See ya later is truer for data than people Back when I was on the road, full time as a professional musician, I wrote a song called See Ya Later . You can click the link and find out a little more about it if you like. But I’m not talking about that right now. Because this is about the here today, gone tomorrow world of digital data.   And I said see ya, sayonara, and so long to a bunch of d...

Life flows like a river Unless you’re a fictitious superhero, you’ll never be able to travel back and forth through time. Because life flows like a river. Always in the direction of the gravitational pull. Time isn’t a fabric to be folded and manipulated and traveled through. It’s a byproduct of Life. Since life flows like a river, I’m glad I have a great boat. I reme...

Every life is full of ups and downs I’ve mentioned, before, how I worked hard labor during my teenage summers. No, not in prison. How could you even think that? And I’m looking at YOU when I ask that. You know who you are. Anyway…I hauled hay. In the hot, Kansas sun. Up to 18 hours for five, six, and sometimes seven days a week. It kept me slim and made me strong. But what does t...

Fear free? Uh…no You’ve probably seen those t-shirts, or caps, or bumper stickers. Right? The ones that say “No Fear” Sure, while it might sound macho, tough, or cool (or should I say, dope and sick?) it’s actually kinda stupid. Because no one should be fear free. In spite of what some seemingly successful “motivational speakers” might say.   Instead of tr...

Ah, thank goodness for our benevolent government. Not! All around social media and news channels you’ll see talk of a “stimulus package.” And it’s supposed to throw gazillions of dollars out to “we, the people.” You’ll also see so-called “leaders” in congress debating over how much money and who to give it to. With lots of resistance from both...

Make hay while the sun shines It’s an old saying. But it’s still true. “Make hay while the sun shines” means to make the best of opportunity while it lasts. But these days there are huge amounts of doomsdayers and naysayers who’d rather burn that hay and dance gleefully around the fire. And sing out joyfully to theirs gods of selfishness.   You can still make hay whil...

Analog zone of my own OK, here’s my phone. Now, let’s see. Settings: General: software update. No, not in there. OK, Settings: Wi-Fi. And it’s not in there. Where would it be? Control center? No. Accessibility? No. And it’s not even under Emergency SOS. Well…I’ll toss this question out to all my fellow iPhone users. Where is the analog zone setting for our devic...

Celebrating International Women’s Day I’ve been a staunch supporter of the rights of women my entire adult life. No, I’m not a so-called “activist”. That just sounds silly to me. Because if you need to set aside one day and give it a title like International Women’s Day, you’re missing the big picture. International Women’s Day doesn’t give pro...

I bet you have personal hopes and dreams Unless you live under a tyrannical government, in slavery, you’re probably pursuing your hopes and dreams. And I hope yours are not totally self-centered. In other words, I hope you’re looking for a way to serve others. Because serving yourself is an exercise in futility. You’ll never satisfy your selfish desires. But you can serve others...