The Miracle of the Song: "I Love Jesus Better than Ice Cream"

By Dr. Martin G Tharp PhD

As Scripture says, "God chooses the foolish things of the world to confound the wise," and He certainly does it with a sense of humor! Join the author as he lovingly recalls how God has used a simple song about ice cream and Jesus to impact a nation.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dr. Martin G Tharp PhD
• Release date: Feb 17, 2017
• ISBN: 9781370727285

Dr. Martin G Tharp PhD

Dr. Martin Tharp has been an avid student of the Bible for many years and holds a Bachelor, Master and eight Doctorates, one honorary and seven earned, including a Doctor. of Literature and two PhDs. He has been in full time ministry for over fifty-seven years and has authored forty-nine books to date, many of which are being used as curriculum in Bible colleges around the United States and abroad. He has also penned a number of gospel songs and recorded thirty-three albums as well as being actively involved in a school ministry to Northern Ireland in the United Kingdom for the past thirty-eight years, and Dr. Tharp has been honored twice by members of parliament in Ireland for their work in the Protestant and Catholic schools. He and his wife, Sharon, along with Maranda Howells, travel extensively across the USA and the whole of the British Isles holding evangelistic crusades in the churches of both countries.

Book preview

The Miracle

Of the Song

I Love Jesus Better Than Ice Cream!

By Martin G. Tharp, Ph.D.

Smashwords Edition, License Notes; This ebook is licensed for your own personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be resold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this ebook with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.. Scripture quotations identified KJV are from the Hebrew-Greek Key Word Study Bible, King James Version. Copyright 1984, 1991 by AMG International, INC and the Living Bible Copyright 1971,1986 by Tyndale House Publishers INC

Copyright © 2017

This book may not be copied or reprinted for commercial gain or profit. The use of short quotations is permitted and encouraged. All Scriptural quotations are from the King James Version of the Bible unless otherwise specified.

Available from:

The Tharp Family Ministries

3982 Green Forest Parkway

Smyrna, Georgia 30082

INTERNET;

www.tharpministries.com

EMAIL;

[e-mail]

Dedication

I would like to dedicate this book to all of the Churches and Pastors who have supported our work over the years, for it is not how much you give, but the fact that you gave! It is not the size of the gift, for every cent counts!

Although we are on the front lines, your support places you squarely in a position to reap the Heavenly rewards along with us!

Also I would also like to thank all of the Headmasters who have graciously opened the doors of their schools to us and welcomed us with open arms!

Without the cooperation of the Headmasters, our work would fail to reach anyone outside of the Church!

Table of Contents

Introduction

1. Massacre at Mountain Lodge and Ice Cream

2. Concert at Fisherwick Place and the Interview

3. The Birth of a Miracle

4. Valley Leisure Center and The County Hall

5. Travis and the Phone call From London

6. Ice Cream in Downtown Belfast

7. The Ice Cream Man

8. The Waterfront and First Class Tickets

9. Kilronan Handicap School

10. Kings Park Primary and Posters

11. Salvation and A Financial Miracle

12. St. Patrick’s

13. Shortstrand

14. Have You Saved Your Receipts

15. Tullymore House Carvery; Hey Mr. Tharp!

16. Surprise Miracles!

17. Feedback

18. The Fog and Television

19. Honors by Mayors and Members of Parliament

Introduction

Thirty-five years ago we were in our second year of school ministry in Ireland and we were scheduled for the Sunday morning and night services at a thriving Church in Ballymoney where Eddie and Flora Taylor served as Pastors. Brother Taylor called me on Saturday with a special request;

Brother Tharp, would you mind entertaining our Sunday school children tomorrow afternoon at 3 O’clock with your music like you do in the schools?

Sure Pastor, I responded, what is the age group and how many do you have?

The Children are 4-12 year olds and we have over one-hundred.

At that time, we were only doing free concerts for teenagers in high schools and my first thought was;

What on earth do we know that we can sing to children that young?

We wracked our brains for hours trying to come up with at least one song which might fit the age group! I suddenly remembered that we had a young group of three brothers and a sister come to our Church when we served as Pastor’s in Smyrna, Georgia, called The Goads.

They sang one song that we thought was a little silly and too childish for our congregation at the time, but there was one line which stuck in my brain!

I love Jesus better than ice cream and ice cream, is very good, scooby dooby doo

Kathleen who played the drums and had traveled with us for several years at the time, plus Tony our son, my wife and I tried for ages to come up with the rest of the song, as well as the tune, but came up empty!

Later that night I decided to just write the rest of the words to the song as close as I could recall, as well as the tune to the portion that we couldn’t remember and much to my surprise, it went over far better than we could ever have imagined!

Thirty-five years later, we have never discovered whether we got any of the words right except for the opening line, or whether we got the tune right or not, nor have we learned whether it was the Goads who wrote it, but it has received the most phenomenal response by far from adults as well as children of all ages, of any song we have ever sung! That Sunday afternoon was, to put it mildly, a howling success as the children couldn’t seem to get enough of that song!

At that point in our school ministry we had stuck strictly to doing free concerts in highschool’s and I was confident that a song like that would not be appropriate, but that afternoon with the 4-12 year olds convinced me that we should at least try the song in front of teenagers!

At first I was hesitant to even try singing such a seemingly childish and somewhat foolish song in a highschool assembly, but my wife urged me to add it to our song selection in one of the assemblies and much to my surprise, they were even more enthusiastic than the 4-12 year olds!

The next year I began the first few assemblies with I Love Jesus Better Than Ice Cream, and the response was so overwhelming that soon I was opening every assembly with the song.

At this juncture in my fifty-six years of ministry, I can look back with far greater hindsight at the unusual methods which God has impressed upon us to use over the years in order to bring about the unbelievable and miraculous life transforming testimonials that we hear practically every day!

The internet has proven to be the most phenomenal means for us to receive testimonials from those whose lives have been transformed and are now adults, but they still refer to the song as if it was the primary means of that transformation!

There is rarely a day that passes when there is not someone sending me a messages with personal testimonials. Many of them send me a message to inform me that they are now engaged in some sort of ministry!

The real reason for my decision to write this book will be revealed as I relate event after event that is a direct result of the song; I Love Jesus Better Than Ice Cream!

Chapter One

Massacre at Mountain Lodge And

Ice Cream

Just a