Categories
Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 500

Every Monday I post my all-new Top 10 Christian hit music chart based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from the previous week. It’s the continuation of a weekly hobby that goes back almost 50 years. Here’s this week’s chart – for the week ending Sunday September 13TH 2026 – the 500TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 2 6 It Really Is Amazing Grace
[1ST week @ # 1]		 Phil Wickham Ft. Crowder
2 3 11 Gonna Be Alright Matt Maher
3 1 10 Breathe On It Tauren Wells
4 4 6 God I’m Just Grateful Chandler Moore
5 6 4 Living Water Cain
6 7 4 If It Was Up To Me Ben Fuller Ft. Carrie Underwood
7 5 16 Washed Elevation Rhythm
8 9 3 Lord It Feels Good TobyMac
9 10 2 OKAY ! Forrest Frank
10 8 11 Perfectly Micah Tyler

2025 – “Breakdown” – Andrew Ripp
2024 – “Up + Up” – Colton Dixon
2023 – “Praise You Anywhere” – Brandon Lake
2022 – “Hold You Tight” – Dan Bremnes
2021 – “Into The Wild” – Josh Baldwin
2020 – “God So Loved” – We The Kingdom
2019 – “Nobody (But Jesus)” – Casting Crowns Ft. Matthew West
2018 – “Only Jesus” – Casting Crowns
2017 – “Broken Things” – Matthew West

PHIL & DAVE – Wickham & Crowder teamed-up for “It Really Is Amazing Grace”. They each recorded their vocals for the track in their own studios a little less than a year ago, and then it was mixed together. They came together for the official music video as well as a LIVE recording of the song. And now – it has ascended to the top spot on my chart. My new # 1 smash:

My # 16 hit during my first 3½ years of salvation in Christ from August 2006 to January 2010 is from Mike Herrera, Tom Wisniewski, and Yuri Ruley out of Bremerton Washington (near Seattle). They formed MxPx (originally Magnified Plaid) as 15-year-olds in high school in 1992. “You’re On Fire” was their 2ND of 4 hits on my chart in 2007 and 2008. It spent 2 weeks at the top of my chart at the start of August 2007.

Next week it’s my # 17 hit from a numbered band out of upstate South Carolina.

SPOTIFY – You can hear “My Top 10 Hits” anytime by accessing my CountUp playlist on Spotify. All 10 hits are there from top to bottom. You can hear them in order from # 1 to # 10, or you can shuffle them. My playlist will be updated every weekend (usually before the actual chart is presented here on Mondays). You can link to it here.

Your likes, follows, and comments are always appreciated. Thank You for being part of my online ministry to share God’s Good News and win souls for Christ through His music. God used loud music on the radio in South Florida to reach me in August of 2006. I’ve been testifying about Him ever since.

Be blessed my friends !  May our God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday September 13TH 2026, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate this great new day of believing, following, trusting, loving, and being more like our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. Let us love our neighbor as ourself.

Volume 9, Number 29, Edition 429
“20 Years Of Salvation – Part 5”

Let’s continue my story:

You know – for many of our neighbors out there – they love God, but they don’t care too much for His followers – because of past encounters – because of past experiences – sometimes from inside the church.

It’s up to us – those of us who know God and are close to Him – to share what we know about Him to others – when asked – when opportunities present themselves. And if someone comes up to us, and wants to accept Jesus Christ as their Lord + Savior, and they want to know how to do so – then we must be ready to explain it. We must always be ready to lead our neighbor to Jesus Christ.

Here’s one thing you can do for your neighbor at any place – at any time. Have him or her say this out loud:

“Oh God. I’m a sinner. I’m sorry for my sins. I want to turn from my sins. I ask that You forgive me for my sins. I believe that You died on the cross for my sins, and that you rose again so that I may live. I receive You Jesus as my Lord and as my Savior. From this moment on I want to believe in You. I want to follow You. I want to trust You. I want to serve You in the fellowship of Your church. I want to love You more than any one and more than any thing in this world. In Your loving name I pray this to You Lord Jesus. AMEN.”

That’s the salvation prayer – or the sinners’ prayer. That’s my version of it. I encourage you to write that down or take a picture of it and keep it handy – so that you can share it with someone when you need to. Anyone can say it – at any time. You can reaffirm your faith in Christ by saying it. Just make sure that when you say it – you mean it – in your heart.

If you share it with a family member, or a friend, or a coworker, or a neighbor – then be there for him or her. Be a witness for him or her. Know that you may have led him or her to our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. It’s another life saved. It’s another miracle from our God. And our God – He must always get all of the Glory.

And that’s my salvation story. Thank You for reading it over these past 5 weeks. I hope that you’ll find the time to talk to our God often – up on the hilltops and down in the valleys – when the going is great – and when it’s not so great. Know that our God is always with you in everything you do and everywhere you go. Talk to Him, and thank Him for everything that He has done for you. For the best is yet to come.

This may be the end of a 5-week arc here on #SundayScripture, but it’s certainly not the end of my salvation story. It continues on eternally.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Driving Geography Nature Photography Travel

The River City & The Rocket City

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about Chattanooga Tennessee. About 167 miles downstream the Tennessee River is Decatur Alabama (“The River City”) – one of the ports-of-call of my upcoming American Cruise Lines paddlewheeler ship cruise on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. And just up the road (I-565) by about 25 minutes is Huntsville Alabama (“The Rocket City”). I’ve been to Huntsville twice before in 1990 and 1992 for quick visits to pick-up my brother from Space Camp / Space Academy at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center.

It’s a quick 5½-hour afternoon docking at Rhodes Ferry Park in Decatur. I’m booked on a shore excursion over at the Huntsville Botanical Garden. I’m looking forward to exploring 118 acres of nature. Longtime readers of #TravelThursday (and its various predecessors online) know that I’m a big fan of botanical gardens and related nature parks. They make for great photo opportunities – plus – I like learning more about trees, plants, and flowers. If I had stayed down in South Florida for retirement – there’s a good possibility that I would’ve been at the Fruit & Spice Park often – possibly even as an employee or a volunteer.

Fun Fact # 1: The Tennessee River in Decatur Alabama sits at an average elevation of about 555 feet above sea level, or almost 80 feet lower than Chattanooga Tennessee. That’s how the river flows downstream. #Science

Fun Fact # 2: Huntsville is Alabama’s largest city, and one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S.A. Its population is approaching 250,000. Back in 2010 it was Alabama’s 4TH largest city, but it has since surpassed Birmingham, Montgomery, and Mobile. (Mobile is now # 2 – having also surpassed Birmingham and Montgomery.) Over 550,000 residents live in the Huntsville metro area (Madison and Limestone Counties).

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about Florence Alabama. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Summer Of 2026

Every Monday I post my all-new Top 10 Christian hit music chart based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from the previous week. It’s the continuation of a weekly hobby that goes back almost 50 years. Today it’s a special chart of my Top 10 hits of this past Summer. Here’s this Summer’s chart:

RK PK WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 1 14 Everything Is Better Hopeful.
2 1 13 Washed Elevation Rhythm
3 1 11 Finished Caleb & John
4 2 13 Worthy Of It All (Worthy) CeCe Winans
5 1 9 Breathe On It Tauren Wells
6 3 8 Where Would I Be Peter Burton
7 2 5 God I’m Just Grateful Chandler Moore
8 3 10 Gonna Be Alright Matt Maher
9 4 6 I’d Do It Again Andrew Ripp
10 4 8 Somebody’s Praying Bay Turner

# 1 Summer Of:
2025 – “God Did It” – Micah Tyler
2024 – “Somebody Like Me” – Caleb & John Ft. Cain
2023 – “Big God” – Terrian
2022 – “Love Is Everything We Need” – Unspoken
2021 – “Yes He Can” – Cain
2020 – “No Impossible With You” – I AM THEY
2019 – “Raise A Hallelujah” – Bethel Music
2018 – “Do It Again” – Elevation Worship
2017 – “Wonder” – Hillsong UNITED

WHAT A SUMMER ! – 16 weekly hit music charts and 24 positive and encouraging hits (5 more than last Summer) have created this cumulative hit music chart of my Top 10 hits of the Summer Of 2026 based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay. This past Summer season is defined as U.S. Memorial Day Weekend (last Sunday of May) to U.S. Labor Day Weekend (first Sunday of September). This chart is an End-Of-Summer tradition for me.

CHART-TOPPERS – There were 4 # 1 hits on my chart this summer – compared with 7 in 2025. No song spent less than 3 weeks at # 1. Caleb & John spent the first 6 weeks of summer (and 2 weeks before that) at the top, or exactly three-eighths of the summer. They “Finished” with my # 3 hit of the summer and my # 1 smash of all-time since this current era began 499 weeks ago in February 2017.

A HOPEFUL SUMMER – The Southern Californian surf pop band Hopeful. spent 14 out of 16 weeks this summer on my chart with their debut smash “Everything Is Better” – even though it underperformed on the radio. At least The Joy FM gave it a decent run this past summer. In my opinion this song sounded like no other song on the radio. It truly sounded like a fun summer day at the beach, but if you listen to the lyrics you’ll hear the band proclaim that “Everything Is Better” with God first and foremost.

ANDREW RIPP – He’s the only artist to appear on my chart for this summer as well as last summer (“Breakdown”). Going further back he also had a big hit during the Summer Of 2022 (“Fill My Cup”).

2026 – Get ready for the final 16 weeks of 2026 starting with my 500TH edition next #MusicMonday, and after it’s all over – I’ll #CountUp my Top 26 Of 2026.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp