Categories
Blogging Geography Travel

The Bluegrass State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. I’m looking forward to my upcoming cruise on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers. The two rivers actually connect via the manmade 1.75-mile Barkley Canal in southwestern Kentucky. It was built by the U.S. Army Corps Of Engineers, and opened in 1966. Both rivers flow northward into the Ohio River about 25 to 30 miles north of the canal.

9 weeks ago in late-June I wrote about Kentucky in the build-up to my originally-scheduled cruise via American Cruise Lines. That cruise was unfortunately cancelled, and now I’m rebooked on the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers cruise. Kentucky is the only common denominator between the two cruises. My originally-scheduled cruise would have started in Louisville and sailed upstream along the Ohio River to Pittsburgh.

My new cruise spends much of a day in Kentucky – sailing down the Tennessee (towards the Ohio), docking alongside Grand Rivers for about 8½ hours, traversing the Barkley Canal, and then sailing up the Cumberland (away from the Ohio) towards Nashville. I’ll write about the Grand Rivers and Nashville ports-of-call in a few weeks.

Incidentally – I’ve already booked my next cruise after that for the Summer of 2027, and it’s the same Ohio River cruise that I was supposed to be on this past July, but on a different ship. (American Cruise Lines runs 28 small ships with an active order of 10 new ships to be delivered through 2028.)

An extra day and night has been added to the Ohio River cruise itinerary. It starts in Louisville. I may actually opt to fly in a day early so that I can do some sightseeing in downtown Louisville for a full day prior to the cruise. There are a few museums that I’d like to check out including the Frazier Kentucky History Museum and the Louisville Slugger Museum & Factory. Both are about a 15-minute walk from the hotel that the cruise line uses.

Louisville – “Derby City” – is by far Kentucky’s largest city with a population of almost 650,000. It’s located in Kentucky’s most populous county – Jefferson – where about 800,000 residents call home. Over 1.6 million residents live in the Louisville metropolitan area including adjacent counties in southern Indiana.

Next #SundayScripture – I’m visiting Homestead Florida. Check it out here at revchrismday.com.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about Chattanooga Tennessee. 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 – Week 497

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 August 23RD 2026 – the 497TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 3 7 Breathe On It
[1ST week @ # 1]		 Tauren Wells
2 4 3 God I’m Just Grateful Chandler Moore
3 2 13 Washed Elevation Rhythm
4 6 8 Gonna Be Alright Matt Maher
5 7 3 It Really Is Amazing Grace Phil Wickham Ft. Crowder
6 5 6 Faith Hope Love We Are Messengers
7 1 22 Everything Is Better Hopeful.
8 8 8 The Author Brandon Lake Ft. Nick Jonas
9 – 1 Living Water Cain
10 – 1 If It Was Up To Me Ben Fuller Ft. Carrie Underwood

2025 – “What An Awesome God” – Phil Wickham
2024 – “Take You At Your Word” – Cody Carnes
2023 – “Big God” – Terrian
2022 – “Hold You Tight” – Dan Bremnes
2021 – “When We Fall Apart” – Ryan Stevenson Ft. Vince Gill & Amy Grant
2020 – “Miracles” – Colton Dixon
2019 – “Nobody (But Jesus)” – Casting Crowns Ft. Matthew West
2018 – “Who You Say I Am” – Hillsong Worship
2017 – “Hard Love” – NEEDTOBREATHE

TAUREN WELLS – His 13TH song on my chart over the past 9 years becomes his first # 1 smash. He’s the last of my current Top 25 artists to reach # 1. It’s his 112TH week on my chart.

♫ Breathe on it
Holy Spirit – breathe on it
God I need an Acts 2 rushing wind
Something’s gotta come alive again
Every time You breathe on it
I can feel Your fire falling
Ain’t no shackle You’re not breaking loose
Anything can change when You breathe on it ♫

My # 13 hit during my first 3½ years of salvation in Christ from August 2006 to January 2010 was from an obscure band known as Transistor Radio. They were from Southern California, and like Stellar Kart (featured last week) they produced power pop punk – singing about how great God is. They built their fan base playing small local venues and posting often on their MySpace during its heyday. “Ra-Random” was their breakthrough hit early in 2008. It was about hitting rock bottom, and then realizing that you needed God more than ever before to see His light and be rescued out of the pit of despair.

Next week it’s my # 14 hit, and you’ll find out then who makes a quick return appearance.

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 August 23RD 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 26, Edition 426
“20 Years Of Salvation – Part 2”

This past week I observed and celebrated the 20TH anniversary of the start of my salvation which occurred at dawn during the 3RD week of August of 2006 on North Canal Drive (SW 328TH Street) in Homestead Florida.

Last #SundayScripture I began sharing my testimony about my first 5 months of salvation – leading-up to that rock and roll concert on a Saturday night at Life Pointe Church. This week my story continues:

So as I ended last week’s edition – I wrote that it was announced that the church building that we were in was not where Sunday morning service occurred. Sunday morning service was actually held a couple of miles away inside the new movie theatre. That would be Flagship Cinemas – Homestead’s only theatre at the time. It was built in 2005 into 2006, and it opened in April 2006. It was modern and state-of-the-art at the time. It was our first theatre since the previous one was smashed into pieces by Hurricane Andrew 13½ years earlier. (The 34TH anniversary of Hurricane Andrew’s landfall across Homestead Florida is tonight.)

I see a lot of movies at the theatre – generally between 20 and 30 a year. Occasionally I went to that theatre early on Sunday afternoons. At first I couldn’t figure out why there were so many people at the theatre (that early), and most of them were leaving and not arriving. I eventually realized that they were church people. A church service was being held at the theatre before the movies started, and they were letting out as I was arriving to see an early movie. I thought that a church service at the theatre was quite odd, but then I thought of church people as quite odd.

Well guess what ? I entered that theatre the very next morning after the rock concert inside the traditional (and original) church building. I walked in at around 9:45 AM on that Sunday January 21ST 2007 (another date that I’ll never forget). I was greeted and hugged by complete strangers at the front doors. A smiling lady – Anne – soon introduced herself to me, and I introduced myself to her. She was in charge of Hospitality. We’ve been friends ever since that very first morning.

She led me down the hallway to the specific theatre where service was held starting at 10 AM. I was greeted again at that door. I walked in. I found a seat. And I attended my very first church service in 30 years – ever since I was a little kid in Catholic School.

Within the first 10 minutes of the service – I knew that I would be back again the next Sunday morning. I’ve been part of a church family ever since.

I was part of that first church family for the next 8 years – until 2015. And then I moved to another church about a mile away, and I was part of that second church family for the next 9 years – until 2024. I served as an Assistant Pastor at that church. I opened and closed every service. I led Communion on the first Sunday of every month, and I was honored to preach over 60 sermons there. I was part of the Praise + Worship team during my final few years – singing the same songs on stage that I was singing along to at home and in my car.

I moved to Sebring Florida in March of 2023 – almost a full year before I retired from the Air Force down in Homestead. I commuted back-and-forth between Sebring and Homestead – not every day – but about every week or two. I actually worked from home – my new home in Sebring – during my final year of employment. For my entire 39-year career with the Air Force – I held a desk job in an office working with numbers and money. I was able to do my job in an efficient manner remotely.

My third church overall was my first church here in Sebring, and it was not my current church. It was another church down the road. It wasn’t a good fit for me, so I eventually started looking elsewhere.

(I’ll continue this story – next #SundayScripture.)

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

Categories
1990s Blogging Driving Geography Military Nature Travel Weather

The Yellowhammer State

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. The great state of Alabama is known as “The Heart Of Dixie”, “The Cotton State”, “The Camellia State”, and of course “The Yellowhammer State” – named after the state bird – the yellowhammer woodpecker. Those “northern flickers” are flying and making lots of noise all across North America and southward into Central America. Alabama must be the staging point during the wintertime months for those snowbirds.

I was actually born in “Sweet Home Alabama” – Selma to be exact – 59 years ago. I lived my first 2 years there before my parents moved us up to Maryland in 1969. (My dad was stationed at Craig AFB at the time.)

I’ve visited (and driven through) Alabama many times since 1990. Maxwell AFB-Gunter Annex (former Gunter AFB) in Montgomery was a memorable visit during the early part of my USAF career. I mentioned one of the trips last week to pick-up my little brother at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville after a fun week of Space Camp. (He attended during the Summers of 1990 and 1992.)

A whole bunch of my first church friends from Homestead moved to the Mobile / Semmes area during the late-2010s, and I’ve visited them a few times on my way to North Texas. I also got to sightsee a bit in and near downtown Mobile. There’s a lot to see and do in and around “The Port City”, and I’ll have to visit again to complete more items off of my Mobile checklist.

During the Summer of 2020 my family drove southeastward, and I drove northwestward. We met for a fun 5-day vacation in Orange Beach. I remember back when I was a kid I would send away for free travel brochures of Alabama via the mail – basically to help me research and learn more about the state where I was born. I would dream of some day in the future visiting the Gulf beaches of Alabama. 40 years later it became reality.

Most recently – my 18-day, 7-state, and 2,807-mile April 2024 “Retirement Road-Trip” took me west across South Alabama (through Mobile), and then back east across Central Alabama (through Tuscaloosa, Montgomery, and Eufaula). You can look back at that eastward trek (Days 15 and 16) across Alabama here.

I’ll soon be returning to Alabama via the Tennessee River on an American Cruise Lines ship. I’ll be visiting Decatur, Huntsville, and Florence. I’ll write more about those 3 cities in a few weeks. Incidentally – my upcoming cruise also visits Mississippi – sort of. About 9.3 miles of the river forms the border between Alabama and Mississippi, and then those 2 state lines meet the Tennessee state line at the river. With an average cruising speed of about 9 MPH – Mississippi will be on the port side of the ship for about an hour. (I won’t see it, as that will occur in the middle of the night.)

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll take you back to “The Bluegrass State” – Kentucky. Let’s keep traveling together.

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