CountUp

Memorial Day

It’s Memorial Day here in the U.S.A. It’s not appropriate to say “Happy Memorial Day”, for this is a truly solemn holiday. It’s the day each year that we honor our fallen heroes – those military personnel who served their country – and who gave the ultimate sacrifice to keep our freedom strong. They gave their life.

This is not a day for those like me who once served in the U.S. Armed Forces, for I am still alive. My day is Veterans Day on November 11TH. It is not a day for those who are currently serving in the military. That day is Armed Forces Day – the 3RD Saturday of May. In fact – the entire month of May is National Military Appreciation Month here in the U.S.A.

On this day – I remember our fallen heroes. I will never forget.

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13 NLT)

Tags Memorial Day, Military, United States

Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday May 24TH 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 13, Edition 413
“Cain & Abel – Part 1”

It’s been a while since I transcribed one of my old sermons on here. But what I really want to do is to not do a word-for-word transcription (like I’ve done previously), but rather include significant portions of an old sermon – updated in real-time.

8 years ago I preached on Cain & Abel to my church family in Homestead Florida. It was actually my first Old Testament based sermon – and 19TH overall. My Pastor at the time loved preaching out of the Old Testament, and I was (and still am) a New Testament Preacher. He wanted me to broaden my preaching skills and check out the Old Testament more often. I accepted his challenge.

Here’s the first portion of that sermon – updated 8 years later:

We all know the story of Adam & Eve in the Garden Of Eden. It’s where sin was born. The first man – Adam – and the first woman – Eve – disobeyed the Creator. As a result – it brought sin, and suffering, and death into the creation.

That’s Satan’s first dirty deed – done dirt cheap. Satan – via a serpent – tempted Eve in the Garden. He convinced Eve that maybe – just maybe – she misunderstood what God had commanded. God said don’t eat the fruit from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, or you’ll die. He said that to keep Adam and Eve from sinning. But Eve was manipulated by Satan. Satan said that she would be just like God – knowing everything – both good and evil – if she ate the fruit from the tree. It was so tempting. So she ate the fruit. And he ate the fruit. And the creation was changed forever.

See Satan twisted the truth back then, and he’s still doing it today. That’s what he does. He does it to try to bring us closer to him – and away from God. Satan called God a liar. Eve took Satan for his word. Eve fell into Satan’s trap. And we do that today – usually when we don’t even realize it.

When we don’t do what God tells us to do – when we don’t follow God’s lead – we’re falling into Satan’s dirty hands. Satan will guide us straight into the dark – where we came from. Satan will keep up his utter madness until the very end – until the last days. He won’t give up.

My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture – whether it’s part of a sermon, a testimony, or just me writing about the events of the past week. Hopefully it encourages you and inspires you to seek the Lord – and get closer to Him with each new day.

If you wish to learn more about the God I know – then stay tuned to #SundayScripture. The best is yet to come !

Thank you for reading my blog for this day, and may:

The LORD bless you, and keep you.
The LORD make His face shine upon you, and be gracious to you.
The LORD lift up His countenance upon you, and give you peace.

In the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. AMEN.

Tags Bible, Blog, Christ, Christian, Church, God, Jesus, Message, Minister, Ministry, Pastor, Preacher, Reverend, Scripture, Sermon, Sunday

Blogging Driving Travel Home Animals History Bugs Nature Photography Geography

Highlands Hammock State Park Or Bust

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date May 21, 2026
No Comments on Highlands Hammock State Park Or Bust

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I began writing about my trip out to the 9,000+ acre Highlands Hammock State Park here in the Sebring Florida area (about 10 miles from home).

My plan for the morning at the park was set, so it was time to go !

First setback – the 11 AM tram tour was inexplicably sold out, and I didn’t want to stick around for an additional 1 PM tour. The Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) Museum was closed until 10 AM. So my next move was to drive the 3+ mile “Loop Drive” through the park.

“Loop Drive” is a one-way counter-clockwise paved road with room for one vehicle to traverse with a bike lane running alongside it. The speed limits is 15 or 20 MPH, and you don’t want to drive any faster than that because the whole idea of the road is to see things as you drive slowly by. You also want to stay safe and not endanger any wildlife along the way, or bicyclists, or visitors walking around. Nature owns the park, so it should be respected.

Once on “Loop Drive” there are 8 walking trails where you can park your vehicle, get out, and walk on. Most are between 1,400 and 3,000 feet in length (a quarter-mile to a half-mile). Some of the trails meet each other, so you can go on a longer walk by combining adjoining trails.

I’ve been on most of the trails previously. One of the last ones along the road is the Ancient Hammock Trail – at 3,005 feet in length. It’s the longest trail in the park. It’s connected to the Sweetgum Trail (1,445 feet). It’s in the oldest part of the park, and it features towering cabbage palms and live oaks – some of which may be over 1,000 years old. There’s also an old CCC bridge near the top of the trail. I selected the trail to be the one that I would get out of my car for, and walk, and explore nature and hopefully not too much wildlife. I didn’t want to encounter any wild creatures that were bigger than me.

But that’s exactly what happened. About two-thirds of the way around the trail – out of nowhere – a large wild animal crossed in front of me from left to right – running quickly like it was being chased by an even bigger creature. It was either a Florida Panther, a coyote, or a deer. I didn’t get a good look at it since it was a blur while running, but I saw a tan color all over. That was the only excitement on the trail. Other than that – the bugs were surely out. It wasn’t too bad though. I imagine that the park is saturated with bugs during our 4-month rainy season from June through September.

I got back in my car, and I headed back to the main Camp Store / CCC Museum area. What did I see upon returning to that area ? I saw 2 big yellow Highlands County School District buses !

You know what that means. I’ll tell you all about it – next – #TravelThursday. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Florida, Hammock, Highlands, Park, Sebring

Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 483

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date May 18, 2026
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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 May 17TH 2026 – the 483RD week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW	LW	WKS	SONG TITLE	ARTIST / SITE
1	1	18	Finished [2ND week @ # 1]	Caleb & John
2	2	18	Where Would I Be	Peter Burton
3	3	8	Everything Is Better	Hopeful.
4	5	3	Father, Let It Be	Sidewalk Prophets
5	6	2	I’d Do It Again	Andrew Ripp
6	4	5	Worthy Of It All (Worthy)	CeCe Winans
7	7	3	Somebody’s Praying	Bay Turner
8	8	3	demons	Josiah Queen
9	9	2	Washed	Elevation Rhythm
10	–	1	Perfectly	Micah Tyler

# 1 This Week In:
2025 – “Unashamed” – Matthew West
2024 – “Counting My Blessings” – Seph Schlueter
2023 – “The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours)” – Matt Maher
2022 – “Egypt” – Cory Asbury
2021 – “Help Is On The Way (Maybe Midnight)” – TobyMac
2020 – “I Will Fear No More” – The Afters
2019 – “Alive” – Big Daddy Weave
2018 – “The Way (New Horizon)” – Pat Barrett
2017 – “Forgiven” – Crowder

MICAH TYLER – He becomes my 14TH artist over the past 9 years to score at least a 10TH hit on my chart. “Perfectly” was released to music media outlets at the end of February, and now it’s starting to make an impact on Christian music radio stations from coast-to-coast. It’s got a great uplifting sound to it – and of course a great message about our God who gives us grace and love. He does it perfectly.

ONE-HIT WONDER – Bay Turner was featured on Season 17 (2022) of one of my favorite summer TV shows – NBC’s “America’s Got Talent”. He was not selected as one of the Top 55 acts. He’s got a hit on the radio though. This concludes my look-back at one-hit wonders that I started almost 10 months ago with David Dunn – an alumni of NBC’s “The Voice”.

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.