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Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday October 25TH 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 35, Edition 435
“Pride”

Pride is so deceptive. It comes in quietly and casually. It convinces us that we’re doing just fine on our own. We don’t need anyone’s help. “Lord – I’ve got this one. I’ve seen this play out before. I can handle it. This is too petty for you. I’ll call on You when I need You.”

For non-believers it’s simply a way-of-life, for they don’t rely on God for anything. For believers it’s a problem. It’s a sin. When pride takes root in our heart – it subtly takes our mind off God – and onto ourselves. It places a wall between us and God and His guidance, direction, and grace – which we constantly need from Him. We are nothing without Him.

God hates pride. It’s 1 of the 7 deadly sins – alongside envy, wrath, sloth, greed, gluttony, and lust. They are all bad, but pride may be the worst of them all. Pride causes all other sins. Gods loves humility. Humility cures pride. Humility crushes egos. Humility opens hearts. Humility invites God’s wisdom. God gives grace to the humble. He gives us peace.

In order to get closer to Him – we must lay down our cross and surrender to Him. We must lose our pride. It has no place in God’s promises for us.

  • All who fear the Lord will hate evil; therefore, I hate pride and arrogance, corruption, and perverse speech. (Proverbs 8:13)
  • Pride leads to disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. (Proverbs 11:2)
  • Pride goes before destruction, and haughtiness before a fall. (Proverbs 16:18)

Pride creates a false sense of security. It is dishonest self-promotion. It makes us blind to the spiritual hazards ahead until we trip and stumble.

Let’s pray: “Thank You Lord for all of your abundant blessings that we desperately need from You. Protect our hearts from the subtle trap of pride. Forgive us for when we strayed and relied on our own experience rather than trusting completely in You. Replace our self-righteousness with Your gentle and humble spirit. Help us to walk daily in true humility – quick to listen and quick to serve. May all that we say and do bring honor to Your name and not our own. And it is in Your powerful name that we pray to You. Amen and Amen.”

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

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Blogging Food Geography Travel

My American Splendor Cruise – Part 2

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. My journey continues from the Hotel Indigo in downtown Chattanooga to the American Splendor cruise ship on the Tennessee River about a half-mile away. The American Cruise Lines (#ACL) owned and operated luxury coach buses picked us up in 3 groups to take us to Ross’s Landing (on the river). I was in the middle group (2).

I walked on the American Splendor cruise ship just after 12 Noon on Wednesday September 30TH 2026. I was 1 of 176 passengers on the ship. I thought about heading straight to my stateroom on Deck 3 port side, but instead I headed straight ahead to the restaurant right there on Deck 1. I wanted my first river cruise meal (lunch) immediately !

A lady eventually joined me for lunch who was on her 25TH #ACL cruise. We talked about many of them, and she gave me advice since it was my inaugural #ACL cruise. A couple from 30 miles southwest of Fort Worth Texas eventually joined us, and I chatted with them about my family who lives caddy-corner from them in the vast DFW Metroplex – 30 miles northeast of Dallas Texas. I’d encounter (and sit and chat with) that couple a few more times that same day.

After lunch I headed to my stateroom, and I was impressed. It met my expectations. My single balcony cabin was everything I expected it to be. I especially appreciated the modern digital Honeywell thermostat that controlled the temperature and fan. I’ve never had one of those in a cruise ship stateroom before. It’s the little things that matter.

We pulled away from the dock several minutes early, and we headed downstream on the Tennessee River towards the Central Time Zone and northern Alabama.

After dinner (which started at 5:30 PM) I headed back to my stateroom, went out on my balcony, and enjoyed the sights, sounds, and smells of the Tennessee River. We went through our first of 6 locks at Nickajack Dam. I watched most of the operation as we slowed down, pulled-in, stopped, attached ourselves to the walls of the lock, and dropped down about 39 feet from the higher lake level to the lower lake level. It was quite impressive to watch how it all worked from three decks up. It was my first such experience ever. Gravity is amazing !

Fun Facts: Out of the 176 passengers I was – believe it or not – not the youngest of them all. I saw a few women who were definitely younger than me – perhaps in their 40s (maybe even 30s). But the other 170 or so were definitely in their 60s, 70s, 80s, and even 90s. That’s my type of crowd ! I live in a 55+ neighborhood where I’m one of the youngest residents. I serve with the Sebring Historical Society where I’m one of the youngest volunteers. I attend Highlands Community Church where I represent the youngest one-quarter of the congregation. I’m in my element onboard the American Splendor cruise ship !

Tomorrow on Facebook (#FollowUpFriday) I’ll write about our entertainer on that first night, and next #TravelThursday I’ll write about our first port-of-call in Decatur Alabama including my shore excursion to the Huntsville Botanical Garden. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 505

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 October 18TH 2026 – the 505TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 1 16 Gonna Be Alright
[4TH week @ # 1]		 Matt Maher
2 3 9 If It Was Up To Me Ben Fuller Ft. Carrie Underwood
3 2 9 Living Water Cain
4 4 8 Lord It Feels Good TobyMac
5 5 11 It Really Is Amazing Grace Phil Wickham Ft. Crowder
6 6 5 Holding On (Praise God) Jon Reddick
7 7 4 Hard Place Jaye King
8 10 2 Beautiful Life Switchfoot
9 8 15 Breathe On It Tauren Wells
10 9 11 God I’m Just Grateful Chandler Moore

2025 – “Can’t Steal My Joy” – Josiah Queen X Brandon Lake
2024 – “Up + Up” – Colton Dixon
2023 – “Praise The Lord” – Micah Tyler
2022 – “Good Morning Mercy” – Jason Crabb
2021 – “What If” – Matthew West
2020 – “Rise Up (Lazarus)” – Cain
2019 – “Fear No More” – Building 429
2018 – “Only Jesus” – Casting Crowns
2017 – “The Gospel” – Ryan Stevenson

SWITCHFOOT – So this happened last week. One of my favorite rock bands of the mid-2000s (before I turned to Christ) entered my chart for the first time in over 18 years. “Beautiful Life” debuted on my chart at # 10, and this week it’s up 2 notches to # 8. Back during my Salvation Era – Switchfoot hit 3 times with “Oh ! Gravity” (# 4 in 2006), “Awakening” (# 2 in 2007), and “This Is Home” (# 5 in 2008). Before that – they hit # 1 on my chart with their first 2 songs (both in 2004) – “Meant To Live” and “Dare You To Move”. They also charted with “Stars” (# 14 in 2005). They are the very rare artist that has spanned 3 distinct eras of my weekly hit music chart.

My # 21 hit during my first 3½ years of salvation in Christ from August 2006 to January 2010 is from Air Five – led by Ben Peeples – with Michael Segarra on bass and Taylor Carroll on drums. Their debut album “Write My Story” was released in May 2007, but it wasn’t until 2 years later when the energetic “Open Season” exploded at Christian Pop radio – at least in South Florida. It spent 11 consecutive weeks at # 1 on my chart, and it was my # 1 smash of all of 2009. Their follow-up radio hit – “Here’s Me Letting Go” – was another awesome song, and had my chart existed after January 2010 it too would’ve likely been a long-running # 1 smash.

Next week it’s my # 22 hit. It’s from a band that brought me to church for the first time as an adult almost 20 years ago.

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 October 18TH 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 34, Edition 434
“Repentance”

When I was actively preaching on Sunday mornings – I preached often about repentance and salvation. It was a common theme in many of my sermons.

“Well there you go again Chris – preaching about repentance and salvation. You sound like a broken record. You keep preaching about it like it’s something important – like it’s some type of monumental life-changing event !”

Well that’s because it is. It’s the difference between Heaven and hell.

The word “repent” – and all forms of the word with “repent” as the root – appear in the Bible 112 times. That’s the King James Version. It’s in the Old Testament 46 times, and it’s in the New Testament 66 times. In other popular translations of the Bible it’s in there anywhere from 60 to 100 times. The New Living Translation uses the word “repent” 62 times – occasionally substituting it for phrases such as “turn away from sin”, “turn back to God”, and “change your heart”.

Repentance is about returning home. It’s about turning away from the darkness of the devil – and turning to the bright light of the Savior. It’s a change of mind. It’s when you realize that the direction that you’re headed leads to a dead end, so you turn in the opposite direction – deliberately and intentionally towards God. If you have pride, greed, lust, envy, gluttony, wrath, or sloth – then repent.

Paul wrote – For the kind of sorrow God wants us to experience leads us away from sin and results in salvation. There’s no regret for that kind of sorrow. But worldly sorrow, which lacks repentance, results in spiritual death. (2 Corinthians 7:10 NLT)

God meets us with His open arms. He cleans up our mess. And just as salvation is not a one-time event but a continuing process – so is repentance. Since we are all sinners – we must instantly realize that we’ve sinned, and regret it, and repent it, so that we may continue moving forth in His light because of His grace and mercy.

“Repent of your sins and turn to God, for the Kingdom of Heaven is near.” (Matthew 3:2 NLT)

Let’s pray: “Lord I know what I did right there during that weak moment was wrong. That was a barrier that was placed between You and I. Thank You God for forgiving me for what I’ve done. I ask that You give me the strength and the wisdom and the guidance and the direction – so that I don’t do it again. Thank You for Your grace and mercy. In Your powerful name I pray to You. Amen.”

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