Month: January 2021

Sunday Scripture

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 24, 2021

Greetings my friends ! On this 4TH Sunday of January of 2021 I begin my 15TH year as part of a church family. I’m also in the middle of my 15TH year on this fantastic journey believing and following and trusting Christ my Savior.

Later this morning I’ll be preaching my first sermon of 2021 to my church family. It’s titled “Kingdom & World”, and it’s mostly based on the Gospel Of John. It’s a follow-up to my previous Gospel Of John sermon from 8 weeks ago titled “Spirit & Truth”. That sermon was a follow-up to a Gospel Of John sermon that I preached in both 2014 (to my previous church family) and 2016 (to my current church family) titled “Vine & Branches”.

God has a sense of humor. I’ve been studying John – his 3 letters and his Gospel – for about 4 months now. Without even looking for it on my computer – I somehow stumbled across my very first “forgotten” sermon ever preached. It too was a Gospel Of John sermon (8:31-47) titled “Jesus & Abraham”. I preached it 9 years ago on New Year’s Day 2012 to my first church family. I actually wrote much of it in the middle of the Caribbean on a cruise during the week before Christmas. To this day it remains the only sermon that I was told to write. Every other sermon since that very first one I’ve written on my own by choice.

I call it my “forgotten” sermon – not really because of the content of the sermon – but because of the strange circumstances surrounding me preaching for the first time on that New Year’s Day. I’d intentionally forgotten that Sunday morning over time, but every so often I’m reminded of it. God places those moments on our journey intentionally so that we are given the chance to react appropriately to them. If we don’t react positively then He keeps giving us chances to turn a valley into a peak – to build our faith in Him.

Looking back upon that first sermon I thought that it was good for its time. I hope to resurrect it, reimagine it, and rewrite it later this year. I think that I can do so much better glorifying God with those 17 verses of Scripture.

Tags Bible, Blog, Christ, Christian, Church, God, Jesus, Minister, Ministry, Scripture, Sermon

1980s Blogging Military Music Radio Television

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1986

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 22, 2021

Every Friday I post the Top 5 of one of my classic hit music charts based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from either 15, 25, 30, or 35 years ago this weekend (rotating each week).

It’s the 4TH Friday of the month, so I go back 35 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday January 26TH 1986:

“It’s Alright (Baby’s Coming Back)” – Eurythmics
“Suspicious Minds” – Fine Young Cannibals
“How Will I Know” – Whitney Houston
“You Little Thief” – Feargal Sharkey
“Wrap Her Up” – Elton John & George Michael

David A. Stewart had a very good week atop my pop chart exactly 35 years ago. He was one-half of Eurythmics (with Annie Lennox), and he also produced Feargal Sharkey’s hit.

Surprisingly “It’s Alright” flopped here in the U.S. (after 8 previous Top 40 hits). Check out its official music video below or here. It was quite unique and futuristic for 1985:

Oh man – that song – with its eerie sound and feeling – triggers vivid memories of that specific time-period in my mind. I remember buying an “International” (NTSC / PAL / SECAM) TV set at the Base Exchange (military department store) on base a few weeks earlier so that I could watch TV in my own dorm room. I soon realized that while it was convenient to do so I had abandoned my new friends in the “day room” (community recreation room). I felt lonely in my dorm room watching TV solo, so I went back to the day room to hang out with my friends there – even if I couldn’t watch what I wanted to watch. It was more important to be with others, laugh, eat, drink, and play Uno. Ah – the life and times of 18½-year-old me in the south of England.

It’s halftime my friends. I’ll be back on Sunday and Monday with 2 more blog posts for this weekend. Enjoy your Saturday. Thanks for going RETRO with me !

Tags 1986, British, England, Music, Radio

Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Movies

Small Group The Movie

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 21, 2021

Welcome to a fresh new weekend of good old-fashioned blogging here at #CountUp – where weekends always start on Thursdays !

This past Monday I streamed a wonderful movie via Amazon Video. It’s called “Small Group The Movie”. It’s about a guy and his wife who join a small group within a large church, but all is not what it seems. I won’t reveal much more about this movie, but it is full of laughs (a lot of insider church humor), drama, even action (some of it scary), and most importantly – God’s Grace, Mercy, and Truth. There are a lot of twists and turns in this movie, and I was attentive – even riveted at times – all throughout it.

As a member of various small groups for about 8 years at my first large church – it brought back fond memories of that experience. I could relate to the tongue-in-cheek humor of it all. I was also reminded of its importance as part of this fantastic journey.

I started receiving sponsored / targeted ads on Facebook for this movie a few days ago, and my interest in it was immediately piqued. I had never heard of it before the ads, but as it turns out this movie was actually in a few select theaters way back in October 2018 ! Now it’s available digitally or via DVD. (I actually rented it via Amazon for $4.99.)

You can check out more about this movie – and watch the trailer as well as a half-dozen movie clips – at their web site – http://www.smallgroupmovie.com. You can also check them out on Facebook.

Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 205

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 18, 2021

Every Monday I post my all-new Top 10 Christian hit music chart based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay. It’s the continuation of a weekly hobby that goes back 40+ years. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday January 17TH 2021:

TW	LW	WKS	SONG TITLE	ARTIST / SITE
1	1	8	Every Step Of The Way	Cade Thompson
2	2	15	Truth Be Told	Matthew West
3	3	10	Out Of My Hands	Jeremy Camp
4	7	8	Sparrows	Cory Asbury
5	8	4	Another In The Fire	Hillsong United
6	6	6	Man Of Your Word	Maverick City Music
7	5	21	Rise Up (Lazarus)	Cain
8	4	10	Image Of God	We Are Messengers
9	–	1	Say I Won’t	MercyMe
10	–	1	Who Can	Cochren & Co.

# 1 This Week In:
2020 – “Holy Water” – We The Kingdom
2019 – “Nobody Loves Me Like You” – Chris Tomlin
2018 – “Lions” – Skillet

On this 3RD weekend of January I’ve got my first 2 new entries of 2021. MercyMe is back with their 5TH hit “Say I Won’t”. They’ve been very consistent since my chart was resurrected in 2017:

– “Even If” spent 19 weeks on my chart and 2 weeks at # 1 in 2017
– “Grace Got You” spent 24 weeks on my chart and 2 weeks at # 1 in 2018
– “Best News Ever” spent 12 weeks on my chart and 2 weeks at # 2 in 2019
– “Almost Home” spent 24 weeks on my chart and 12 weeks at # 1 in 2020

Now they’ve got their emerging hit in 2021. Here’s the official music video for their new hit “Say I Won’t”. It’s one of the most added new songs this week at U.S. Christian radio. Check it out below or here.

Exactly 3 years ago this blog was resurrected here on WordPress after a 7-year hiatus. 3 years ago I presented Week 48 of my chart. It was just a simple no-frills chart back then. It’s evolved and been enhanced over these past 3 years to become the Monday feature that it is today. I’ll keep enhancing it to highlight and promote what’s popular at Christian music radio. It’s how I share God’s Good News through His music.

This concludes another weekend of blog posts. I’ll do it again this upcoming weekend – with 4 new entries on Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and Monday. I don’t blog on Saturdays. That’s my day of rest.

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. I’m also on Twitter and Flickr.

Be blessed my friends ! May the 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.