Year: 2022

Clingmans Dome Tennessee

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date August 4, 2022

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Exactly 30 years ago this week during the first week of August of 1992 me and my brother visited the highest point on land in our lives at Clingmans Dome in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. It was part of a road-trip together that started at the U.S. Space & Rocket Center in Huntsville Alabama (where my brother attended Space Camp). That trip continued into Tennessee. We walked around Nashville for a little while. We spent the night in Knoxville. The next morning we walked around the main tourist district of Gatlinburg. It reeked of smoke. (We later found out that much of a city block was destroyed by an electrical fire almost 3 weeks earlier.) From there we drove U.S. 441 / Newfound Gap Road up into the Great Smoky Mountains.

We stopped at Newfound Gap which straddles the Tennessee / North Carolina state line at an elevation of 5,048 feet. From there we drove the 7-mile road up to Clingmans Dome (which also runs on both sides of the state lines, but mostly the North Carolina side). Once there we parked in the parking lot, and then we walked the steep (12%-grade) half-mile paved trail up to the top of the observation tower. (That was a tough walk going up – much easier coming down.)

The 45-foot concrete tower – built in 1959 – stands at the summit of Clingmans Dome – the highest point in Tennessee (but not North Carolina) at 6,643 feet. It actually stands just across the border in North Carolina. The summit itself is the third-tallest mountain east of the Mississippi River, and it’s the highest point along the Appalachian Trail.

The views can be spectacular from the tower (and even from the parking lot 330 feet lower than the tower) on sunny and clear days. I remember it to be very cool up there on that early August morning – in the low-to-mid-50s – about 25 to 30 degrees cooler than it was in Gatlinburg Tennessee and Cherokee North Carolina at both park ends of U.S. 441. Of course on many days you may not see much of anything – because you’re in the clouds. You’re on top of old Smoky.

WEBCAM (with current weather conditions)

I’m going to make it back to Gatlinburg – and the Great Smoky Mountains National Park – and Newfound Gap – and Clingmans Dome – sometime on a future road-trip during my upcoming retirement. And when I do I’ll take pictures. (I don’t believe that any pictures exist from this trip of exactly 30 years ago.)

I mentioned the Appalachian Trail above. Next #TravelThursday I’m staying on the trail to reminisce about my fun (and not-so-fun) experiences on it during the late-1970s as a Boy Scout. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Gatlinburg, Great Smoky Mountains, North Carolina, Tennessee

Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 285

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date August 1, 2022

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 nearly 45 years. Here’s this week’s chart – for the week ending Sunday July 31ST 2022 – the 285TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW	LW	WKS	SONG TITLE	ARTIST / SITE
1	1	7	Getting Started [4TH week @ # 1]	Jeremy Camp
2	2	10	Love Is Everything We Need	Unspoken
3	4	7	Hold You Tight	Dan Bremnes
4	3	13	Me On Your Mind	Matthew West
5	5	25	Sunday Sermons	Anne Wilson
6	6	27	See Me Through It	Brandon Heath
7	7	4	The Goodness	TobyMac Ft. Blessing Offor
8	8	6	Thank God For Sunday Morning	Cochren & Co.
9	9	3	Good Lord	David Leonard
10	10	2	We All Need Jesus	Danny Gokey Ft. Koryn Hawthorne

# 1 This Week In:
2021 – “Gospel Song” – Rhett Walker
2020 – “No Impossible With You” – I AM THEY
2019 – “Raise A Hallelujah” – Bethel Music
2018 – “Dream Small” – Josh Wilson
2017 – “Wonder” – Hillsong UNITED

STILL DREAMING SMALL – Ascending to the top of my chart exactly 4 years ago was Josh Wilson’s debut hit “Dream Small”. It’s a peculiar title for a Christian song, but once you hear the lyrics you understand the point that Josh is trying to make. Our God is a God of big prayers and big dreams, for He is almighty. But Josh reminds us that the little things along the way – you may think that they are irrelevant – but they matter too. Simple moments change the world. Just let Jesus use you where you are.

This concludes another weekend of blog posts. I’ll do it again with the new weekend – and 4 new entries – known as #TravelThursday, #RetroFriday, #SundayScripture, and #Top10Monday.

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 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.

Tags Blog, Chart, Christian, God, Jesus, KLOVE, Music, Radio, TheJoyFM, WayFM, WGTS

Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date July 31, 2022

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday July 31ST 2022, 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.

One of my new favorite tweeters is a fellow disciple of Jesus and Preacher of God’s Good News. This past week he tweeted – “Preachers: What kind of notes do you use on Sundays for your sermon ? I use a one-page, bullet-point outline, landscape, two-columns. Rubber band around it into my Bible at the place of the text.”

I caught the tweet the next day, and I was pleasantly surprised by all of the replies (some 130+). At a time in my ministry when I was starting to feel as if I was on my own old-school island of preaching – it seems as if there are still plenty just like me.

Most of my sermons are prepared full-manuscript style via Microsoft Word. They average about 10 to 11 pages in length (single-spaced) with Calibri (Body) font size 16. Words I wish to stress are in bold, and Scripture is in italics (including red letters). PowerPoint slides are sequentially numbered in [brackets] as a cue for me to click the clicker.

I write each sermon over a period of several weeks (sometimes months). Once it’s done I occasionally go back and update and enhance it. When I’m asked to preach on Sunday morning (sometimes with less than 24 hours notice) I do a top-to-bottom rehearsal of the sermon that God has called on me to preach while making final updates and enhancements. Once I determine that it’s final I create a PDF out of the Word document, and I save it to my iCloud Drive. I then take my iPad with me to church on Sunday morning with my sermon on it.

I used to print out my sermons (double-sided) and place each two pages in a document protector, but I stopped that practice a little over a year ago.

As I present my sermon I occasionally look down at it and read it, but if my rehearsal was effective and productive then the looking down part is minimal. I prefer to make direct eye contact with my brothers and sisters – either collectively or individually. As for Scripture I’ll intentionally read directly from my manuscript to ensure that I read it verbatim.

Most of my Scripture is presented on PowerPoint slides, but I’m not a fan of reading from the overhead monitors. I tend to lose my place in my sermon when I do that.

It was good to see that many preachers do it the way that I do it – and for the same reasons. Eventually I’d like to move to more of an outline format for my sermons, but I’m not there yet. I’m currently writing my 50TH sermon over the past 6 years. I’m given the honor and privilege of preaching God’s Good News to my church family about 8 to 10 times per year.

Someone recently asked me if I didn’t get to preach to my church family would I still write sermons. The answer is absolutely yes. I would continue to write sermons just as I do now, and I would present them here on my blog, for you are part of my church family online and worldwide.

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

1970s Blogging Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1977

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date July 29, 2022

Hello again retro music fans. 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 5TH Friday of the month, so it’s a special, as I go back 45 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday July 31ST 1977:

“I Just Want To Be Your Everything” – Andy Gibb
“I’m In You” – Peter Frampton
“Looks Like We Made It” – Barry Manilow
“My Heart Belongs To Me” – Barbra Streisand
“Da Doo Ron Ron” – Shaun Cassidy

OK so that’s not my chart from 45 years ago. That’s from the Billboard Hot 100, and Casey Kasem counted them down from coast to coast and around the world on great radio stations during the final half-hour of “American Top 40” that weekend. Back then I was a huge fan of Casey, “AT-40 From Hollywood”, and Billboard Magazine. I was 10-years-old and enjoying the summer before my 5TH grade at Magnolia Elementary School in Lanham Maryland – embedded within my neighborhood at the time. I wanted to be a Top 40 deejay when I grew up, so I studied from the best – Casey Kasem.

1 of those Top 5 songs above is currently in heavy rotation on my iPod Shuffles that play at my desk at my workplace, and that would be #Frampton with his power rock ballad “I’m In You”.

Further down the chart I also have these songs on my iPod Shuffles – “Best Of My Love” – The Emotions (# 6), “Do You Wanna Make Love” – Peter McCann (# 7), “(Your Love Has Lifted Me) Higher And Higher” – Rita Coolidge (# 9), “You And Me” – Alice Cooper (# 11), “Knowing Me, Knowing You” – ABBA (# 14), “Undercover Angel” – Alan O’Day (# 15), “Give A Little Bit” – Supertramp (# 25), “Telephone Line” – Electric Light Orchestra (# 26), and “On And On” – Steven Bishop (# 32).

Now there’s one song that was climbing the Top 40 that weekend that I don’t currently own, but I want, as it’s a great track. It’ll fit perfectly within my daily playlist at work. That song is “Smoke From A Distant Fire” – The Sanford Townsend Band (# 29). I just bought it on iTunes.

1977 was a great year of pop, rock, and YES – even disco music. It was the soundtrack of some fun times with my friends in the Boy Scouts.

Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 15 years ago to the start of August 2007. It’s when Hawk Nelson sang about suicide in a track titled “Zero”.

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 !