Month: January 2023

My Top 10 Hits – Week 311

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 30, 2023

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 January 29TH 2023 – the 311TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW	LW	WKS	SONG TITLE	ARTIST / SITE
1	1	15	Who I Am [8TH week @ # 1]	Ben Fuller
2	2	7	First Things First	Consumed By Fire
3	3	18	Love Me Like I Am	for King & Country Ft. Jordin Sparks
4	5	7	My Story Your Glory	Matthew West
5	6	9	I See Grace	Micah Tyler
6	4	24	New Creation	Mac Powell
7	8	2	The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours)	Matt Maher
8	7	4	Gratitude	Brandon Lake
9	9	5	For The Love Of God	Andrew Ripp
10	10	2	God Really Loves Us	Crowder

# 1 This Week In:
2022 – “Weary Traveler” – Jordan St. Cyr
2021 – “Every Step Of The Way” – Cade Thompson
2020 – “Rescue Story” – Zach Williams
2019 – “Nobody Loves Me Like You” – Chris Tomlin
2018 – “Gracefully Broken” – Matt Redman Ft. Tasha Cobbs Leonard

TOBYMAC – Wait. TobyMac is not on my chart this week. And neither are Crowder, Cochren & Co., Tasha Layton, Jon Reddick, nor Terrian. But I’m going to see all of them LIVE in concert later this week. It’ll be my 5TH TobyMac concert, 2ND Crowder concert, 2ND Cochren & Co. concert, 1ST Tasha Layton concert, 1ST Jon Reddick concert, and 2ND Terrian concert. I’m looking forward to what will likely be an energetic 3½-hour show, and I know that I’ll be singing and dancing along to the music for Christ. Seeing Toby and his friends LIVE in concert seems like an “every other February” tradition for me. That’s because it is – in 2017, 2019, 2021, and now 2023. It was the February 2017 show that inspired the immediate restart of this weekly hit music chart.

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, Z883

Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 29, 2023

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday January 29TH 2023, 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.

This upcoming #TravelThursday I’ll be blogging about my fun day along the northern coast of the Dominican Republic. I took a nearly 5-hour shore excursion (land tour) of the region surrounding Puerto Plata – the country’s 3RD-largest city. Overlooking Puerto Plata from nearly 800 meters / 2,600 feet above sea level esta Loma Isabel de Torres. And atop the mountain esta El Cristo Redentor (Christ The Redeemer). It was installed in 1970. What a beautiful sight it is !

I now continue presenting my New Year’s Day sermon in its original written form. It’s based on the Matthew West song of late-2019 / early-2020 – “The God Who Stays”. Here’s Part 3:

Oh – but somehow You don’t see me like I do
Somehow You’re still here
You’re the God who stays
You’re the God who stays
You’re the One who runs in my direction
When the whole world walks away

You’re the God who stands
With wide open arms
And You tell me nothing I have ever done
Can separate my heart
From the God who stays

That’s my God. That’s your God. That’s our God. He doesn’t see us like we see us. We are not God. He is God. He is the Father. He is the Son. He is the Holy Spirit. He is here. He is not going anywhere. He is the God who stays. The Holy Spirit is within each and every one of us who believes, and follows, and trusts, and loves our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ.

I used to hide
Every time I thought I let You down
I always thought I had to earn my way
But I’m learning – You don’t work that way

You know we can’t hide from our God. He sees it all. He hears it all. He knows what we are thinking. If you do something that’s not Godly, and you instantly realize what you’ve done, and you regret it, and you feel bad about it, and you’re sincerely sorry for it – then let me tell you something about that. That’s the power of the Holy Spirit convicting you, and that’s a gift from our God.

Here’s a prayer that you can say. (I pulled this from the Internet a few nights ago.):

Help me Lord to see conviction as a gift – a gift of grace and mercy. Please continue to stir in my heart the places that I’ve fallen complacent, and lead me as I turn from them. Help me to live out the Truth from Galatians 5:25 – that if I say I live by the Spirit – then let me stay in step with the Spirit. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

That’s a good prayer right there. Let me know after the service if you want me to text that prayer to you, and I’ll do that. Today is a great day to start a new prayer regimen. Find time every day in this new year to pray to our God. He wants to hear from you more often in 2023 than in 2022.

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

1980s Blogging Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1988

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 27, 2023

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, 20, 25, 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 31ST 1988:

“What Have I Done To Deserve This ?” – Pet Shop Boys With Dusty Springfield
“I Could Never Take The Place Of Your Man” – Prince
“Never Gonna Give You Up” – Rick Astley
“The Way You Make Me Feel” – Michael Jackson
“Tell It To My Heart” – Taylor Dayne

You know I was never a big fan of either Prince or Michael Jackson. I liked a few of their songs. I obviously liked the two songs above (since they were in my Top 5 at the time). Both artists got their starts in the ’70s – Michael with his family, and Prince solo. As the ’80s hit – M.J. went solo, and Prince joined other musicians. Both started fading into the ’90s. If you’re into pop culture rumors and conspiracy theories – then you may believe that Prince and Michael Jackson publicly hated each other for various reasons. I think they probably respected each other and their success. They were both very talented. They were both doing their own thing. They were both at the top of their game 35 years ago.

And then there’s Rick Astley. #RickRoll

Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 15 years ago to February 2008. It’s when my # 1 smash of all of 2008 was my # 1 smash of the week – and the month – and the month after that.

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 1988, Music, Radio

Blogging Food Geography Travel

My Carnival Celebration Vacation 2023

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date January 26, 2023

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I embarked on my multi-part series of my 7-day sailing of the brand-new Carnival Celebration from Sunday January 08TH 2023 to Sunday January 15TH 2023. This was its 9TH cruise (with passengers) ever. It was my 16TH on Carnival in a little over 23 years, and my 24TH overall (all cruise lines) in a little over 31 years.

Fun Fact: I shared a large (assigned) dinner table every night in the main dining room with other solo cruisers and a couple (husband and wife) who have all been on far more cruises than I can ever imagine. In their eyes – I was the cruise “newbie”. I was also the youngest at our table. We mostly talked about cruising each night at dinner. They were a fun group. Lots of laughs !

This week I’ll share more thoughts about the cruise.

FOOD (“B”) – Most people who choose Carnival do so for its affordability, its accessibility (at many ports), and its overall vibe (lots of fun activities for all ages from early in the morning to early the next morning). Those are my main reasons for my continued loyalty to Carnival since the late-1990s. The food is good. It’s not great. It’s better than anything I eat at home. It’s better than anything I eat out in my hometown. Could it be better ? Sure. Has it been better in the past ? Sure. But I don’t really choose Carnival for its food. It’s not what they specialize in as a cruise line. They specialize in fun. I like fun. Having said that there are so many different places to eat on the Carnival Celebration – more than any other Carnival cruise ship – aside from its nearly identical sister ship – Mardi Gras. Most of the food at the various venues is part of the overall cruise fare. Some of it costs extra. I enjoyed some really delicious beignets with strawberry sauce and chocolate sauce at Emeril’s Bistro on a couple of mornings. #BAM

SERVICE (“C”) – Customer service was generally lacking a little bit on this ship compared with many of my previous cruises. That includes the cabin areas, the main dining room, and the restaurants. There seemed to be a lack of enthusiasm (and speed) overall for such a brand-new cruise ship and the current flagship of Carnival Cruise Lines. It wasn’t necessarily bad service – just unimpressive (and slow) service compared with what I’m accustomed to at sea. I’ve felt that customer service on Carnival has been superior to the other 3 cruise lines that I’ve sailed on, but not really so much on this particular cruise.

ENTERTAINMENT (“A”) – This was definitely the best part of my cruise. Carnival has done a major upgrade in this area for their brand-new cruise ships – taking full advantage of modern 2020s electronic technology. They had nice Broadway-like shows, stand-up comedy shows in 3 different venues including matinees in the afternoons on sea days, and nice random “pop-up” video shows during the early-evening hours in-between the bigger shows. Even their game shows were modernized. I was mesmerized by these events. It’s the future of Carnival unlike anything I had ever seen before, and I liked it a lot !

CRUISE DIRECTOR (“A”) – Our Cruise Director – Mike from South Jersey – was actually substituting (last-minute) for the real Cruise Director of the ship – Lee – who was nursing laryngitis out-of-sight from the passengers. He eventually recovered, and he finally made a grand entrance (complete with standing ovation) early on the 5TH night of the cruise. Some passengers booked the cruise ship because of Lee, so they were finally glad to see him in action. From that point forth he and Mike shared Cruise Director duties and responsibilities. It was the first time that Mike had ever been a Cruise Director, and he did a great job. He’s a future Cruise Director for sure. Lee has been with Carnival as a Cruise Director for just over 6 years on 12 different ships. Here’s his story – as well as the story of the Carnival Celebration:

Next #TravelThursday I’ll tell you all about the first port-of-call – Amber Cove on the north coast of the Dominican Republic. I participated in perhaps one of my greatest shore excursions ever – from sea level to nearly 2,600 feet above. Let’s keep traveling together.