Month: August 2023

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1990s Blogging Career Driving Geography Home Military Travel Weather

From Melbourne To MacDill

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. In last week’s edition I wrote about my hectic 6-months right after Hurricane Andrew destroyed Homestead Florida. That’s when I was driving back-and-forth between Fairfax County Virginia and Prince Georges County Maryland (Andrews AFB) along the Capital Beltway and also through Washington D.C. I put a lot of miles on my red 1989 Geo Spectrum sedan back then, but I was not yet done.

I drove / moved to Melbourne Florida in March 1993 – just a few days before “The Storm Of The Century” swept through the U.S. Eastern Seaboard bringing hurricane-force winds, sub-freezing temperatures, and even snow to North and Central Florida.

5 months later in August 1993 I was offered a job on the opposite coast over in Tampa at MacDill AFB. I accepted, but I kept my home in Melbourne. I ended-up living in a hotel (paid for by the USAF) in Tampa, working on-base during the week, and taking I-4 and U.S. 192 back to Melbourne on most Friday afternoons – returning back to Tampa on Sunday afternoons.

That was about a 140-mile drive in each direction, and it took anywhere from 2½ to 3 hours. That was also back when I freely drove on Interstates and high-speed expressways. (I don’t do that anymore.) That was also when far less people lived along the U.S. 192 corridor from Melbourne through St. Cloud and Kissimmee to Walt Disney World. Back in 1993 into 1994 St. Cloud had a population of about 15,000. Now it’s over 65,000. Kissimmee is up from about 35,000 to over 80,000. That’s a lot of traffic along U.S. 192 these days. It wasn’t too bad back in 1993.

That back-and-forth commute between Melbourne and MacDill lasted about 7 months until March 1994 – when I moved back to Homestead Florida. For a short period of time I thought that I would live in Melbourne for the rest of my life. But then when I got the job at MacDill AFB I thought that I would eventually move to Tampa full-time and live there for the rest of my life. Then I moved back to Homestead for the next 29 years.

Now I have my longtime Homestead home – and my new Sebring home. And I have a commute of about 185 miles that I do several times per month. I haven’t gotten tired of it yet. I enjoy the scenic and mostly rural drive. I enjoy seeing my church family and even some of my coworkers at my longtime workplace in Homestead. But I especially look forward to the return trip back north again to my new home and pre-retirement life and times in Sebring. I plan to live there for the rest of my life – less than 2 hours away from both Melbourne and Tampa.

Next #TravelThursday we’ll check-out Weeki Wachee Springs. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 341

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 over 45 years. Here’s this week’s chart – for the week ending Sunday August 27TH 2023 – the 341ST week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 2 6 Praise You Anywhere
[1ST week @ # 1]		 Brandon Lake
2 3 7 The King Is Alive Jordan Feliz
3 1 14 Big God Terrian
4 4 3 Praise The Lord Micah Tyler
5 5 8 To Not Worship You MercyMe
6 6 11 Every Hour David Leonard Ft. Josh Baldwin
7 8 2 Hallelujah Feeling Caleb & John
8 10 3 Jesus Does We The Kingdom
9 9 4 Heaven Changes Everything Big Daddy Weave
10 7 22 Fingerprints Dan Bremnes

# 1 This Week In:
2022 – “Hold You Tight” – Dan Bremnes
2021 – “Into The Wild” – Josh Baldwin
2020 – “Miracles” – Colton Dixon
2019 – “Nobody (But Jesus)” – Casting Crowns Ft. Matthew West
2018 – “Who You Say I Am” – Hillsong Worship
2017 – “Broken Things” – Matthew West

BRANDON LAKE – He scores his first chart-topper here on #CountUp with his 6TH hit overall and 2ND as a solo artist. “Praise You Anywhere” reaches # 1 after about 2½ months of radio airplay. It was actually a slow climb outside of my Top 10 for the first 6 weeks, and now in its 6TH week on my chart – it’s at the pinnacle. As Brandon stated on social media – “Praises can be a weapon, a force … a source of HOPE !”

This concludes another weekend of blog posts. I’ll do it again with the new weekend – and 4 new entries – known as #TravelThursday, #SundayScripture, a special #LaborDay post on Monday, and #MusicMonday on Tuesday.

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 X 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.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday August 27TH 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.

Today is the 3RD of 3 consecutive days of celebration and fellowship at my longtime home church in Homestead Florida. This past Friday and Saturday evenings we celebrated the life of a brother who recently passed on to be with his Creator forever. He led a complex yet simple life of over 61 years, but he ultimately confessed in Christ here on Earth. He did that several years ago at the altar of our church. It changed his life forever, and that is why he is with his Creator today.

“Everyone who acknowledges Me publicly here on earth – I will also acknowledge before My Father in heaven. But everyone who denies Me here on earth – I will also deny before my Father in heaven. (Matthew 10:32-33 NLT)

We did a 2-night / 2-service “celebration-of-life”. It was actually my 2ND celebration-of-life over the past 2 months. (The first one was at my original home church from 2007 to 2015.)

It’s been just a few years that I’ve known of the “celebration-of-life” concept. It is what it says it is. It’s a celebration of one’s life shortly after they have passed on. The funeral service or the cremation of the physical remains have already been taken care of, and this is the time for the family and friends to gather together and look back at his or her life.

I know that our brother was looking down from Heaven hearing us as we spoke of him.

And now here on #SundayScripture it’s the continuation of the refresh, renew, and reboot of my sermon on “Pray & Believe” – originally preached on Sunday June 16TH 2019. Here’s Part 5:

[CONTINUED FROM LAST WEEK]

“I will send prophets and apostles to them, but they will kill some and persecute the others. As a result – this generation will be held responsible for the murder of all God’s prophets from the creation of the world – from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah.” (Luke 11:49b-11:51a)

One of my favorite sermons to preach on about 5 years ago was the story of Cain & Abel. It was the story of firsts. The first man – Adam. The first woman – Eve. They were the first couple. Together they acted on the first sin in the Garden Of Eden. They created the first brothers – Cain & Abel – who became the first teenagers. Cain was the first farmer. He brought forth the first blood offering to the LORD, but it was not the best blood offering. Cain threw the first temper tantrum. He carried out the first act of violence. It was the first murder scene in the creation. Cain went wandering. He eventually met a woman. They had a son. Cain founded the first city. It was the first manmade civilization. Enoch was the name of his first son and the city. (To be continued. That was both a recap – and a preview.)

Footnote: You know I never did what that preview alluded to. I think back then (when I originally preached this sermon in 2019) I was planning on a follow-up or sequel sermon about Enoch – the man and the city named for him. I still want to do that. I need to put it back on my sermon drawing board. Back to the sermon now:

That’s the story of firsts. Cain’s murder of Abel in the fields was the first murder of the Old Testament. The stoning of Zechariah in the courtyard of the LORD’s temple in Second Chronicles was the last murder of the Old Testament.

“No Chris. You’re wrong ! 2ND Chronicles is right in the middle of the Old Testament. It’s not at the end !”

That’s correct, but the Old Testament that you and I know today is different from the Hebrew Bible. See – today’s Old Testament is 39 books placed into 4 categories or groups, and then chronologically ordered within each group. It’s based on the Greek translation of the Old Testament.

The Hebrew Bible contains 24 books placed into 3 categories – the Instruction (or Torah), the Prophets, and the Writings. Chronicles (1ST & 2ND combined) was the final Book of the Writings, and hence – the final Book of the Hebrew Bible.

And that’s a “rabbit trail”. (I just wanted to explain God’s words from Luke when He said “from the murder of Abel to the murder of Zechariah”.)

[TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK]

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.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
1990s Blogging Career Driving Geography Home Military Travel Weather

Post Hurricane Andrew

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. 31 years ago this morning on August 24TH 1992 Hurricane Andrew struck Homestead Florida, and within just a couple of hours its winds caused catastrophic destruction across the region. It was unlike anything I had ever lived through before or since. And that’s all I’ll say about it. I’m actually glad that I’m not in Homestead today, as on this day every year it’s what’s on everyone’s mind – that night / morning that lives were changed forever. I don’t like to talk about it. I don’t like to write about it. So I won’t.

Later that same week on that Friday morning I departed the death and destruction of Homestead and drove up Florida’s Turnpike and I-95. The next day I arrived at my former home from when I was a teenager – where my parents, little brother, and cats still lived – in Fairfax County Virginia. On that Monday morning – exactly a week after Hurricane Andrew – I arrived at Andrews AFB on the other side of the Capital Beltway in Prince Georges County Maryland (where I actually grew-up from 1969 to 1980). I checked-in as a “refugee” of Hurricane Andrew. I was not the only one. Others had beaten me there.

For the next 6 months I was stationed at Andrews AFB doing almost exactly the same job that I had left behind at Homestead AFB. I was welcomed with open arms at my new office. I was considered as that extra special bonus person that they didn’t know they would get. I fit right in. It turned out to be the greatest (and last) 6 months (out of 8 years) of my entire USAF active duty tour.

I actually lived in a dormitory room on-base during the week – generally from Sunday afternoons to Friday mornings. On Friday afternoons after work I’d circumnavigate almost half of the Beltway in a clockwise (inner-loop) direction. (What fun that rush hour traffic was.) On the return-trip back to the base on Sunday afternoons (with less traffic) I’d “cut-through” Washington D.C. diagonally from Virginia into Maryland.

Fun Fact: Back then I drove a red 1989 Geo Spectrum. It was the first brand-new car I ever bought. I bought it at Tropical Chevrolet on Biscayne Boulevard (U.S. 1) in Miami Shores Florida. (That dealership is still there today with the same name.) I owned that car for over 8 years, and I put 96,745 miles on it.

That was a crazy time in my life – albeit only 6 months – living and working in the metro area that I grew-up in from age 2 to 18. Yep – 31 years ago I was traversing the Interstate Highway System like I owned it, and not only that – I was on the Capital Beltway. I don’t drive on Interstate highways anymore except in rare circumstances (like rural portions of long road trips to and from North Texas). I generally stick with old U.S. highways and state roads. I feel more comfortable on them in my older age.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll share my coast-to-coast travel adventures along U.S. 192 and I-4 in Central Florida from exactly 30 years ago. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp