Month: February 2024

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Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday February 11TH 2024, 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.

It’s Super Bowl Sunday – an unofficial holiday here in the U.S.A. That’s when hardcore American Football fans, casual watchers, and even non-football and non-sports fans around the world gather together in unison to watch the biggest game of the year and the most-watched television spectacle of the year on the biggest TV that they have access to.

I’ll be one of them here in Sebring Florida. As soon as I return home from my church family and our service this morning – I’ll be turning on CBS on my living room TV, and it’ll stay on for the next 10+ hours – from all of the pregame shows and festivities through all of the $7-million 30-second commercials to the post-game celebrations. (Of course – there’s the actual football game in there too.)

After it’s all over – football (the NFL anyway) – is off for the next 6 months. My Sunday afternoons will include more free time to do more research for #TravelThursday.

Last Sunday morning we started a new message series from Paul’s letter to the Ephesians, so we’re studying 1 Peter on Friday nights and Ephesians on Sunday mornings. That’s two favorite books of mine of the New Testament. My own personal Bible studying and sermon writing will continue on most Saturdays into my retirement.

I’m making great progress on my sermon on “Sebring & Weigle”. It’s almost done in fact. It’s the story of two friends who became neighbors who founded a city built on a firm foundation in our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ.

Starting in April I’ll begin transcribing my “Jude & Judgment” sermon that I preached to my Homestead Florida church family on Sunday November 26TH 2023. It’ll be presented as a series of 4-minute reads through April, May, and June. I’m looking forward to sharing that with you.

My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture whether it’s part of a sermon, or just me writing about the events of the past week. Hopefully it encourages you and inspires you to seek the Lord, and get closer to Him with each new day.

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) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Driving Food Geography Nature Travel

Lorida Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. There’s a place in the eastern part of my home county here in the Heartland of Florida – Highlands – that is actually in the lowlands – some 100 or more feet lower in elevation than the more populated U.S. 27 corridor in the western part of the county. That place is named Lorida, and it does not rhyme with Florida. It’s pronounced “Lor-EE-da”. It was formerly named “Cow House”, and “Istokpoga”. Lorida got its name in 1938.

It’s not an incorporated city, town, or village. It’s a broad census-designated place right along U.S. 98 along the northern shore of Lake Istokpoga – one of the largest lakes in Florida. The lake is about 5 miles wide and 10 miles long. It’s very shallow with an average depth of about 4 feet. Boating and fishing are popular at this lake.

About 1,700 to 1,900 residents call Lorida home.

There’s a restaurant approaching Lorida (from Sebring) called Gator Shack. I’ve been there twice now. I went there last June late on a Sunday morning after church service for their highly-rated Fried Chicken lunch. It was spectacular, and I vowed to return for more of some of the best fried chicken I’ve ever tasted. I actually returned late last Wednesday morning, as they also offer their fried chicken on Wednesdays. Unfortunately – I found out after sitting down that it’s not available until after 4:30 PM on Wednesdays, so I got their big burger with swiss cheese and hand-cut fries. Both were delicious !

Some day in the near future I’ll venture back there on a Sunday after church to enjoy their fried chicken again. And I’ll explore more of Lorida and Lake Istokpoga including the Highlands County Park on the lake.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll celebrate my first anniversary of selecting and purchasing my new home here in Highlands County. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 364

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 February 04TH 2024 – the 364TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 1 13 I Believe
[2ND week @ # 1]		 Phil Wickham
2 4 9 Strong Anne Wilson
3 2 25 Hallelujah Feeling Caleb & John
4 3 16 I Thank God Housefires Ft. JWLKRS Worship
5 5 9 Lead On Good Shepherd Patrick Mayberry
6 6 6 Hallelujah Anyway Rend Collective
7 7 5 Crazy About You Tauren Wells
8 – 1 These Days Jeremy Camp
9 8 26 Praise The Lord Micah Tyler
10 10 10 Grave Robber Crowder

# 1 This Week In:
2023 – “Who I Am” – Ben Fuller
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

HALLELUJAH FEELING – Back in January 2020 – Casting Crowns and Matthew West took top honors with their glorious collaboration of “Nobody (But Jesus)”. It spent 25 weeks on my chart – including 7 weeks at # 1, 9 weeks at # 2, and 21 weeks in my Top 3. It accumulated 205 chart points over its 25 weeks. That record held until this week. Enter Caleb & John. Their “Hallelujah Feeling” has now accumulated 208 chart points after 25 weeks. That’s after 3 weeks at # 1, 13 weeks at # 2, and 21 weeks in my Top 3. It’s my # 1 smash overall since this current era began 7 years ago.

SPOTIFY – You can hear “My Top 10 Hits” anytime simply by heading over to 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.

This concludes another weekend of blog posts. I’ll do it again with the new weekend – and 3 new entries – known as #TravelThursday, #SundayScripture, and #MusicMonday.

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 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) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday February 04TH 2024, 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.

January seemed like it went on forever. You’ve probably seen the memes online like “It’s been January for the past 3 months !”, or “It’s January 74TH !”

January was quite the eventful month for me, and it was a good month for me. I know that February is going to be a great month. It’s going to end on a life-changing note – my retirement after 39 years with the USAF.

This past Friday night I returned back to my home church here in Sebring Florida for weekly Bible Study with our Pastor Tim and our small group of about a dozen. We got started with 1 Peter. It’s a favorite book of mine, as I preached a 5-sermon message series from 1 Peter from September 2021 to September 2022. (3 of those 5 sermons can be read here on #SundayScripture. Head over to my SERMONS page for Sermons 42, 44, and 48.)

It sounds like we’re going to study both 1 Peter and 2 Peter over the next season, so I’m looking forward to that. This past Friday night we covered 1 Peter 1:1-4, and we spent a lot of time on just the first 2 verses. It’s good to study 1 Peter from a different perspective. I love it.

Peter – an apostle of Jesus Christ – to those who reside as strangers – scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia – who are chosen according to the foreknowledge of God the Father – by the sanctifying work of the Spirit – to obey Jesus Christ, and be sprinkled with His blood – May grace and peace be multiplied to you.
(1 Peter 1:1-2 NASB)

We’re also starting a new message series this morning. Our Pastor joked about starting two new message series simultaneously this weekend. But he’s taking it in stride, and God is leading him in His Way.

My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture whether it’s part of a sermon, or just me writing about the events of the past week. Hopefully it encourages you and inspires you to seek the Lord, and get closer to Him with each new day.

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) 2024 Christopher M. Day, CountUp