Month: April 2024

Sunday Scripture

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date April 21, 2024

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday April 21ST 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.

I’ve finally returned home from my recent retirement road-trip. You can read all about that on #TravelThursday. It was good to reconnect with a small group of my Highlands Community Church family this past Friday night at Bible Study. This morning I get to corporately worship with my full church family for the first time since Easter Sunday.

For the next several months – I’m presenting the full transcription of my recent Jude message series consisting of two sermons – “Jude & Judgment” (Verses 1-11), and “Jude & Jury” (Verses 12-25). I preached them to my Homestead Florida church family on November 26TH 2023 and December 03RD 2023 respectively. Here’s Part 3:

[CONTINUE SERMON]

I say this because some ungodly people have wormed their way into your churches – saying that God’s marvelous grace allows us to live immoral lives. The condemnation of such people was recorded long ago, for they have denied our only Master and Lord – Jesus Christ. (Jude 4)

So you say that you can do whatever you feel like doing because your God has already forgiven you for it. No ! That’s not the way it works. Sadly – a lot of Christians live that way. You’ve seen it. I’ve seen it over the course of my nearly 17 years as part of a church family. They come to church, but they live immoral lives. They hide much of it from their church family, but they can’t hide all of it. And they can’t hide any of it from our God.

You see – God’s grace is power – power that He has given to each of us believers as a gift, and that power – that power allows us to overcome every sin. It allows us to overcome every sin – should we choose to accept His gift. He (or she) who intentionally sins is not living in God’s grace. Now – none of us is perfect. None of us is close to perfect. We are all sinners. We are all probably going to sin somehow someway today. We’ll probably do so unintentionally. (That’s the enemy at work.)

And if we have God’s grace – which we do – we should instantly realize that we’ve sinned, and regret it, and repent it. We can tell God that – “I know what I did right there during that weak moment was wrong. That was a barrier that was placed between You and I. Thank You Lord for forgiving me for what I’ve done. I ask that You give me the strength and the wisdom and the guidance and the direction – so that I don’t do it again. Thank You God for Your grace and mercy. In Your powerful name I pray to You. Amen.

Sin must not have dominion over us. We can’t use God’s grace to justify our sin.

So I want to remind you – though you already know these things – that Jesus first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later He destroyed those who did not remain faithful. And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged. God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness – waiting for the great day of (what’s that word ?) judgment. (Jude 5-6)

[TO BE CONTINUED NEXT WEEK]

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.

Tags Bible, Blog, Christ, Christian, Church, God, Jesus, Message, Minister, Ministry, Pastor, Preacher, Reverend, Scripture, Sermon, Sunday

Blogging Driving Geography History Military Travel

Mobile Alabama

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date April 18, 2024

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. I began Day 2 of my ongoing retirement road-trip to and from North Texas unlike any other day – via an Interstate highway. My hotel for the first night was right along I-10 just south of Quincy Florida (about 20 miles west of Tallahassee). I got on I-10 westbound for exactly 150 miles (from Exit 181 to 31). I then transferred over to U.S. 90, and I took that (and Alternate U.S. 90) to the other side of the Pensacola area. This was a planned-in-advance transfer from Interstate to U.S. highway. It’s a good thing that I did so, for on this particular morning I-10 was at a near stoppage starting just before that Exit 31 due to an accident ahead. Unfortunately – others got off at that same exit before me, and I encountered a long and slow back-up for several miles along U.S. 90. I suppose that it was just a typical Tuesday morning rush hour headed into Pensacola.

Fun Facts: Over a half-million residents live in the Pensacola metro area (which includes Escambia and Santa Rosa Counties – the two western-most counties in Florida). A very short portion of I-10 is located within the city limits of Pensacola. I get very nervous driving on the wide and suburban portion of I-10 approaching, thru, and leaving the city (including the 2.6-mile bridge over Escambia Bay). The U.S. 90 / Alternate U.S. 90 bypass to the north works out better for me.

Northwest of Pensacola I got back on I-10 for the final 5½ miles of far-western Florida and across the Alabama state line. I stayed on I-10 for 35 miles into Alabama (my birth state).

My first stop on Day 2 was the USS Alabama Battleship Memorial Park. The USS Alabama (BB-60) was beautiful and fun to tour with multiple levels / decks (12). Much of the ship is accessible for viewing; although, you need to be in good physical shape to navigate and climb through many of the tight spaces. (Only the main deck is ADA-accessible.) The stairways / ladders are very steep and narrow. You can easily spend a good 2 to 4 hours navigating the ship (and seeing everything there is to see). I saw much of the ship, but I skipped many of the upper decks.

Upon entry into the Alabama State Park is a large hangar (Medal Of Honor Aircraft Pavilion) that serves as a traditional indoor museum with lots of military aircraft, vehicles, equipment, and memorabilia on display. In addition to the historic 84-year-old battleship you can also enter and tour the (same age) USS Drum (SS-228) submarine. (Both the battleship and the submarine are only accessible via the aircraft pavilion.)

It was a fun couple of hours at this military historical Park. I’m glad that I finally got the opportunity to visit instead of just driving by with a quick glance over at it.

Next #TravelThursday – I’m still in Mobile Alabama to explore more history – not just as a tourist, but also as a fellow docent of a historic house that serves as a museum. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Alabama, Florida, History, Military, Mobile, Museum, Navy, Pensacola

Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 374

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date April 15, 2024

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 April 14TH 2024 – the 374TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW	LW	WKS	SONG TITLE	ARTIST / SITE
1	1	8	He Does [2ND week @ # 1]	Brandon Heath
2	2	19	Lead On Good Shepherd	Patrick Mayberry
3	3	8	You’ve Already Won	Shane & Shane
4	4	16	Hallelujah Anyway	Rend Collective
5	7	4	Counting My Blessings	Seph Schlueter
6	6	6	All Because Of Mercy	Casting Crowns
7	5	4	Walk With Jesus	Consumed By Fire
8	9	3	Rescue	Jordan St. Cyr
9	10	2	The Prodigal	Josiah Queen
10	8	4	God Be The Glory	We Are Messengers

# 1 This Week In:
2023 – “The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours)” – Matt Maher
2022 – “See Me Through It” – Brandon Heath
2021 – “Good God Almighty” – Crowder
2020 – “Almost Home” – MercyMe
2019 – “Confidence” – Sanctus Real
2018 – “Freedom Hymn” – Austin French
2017 – “I Have This Hope” – Tenth Avenue North

CHARTBUSTER – Sitting just outside my Top 10 this week awaiting its turn starting perhaps next week is the new song from Caleb & John. It’s their follow-up to their # 1 debut smash “Hallelujah Feeling” – which is the biggest song overall of this 7-year era of my chart. This time they bring along the Cain siblings to assist, and it makes for a fine-sounding collaboration in “Somebody Like Me”.

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.

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.

Tags Blog, Chart, Christian, God, Jesus, KLOVE, Music, Radio, Spotify, TheJoyFM, WayFM, WGTS, Z883

Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date April 14, 2024

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday April 14TH 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.

Last Sunday morning I was invited by my brother to go to church with him, his wife, and their two children. My brother and his wife associate as Catholics, so we went to the local Catholic church a couple of miles away from their home. We went to the 10:30 AM service. I believe that it was my first Catholic church service in nearly 40 years (since USAF Basic Military Training in San Antonio Texas). It was interesting. Lots of recitations, rituals, traditions, stands, sits, and kneels. I mostly observed.

[CONTINUE SERMON]

So – like his brother James – Jude did not follow Jesus during His 3-year ministry here on Earth. James and Jude thought that Jesus was a crazy guy. “He is out of his mind” – they said. Imagine that – James and Jude lived with Jesus during His ministry, but they did not really know Him. They did not understand Him. They definitely did not believe that He was the Messiah. You know – it’s kind of like today. People all over the world know of Jesus, but they don’t really know Him, or understand Him, or even believe in Him as God. Oh – and that includes a lot of self-proclaimed Christians too. They don’t really know Him.

It wasn’t until after Christ died and rose again – that James and Jude – His own brothers – became believers and followers of our resurrected Lord. They saw the light. And they traveled around the region. And they spread the message of their brother – of their risen God – Jesus Christ.

So Jude writes:
Dear friends – I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. (Jude 3a)

That would be a good letter to read from Jude – all about salvation. I don’t know if you’ve noticed or not, but – it’s one of my favorite topics. Every sermon that I preach includes salvation as a central theme. It’s that important to me. It’s why I’m alive today. It’s why you know me today.

But notice that Jude writes I had been eagerly planning to write to you about the salvation we all share. You know – it sounds like he’s not going to write about that now. It sounds like he’s going in another direction with his letter.

It sounds like a lot of my sermons. I think I’m going to write and preach about one thing, and then God leads me in another direction with my sermon. And I love when He does that.

But – now I find that I must write about something else – urging you to defend the faith that God has entrusted once for all time to His holy people. (Jude 3b)

You must defend – or protect – your faith in Christ both in and out of the church. I don’t know if you know this or not, but – the enemy is lurking. He’s lurking in everything you do – and everywhere you go. He’s looking for your vulnerable moments, so that he can exploit them to his advantage. That’s what he does. And the enemy – the enemy even works on Sunday mornings. And he’s not afraid to walk right through those doors and into this sanctuary. We must defend our faith in Christ. That means being His hands – and His feet – and YES – even His voice – here on Earth.

[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.