Month: May 2024

Categories
Blogging Driving Food Geography History Military Travel

Marshall Texas

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about my morning south of Hattiesburg Mississippi at historic Camp Shelby to visit the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum. After that – I drove to the bluffs overlooking – and the banks of – the Mighty Mississippi River at historic Natchez. I didn’t get to see and do everything that I wanted to in Natchez, so I’ll just have to visit again on a future road-trip.

Natchez and the surrounding area intrigues me with so much history. The U.S. 84 / U.S. 98 drive across the south of Mississippi leading to Natchez is quite scenic and serene.

Day 4 of my recent retirement road-trip began on the Natchez-Vidalia Bridge. It’s actually two bridges side-by-side. Westbound (into Louisiana) is the original bridge that has been there since 1940. Eastbound (into Mississippi) is the newer (and a bit wider) bridge that was built 48 years later.

I continued my westward trek on U.S. 84. It’s definitely one of my favorite highways in the U.S.A. It has a very interesting intersection with U.S. 165 where – in order to continue on U.S. 84 – you have to make a right-hand turn onto U.S. 165, immediately get in the left-hand turning lane, make a U-turn, quickly get in the right-hand turning lane, and then turn right back onto U.S. 84. (There was a high incidence of collisions at this intersection, so it was reconfigured in 2018 to 2019.)

Fun Facts: U.S. 165 is a 412-mile highway in Arkansas and Louisiana. Its northern-end is at U.S. 70, and its southern-end is at U.S. 90. Technically – U.S. 165 forms a concurrency with U.S. 84 at the unusual intersection described above. (I’m such a U.S. route nerd.)

I entered Texas from Louisiana via rural Keatchie-Marshall Road. There was no big “Welcome To Texas” sign at the state line – just an ordinary “Panola County Line” sign with a smaller route sign above it designating it as Texas Farm Road 123. Oh – and the speed limit increased. (Texans love their high speed limits.) That quick moment began a 10-day stay for me in North Texas.

It was on to Marshall Texas from there, and my first stop was the historic Starr Family Home. I introduced myself as a fellow docent of a historic house, and I enjoyed a wonderful conversation with two of the docents on duty at the time before, during, and after my self-guided tour on both floors of the house. They gave me some good ideas to ponder.

After that I ventured over to the Harrison County Historical Museum. I was a little disappointed that there were no docents on duty during my visit to their museum (located in two different buildings across the street from each other). In fact – I was able to enter and tour virtually the entire museum without any human contact whatsoever. That’s not really a good thing. Open museums should always be visibly manned and supervised for information and security purposes. I did finally find someone working in an office near the gift shop, and I briefly talked to her about the other museum location across the street. Their museum (in both buildings) contained great displays, but they lacked guidance, direction, and written material.

Harrison County Historical Museum, Marshall Texas

My final stop in downtown Marshall was the highly-rated (via Google reviews) Pazzeria By Pietro’s. I got myself a 9″ pizza with pepperoni and Canadian bacon. It was very good – truly hot and delicious !

Next #TravelThursday – I’m settled in North Texas with my family for 9 days. I’ll share some fun moments – including the total solar eclipse. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

Categories
Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 377

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 May 05TH 2024 – the 377TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 3 7 Counting My Blessings
[1ST week @ # 1]		 Seph Schlueter
2 2 22 Lead On Good Shepherd Patrick Mayberry
3 1 11 He Does Brandon Heath
4 5 11 You’ve Already Won Shane & Shane
5 10 2 Unsung Hero for King + Country
6 6 9 All Because Of Mercy Casting Crowns
7 7 3 That’s My King CeCe Winans
8 8 2 Somebody Like Me Caleb & John Ft. Cain
9 4 5 The Prodigal Josiah Queen
10 9 6 Rescue Jordan St. Cyr

# 1 This Week In:
2023 – “The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours)” – Matt Maher
2022 – “Wonder Working” – All Creatures
2021 – “Fires” – Jordan St. Cyr
2020 – “Almost Home” – MercyMe
2019 – “Alive” – Big Daddy Weave
2018 – “What A Friend” – Matt Maher
2017 – “Forgiven” – Crowder

SEPH SCHLUETER – (pronounced SEF·SHLEE·TER) – I love a debut artist on my chart. Even more – I love a debut artist ascending to # 1 on my chart. His former nationwide # 1 smash is now my new # 1 smash – the 99TH # 1 of the current era (of 377 weeks). Seph’s letter of thanks to God reaches the top in its 7TH week on my chart.

UNSUNG HERO – It continues its impressive run on 2,832 movie theatre screens nationwide. It’s made almost $13 million at the box office. If you’re looking for a “feel good” family movie to see – then this is it. The title track of the movie is up a big 5 notches this week.

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.

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 May 05TH 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.

Today I begin my 9TH month with my Sebring Florida church family. Just like with my longtime Homestead Florida church family – we observe and celebrate Communion on the first Sunday of every month.

I was honored to lead Communion 79 times from 2016 to 2024. I believe it to be an integral part of the church experience. It should be a special observance – never an ordinary routine. Next month I’m looking forward to seeing how my successor leads Communion back in Homestead.

I like how my Pastor here in Sebring leads Communion. It’s done a bit differently here. As you enter the building you pick up the elements (packaged together) and take them to your seat. He leads Communion before his sermon and right after Praise & Worship.

(At Homestead – Communion is done near the end of the service after the sermon. As part of the ceremony – the church body walks forward to the altar to receive the elements from the plate to take back to their respective seats.)

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 5:

[CONTINUE SERMON]

The Bible tells us to preach the Word. Be prepared. Pastor Bob said – “Chris. I want you to preach for me.” I’m here. I’m prepared. I’m prepared at all times. I’m prepared here in Homestead. I’m prepared there in Sebring. I’m prepared in-between. When I’m asked to preach – I accept the call. I will correct. I will rebuke. That means that when I hear something that’s touted as being Biblical, but it is not in the Bible – I will check it out. I will call it out. I hope that you will do the same. I hope to encourage you – with great patience and careful instruction. That means preaching the whole Word. That means even the fire and brimstone part of God’s Word.

You know – our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ – He was a fire and brimstone preacher during His short 3-year ministry here on Earth. We must preach like Christ.

I read this online, and I said to myself – “That’s good right there. I need to use that in my sermon.” So – from another minister, he writes:

“God’s Word is not an ‘either-or’ book. It is an ‘all-or-nothing’ book. It is not a dingy all-you-can-eat buffet, but a glorious full-course meal. It all comes down to whether or not we are willing to consume it all.”

Isn’t that good ? You can’t pick and choose what to believe in the Bible. It is all God’s Truth. That includes the uncomfortable parts of the Bible. That includes the horrific parts of the Bible.

Those people that we know that don’t believe and follow our Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. Those people that we know who say and do what the world tells them to say and do. That was me over 17 years ago. Those people – they believe and follow Satan – the god of this world around us. The Bible says that Satan has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ – who is the exact likeness of God. (2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT)

[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.

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

Categories
Blogging Driving Food Geography History Military Travel

Mississippi

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about my afternoon on the west side of Mobile Alabama at the Bragg-Mitchell Mansion – built in 1855.

As Day 3 of my recent retirement road-trip began – I made my way northward over to Alabama State Road 158. It serves as a brand-new northern bypass of the western suburbs of Mobile. Much of it is 4-lanes, but a portion of it (the westernmost segment) is still 2-lanes and under construction. Once construction is complete it will carry U.S. 98 traffic to and from Mississippi, and the current / longtime U.S. 98 will become a local road (maybe Business U.S. 98).

The western end of Alabama State Road 158 leads to the Mississippi State Line, and U.S. 98 takes over from there as a longtime 4-lane highway. I love that stretch of U.S. 98, as it’s all rural with very little traffic. The South Mississippi countryside is scenic and beautiful. Much of it is raw and unspoiled.

When I retired on the 29TH of February of 2024 – I knew that I would probably never return to the Air Force Base that was my workplace for over 36 years. I also thought that perhaps I would never step foot on any military base ever again. That lasted exactly 34 days – when I entered historic (built during World War 1) Camp Shelby (south of Hattiesburg). It’s a large U.S. Army training post that is also the home of the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum – which was my reason for visiting. The museum is indoors and outdoors. It’s a traditional military historical museum inside, and there are lots of static displays of aircraft and vehicles outside. I enjoyed my time at the museum. I spent a good thorough 2½ hours there. It was time well-spent. Admission is free.

I continued my trek westward to Natchez Mississippi for my 2ND overnight stay. (My 1ST was in November 2021.) I had planned to give myself plenty of time in Natchez to visit at least 1 – perhaps even 2 historic homes / museums in-town. I failed to do so. I enjoyed my visit to the Mississippi Armed Forces Museum so much that I arrived in Natchez later than anticipated. (I guess I’ll have to plan a 3RD visit to Natchez, and maybe even plan for 2 nights there.)

Natchez is definitely a vacation and convention destination high atop the bluffs overlooking the Mississippi River. Oh – and also right along the banks of the Mighty Mississippi. In fact – I actually drove down (carefully) from the bluffs to the banks via steep Silver Street (built by the Spanish during the 1790s). I saw a part of Natchez (“under-the-hill”) that I didn’t get to see on my first visit – the thriving tourist district with stores, restaurants, and bars. I enjoyed LuDinner (late-Lunch / early-Dinner) at Magnolia Grill. It was where I was planning to eat during my first visit, but I got into town just before sunset and dusk.

A large Viking Mississippi River cruise ship was in-port. That was an amazing (and unexpected) sight to see. Lots of cruise passengers were enjoying their port-of-call for the day. A Viking river cruise is definitely on my bucket list. I know that they are expensive. I think if I were to do one – I would want to do it right – the full 22-day experience between St. Paul Minnesota and New Orleans Louisiana.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about my drive across the Mighty Mississippi River and into and across Louisiana into far-eastern Texas via some real backroads. Let’s keep traveling together.

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