Month: January 2026

Categories
Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 466

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 almost 50 years. Here’s this week’s chart – for the week ending Sunday January 18TH 2026 – the 466TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 1 11 World On Fire
[2ND week @ # 1]		 for King + Country Ft. Taylor Hill
2 2 14 How Good It Is Chris Tomlin
3 3 15 Dusty Bibles Josiah Queen
4 4 25 Can’t Steal My Joy Josiah Queen X Brandon Lake
5 5 6 God Did ! Sons Of Sunday
6 6 31 What An Awesome God Phil Wickham
7 9 3 Heaven On My Mind TobyMac
8 – 1 Homesick For Heaven Phil Wickham
9 – 1 Finished Caleb & John
10 – 1 Where Would I Be Peter Burton

# 1 This Week In:
2025 – “Running Back To You” – Seph Schlueter
2024 – “Hallelujah Feeling” – Caleb & John
2023 – “Who I Am” – Ben Fuller
2022 – “Weary Traveler” – Jordan St. Cyr
2021 – “Every Step Of The Way” – Cade Thompson
2020 – “Holy Water” – We The Kingdom
2019 – “Nobody Loves Me Like You” – Chris Tomlin
2018 – “Lions” – Skillet

PHIL WICKHAM – “What An Awesome God” – last year’s # 1 smash overall – spends its 31ST week on my chart. It’s just 2 weeks shy of tying the record-breaking 33-week chart run of Patrick Mayberry’s “Lead On Good Shepherd” – 2024’s # 1 smash overall. Meanwhile – Phil’s follow-up hit -“Homesick For Heaven” – is new at # 8. Look for it to be huge during this first-half of 2026.

CALEB & JOHN – Welcome to the area. (They performed LIVE last night at the Manatee County Fair about 75 miles away from my Florida home.) Their 3RD hit is new at # 9, and it – is – “Finished”.

ONE-HIT WONDER – Apollo LTD have been making music together for the past decade. They spent 9 non-consecutive weeks on my chart during the Summer of 2021 with their soulful track for Christ that has that “Sunday Morning Feeling”. They got Ryan Stevenson to assist on it.

SPOTIFY – You can hear “My Top 10 Hits” anytime by accessing 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 in South Florida 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) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday January 18TH 2026, 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 #SundayScripture I wrote about the weeks and days leading up to that local Miami Christian pop radio station rock concert – at a church – on a Saturday night – in Homestead (my longtime home). God gave me the courage to actually go to that church and attend that rock concert – knowing not a single person there – and being an introvert – and rarely going out after dark.

The 2½-hour concert was loud and amazing, but I soon realized that I was probably the youngest person there; although, I kind of blended in. At the age of 39 – I looked more like 25. (I’m almost 59 now, and I’ve been told that I could pass for a 40-year-old.)

I discovered that the church building was no longer being used for church services. It was being used for special events, weekly meetings, and office space. The Sunday morning church service was being held in the local movie theatre a couple of miles away. Say what ? Church ? In a movie theatre ? To this baby Christian that sounded as weird as a rock concert in a church.

I went to that movie theatre the very next morning – on Sunday January 21ST 2007 – about 20 minutes before the start of the 10 AM (and only) service. I was greeted and hugged at the front door. The Hospitality Director greeted me and introduced herself to me in the main lobby. She directed me to the fresh-brewed Starbucks-branded coffee (behind the curtain on the movie theatre’s concession stand). She also led me to the specific theatre where service would soon begin. There were a few dozen of us in that theatre for that service. Within the first 10 minutes of that experience – I knew that I was exactly where God wanted me to be. I also knew that I would indeed return the following Sunday.

Today marks my 19TH anniversary of being part of a church family. I’ve attended over 900 church services since that first one in 2007. I was with my first church family for over 8 years, and I was with my second church family for the next 9 years. I’ve been with my fourth and current church family for the past 27½ months.

After salvation started I went 5 months without being part of a church family. I went just about as far as I could go on this fantastic journey by myself. That rock concert at that church, and that church service at that movie theatre 19 years ago this weekend changed my life forever. And now – in my 20TH year of salvation – I now enter my 20TH year of being the church and bringing the church in everything I do and everywhere I go.

All of you together are Christ’s body, and each of you is a part of it. Here are some of the parts God has appointed for the church:
first are apostles,
second are prophets,
third are teachers,
then those who do miracles,
those who have the gift of healing,
those who can help others,
those who have the gift of leadership,
those who speak in unknown languages.
(1 Corinthians 12:27-28 NLT)

My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture – whether it’s part of a sermon, a testimony, 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) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Driving Food Geography History Holidays Home Movies Travel Weather

Coffee & Food

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about me and my brother’s fun visit to the historic (built in 1905) “Thomas And Mattie Brown House Welcome Center” (known more commonly as “Welcome Center At Brown House”). I’ll continue to follow them on their Facebook page, and it’ll be a regular visit (I hope) every time I visit my family in Wylie Texas. After all – it’s the official Welcome Center for the city of Wylie. It also sounds like they rotate and swap out displays on a regular basis, so it’ll be fun to see what’s different with each new visit.

It’s on Ballard Avenue in the historic downtown district. Another regular visit along Ballard is Ballard Street Cafe – a popular one-location family-owned restaurant that serves breakfast and lunch from 6 AM to 2 PM every day (7 AM to 2 PM on Sundays). It’s really good food. Somehow – someway – we didn’t make it there for breakfast like we usually do. That’s high on the docket for my next visit to Wylie.

We did make it to Shoemaker & Hardt – or – as my brother and I have referred to it for the past 6 years now – “Hardcastle & McCormick”. It’s also on Ballard, and it’s a hybrid gourmet coffee shop and gift shop that’s been open for almost 30 years. I always walk around looking at the various items for sale as I await the creation of my delicious hot (or iced) beverage. It smells really good in there with a hybrid of coffee and candles.

Thursday December 04TH 2025 – the same day that this current #TravelThursday series from Texas began – was a mostly stay-at-home day. It was also another cold, dark, dreary, and drizzly day in the low-40s. Me and my brother went out during the lunch hour, and we made two stops.

The first stop was to Dutch Bros. It’s a drive-thru coffee chain that was born in Oregon in 1992. It’s approaching 1,100 locations nationwide with a goal of 4,000 locations soon. (Sebring is one of the potential new locations as suggested by a recent Facebook post. It would be located almost directly across the street from our existing Starbucks and Panera.)

After that we went back to Cotton Patch Cafe (which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago). This time me and my brother each selected a dessert from their menu, and my brother ordered them in advance via their web site. I selected the Bread Pudding (classic southern style, cinnamon custard, caramel drizzle). My brother ordered the Mama’s Special Butter Cake (butter cake with a cheesecake layer, whipped cream, caramel sauce). My brother picked them up at the special pick-up entrance. We took our desserts home, and we enjoyed them with our fancy coffees.

Later that same night my sister-in-law cooked dinner for us – baked steak (one of her specialties) and mashed potatoes with gravy. And of course the gravy is also for the baked steak.

T.G.I.F. It’s my last full day in North Texas. After another movie (our 4TH in a week) – me and my brother ate more delicious food. For lunch we went to Big Tony’s West Philly Cheesesteaks in Allen Texas. The guy running the restaurant at the time got my order mixed up with the guy who ordered right after me. I think we ordered the same daily special (double-meat cheesesteak with fries), but I ordered mine with no onions, and the other guy ordered his with onions. He got no onions. I got all the onions. But it actually wasn’t that bad, and I ate most of the onions. (It would’ve been tastier minus the onions.)

On the next #TravelThursday – I eat a cronut, an apple fritter, two pop-tarts, two cookies, a small bag of pretzels, and two more pop-tarts as I make my way back home to Sebring Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 465

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 almost 50 years. Here’s this week’s chart – for the week ending Sunday January 11TH 2026 – the 465TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 3 10 World On Fire
[1ST week @ # 1]		 for King + Country Ft. Taylor Hill
2 1 13 How Good It Is Chris Tomlin
3 2 14 Dusty Bibles Josiah Queen
4 4 24 Can’t Steal My Joy Josiah Queen X Brandon Lake
5 6 5 God Did ! Sons Of Sunday
6 5 30 What An Awesome God Phil Wickham
7 7 7 I Need You Jet Trouble
8 8 11 Lift Me Up Blessing Offor
9 10 2 Heaven On My Mind TobyMac
10 9 5 No Survivors Jeremy Camp

# 1 This Week In:
2025 – “Do It Again” – Steven Curtis Chapman
2024 – “Hallelujah Feeling” – Caleb & John
2023 – “Who I Am” – Ben Fuller
2022 – “Weary Traveler” – Jordan St. Cyr
2021 – “Every Step Of The Way” – Cade Thompson
2020 – “Holy Water” – We The Kingdom
2019 – “Nobody Loves Me Like You” – Chris Tomlin
2018 – “Lions” – Skillet

WORLD ON FIRE – Joel and Luke Smallbone’s 12TH hit ascends to the top of my chart this week. It’s their 2ND # 1 smash in a row (after their remake of “Place In This World” with Michael W. Smith). Their 1ST 10 hits did not reach # 1.

ONE-HIT WONDER – Coby James spent 8 weeks on my chart during the Summer of 2021 with his soulful track for Christ – “Brand New”. It peaked at # 5 for 2 weeks, and it carried with it a fun music video at the swimming pool.

SPOTIFY – You can hear “My Top 10 Hits” anytime by accessing 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 in South Florida 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) 2026 Christopher M. Day, CountUp