Author: Chris M. Day

I'm almost 59 years old. I've been online for 33 years - starting with my own dial-up bulletin board system in 1993 - and continuing with AOL, my own dot.com web site, Myspace, WordPress, Twitter / X, Flickr, and Facebook.

Sunday Scripture

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date July 25, 2021

So true. You can substitute the word “fishing” with “football” (especially with football season coming up), or even “work”. If you’re at church on a Sunday morning, but you’re only there because someone dragged you there, or you think that you have to be there in order to get to Heaven – then you’re there for the wrong reasons.

I’ve seen it often – church attenders who are physically there, but are not mentally there. Their mind is elsewhere. It is on what they did yesterday, or what they plan to do tomorrow. They are not taking-in God’s Truth. They are not giving-out God’s love.

I’ve also seen people at church who show up, but don’t even attend any services. They are merely there because their friends are there. Larger churches with younger demographics have this problem. They have a nice modern café as part of their main entrance or lobby or atrium, and it’s a hangout joint on Sunday mornings for some who just want to drink coffee and be with their friends. But then when their friends enter the sanctuary or worship center – they leave the premises and go somewhere else.

“Oh I need to go to church to be seen.” – That’s being religious. Going to church doesn’t impress God. Going to church won’t change your life forever. Going to church won’t get you into Heaven.

On the other hand – if you’re constantly thinking about your Lord & Savior Jesus Christ, and talking to Him, and thanking Him for all that He has done for you – and all that He will do for you – then that’s a true relationship with God. It doesn’t matter when it is. It doesn’t matter where it is. If God is in the center of your heart in everything you do and everywhere you go – then that will change your life forever, for you will be alive forever with God in your heart here on earth, and God up in Heaven once your journey here in this temporary place is done.

That relationship with God is being the church all day every day. It’s bringing the church with you on Sunday mornings to meet with your brothers and sisters of your church family in community – to praise God, to worship God, to celebrate God, to talk to God, to learn more about God, and to get closer to God.

If you’re a believer and follower of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ then I hope that you are an integral part of a Bible-believing, Gospel-preaching, and Jesus-loving church family. If you’re seeking a church to belong to then don’t look for the nicest and biggest church in town with the most programs and features. Look for the church body who are closest to God by their talk and their walk, for that’s a family that will strengthen your personal and communal relationship with God.

So encourage each other and build each other up – just as you are already doing.
(1 Thessalonians 5:11)

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, Minister, Ministry, Scripture, Sermon

1980s Blogging Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1986

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date July 23, 2021

Every Friday I post the Top 5 of one of my classic hit music charts based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay from either 15, 25, 30, or 35 years ago this weekend (rotating each week).

It’s the 4TH Friday of the month, so I go back 35 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday July 27TH 1986:

“The Lady In Red” – Chris De Burgh
“So Macho” – Sinitta
“Heartbeat” – Tippa Irie
“Smile” – Audrey Hall
“Roses” – Haywoode

The Summer of 1986 was an amazing time in the music of my life. I’m not a big fan of ’80s music. It’s perhaps my least favorite decade of music since I’ve been alive. But living in England as a 19-year-old was quite the experience, and the music was beatin’ – whether it be slow pop, smooth pop, bubblegum pop, HI-NRG pop, reggae pop, and all kinds of poppin’. I produced a hectic Top 40 chart back then, and 35 years ago this weekend I had 14 new entries on that chart. Much like the U.K. pop charts it was fast and furious. Most songs lasted less than 10 weeks on the radio and on the charts – even songs that made it all the way to or towards the top of the pops.

Sinitta had one of the biggest HI-NRG pop hits of the summer. It got the whole nation up on their feet and dancin’. It eventually hit # 1 on my chart and # 2 on the U.K. pop charts. It was her first and biggest hit ever. She was actually signed by a young (mid-20s) music executive by the name of Simon Cowell. YES – that Simon Cowell. Sinitta was Simon’s first big pop star, and “So Macho” was his first big pop hit. They even seriously dated for a few years. They’ve been great friends ever since.

Here’s the official music video for Sinitta’s “So Macho” that’s so 1986:

It’s halftime my friends. I’ll be back on Sunday and Monday with 2 more blog posts for this weekend. Enjoy your Saturday. Thanks for going RETRO with me !

Tags 1986, BBC, British, England, Music, Radio

Blogging Driving Food Photography Travel

My Summer Vacation 2021 Road-Trip

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date July 22, 2021

It’s Part 7 of my multi-part Thursday blog series on my recent 77-hour / (4-day / 3-night) / 472-mile road-trip spanning Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Okeechobee Counties (in that order). It was my first extended visit ever along Florida’s Treasure Coast. While there I was always within about 5 miles of the Atlantic Ocean and the adjacent Indian River.

I awoke early on Day 4 – Saturday June 05TH 2021 – my 54TH birthday. In the weeks (even months) prior to this road-trip I had planned to enjoy a free birthday Grand Slam® breakfast at Denny’s, but they’ve actually changed things up over the past couple of years. Instead of simply walking-in to any Denny’s on the exact day of your birthday, telling them that it’s your birthday, showing them proof via your driver’s license, and then enjoying a free birthday Grand Slam® – now you have to be a part of their Rewards program, and receive a digital coupon for a free birthday Grand Slam® that you can utilize once anytime during your birthday month.

I decided to save my digital coupon from Denny’s for later in the month. Starbucks gave me a reward for any item on their menu free – good only on the exact day of my birthday – so it was off to Starbucks of Vero Beach for a quick small Breakfast.

After that it was a mostly uneventful drive home – down U.S. 1 – onto Florida State Roads 713 and 70, into Okeechobee County, around the eastern edge of the big lake, and then southward onto U.S. 27 and back into Miami-Dade County. I drove 180.2 miles home, and the total miles of the road-trip from start to finish was 471.8.

This was a fun yet well-planned road-trip. I planned it back in early-2018, and I scheduled it for the first week of June of 2018. I had to cancel it when a work-related road-trip to Georgia took precedence. Early this year I decided that this would be the year to take that road-trip, and so I scheduled it for the exact same 4-day / 3-night part of the first week of June. Most of the places that I visited were on my original 2018 itinerary. This was a road-trip where I wasn’t looking for potential part-time volunteer or employment opportunities post-retirement. I wasn’t driving around looking through potential future neighborhoods. I just wanted to visit new places that I’ve never been to before in my life, meet interesting people along the way, and enjoy some great food. I accomplished my mission.

Inside the Indian River Citrus Museum in downtown Vero Beach Florida

There are a lot of hidden treasures along Florida’s Treasure Coast – mostly along or within a few miles of the Atlantic coastline and the Indian River shoreline. I’ll definitely visit the area again to explore more. So far I’ve captioned and posted about 35 photos of this road-trip over on my Flickr site. I’ve got dozens more still to post, so I’ll be doing that for at least the next month. Check my Flickr often to see the newest photos.

And now it’s time to announce my next great Florida road-trip that begins in less than 100 days. It’s all planned-out. I’ll be driving up the spine of Florida along U.S. 27 up to Florida State Road 60, and then I’ll be heading westward into the Tampa area for one night. From there I’ll be heading southward along U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail) into the Fort Myers area for one night. From there I’ll be heading southward and then eastward back into South Florida. I’ll be spending one night in Northwest Broward County before I return home on the afternoon of the 4TH day. It’ll be a nearly 650-mile road-trip from start to finish, and I’ll post all about it for many weeks after.

This concludes my 7-part series on “My Summer Vacation 2021 Road-Trip”. Actually it was an 8-part series, as I introduced it on the June 06TH 2021 edition of “Sunday Scripture”. You can utilize the calendar feature down at the bottom of this site to click on a previous Thursday if you missed any of the parts.

#TravelThursday continues next Thursday, as I plan to blog about Reykjavik Iceland.

Tags Florida, Travel, Vero Beach

Astronomy Blogging Food History Internet Music Television Travel Weather

Tuesday Night Grab Bag O’ Thoughts

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date July 20, 2021

I. #Introduction – Surprise. I’ve brought back an old favorite of this blog, but just for a single return appearance. This won’t become a regular weekly feature again. This was once the flagship of this blog. It started in 2007 on Myspace – inspired by fellow bloggers of the era. It continued here on WordPress for 129 well-read editions. This is the first edition on WordPress in over 11 years. I brought it back briefly on Facebook after that. This is essentially my instant “brain dump” online. It’s what’s on my mind – right here – right now. I have no idea what I’ll write – until my fingers hit the keyboard. Once it’s done it gets posted immediately. I wanted to do something different to observe 2,000 blog posts here on WordPress, and this is what I came up with. #Blogging101

II. #Lunch – I’ve written about Longhorn Steakhouse, Olive Garden, and Red Lobster many times before here on my #GrabBag. Back in 2008 and 2009 they were being built and opened in my city right next to each other just 3 miles away from my home. Longhorn and Olive Garden continue to thrive with delicious food, great service, and an abundance of customers all day every day. Red Lobster is struggling. I don’t go there very often anymore, and when I do there aren’t that many people there – both customers and employees. They appear to be poorly managed at this time. As a church group we’ve dropped the place from our regular rotation due to poor service. I went back today solo on a reconnaissance mission to see if they have improved. They failed. They were closed 18 minutes after they were supposed to be open at 11 AM. I went back to Longhorn – the place that I’ve been to more than any other restaurant in my city. My favorite waitress served me. She was fantastic, and my meal was delicious. #CaseClosed

III. #ManOnTheMoon – 52 years ago today on July 20TH 1969 (a Sunday) man walked on the moon for the first time ever. It was one small step for man – one giant leap for mankind. I actually remember watching it as a 2-year-old toddler in our cozy Greenbelt Maryland apartment on our giant (25-inch) living room TV set that was essentially heavy furniture that weighed several hundred pounds. I smiled when R.E.M.‘s “Man On The Moon” played on my iPod Shuffle at my desk at work this morning. #Appropriate

IV. #WeatherOnTheFours – Today we had a lot of quick-moving heavy showers around the area, but we also had a lot of hot sunshine. Sometimes the sun was shining bright while the rain was pouring down. Sounds like a typical “rainy season” day. We started-off this morning right around 78°F / 26°C, and we managed to reach 90°F / 32°C. Slightly drier and hotter days are headed this way – along with some Saharan dust. #Gesundheit

V. #FamilyPhotoOn5 – I stumbled across this photo recently. It’s from a long time ago – the Summer of 1977 (I believe). It could be ’78. I’m 10 (or 11). My little brother is 2 (or 3). We’re definitely in Ocean City Maryland with our neighbor friends. I went fishing for the first time ever in my life, and look what I caught ! Please excuse my outfit. I didn’t dress myself back then. #CutenessOverload

This concludes another weekend of blog posts. I’ll do it again this upcoming weekend (which starts very soon) – with 4 new entries on Thursday, Friday, Sunday, and Monday. I don’t blog on Saturdays. That’s my day of rest.

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 Twitter and Flickr.

Be blessed my friends ! May the 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.