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.

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Blogging Books Commerce Driving Food Geography Music Shopping Travel Weather

Texas Concert

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This is a continuation of my post from last week when I drove 76 miles from Sebring to Sarasota-Bradenton International Airport (#SRQ), and then I flew nonstop direct to Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport (#DFW). Last week I wrote about Jollibee, Starwood Cafe, and Texas Theatre.

This week – the adventure continues. We’re up to the day after Night 2 – Thursday – and this was really the only day that we were forecasted to receive nice weather. In fact – it was supposed to be sunny, clear, and warm on that day with a high in the mid-80s. Yeah – that didn’t happen. It was cloudy (even a bit foggy at times) and chilly with the 60s and the 70s. I think the sun finally emerged for an hour or so during the early-evening hours. North Texas weather can be difficult to forecast during the Spring and Fall months.

Me and my brother went to Barnes & Noble to check out books, magazines, and music. Remember all of the great bookstores that used to exist back in the ’80s and ’90s ? I’m thinking B. Dalton Bookseller, Waldenbooks, Borders, and even Crown Books up in Maryland and Virginia. Those were fun places to hang out at – those and record stores. Most of the bookstores had records, and most of the record stores had books. I’m glad that Barnes & Noble still exists as the last of all of them.

For lunch me and my brother went to Scotty P’s – a local fast-food restaurant. I had the chicken sandwich with fries. (I see a trend developing here.)

For dinner my brother picked-up Whataburger meals for our family. I requested a cheeseburger, fries, and fried apple pie. I got the fries and apple pie, but no cheeseburger. When my sister-in-law handed out all of the burgers – there was none left for me. My brother was either shortchanged, or he ordered incorrectly. (I suspect the former.) I watched everyone else eat their burger as I went without. I kept quiet about it. No need to dwell on it; although, let me just add that Whataburger does make a pretty good fast-food burger. Maybe next time I’ll get to enjoy one. Maybe in November.

OK – here’s the reason for the title of this blog post. Our family attended a circus-themed choral concert performed by a few hundred 5TH, 6TH, 7TH, and 8TH graders from two different schools – inside the auditorium of one of the local high schools. I think it was my first such school concert ever, and it was the first time that I’ve been inside of a high school in 40 years – since I was a graduate of the Class Of 1985. My youngest niece was a performer at the concert. She showed off her gymnastics skills. The concert was actually better than expected – a lot of fun. It was also a bit long – 90 minutes !

So that was my Thursday earlier this month in North Texas. Next #TravelThursday – it’s Part 3 of my fun with family, as me and my brother see a movie and I eat more chicken. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Career Holidays Military

Happy Armed Forces Week

It’s Wednesday May 14TH 2025, and National Military Appreciation Month continues here in the U.S.A. with Armed Forces Week (all this week), and that culminates this Saturday with Armed Forces Day. Unlike Memorial Day (this year on May 26TH) and Veterans Day (November 11TH) – this is an opportunity for us to honor everyone who currently serves within our military.

Last year I retired from a nearly 39-year career with the United States Air Force. I actually committed to 4 years of active-duty service about a month into my Senior year in high school in 1984. 6 days after graduating from high school in June 1985 – I was on my way to Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio Texas for 6½ weeks of Basic Military Training.

My 39 years in the USAF included 31 years as a civil-servant. Prior to that – I served 8 years on active-duty and 6 years as a reservist (overlapping with the first 6 years of my civil-service).

Up until about the age of 16 – I intended to go to college after high school and emerge with a degree in either Meteorology or Communications (radio and television broadcasting). That didn’t happen, but the USAF trained me well. It was determined that I was great at math, so I was made to be an analyst / statistician / number-cruncher for most of my career. I served as a Financial Manager for my final 16½ years.

In the USAF I had some great years, some good years, some bad years, and some horrible years. There’s an entire 13-year era that was the worst of my career (and life). Thankfully – I followed that up with the best 16½-year era of my career (and life). My career ended near a high last year.

To all military service members – whether you are currently on active-duty, a reservist, a civil-servant, or a contractor working alongside all of the above – I thank you for all that you do with each new duty day. Represent well.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 430

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 May 11TH 2025 – the 430TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 2 7 Unashamed
[1ST week @ # 1]		 Matthew West
2 1 11 A Lil Church (Nobody’s Too Lost) TobyMac
3 3 15 Money Can’t Buy Cochren & Co.
4 4 8 You Never Gave Up On Me The Afters
5 5 7 Oh Death MercyMe
6 7 6 Jesus Loves Zach Williams
7 9 6 Your Way’s Better Forrest Frank
8 6 9 Whisper And The Wind Bodie
9 10 4 No Fear Jon Reddick
10 – 1 The King Is In The Room Phil Wickham

# 1 This Week In:
2024 – “Counting My Blessings” – Seph Schlueter
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 – “The Way (New Horizon)” – Pat Barrett
2017 – “Forgiven” – Crowder

CHARTBEAT – Back in the 1980s and 1990s I wrote about a lot of the chart moves of the week under the “CHARTBEAT” banner. Let’s go retro. My # 1 artist since 2017 is Matthew West. He’s spent more weeks on my chart than any other artist (176). And he’s got more # 1 smash hits than any other artist (7). “Unashamed” is his first # 1 on my chart in over 2 years – since February 2023 – when he ascended to the top with “My Story Your Glory”. TobyMac holds the record for the most number of hits on my chart since 2017. His 15TH hit – “A Lil Church” – drops from # 1 to # 2 this week. Down at # 10 it’s Mr. Phil Wickham with his 11TH hit since 2017. It’s a song that sounds like vintage Phil Wickham. It’s his trademark sound at work that praises and worships The King and acknowledges that He is in the room. This is a great song for church on Sunday mornings !

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) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday May 11TH 2025, 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.

My season of increased Bible studying, praying, and sermon writing continues. I was hoping that it wouldn’t wane due to my recent trip to Dallas Texas. It took a short pause while I was having fun with family, but it started right back up again once I returned home to my desks and computers. I don’t want this to end anytime soon. I know that it will eventually end for an undetermined period of time, and when it does I’ll be ready for it. The Bible studying and the praying will continue, but the sermon writing will come to a temporary pause – lasting anywhere from a few weeks to a few months. I’ve learned to not try to write sermons during these brief valleys. They are generally not my best work. God always deserves the very best.

My 3RD sermon in a row on Paul’s first letter to his most trusted assistant Timothy is complete. I’ve begun writing my 4TH sermon covering 1 Timothy 3:1-13. Paul writes about “Elders & Deacons”, and that’s the title of my sermon.

This is a trustworthy saying: “If someone aspires to be a church leader – he desires an honorable position.” So a church leader must be a man whose life is above reproach. He must be faithful to his wife. He must exercise self-control, live wisely, and have a good reputation. He must enjoy having guests in his home, and he must be able to teach. He must not be a heavy drinker or be violent. He must be gentle, not quarrelsome, and not love money. He must manage his own family well – having children who respect and obey him. For if a man cannot manage his own household – how can he take care of God’s church ?

Very interesting. I’m not quite sure how I’ll preach on those first 5 verses, as I don’t have a wife or children. But I do have family in Texas. I also find it interesting that my 2008 NLT Study Bible uses the word “elder” in the first 2 verses (and in Verse 6). In 2015 the NLT received updates to 86 verses, and “elder” was replaced by “church leader” in those 3 verses of 1 Timothy 3. I prefer the word “elder”. “Overseer” or “Bishop” could be used as well. Most modern translations do in fact use “overseer” in lieu of “elder”. The King James Version uses “Bishop”.

Goodness. It seems as if I’ve started writing my sermon right here. Let me go over to my Word document to get this going..

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) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp