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.

Categories
Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday September 15TH 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’m in Homestead Florida this morning. I’ll be preaching a sermon at my longtime church. We’ll have a fellowship lunch after at a local area restaurant – hopefully a steakhouse. For those keeping track (only me ?) – this is my 29TH trip back to Homestead since buying my dream home in my dream neighborhood in my dream part of Florida (Sebring) 19 months ago.

Back home I’ll be missing our 10:30 AM service at Highlands Community Church, but I’ll watch it on YouTube tonight or tomorrow morning. We’re currently continuing our message series through Hebrews. Last Sunday we reached Hebrews 7:1-4, and our Pastor preached about Melchizedek – the king and priest together. He was the only such man in Scripture to hold both titles before Jesus. He foreshadowed the Messiah – Jesus Christ.

From Hebrews 5:6-10 (NLT):

And in another passage God said to Him – “You are a priest forever in the order of Melchizedek.”

While Jesus was here on earth – He offered prayers and pleadings – with a loud cry and tears – to the One who could rescue Him from death. And God heard His prayers because of his deep reverence for God. Even though Jesus was God’s Son – He learned obedience from the things He suffered. In this way – God qualified Him as a perfect High Priest, and He became the source of eternal salvation for all those who obey Him. And God designated Him to be a High Priest in the order of Melchizedek.

Christ was humiliated. Christ suffered. And then – Christ was and is exalted. As the Son obeyed the Father – we believers and followers must obey Christ – the High Priest – for eternal salvation.

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 History Travel

The Hotel Jacaranda

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. A favorite place of mine in Avon Park Florida – aside from the historic Avon Park Depot Museum – is the historic Hotel Jacaranda – AKA “The Jac” – AKA “Queen Of The Ridge”.

Built between 1923 and 1926 along Main Street in the historic downtown district – it’s been operating continuously as a hotel with a restaurant for the past 98 years. It’s named for an estimated 150-year-old Jacaranda tree that had to be knocked-down and removed to make room for the building at its location at 19 East Main Street. The entire mile-long Main Street historic district (eastward from U.S. 27) is on the National Register Of Historic Places.

During the late-1920s and into the 1930s it housed visiting major and minor league baseball players who were training in the city. Babe Ruth stayed at the hotel, as did Clark Gable, George Burns and Gracie Allen, and other famous stars of sports and screen. During World War 2 it housed military pilots who were training at the nearby Army Airfield.

Since 1988 it’s been owned and operated by the South Florida State College Foundation. The college has classrooms within the building as well as offices and student dorm rooms. Culinary students train in the kitchen of the restaurant and create many of the meals that are served to its customers. I’ve enjoyed a half-dozen delicious meals at the restaurant, and I’ll continue to support them and enjoy the ambience of the historic hotel.

If there ever comes a time where I need to vacate my home for a night or two (power outage, no A.C. in the summertime, no water, etc.) – then I would definitely consider checking the availability of a room at The Jac. I would love to spend a night or two there.

Financial donations support continuous restoration of the hotel.

#CountUp & #TravelThursday is on Facebook.

Next #TravelThursday – Pioneer Daze is coming. I’ll tell you all about it. 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 395

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 September 08TH 2024 – the 395TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 1 14 Take You At Your Word
[4TH week @ # 1]		 Cody Carnes
2 2 5 Count ‘Em Brandon Lake
3 6 3 Up + Up Colton Dixon
4 4 18 Beautiful Life Pat Barrett
5 5 20 Somebody Like Me Caleb & John Ft. Cain
6 7 5 Do It Again Steven Curtis Chapman
7 3 11 Good Day Forrest Frank
8 8 9 Take It All Back Tauren Wells
9 9 10 Nothin’ Sweeter TobyMac
10 – 1 Won’t He Do It We The Kingdom

# 1 This Week In:
2023 – “Praise You Anywhere” – Brandon Lake
2022 – “Hold You Tight” – Dan Bremnes
2021 – “Into The Wild” – Josh Baldwin
2020 – “Miracles” – Colton Dixon
2019 – “Nobody (But Jesus)” – Casting Crowns Ft. Matthew West
2018 – “Who You Say I Am” – Hillsong Worship
2017 – “Broken Things” – Matthew West

ELEVENTYSEVEN – Before this current era of my pop chart there was another era that started days after my salvation in August of 2006. It lasted short of 3½ years, and some great loud music was on it that led me to my Lord + Savior Jesus Christ, or moved me closer to Him. One such song was “Love In Your Arms” from the Greenville South Carolina band Eleventyseven. It spent 6 weeks at # 1 on my chart, and that’s where it was exactly 17 years ago.

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 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 September 08TH 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.

You know – I am not a religious person. I don’t believe in religion. I believe that Jesus Christ is my Lord + Savior. He is the one true God. He was sent to this world as a man – not to start another religion, but to end all religion. He died for my sins and for the sins of all mankind – past, present, and future. He rose again. He is alive today. He is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will return.

Then Jesus said – “Come to Me – all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you. Let Me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30 NLT)

I know that it may sound weird and confusing for a Pastor to hate religion, but I do. Religion is about obeying manmade rules and rituals in order to get to Heaven. It’s about doing enough good things for other people. None of us is that good. All of us will fail. Many people who go to church really don’t know God. It’s just a ritual to be seen for an hour on Sundays. We are all hypocrites. We are all sinful. Religion is burdensome. It leads to a dead-end. Religion kills. Jesus saves.

I am a born-again evangelical Christian. I have a real relationship with my Lord + Savior Jesus Christ that grows with each new day. I talk directly to Him. I don’t have to go through any other person to reach Him. He’s always there for me. He lives in my heart. I love Him more than anyone and anything. He is why I exist today.

Once you dump the religion and get to know Jesus more and more with every step of the way in each new day – you will really know how to live an abundant and purposeful life with Him eternally. Jesus is the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

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