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Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday October 19TH 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.

This past week I was trying to figure out what I wanted to write about for this edition. I’m in a great chapter of my life right now 20 months into retirement – with great things happening at my church, at my museum, and in my neighborhood.

I looked back in time for inspiration. I looked at my church “wrap-up” blog posts from this weekend in 2008 and 2009, and they were both a bit cringeworthy. Notably I began my public speaking ministry on stage 16 years ago this month when I began hosting Sunday morning services.

I looked back at my sermons that I’ve preached on this weekend over the years, and I stumbled across one that I preached to my second church family (in Homestead) exactly 5 years ago this weekend. It was titled “Apostle & Elder”, and it was based on the 13 verses of John’s second letter. It inspired me – even 5 years later. I thought about using an excerpt from the sermon for this edition, but I couldn’t figure out which excerpt to use. What I really want to do is transcribe the entire sermon in here.

What I remember behind the scenes of that sermon is that it was from October 18TH 2020 – 7 months after the start of the COVID pandemic, and less than 5 months after we reopened as a church. (We shut down for 10 Sundays because of COVID.) Everyone had their temperature taken at our front hallway, social distancing was in effect all throughout our sanctuary, and the wearing of face masks was required. (I got to take mine off while I preached from the pulpit.) We actually lost a few members of our small church family who were anti-face mask and refused to wear them. Our Pastor was (and still is) pro-COVID vaccine, and that turned them off as well. They never returned.

I just looked at the calendar. After today there are 10 Sundays remaining in 2025. I should be able to fill-up the next 9 weeks of #SundayScripture posts with that sermon – led with a little bit of commentary each week. So that’s what I’m going to do. I’ll get that started next week.

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

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It Starts With A Donkey And A Buffalo

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. This week it’s Part 3 of my 4-part series on my recent trip to visit family in the Wichita Falls Texas area. That would make this the penultimate edition of this series. (I’ve always liked that word – penultimate.)

It’s the final Saturday morning of September, and we need to check on Reno – our approximate 25-year-old family donkey. He lives in a farm in Clay County about 500 feet away from the Wichita County line. He gets checked on every day. He’s fed (a pile of hay and a carrot), given fresh water, and sometimes even cleaned up a bit. (I actually Goggled “do donkeys like carrots”, and Google’s AI confirmed that “donkeys generally love carrots as a healthy treat”. I can confirm that Reno does indeed love carrots.

After our visit with the donkey we checked-in with the buffalo – as in White Buffalo Coffee Bar. It’s a Veteran-owned franchise with 18 locations in Oklahoma and Texas. We went to the one near Sheppard AFB. I got a hot Pumpkin Spice Latte and a breakfast croissant sandwich. Both were pretty good. My cousin liked her drink and food too. I have a feeling that we’ll be back there on my next visit – especially considering its proximity to the airport (6 minutes away).

Next stop – a wonderful roadside memorial off I-44 northbound – north of Wichita Falls and about 7 miles south of the Oklahoma State Line. It features a 77-foot Cross, 3 smaller crosses, and numerous plaques along a circular sidewalk with Scripture detailing the final days of the life of Christ Jesus. It was constructed from 2023 to 2025. KMOC 89.5 – a local Christian radio station – was behind the memorial.

Next stop – a classic car show at a church. We actually stumbled across this one, and this is a recurring theme on my visits to Wichita Falls. We go on a road-trip (either locally or regionally), and we stumble across a place or an event that we weren’t expecting on our way to another place or event. This was a fun event. I love classic car shows and museums. I love guessing the year each car is from before I check out its display card. I love looking inside the cars – especially at their dashboards.

We also checked out a small portion of the Wichita Bluff Nature Area (off Loop 11).

Later that same day (and the start of my final night) – 5 of us went out to dinner at a place called Firefly. The fellowship with family was wonderful, and the food portions were MASSIVE. I would’ve taken a picture of my dinner plate upon receiving it, but I didn’t want to waste any time. I was concerned that I wouldn’t be able to eat everything on my plate within an hour. (And I actually couldn’t finish it all.)

Next #TravelThursday starts with dinner leftovers for an early lunch the next day, and it’s my trek through the airports and inflight back home to Florida. Let’s keep traveling together.

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

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Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday October 12TH 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.

This morning at my home church we’ll be celebrating Pastor Appreciation Day. It’s traditionally celebrated at many churches during the 2ND Sunday of October. We’ll do so with a special breakfast 90 minutes before service starts.

Several years ago I was presented with that coffee mug from my church family for Pastor Appreciation Day. I decided to take it to work and use it as my new coffee mug there since my old coffee mug was – well – old.

I had a “guest chair” at the edge of my workstation that was used by my coworkers and customers to discuss business (or non-business). That mug and warmer (both of which I still use today in my home office) were in clear view of that guest chair. It began getting noticed. I lost a few coworkers who no longer wanted to discuss non-business matters. I even lost coworkers who didn’t want to have any contact with me at all. They liked me as Chris, but they no longer liked me once they discovered that I was Pastor Chris away from the workplace. Maybe they thought that I would use them in a sermon. (And in fact – I did use general work situations in sermons – both positive and negative – without using real names.)

I still wonder if I should have never brought that coffee mug to work.

I’m not one to go around telling people that I’m a Pastor. I let them discover it on their own. Here in Sebring I’ve done that at my home church (both of them since 2023), at the multiple museums that I’m a member of, and even here in my own neighborhood. Once they find out on their own – then I confirm it. Sometimes it leads to a glorious renewed relationship. Sometimes it’s the end of the relationship.

I’m not a fan of braggadocious Pastors who go around telling people how great they are because they are a Pastor for however many years at a church attended by hundreds (or thousands) with multiple services every weekend at multiple campuses in multiple cities (or continents). I’ve served alongside a few Pastors like that. There are plenty of them on TV. They want you and everyone else to know that they are a Pastor. That’s not displaying God’s fruit of self-control. That’s not humbling yourself before the Lord, as written in James 4:10.

On this Pastor Appreciation Day – I thank those Pastors who are humble as they serve the Lord and lead – not their church – but God’s church.

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

Categories
Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday October 05TH 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.

This is the 380TH edition of #SundayScripture since its debut on the final Sunday of February of 2018. Once I start something online, and it’s fun to do, and it’s successful – I keep it going. I always look forward to writing each new edition, and usually (when I’m not presenting a portion of a sermon) I have no idea what I plan to write until I actually write it. I allow The Holy Spirit to guide and direct me.

This weekly blog post is an integral part of my fantastic journey in my Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. It’s my way of evangelizing to the masses worldwide – to anyone who cares to read. I pray that it changes lives for the better.

It was a rare Sunday last week, as I missed church in-person. But I got to watch our Sunday morning service LIVE on YouTube from Wichita Falls Texas. Our Pastor concluded his “This Is My Story” message series. It was a great series all about sharing our story with our church family, so that we can go and tell our story outside of the church – to our family and friends who do not yet know the God that we believe, follow, trust, and love.

This morning I’m back with my church family in-person. Our Senior Pastor begins a new message series on the letter of James. I’m definitely looking forward to that, as it was my longest-running message series. I preached 10 sermons from James scattered over a 13-month period from February 2018 to March 2019. It was also the very first book of the Bible that I studied with a weekly small group during my first year as part of a church family in 2007.

Next Sunday morning we’ll celebrate Pastor Appreciation Day with a special potluck breakfast. I’ll also be leading Communion with a theme of worship. I’m looking forward to sharing it !

So that’s what’s going on here locally. I appreciate each and every one of you who read this blog globally.

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