Category: Blogging

Categories
Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday June 19TH 2022, 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.

Happy Father’s Day my friends. Some don’t, but most countries around the world do celebrate Father’s Day today – on this 3RD Sunday of June. This is your day Dads. Enjoy it. Let your family pamper you today – this day that our Father in Heaven has made.

Last month here on #SundayScripture I began transcribing one of my recent sermons that I preached to my church family at the end of February – “Stones & Stumbles”. It’s the follow-up to “Holy & Redeemed” which I presented on here in December and January. “Stones & Stumbles” covers 1 Peter 1:23-2:9.

Here’s Part 5 of my sermon:

… Remember earlier in my message when I told you about the Book of Isaiah ? You know – the mini-Bible, and how each of its 66 chapters correlate in some way (or even in many ways) to the same book of the modern bible in numerical sequence.

So First Peter is the 60TH book of the Bible, so let’s go back to Isaiah Chapter 60. In Chapter 6 – the King James Version of the Bible says this:

… all they from Sheba shall come. They shall bring gold and incense, and they shall shew forth the praises of the LORD.

And First Peter Chapter 2 Verse 9 – (again) the King James Version:

But ye are a chosen generation – a royal priesthood – an holy nation – a peculiar people – that ye should shew forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.

“Shew forth the praises – of Him – of the LORD” – You won’t find that phrase anywhere else in the Bible. Just those two verses – First Peter (the 60TH book of the Bible) – and Isaiah Chapter 60.

Wait – it gets even better. Isaiah Chapter 60 starts with these 3 verses:

Arise Jerusalem ! Let your light shine for all to see. For the glory of the LORD rises to shine on you. Darkness as black as night covers all the nations of the earth, but the glory of the LORD rises and appears over you. All nations will come to Your light. Mighty kings will come to see Your radiance.

Remember the end of First Peter Chapter 2 Verse 9 ?

… for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light.

The theme of Isaiah Chapter 60 is the future glory of the holy city of Jerusalem, and that kind of describes much of the 60TH book of the Bible – First Peter.

And that’s my message for you today. Thank You for coming here today and listening to me. Thank You for allowing me to share God’s Good News with you. I hope that you’ll find the time each day or night to read and study the Bible on your own – both Old and New Testaments – in order to get closer to our God. His Word awaits you. Grab it – and grasp it – so that you may grow in the Lord.

Next #SundayScripture I’ll close-out this sermon with a few personal thoughts. I’ll also recap the 3 non-traditional sermons that I preached to my church family during the first 3 Sundays of May. Finally – I’ll give you a sneak-preview of my next sermon which serves as the sequel to this one. It too will be featured here on my blog once I get to preach it in public.

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) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
1990s Blogging Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1992

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 3RD Friday of the month, so I go back 30 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday June 21ST 1992:

  1. “Damn I Wish I Was Your Lover” – Sophie B. Hawkins
  2. “Under The Bridge” – Red Hot Chili Peppers
  3. “My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)” – En Vogue
  4. “Good For Me” – Amy Grant
  5. “Everything About You” – Ugly Kid Joe

I was not the biggest #RHCP fan during their breakthrough era (1990s), but they put out some good songs. “Under The Bridge” was their debut smash at U.S. Pop Radio in 1992. It told the story of Anthony Kiedis’s life in the form of a poem that he wrote on his own during a dark period in his life. With reluctance – he eventually shared the poem with his bandmates, and with additional lyrics and music – it became the track that we’ve known for the past 30 years.

Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 35 years ago to the end of June 1987. It’s the week that a guy – who has the same first name as me – scored one of the biggest hits (worldwide) of his career with a track that you could not sit still to. You had to get up and dance to it. It was that fast !

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 !

All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Driving Home Travel

Highlands County Florida

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last Thursday morning I actually returned home from a quick 2-day road-trip to and from Highlands County Florida – located about 3 hours from home.

A little over 101,000 residents call Highlands County home. Less than 23,000 live within the established limits of the 3 incorporated cities / towns of Avon Park, Sebring, and Lake Placid. (More than 78,000 residents live in adjacent unincorporated communities and rural areas of the county.)

U.S. 27 runs in a mostly NNW / SSE direction for about 48 miles through the county. U.S. 98 runs concurrent with U.S. 27 through the northern-half of the county.

So a little over 101,000 residents live within an 1,106-square mile county. By comparison – more people live within about 5 miles of me right now.

Highlands County is my future home, and on the first day I was there last week I met my Real Estate Agent for the first time at her office in Lake Placid. I followed her to 1 of her 2 Sebring offices, and then from there I got in her vehicle. We drove up the road (U.S. 27) to my future neighborhood (between Sebring and Avon Park). It was awesome to finally pass-through the front gate of that secure entrance. I got to check-out 3 separate condos currently for sale – a 2/2, a 3/2, and a 2/1 – in that order. The 2/2 was nice, but the 3/2 was wonderful. All 3 condos were fully or partially-furnished. I wasn’t sure I would like that. I loved it. They all had better furniture than I do right now !

I got to experience my future neighborhood for about an hour on that Tuesday. Before the experience I was about 98% sure that it was where I want to live (based on online research). Now I’m at 100%. We drove 1.2 miles clockwise around the neighborhood that surrounds a 10½-acre manmade oval-shaped lake. I loved everything about it. I’m looking forward to working with my Real Estate Agent early next year in the purchase of my future forever home.

My plan is to initially live (and work remotely) up there on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, and live (and work on-site) my final year here in Homestead on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays.

So I would do a 3½-hour commute early on Sunday mornings and late on Wednesday afternoons. That’s my plan for now (subject to change).

I had a fun (less than) 48 hours up in my future retirement area of Highlands County. I enjoyed Breakfast with my only known friend in the area – a former resident of Homestead who moved to the area nearly 15 years ago. I also met lots of new friends at different places that I plan to serve with during my retirement era.

Next #TravelThursday we’ll visit one of those places up in Avon Park. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 278

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 nearly 45 years. Here’s this week’s chart – for the week ending Sunday June 12TH 2022 – the 278TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 1 18 Sunday Sermons
[3RD week @ # 1]		 Anne Wilson
2 2 12 Fill My Cup Andrew Ripp
3 4 6 Me On Your Mind Matthew West
4 3 14 Egypt Cory Asbury
5 6 4 I Will Carry You Ellie Holcomb
6 5 20 See Me Through It Brandon Heath
7 7 20 Brighter Days Blessing Offor
8 8 3 Love Is Everything We Need Unspoken
9 9 5 For God Is With Us for King + Country
10 10 2 Hymn Of Heaven Phil Wickham

# 1 This Week In:
2021 – “Help Is On The Way (Maybe Midnight)” – TobyMac
2020 – “I Will Fear No More” – The Afters
2019 – “Born Again” – Austin French
2018 – “The Way (New Horizon)” – Pat Barrett
2017 – “Live Like You’re Loved” – Hawk Nelson

499TH # 1 – Close observers of my blog and music chart may have noticed that “Sunday Sermons” is my 499TH # 1 smash ever (since my chart’s inception in 1985). So my 500TH # 1 smash is likely on my chart right now. It could be “Fill My Cup”, or “Me On Your Mind”, or maybe even “I Will Carry You”. We’ll find out next week, or the following week, or the week after that. #StayTuned

FORMER # 1s – Close observers of my blog and music chart may have also noticed that there have been some subtle updates recently to my # 1 HITS INDEX page. I’m currently updating the “Stateside Pop Era” which represents my 105 # 1 hits from the end of 1987 to nearly the end of 1992. I’m hoping to get that chart completed and uploaded in the weeks to come. #StayTuned

2 HITS TO BEAT – Both “See Me Through It” and “Brighter Days” spend their 20TH week each on my chart this week. They are back-to-back # 1 hits from March and April that entered my chart at # 9 and # 10 respectively at the end of January. Right now they are my Top 2 hits of 2022. They are two different styles of music, but they both point to our God Almighty as the Way – in the trial and the pain – fire and the rain – love will find you in your pain. #OurGodIsGreat

This would normally conclude another weekend of blog posts, but I’ve got another one tomorrow (Tuesday). Next weekend it’s back to normal – with 4 new entries – known as #TravelThursday,  #RetroFriday,  #SundayScripture, and #Top10Monday.

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.

All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp