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Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday January 16TH 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.

Last month (December 2021) I preached to my church family on being “Holy & Redeemed”. It’s based on 1 Peter 1:13-23. Here’s the next excerpt – Part 5:

God made Him – who had no sin – to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God. (2 Corinthians 5:21)

We are “Holy & Redeemed”. With the impending coming of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ – the promises of redemption in Scripture from the Old Testament – are being fulfilled. What’s promised in the Old is fulfilled in the New. We are in the last days. Are you ready for His return ?  Are you getting ready for His return ?

You know we trust in God – through Christ – who is God. We place our faith and hope in God – because He raised Christ – who is God – from the dead – and He gave Him great glory. And we do this with the Holy Spirit – who is God – in our heart.

Remember when Christ said (in red letters) in the Gospel of John (14-6):

I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one can come to the Father except through Me.

You know some religions and some philosophies say – “Oh you can get to God in other ways besides Jesus. Let me show you the way. Follow me. Yeah !”

Yeah – no thanks !  The Bible says no one can come to the Father except through Me. That’s the truth. Jesus is the Truth. God is Truth. And you know what ?

You were cleansed from your sins when you obeyed the truth, so now you must show sincere love to each other as brothers and sisters. Love each other deeply with all your heart. (1 Peter 1:22)

And you need a pure heart to love each other deeply with all your heart. Is your heart pure ?  In order to be “Holy & Redeemed” – you need a pure heart. The Holy Spirit – who is God – lives within your heart. And God is love. We must show that love to our brothers and sisters – our fellow believers and followers of God. We must show that love to our neighbor – out there – who does not yet believe and follow our One True God. Why ?

For you have been born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. Your new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal living word of God. (1 Peter 1:23)

You’ve heard of mission statements and vision statements of churches and companies – well – that’s my existence statement right there. It’s how and why I exist before you – right here right now. For I have been born again – for 15 years and almost 4 months – but not to a life that will quickly end. My new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal living word of God. For I have born again – right here in Homestead.

I’ll conclude this sermon next #SundayScripture. If you wish to learn more about the God I know then stay tuned. 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 Ministries

Categories
1990s Blogging Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1997

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 2ND Friday of the month, so I go back 25 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday January 12TH 1997:

  1. “Wannabe” – The Spice Girls
  2. “Don’t Cry For Me Argentina” – Madonna
  3. “Do You Miss Me ?” – Jocelyn Enriquez
  4. “Lovefool” – The Cardigans
  5. “Don’t Speak” – No Doubt

It’s the all-female Top 5. (The Cardigans and No Doubt were led by women.)

Of those 5 hits my favorite 25 years later is “Do You Miss Me ?”. It peaked at # 3, and it spent 21 weeks on my chart at the end of 1996 and the start of 1997. It was a long-running radio smash here in Miami Florida.

Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 30 years ago to January 1992.

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 Ministries

Categories
Blogging Driving History Military Travel

My November Vacation 2021 Road-Trip

#TravelThursday continues now with Part 7 of my 7-part blog series on my recent 18-day road-trip between South Florida and North Texas.

Last week I left-off at the end of Day 17 at my hotel destination in Crystal River Florida – about 6 hours from home. Had I not stopped for the night in Crystal River and I continued all the way home – I probably would’ve arrived by 12 Midnight. (Remember I started the previous day in Hattiesburg Mississippi, so that would’ve been an almost 850-mile drive for the day.)

I can’t drive 850 miles in a single day. I used to be able to. I once drove 1,095 miles in a single day from Northern Virginia to South Florida – only to be stopped just shy of the main gate of Homestead Air Force Base because the base was in a short lockdown at the time (almost 3 AM) due to the arrival of Manuel Noriega from Panama. #PerfectTiming

Nowadays 600 miles in a single day is my maximum, and 500 miles is closer to my comfort level. Driving to Texas I had a 519-mile day. Driving from Texas I had two back-to-back 523-mile days. I’m too old to drive much more than that in a single day.

So the drive home – I took Florida State Road 44 eastward to U.S. 27 in Leesburg (a northwestern suburb of Orlando). Leesburg is a city that I’d like to visit for a few days to explore. I’ve only driven through a small portion of it (many times). I think a lot of retired people live there (I know at least two), but as the Orlando Metropolitan Area continues to expand (especially northwestward) I fear that it will experience a population explosion in the next couple of decades and lose its small-town charm. Mount Dora is nearby (about 15 miles from Leesburg). I’ve heard a lot of good things about Mount Dora. Maybe I need to visit the area for more than a few days.

I took U.S. 27 southward for over 240 miles on that last Sunday morning of November through Clermont, Haines City, Lake Wales, Avon Park, Sebring, Lake Placid, Moore Haven, Clewiston, South Bay, and then into West Broward (County). I then picked-up Florida State Road 997 (Krome Avenue) just south of the Miami-Dade County line, and I took that straight into Homestead. I arrived home at exactly 1 PM on that 18TH day of my road-trip.

I drove 325 miles on that final day for a grand total of 2,822 miles from Thursday November 11TH through Sunday November 28TH. By comparison – in the previous 174 days combined I drove 2,823 miles.

Next #TravelThursday – I’m leaving the country.

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

Categories
Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 256

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 40+ years. Here’s this week’s chart:

COUNTUP MINISTRIES FOR THE WEEK ENDING SUNDAY JANUARY 09TH 2022 WEEK 256
TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 1 9 Weary Traveler
[4TH week @ # 1]
Jordan St. Cyr
2 5 11 In The House Crowder
3 4 14 Come What May We Are Messengers
4 2 6 Heart Of The Father Ryan Ellis
5 3 6 God Turn It Around Jon Reddick
6 6 6 For The Good Riley Clemmons
7 7 5 Jesus Is Coming Back Jordan Feliz Ft. Mandisa & Jonathan Traylor
8 1 River Of Life Mac Powell
9 9 2 Walking Free Micah Tyler
10 1 Know You Will Hillsong UNITED

# 1 This Week In:
2021 – “Every Step Of The Way” – Cade Thompson
2020 – “Holy Water” – We The Kingdom
2019 – “Well Done” – The Afters
2018 – “Lions” – Skillet

RESURGENCE OF THE NUMBER TWOS – Former # 2 hits “In The House” and “Come What May” move back up my chart this week – showing their durability as long-running hits on the radio before, during, and after the Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year holiday season. Crowder is back up to # 2 after falling to # 5 last week. He was previously at # 2 for the first 2 weeks of December. Maybe he scores his next # 1 smash next week ? We Are Messengers are up to # 3 after falling to # 6 last month. They were previously at # 2 for the last 3 weeks of November (right before Crowder). Maybe they score their next # 1 smash next week ? Or Jordan St. Cyr may continue on at the top with “Weary Traveler”.

This blog is # 35 worldwide on the Top 80 Christian Music Blogs and Websites chart. Thank You for including us Feedspot !

This concludes another weekend of blog posts. I’ll do it again this upcoming weekend – 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.

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