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Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 232

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 JULY 25TH 2021 WEEK 232
TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 1 9 Be Alright
[3RD week @ # 1]		 Evan Craft X Danny Gokey X Redimi2
2 2 12 Yes He Can Cain
3 6 16 Gospel Song Rhett Walker
4 4 8 Until Grace Tauren Wells Ft. Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts
5 3 9 When We Fall Apart Ryan Stevenson Ft. Vince Gill & Amy Grant
6 7 2 Into The Wild Josh Baldwin
7 8 2 What If Matthew West
8 5 27 Fires Jordan St. Cyr
9 9 3 My Jesus Anne Wilson
10 10 4 Sunday Morning Feeling Apollo LTD Ft. Ryan Stevenson

# 1 This Week In:
2020 – “No Impossible With You” – I AM THEY
2019 – “Raise A Hallelujah” – Bethel Music
2018 – “Grace Got You” – MercyMe
2017 – “Wonder” – Hillsong United

SLOW CLIMBER AT # 3 – Rhett Walker continues his amazing climb up my chart to enter the Top 3 this week in his 16TH week. “Gospel Song” is also a slow climber nationally at U.S. Christian radio. It just reached the Top 5 in its 19TH week at big market stations, and in its 18TH week at small market stations. It’s his biggest hit ever, and it’s his follow-up to his previous biggest hit ever – “Believer” – which hit # 4 on my chart in December 2019.

Here’s the official music video for “Gospel Song”:

CHART BUSTING just outside of my Top 10 this week is a cool-sounding tune from a 19-year-old by the name of Coby James. When I first heard “Brand New” on K-LOVE – I had to look it up to see who was singing the gem that brought back memories of mid-1980s British smooth pop that I danced to when I was 19-years-old. It’s a “Brand New” song, but it sounds RETRO. It reminds us that each morning is the start of a “Brand New” day to live for Christ. It’s like rising-up from the water. It’s living in the light You’ve called me into. #Hallelujah

This blog is # 74 worldwide on the Top 80 Christian Music Blogs and Websites in 2021 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) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

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Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

So true. You can substitute the word “fishing” with “football” (especially with football season coming up), or even “work”. If you’re at church on a Sunday morning, but you’re only there because someone dragged you there, or you think that you have to be there in order to get to Heaven – then you’re there for the wrong reasons.

I’ve seen it often – church attenders who are physically there, but are not mentally there. Their mind is elsewhere. It is on what they did yesterday, or what they plan to do tomorrow. They are not taking-in God’s Truth. They are not giving-out God’s love.

I’ve also seen people at church who show up, but don’t even attend any services. They are merely there because their friends are there. Larger churches with younger demographics have this problem. They have a nice modern café as part of their main entrance or lobby or atrium, and it’s a hangout joint on Sunday mornings for some who just want to drink coffee and be with their friends. But then when their friends enter the sanctuary or worship center – they leave the premises and go somewhere else.

“Oh I need to go to church to be seen.” – That’s being religious. Going to church doesn’t impress God. Going to church won’t change your life forever. Going to church won’t get you into Heaven.

On the other hand – if you’re constantly thinking about your Lord & Savior Jesus Christ, and talking to Him, and thanking Him for all that He has done for you – and all that He will do for you – then that’s a true relationship with God. It doesn’t matter when it is. It doesn’t matter where it is. If God is in the center of your heart in everything you do and everywhere you go – then that will change your life forever, for you will be alive forever with God in your heart here on earth, and God up in Heaven once your journey here in this temporary place is done.

That relationship with God is being the church all day every day. It’s bringing the church with you on Sunday mornings to meet with your brothers and sisters of your church family in community – to praise God, to worship God, to celebrate God, to talk to God, to learn more about God, and to get closer to God.

If you’re a believer and follower of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ then I hope that you are an integral part of a Bible-believing, Gospel-preaching, and Jesus-loving church family. If you’re seeking a church to belong to then don’t look for the nicest and biggest church in town with the most programs and features. Look for the church body who are closest to God by their talk and their walk, for that’s a family that will strengthen your personal and communal relationship with God.

So encourage each other and build each other up – just as you are already doing.
(1 Thessalonians 5:11)

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) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

Categories
1980s Blogging Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1986

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 4TH Friday of the month, so I go back 35 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday July 27TH 1986:

  1. “The Lady In Red” – Chris De Burgh
  2. “So Macho” – Sinitta
  3. “Heartbeat” – Tippa Irie
  4. “Smile” – Audrey Hall
  5. “Roses” – Haywoode

The Summer of 1986 was an amazing time in the music of my life. I’m not a big fan of ’80s music. It’s perhaps my least favorite decade of music since I’ve been alive. But living in England as a 19-year-old was quite the experience, and the music was beatin’ – whether it be slow pop, smooth pop, bubblegum pop, HI-NRG pop, reggae pop, and all kinds of poppin’. I produced a hectic Top 40 chart back then, and 35 years ago this weekend I had 14 new entries on that chart. Much like the U.K. pop charts it was fast and furious. Most songs lasted less than 10 weeks on the radio and on the charts – even songs that made it all the way to or towards the top of the pops.

Sinitta had one of the biggest HI-NRG pop hits of the summer. It got the whole nation up on their feet and dancin’. It eventually hit # 1 on my chart and # 2 on the U.K. pop charts. It was her first and biggest hit ever. She was actually signed by a young (mid-20s) music executive by the name of Simon Cowell. YES – that Simon Cowell. Sinitta was Simon’s first big pop star, and “So Macho” was his first big pop hit. They even seriously dated for a few years. They’ve been great friends ever since.

Here’s the official music video for Sinitta’s “So Macho” that’s so 1986:

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) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

Categories
Blogging Driving Food Photography Travel

My Summer Vacation 2021 Road-Trip

It’s Part 7 of my multi-part Thursday blog series on my recent 77-hour / (4-day / 3-night) / 472-mile road-trip spanning Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Okeechobee Counties (in that order). It was my first extended visit ever along Florida’s Treasure Coast. While there I was always within about 5 miles of the Atlantic Ocean and the adjacent Indian River.

I awoke early on Day 4 – Saturday June 05TH 2021 – my 54TH birthday. In the weeks (even months) prior to this road-trip I had planned to enjoy a free birthday Grand Slam® breakfast at Denny’s, but they’ve actually changed things up over the past couple of years. Instead of simply walking-in to any Denny’s on the exact day of your birthday, telling them that it’s your birthday, showing them proof via your driver’s license, and then enjoying a free birthday Grand Slam® – now you have to be a part of their Rewards program, and receive a digital coupon for a free birthday Grand Slam® that you can utilize once anytime during your birthday month.

I decided to save my digital coupon from Denny’s for later in the month. Starbucks gave me a reward for any item on their menu free – good only on the exact day of my birthday – so it was off to Starbucks of Vero Beach for a quick small Breakfast.

After that it was a mostly uneventful drive home – down U.S. 1 – onto Florida State Roads 713 and 70, into Okeechobee County, around the eastern edge of the big lake, and then southward onto U.S. 27 and back into Miami-Dade County. I drove 180.2 miles home, and the total miles of the road-trip from start to finish was 471.8.

This was a fun yet well-planned road-trip. I planned it back in early-2018, and I scheduled it for the first week of June of 2018. I had to cancel it when a work-related road-trip to Georgia took precedence. Early this year I decided that this would be the year to take that road-trip, and so I scheduled it for the exact same 4-day / 3-night part of the first week of June. Most of the places that I visited were on my original 2018 itinerary. This was a road-trip where I wasn’t looking for potential part-time volunteer or employment opportunities post-retirement. I wasn’t driving around looking through potential future neighborhoods. I just wanted to visit new places that I’ve never been to before in my life, meet interesting people along the way, and enjoy some great food. I accomplished my mission.

Inside the Indian River Citrus Museum in downtown Vero Beach Florida

There are a lot of hidden treasures along Florida’s Treasure Coast – mostly along or within a few miles of the Atlantic coastline and the Indian River shoreline. I’ll definitely visit the area again to explore more. So far I’ve captioned and posted about 35 photos of this road-trip over on my Flickr site. I’ve got dozens more still to post, so I’ll be doing that for at least the next month. Check my Flickr often to see the newest photos.

And now it’s time to announce my next great Florida road-trip that begins in less than 100 days. It’s all planned-out. I’ll be driving up the spine of Florida along U.S. 27 up to Florida State Road 60, and then I’ll be heading westward into the Tampa area for one night. From there I’ll be heading southward along U.S. 41 (Tamiami Trail) into the Fort Myers area for one night. From there I’ll be heading southward and then eastward back into South Florida. I’ll be spending one night in Northwest Broward County before I return home on the afternoon of the 4TH day. It’ll be a nearly 650-mile road-trip from start to finish, and I’ll post all about it for many weeks after.

This concludes my 7-part series on “My Summer Vacation 2021 Road-Trip”. Actually it was an 8-part series, as I introduced it on the June 06TH 2021 edition of “Sunday Scripture”. You can utilize the calendar feature down at the bottom of this site to click on a previous Thursday if you missed any of the parts.

#TravelThursday continues next Thursday, as I plan to blog about Reykjavik Iceland.

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries