Category: Career

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Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday July 11TH 2021, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate this new day of believing, following, trusting, loving, and being more like our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ.

This day – July 11TH – was not such a good day in my professional career history. It was the start of a new era of my USAF career on this day in 1994. When I went in to work on the morning of that day I had no idea what would happen to me just an hour later. I was completely blindsided. It forever changed my career – temporarily for the worst (for 13 years), but then for the best (for the next 14 years and continuing today).

I truly believe that if it weren’t for the career-changing event of the morning of Monday July 11TH 1994 – I wouldn’t know Christ today. I was in a valley for 13 years. There were occasional ripples and bubbles and mounds and slopes along the valley floor that was my career (and life), but it was mostly a 13-year abyss. A little more than a month after the start of the 13TH year my LORD lifted me out of the pit of despair – out of the mud and the mire. He set my feet on solid ground, and steadied me as I walked along. (Psalm 40:2)

I don’t know where my USAF career could have or would have gone if it weren’t for my July 11TH 1994. I don’t need to know – because I know what happened early on the week of August 20TH 2006. Less than a year later by the end of July of 2007 – I was in a much better place at work – and at home. The abyss met its demise.

My next sermon that I’ll preach to my church family will be all about the start of my “Salvation & Hope”. It’ll mark the start of my extended message series from the two letters of Peter. Later this year I may post an entire sermon (in multiple parts) here on Sunday Scripture. I’m currently working on a new sermon that follows-up “Salvation & Hope” titled “Holy & Redeemed”.

Here’s an excerpt of that new sermon:

… Let’s jump-in to Scripture – starting with the Apostle Peter’s first letter – the first chapter and verse 13:

So think clearly, and exercise self-control. Look forward to the gracious salvation that will come to you when Jesus Christ is revealed to the world.

When I last spoke from Peter’s first letter – it was about “Salvation & Hope”. Without God’s salvation – there is no hope, for hope comes from God. And so this message picks-up where that message left-off.

You know once God rescues and saves us from the darkness that we came from – we can’t think like we used to think – back before we had “Salvation & Hope” – back before we were “Holy & Redeemed”. We used to think and act differently when the world owned and operated us – before we knew God. But now our God is in control. We believe Him. We follow Him. We trust Him. He’s within us. And so the Bible says “think clearly” – “prepare your minds for action”. The King James Version puts it this way – “Wherefore gird up the loins of your mind” …

A little “behind-the-scenes” information here. I usually write each Sunday Scripture on the Friday night or Saturday morning before it’s published online at 3 AM (U.S. East Coast time) on Sunday. I spend much of the day each Saturday reading, studying, and learning from the Bible. I write sermons, and I prepare material for Sunday morning service. I generally stay inside and off social media on Saturdays. (That’s why I don’t blog on Saturdays.)

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

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Bible Blogging Career Christian Church God Military Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday June 13TH 2021, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate another new day in His presence – on this journey that He set forth for us.

On this exact morning 36 years ago in 1985 (a Thursday) I arrived with others on a bus from San Antonio International Airport to Lackland Air Force Base. We arrived at around 0100 (after traveling all day the previous day), and we were instantly yelled and screamed at by our Training Instructor (T.I.). He put us to bed about an hour later, and he woke us up 4 hours after that for our first full day of military indoctrination.

I still work for the USAF today, so this is officially my 36TH anniversary. I’ve been serving as a Department Of Defense Civilian for the past 28 years. (I was Active Duty for 8 years.)

The first 22 years of my Air Force career (1985-2007) were mostly forgettable. A majority of those years were “bad years”. There were some highlights along the way, and I worked with some good people, but overall it was not a positive time professionally (or even personally). 1991 to 1993 stands out as the best 2 years of that early part of my career. Ironically I went to war in Saudi Arabia (Operation Desert Storm), and I watched Hurricane Andrew destroy my military base and surrounding region during that time. But it was the peak of the military portion of my career.

It went downhill fast after that. If there’s a “rock bottom” of my career (and life) then it was 2006. It was really spiraling downward for about a dozen years prior to that. I don’t think that it could have gone much further downward by the Summer of 2006.

By then my God had seen enough. He stepped in and intervened. He saved my life.

I’m approaching the 15TH anniversary of the start of my salvation, and it’s actually the inspiration behind the current sermon that I’m writing titled “Salvation & Hope” (based on 1 Peter 1:3-12).

This salvation began a little more than 11 months before my career did a complete 360. (I did a lot of newfound praying to my God during those 11 months.) I was placed in a new building – with a new job – and with all-new people (most of whom I had never met before). I’m currently enjoying the best 14 years (and counting) of my Air Force career.

I often wonder if I would know God today if it weren’t for those first 22 years, and particularly those dozen years leading-up to 2006, and especially 2006 itself. I was far from God during that time, but somehow God reached me as I was dying. Nobody led me to God. Nobody invited me to church. Nobody asked me to attend a concert with them. Yet God intervened. He rescued me. He saved me. He entered my heart. A new life had begun.

My salvation continues today, and it will lead to my inheritance in heaven – my final and eternal salvation – when Jesus Christ returns.

And through your faith – God is protecting you by His power until you receive this salvation – which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. (1 Peter 1:5)

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

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1990s Blogging Career Home Military Music Radio Travel

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1991

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 May 19TH 1991:

  1. “Joyride” – Roxette
  2. “Here We Go (Let’s Rock & Roll)” – C + C Music Factory Presents Freedom Williams & Zelma Davis
  3. “Disappear” – INXS
  4. “I Touch Myself” – The Divinyls
  5. “Gonna Make You Sweat (Everybody Dance Now)” – C + C Music Factory Ft. Freedom Williams

30 years ago this weekend I compiled and published my 302ND hit music chart. That was during the original mainstream Top 40 era of my chart that ran from November 1985 to November 1992.

At # 11 on my chart that week was the debut smash from Michael W. Smith. His “Place In This World” was steadily climbing and getting ready to enter my Top 10. Amy Grant cowrote it with Michael W. Smith and Wayne Kirkpatrick. Michael W. Smith holds the distinction of having the longest span of any artist on my chart from first hit to last hit – 29 years. His “Waymaker” last year was a Top 3 hit.

Here’s the official music video of his first hit – “Place In This World”:

Next Friday on RETRO I’ll go back 35 years ago to May 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

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Career Military

Happy Armed Forces Week

Happy-Armed-Forces-Day

It’s Thursday May 13TH 2021, and National Military Appreciation Month continues with Armed Forces Week (all this week), and that culminates this Saturday with Armed Forces Day. Unlike Memorial Day (this year on May 31ST) and Veterans Day (November 11TH) this is an opportunity for us to honor everyone who currently serves within our military.

I’m a few weeks away from celebrating my 36TH anniversary within the United States Air Force. I actually committed to 4 years of active duty service about a month into my Senior year in high school in 1984. 6 days after graduating from high school in June 1985 I was on my way to Lackland AFB in San Antonio Texas for 6½ weeks of Basic Military Training.

I’ve been living in or near Homestead Florida since the end of 1987, so that’s 33 out of my 36 years in the Air Force. I work at Homestead ARB (formerly AFB prior to Hurricane Andrew). During the 19 months immediately after Hurricane Andrew – as the city and the base was being cleaned-up and rebuilt – I served at Andrews AFB Maryland and MacDill AFB in Tampa Florida.

My 36 years in the Air Force includes 28 years as a civilian. Prior to that I served 8 years on active duty and 6 years as a reservist (overlapping with the early years of my civil service).

Up until about the age of 16 I was supposed to go to college after high school and emerge with a degree in either Meteorology or Communications (radio and television). That didn’t happen, but here I am 36 years into an Air Force career at 54 years old. The Air Force determined that I was great at math, so they made me an analyst / statistician.

In the Air Force I’ve had some great years, some good years, some bad years, and some horrible years. There’s an entire 13-year era that was the worst of my career (and life). Thankfully I’ve followed that up with the best 14-year era of my career (and life) – where I am now. I’m ending this career on a high, and I’ve got about 2½ more years to go before I retire and move away from here.

To all of my fellow military service members – whether you are currently on active duty, a reservist, a civil servant, or a contractor working alongside all of the above – I thank you for all that you do with each new duty day.

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