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Blogging Christian Driving God Music Travel

My Concerts – 2021

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.

My chart is offline for this week’s edition. It will return next Monday.

Today it’s a #CountUp special. It’s a look back at my concerts from 2021.

I attended 3 concerts in 2021. That’s a slight uptick from 2020 (Pre-COVID) when I managed just 2 concerts. By comparison I attended 12 concerts / LIVE events in 2019, 5 in 2018, and 5 in 2017.

3 months ago in Tampa Florida I saw MercyMe, Micah Tyler, and Sam Wesley and his band. Sam is Bart Millard’s son, and he also plays guitar for MercyMe on tour.

The next night I drove down to Estero (between Fort Myers and Naples), and I saw Casting Crowns and Matthew West in a show that was postponed twice during COVID in 2020. I had a ticket to the show for 21 months. It was well worth the wait. It was my very first Matthew West concert. My second Matthew West concert may be soon !

The first of the three concerts occurred in February. Here’s what I wrote about it back then:

Last Sunday night (February 14TH 2021) I attended TobyMac’s “Hits Deep Tour 2021” at the BB&T Center here in South Florida (Sunrise). It was my first LIVE concert in over 11 months (since just before COVID shut-down America), and it was my first LIVE concert at the BB&T Center in over 15 months. It was also my 3RD TobyMac concert in mid-February over the past 4 years.

The wearing of face masks was mandatory and strictly enforced by staff. The arena had socially-distanced seating. Individuals and groups were more than 6 feet apart from others both in the standard (elevated) seating as well as the floor seating. Arena seating (usable for the concert) was probably no more than about 20% to 25% full. It was one of the best concert experiences I can ever remember for the simple reason that I had plenty of room to stand-up and dance all around my seat on the floor, and I did just that. Everyone had their own personal dancefloor !

I was seated along the right-edge of the floor in the center of the arena. There were two stages – the main stage up-front – and the center stage to the left of me (by about 20 feet or so).

Unspoken kicked-off the show from the main stage, and then Terrian performed from the center stage. We Are Messengers were up next from the main stage, and then Cochren & Co. took over from the center stage. Tauren Wells performed from the main stage. The first 5 artists split (almost evenly) 1 hour and 20 minutes (about 15 minutes apiece). They were all great. We Are Messengers are my personal favorite of the 5, so naturally I was singing and dancing along through all of their hits. I liked when Chad Mattson (lead singer of Unspoken) guest-performed “Echo” (the Elevation Worship song) with Tauren Wells.

After a 35-minute sermon and fundraising push (Food For The Hungry) TobyMac took center stage for “The Elements”. He performed non-stop hits for the next 1 hour and 35 minutes – performing about half of his set from the main stage – and half from the center stage. The guy has so much energy for his age. (He’s 56.) He’s also from one of my childhood hometowns of Fairfax County Virginia.

Terrian was with Toby for many of his hits. (She’s a back-up vocalist with Toby’s Diverse City band.) Michael Cochren assisted Toby with one of his hits.

What a great night to praise and worship my Lord & Savior Jesus Christ with my instant church family for the night.

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

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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

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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

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Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday January 09TH 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 Sunday – filling-in for my Lead Pastor – I kicked-off 2022 with another full sermon and Communion for my small church family. I preached on two good Kings of Judah – Uzziah and Jotham – from 2ND Kings and 2ND Chronicles. They were good kings – father and son, but they both had some flaws. Jotham learned from Uzziah. We learn from Jotham.

I may post that sermon in a future multi-part series here on #SundayScripture.

But let me continue what I’ve started with excerpts of my December 2021 sermon on being “Holy & Redeemed”. It’s based on 1 Peter 1:13-23. Here’s Part 4:

And remember that the heavenly Father to whom you pray has no favorites. He will judge or reward you according to what you do. So you must live in reverent fear of Him during your time as “foreigners in the land.” (1 Peter 1:17)

We are holy. We are set apart from the world. We don’t think, and we don’t act like the people of this world who do not believe – who do not follow – our God. That does not make us better than them. They are flawed. And we are flawed. We are all flawed. Sure we’ve repented – we’ve turned away – from our old pre-salvation lifestyle – but we are still sinners. Everyone is a sinner. Everyone can be redeemed by our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ. Everyone can be “Holy & Redeemed”.

And once you’re “Holy & Redeemed” you realize that you are here in this world temporarily. This is not a permanent settlement for you. This is not your forever Homestead. (See what I did there.) Thank God for that, for we are – for lack of a better word – uncomfortable here in this world. We long for our true home. We await our eternal home in Heaven. The Bible says that we are citizens of Heaven – where the Lord Jesus Christ lives. (Philippians 3:20a)

And when our Savior returns (and He will) – He will take our weak mortal bodies and change them into glorious bodies like His own – using the same power with which He will bring everything under His control. (Philippians 3:21)

Don’t you just love that ?  These weak mortal bodies that we have today. He will change them, so that they are glorious. All of our aches and pains will go away. All of our diseases will be eradicated. I will have a full head of hair again !  That’s our God of hope.

For you know that God paid a ransom to save you from the empty life you inherited from your ancestors. And it was not paid with mere gold or silver – which lose their value. It was the precious blood of Christ – the sinless, spotless Lamb of God. (1 Peter 1:18-19)

God chose Him as your ransom long before the world began, but now in these last days He has been revealed for your sake. Through Christ you have come to trust in God. And you have placed your faith and hope in God because He raised Christ from the dead and gave Him great glory. (1 Peter 1:20-21)

When someone is held captive – sometimes a ransom is paid for the immediate release of that captive. Our God paid a ransom to release us from captivity – captivity to sin and death. That ransom was Christ’s death on the cross. It was the ultimate price to set us free.

I’ll continue this sermon next #SundayScripture. If you wish to learn more about the God I know then stay tuned. Tomorrow it’s #Top10Monday, as I present my personal Top 10 hits this week that honor our God Almighty on the radio.

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