Jesus knew that His mission was now finished, and to fulfill Scripture He said – “I am thirsty.” A jar of sour wine was sitting there, so they soaked a sponge in it, put it on a hyssop branch, and held it up to His lips. When Jesus had tasted it He said – “It is finished !” Then He bowed His head and released His Spirit. (John 19:28-30 NLT)
It’s Friday, but Sunday is coming !
All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries
Greetings my friends worldwide. Welcome to the start of a fresh new weekend of blogging here at #CountUp. Weekends always start early on Thursday mornings here on this blog, and they end early on Monday mornings with 4 new blog posts in-between. New posts are published at 3 AM U.S. East Coast time on Thursdays, Fridays, Sundays, and Mondays.
This blog continues to expand globally from the Atlantic shores of North America, across the sea into Europe, Africa, Asia, and down under into Australia and New Zealand. I am thankful for all of you who follow this blog and check it out each weekend. Some of you come for the travel adventures on Thursdays. Some appreciate the music of yesteryear on Fridays. Many come to receive God’s Word and get closer to Him with each new Sunday Scripture. On Mondays many of you love to discover those new songs on the radio that praise and worship Christ.
I’ll continue to produce new blog posts for you 4 times per week / 200 times per year.
It is Thursday April Fools Day 2021, and there’s no foolin’ here. Can you believe that we are now in the 4TH month of 2021 ? This year is flying by (unlike last year) when we were all homebound with no place to go and an uncertain future. It’s good that many of us are getting back to a more normal life now. I’m fortunate to be a Floridian. We’ve pretty much been open for business and back to normal since last summer.
Well it wouldn’t be Thursday here on this blog without some travel news. I’ve got my Treasure Coast Of Florida road-trip (announced last Thursday) all planned-out for the near future. I’ll also be visiting North Texas twice later this year – via air and via car. That’s a 3,000-mile road-trip via car. I’ll also visit the Gulf Coast of Southwest Florida later this year during a much shorter road-trip. In 2020 I only drove 6,395 miles. This could be an 11,000-mile year for me. It’s good to get out there on the open road and see and discover Florida and beyond !
All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries
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 MARCH 28TH 2021 | WEEK 215 |
|---|
| TW | LW | WKS | SONG TITLE | ARTIST / SITE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 11 | Say I Won’t [5TH week @ # 1] |
MercyMe |
| 2 | 3 | 6 | Good God Almighty | Crowder |
| 3 | 2 | 10 | Fires | Jordan St. Cyr |
| 4 | 5 | 18 | Every Step Of The Way | Cade Thompson |
| 5 | – | 1 | Child Of Love | We The Kingdom Ft. Bear Rinehart |
| 6 | 9 | 3 | Help Is On The Way (Maybe Midnight) | TobyMac |
| 7 | 10 | 2 | God Who Listens | Chris Tomlin Ft. Thomas Rhett |
| 8 | 4 | 10 | Less Like Me | Zach Williams |
| 9 | 6 | 4 | Amen | for King & Country |
| 10 | 7 | 25 | Truth Be Told | Matthew West |
# 1 This Week In:
2020 – “Almost Home” – MercyMe
2019 – “Confidence” – Sanctus Real
2018 – “No One Like Our God” – Lincoln Brewster
2017 – “I Have This Hope” – Tenth Avenue North
It’s a flip-flop near the top, as Crowder and Jordan St. Cyr switch places again. “Good God Almighty” is now poised to take over the top spot next week (or later). We’ll see if it can claim the # 1 spot for Resurrection Sunday.
NEW this week is the 3RD hit over the past 16 months for the Cash Family band – better known as We The Kingdom. It’s Ed Cash and his brother Scott – along with Ed’s son Martin, his daughter Franni, and family friend Andrew Bergthold.
Here’s the official lyric video for “Child Of Love”. You can watch it below or here.
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
Carrying the cross by Himself – He went to the place called Place of the Skull (in Hebrew – Golgotha). There they nailed Him to the cross. Two others were crucified with Him – one on either side – with Jesus between them. And Pilate posted a sign on the cross that read – “Jesus of Nazareth – the King of the Jews.” The place where Jesus was crucified was near the city, and the sign was written in Hebrew, Latin, and Greek, so that many people could read it.
Then the leading priests objected and said to Pilate – “Change it from ‘The King of the Jews’ to ‘He said – I am King of the Jews.’”
Pilate replied – “No. What I have written – I have written.”
When the soldiers had crucified Jesus – they divided His clothes among the four of them. They also took His robe, but it was seamless – woven in one piece from top to bottom. So they said – “Rather than tearing it apart – let’s throw dice for it.” This fulfilled the Scripture that says – “They divided My garments among themselves and threw dice for My clothing.” So that is what they did.
Standing near the cross were Jesus’ mother, and His mother’s sister – Mary (the wife of Clopas), and Mary Magdalene. When Jesus saw His mother standing there beside the disciple He loved – He said to her, “Dear woman, here is your son.” And He said to this disciple – “Here is your mother.” And from then on this disciple took her into his home.
In Part 9 of my continuing sermon leading-up to Resurrection Sunday I continue from the Gospel of John – Chapter 19 Verses 17 to 27 – where John writes about the crucifixion of Christ.
Jesus died for us in public. It was a public execution for all to see how shocking it was. Crucifixions were horrific sightings. Sometimes it would take days for the victim to die, but not so for Christ. He was tortured before He was nailed onto the cross, and while He was on it. He died a quick death. The sign on the cross identified Jesus, where He came from, and his “crimes” according to the Jewish high council. He was guilty of being “King of the Jews”. The Jewish leaders objected to that, and they wanted Pontius Pilate to change it to read that “He said – I am King of the Jews”. Pilate refused to change it – believing that Jesus was not guilty of any crimes at all.
Early on in John’s Gospel he writes about John The Baptist’s ministry.
That’s how John The Baptist announces Jesus. He continues by saying that “He is the One I was talking about when I said ‘A Man is coming after me who is far greater than I am, for He existed long before me.'” (John 1:30)
At Skull Hill the cross was an altar where Jesus Christ – the Passover lamb – died a brutal death. They did not break His legs. He had no broken bones. When His side was pierced with a spear – blood and water flowed out. He died for us. He died, so that we may live by the power of The Holy Spirit.
I’ll continue this journey on Good Friday – and next (Resurrection) Sunday Scripture.
Missed the first 8 parts of this sermon ? Check them out – PART 1 / PART 2 / PART 3 / PART 4 / PART 5 / PART 6 / PART 7 / PART 8
All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries
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