The Believers Form A Community All the believers devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching, and to fellowship, and to sharing in meals (including the Lord’s Supper), and to prayer. A deep sense of awe came over them all, and the apostles performed many miraculous signs and wonders. And all the believers met together in one place, and shared everything they had. They sold their property and possessions, and shared the money with those in need. They worshiped together at the Temple each day, met in homes for the Lord’s Supper, and shared their meals with great joy and generosity – all the while praising God, and enjoying the goodwill of all the people. And each day the Lord added to their fellowship those who were being saved.(Acts 2:42-47 NLT)
That’s what a church family should be all about.
If you wish to learn more about the God I know then stay tuned to #SundayScripture. This is actually the season finale. It will return in 4 weeks on Sunday December 05TH 2021. 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) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries
#TravelThursday continues, and in this edition we visit “The Port City” of Mobile Alabama.
I’ve driven through Mobile a bunch of times since the mid-1990s. It’s a very unique drive along I-10 over Mobile Bay, under the Mobile River, and through the downtown area. It can also be a scary drive through the 3,000-foot tunnel, as it has a reduced speed limit of 50 MPH, but everyone is driving much faster than that. I’ve been severely tailgated through that tunnel, and it was not a pleasant experience. And then of course once you reemerge out of the tunnel you are instantly hit with blinding daylight.
A little over 5 years ago on a 3,008-mile road-trip to and from the Wichita Falls Texas area I enjoyed a scheduled pitstop in downtown Mobile to check-out some of the sights for a few hours. It was too short of a visit, and there’s plenty to see and do downtown over the course of several days or a long weekend. I talked to two women who were serving at their downtown tourist bureau (co-located with a museum), and they gave me great ideas for sightseeing for a few hours, and for a few days. I told them that I only had a few hours, but I vowed to return sometime in the future to spend more time in their city that they clearly love. Their friendliness and excitement actually inspired me to possibly pursue post-retirement service in the tourism welcome industry.
Before I talked to them I actually visited Fort Charlotte (Fort Condé de la Mobille). It’s a partially-reconstructed 18TH-Century fort that guarded Mobile during wartime. It was demolished about 100 years later (because it was no longer needed). The current replica fort was opened on America’s Bicentennial on July 04TH 1976 directly above the western-end of the aforementioned I-10 tunnel.
Join me next #TravelThursday as we visit another location on the face of this earth.
They keep you safe on your way, and your feet will not stumble. You can go to bed without fear. You will lie down and sleep soundly. You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, for the LORD is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.(Proverbs 3:23-26 NLT)
All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries
Evil is all around us in this world. You don’t have to look for it. It’s right there – right in front of you. You see it all the time. Are you overlooking it because you don’t want to get involved ? As a believer and follower of Christ it is our duty to call out evil for what it is.
Many of us once promoted and celebrated evil in a previous life – back before our Lord & Savior rescued us from the darkness – back before we became born again. Now we are mocked, ridiculed, and persecuted by the world for calling out evil. You know if the world is persecuting us then we’re moving in the right direction – towards God’s light and away from Satan’s dark. The Bible says that everyone who wants to live a godly life in Christ will suffer persecution.(2 Timothy 3:12 NLT)
Satan – who is the god of this world – has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They are unable to see the glorious light of the Good News. They don’t understand this message about the glory of Christ – who is the exact likeness of God.(2 Corinthians 4:4 NLT)
Going back to the meme above and its Scripture – Isaiah 5:20 – I like how the New Living Translation states it, but to place it into a better context I also like the verse before and after it. Collectively here they are:
They even mock God and say – “Hurry up and do something ! We want to see what You can do. Let the Holy One of Israel carry out His plan, for we want to know what it is.” What sorrow for those who say that evil is good and good is evil, that dark is light and light is dark, that bitter is sweet and sweet is bitter. What sorrow for those who are wise in their own eyes and think themselves so clever. (Isaiah 5:19-21 NLT)
If you wish to learn more about the God I know then stay tuned to #SundayScripture. 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) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries
#TravelThursday continues, and in this edition we visit Florida’s Tamiami Trail.
If you read #SundayScripture and #Top10Monday last weekend then you’ll know that I’ve returned from another Florida road-trip. I drove 563 miles in just under 50 hours.
Last Thursday I drove to Tampa where I saw MercyMe, Micah Tyler, and Sam Wesley LIVE in concert at the Amalie Arena downtown within the Channelside district. It looks like they are making that area from Port Tampa Bay westward past the Aquarium and the shopping, dining, and entertainment area to the Arena more pedestrian-friendly with less vehicular traffic, the use of streetcars, safer and more visible crosswalks, and wider sidewalks. The area is heavily under construction, and it will be so for another year or two. It should look really nice once it’s all done. I like that area a lot. It’s actually fun to attend an event at the Amalie Arena and walk around and sightsee along the way. You can spend all day #Channelside.
The next morning (Friday) I got on Florida’s historic Tamiami Trail (U.S. 41 between Tampa and Miami). (Tamiami is pronounced “TAM-ee-AM-ee”.) It’s the preferred alternative highway for me along Florida’s Gulf Coast – mostly because I-75 is frightening.
I made a pitstop at a friend’s house in North Port at the southern edge of the Greater Tampa Bay area. He retired and moved there a little over a year ago. When he told me that he and his wife were settling in North Port I had never heard of it. Of course now (due to recent real world events) much of the world now knows about North Port. It’s a rapidly-growing city about 85 miles south of downtown Tampa. Its population has more than tripled since 2000, so people are flocking to this expanding corner of Southwest Florida.
I continued on further south along the Tamiami Trail into the Fort Myers area. My pitstop for Friday night was Estero – a newly-created incorporated village about halfway between Fort Myers and Naples. It is home to the worldwide headquarters of the Hertz Corporation, and it is also home to the Hertz Arena – home of many shows, concerts, and sporting events year-round. (That’s where I saw Casting Crowns and Matthew West LIVE in concert.) I’ve attended 11 events at that arena over the past 11½ years. It is my favorite arena.
The next morning (Saturday) I continued along the Tamiami Trail through Naples, and then eastward through the Everglades to the other side of the state. It intersects with Florida State Road 997 near the eastern edge of the Everglades. (We know it locally as Krome Avenue.) Krome takes me due south – back home into Homestead.
Join me next #TravelThursday as we visit another location on the face of this earth.
They keep you safe on your way, and your feet will not stumble. You can go to bed without fear. You will lie down and sleep soundly. You need not be afraid of sudden disaster or the destruction that comes upon the wicked, for the LORD is your security. He will keep your foot from being caught in a trap.(Proverbs 3:23-26 NLT)
All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries
CountUp 