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Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday January 22ND 2023, 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. Let us love our neighbor as ourself.

This morning begins my 17TH year of being part of a church family. Yesterday morning was actually the 16TH anniversary of the first time that I ever walked into a church (occupying our local movie theatre) to attend a Sunday morning church service. That was about 15 minutes before 10 AM on Sunday January 21ST 2007. That was a bold move on my part. It was a God-led move. I didn’t know what to expect. I didn’t know how it would go. I was nervous. I was a bit scared. My life had changed forever just 5 months prior when I was rescued and saved by my Lord + Savior Jesus Christ. I was now taking that next big step forward to get closer to God and invite other likeminded people onto my fantastic journey.

I decided during those first 15 minutes that the church family that I chose was the right church family for me going forth. They were my church family for the next 8 years.

Ever since that first Sunday morning 16 years ago I haven’t missed many Sunday morning services. This morning I look forward to the start of Year 17.

I now continue presenting my New Year’s Day sermon in its original written form. It’s based on the Matthew West song of late-2019 / early-2020 – “The God Who Stays”. Here’s Part 2:

But – we had – and we have – and we will always have – the God who stays.

As the lyrics of the song start:

If I were You – I would’ve given up on me by now
I would’ve labeled me a lost cause
‘Cause I feel just like a lost cause

You see our God – our God – He accepts everyone. He rejects no one. He gives up on no one. None of His creations are lost causes.

You know there’s a lot of people out there – people we know and people we don’t know – colleagues and acquaintances – friends and coworkers – even family members – who truly believe and are convinced that they are a lost cause – as far as being accepted by our God – as far as eternity with Him. But Chris you don’t understand what I’ve done. I’ve done horrible things. I’ve hurt and destroyed people. I’ve committed crimes against humanity. Your God doesn’t want me. Your God can’t use me. Your God hates me !

You know whose job it is to try to convince them otherwise ?  It’s our job. That’s right – you and me. We’re God’s priests. All of us. We’re God’s preachers. All of us. It’s our job to show those people out there a better way. It’s a great way – to show them the love of God.

If I were you – I would’ve turned around and walked away
I would’ve labeled me beyond repair
‘Cause I feel like I’m beyond repair

You know who turns around and walks away ?  The people out there. Hey even Christians turn around and walk away at times. We are flawed – just like them. But not our God. Our God walks to us. He never walks from us. Even before we were rescued and saved – our God was walking to us. Our problem was that – we kept walking away from Him – over and over again. And then He rescued and saved us when we couldn’t go any further. And we repented. We turned around. We turned from sin, and we walked to Him.

If you wish to learn more about the God I know then stay tuned to #SundayScripture. 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) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
1990s Blogging Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1998

Hello again retro music fans. 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, 20, 25, or 35 years ago this weekend (rotating each week).

It’s the 3RD Friday of the month, so I go back 25 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday January 25TH 1998:

  1. “Walkin’ On The Sun” – Smash Mouth
  2. “Tubthumping” – Chumbawamba
  3. “Mo Money Mo Problems” – Notorious B.I.G. Ft. Puff Daddy & Mase
  4. “Legend Of A Cowgirl” – Imani Coppola
  5. “As Long As You Love Me” – Backstreet Boys

So a quarter-of-a-century ago was 1998 ? !

I feel so old. I was 30 going on 31 in 1998, and I was a little bit wild at the time. I liked my Smash Mouth. They were like a party-pop-rock band who were really hot for about 4 years from late-1997 to late-2001.

Their debut smash was so hot, as they were “Walkin’ On The Sun”. It spent 28 weeks on my chart. They followed it up with “Can’t Get Enough Of You Baby” (10 weeks), “All Star” (47 weeks), “Then The Morning Comes” (21 weeks), “I’m A Believer” (32 weeks), and “Pacific Coast Party” (8 weeks). That’s some pretty good party music right there that defines that era leading-in to and coming-out of #Y2K.

Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 35 years ago to the end of January 1988. It’s when both Michael Jackson and Prince were in my Top 5.

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) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Geography Travel

My Carnival Celebration Vacation 2023

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last week I wrote about the busiest cruise ship port in the world – #PortMiami. This week I begin a multi-part series on my most recent Caribbean cruise from there.

I was on the 7-day sailing of the brand-new Carnival Celebration from Sunday January 08TH 2023 to Sunday January 15TH 2023. It sailed across the Atlantic from Southampton England to Miami Florida from Sunday November 06TH 2022 to Sunday November 20TH 2022. This was its 9TH cruise (with passengers) ever !

The Carnival Celebration is the newest cruise ship that I’ve ever sailed on, and YES – it’s got a subtle “new cruise” smell to it. The previous newest cruise ship I’d ever sailed on was in late-October / early-November 2007 when I sailed on the maiden TransAtlantic voyage of the Carnival Freedom from Rome Italy to Miami Florida. But that cruise ship had already sailed a full inaugural spring and summer season of Mediterranean cruises. I like to say that I helped “deliver” the Carnival Freedom to the U.S.A.

The almost $1 billion Carnival Celebration is Carnival’s biggest ship ever at 183,521 gross tons. There were about 6,000 passengers onboard with a crew of over 1,700 (from some 70 nations). I believe that my cruise was close to capacity (over 90%). It’s the biggest cruise ship that I’ve ever been on, and it’s the most people that I’ve ever been on a cruise with. It was the complete opposite of my Carnival cruise from exactly one year (to the date) earlier when I sailed on the Carnival Liberty – which was less than half-full. That was right after the cruising industry “restart” post-pandemic. You can read all about it here.

This was my 24TH cruise in a little over 31 years – and 16TH on Carnival in a little over 23 years. My 2ND night on this cruise was my 100TH night with Carnival. It’s my favorite cruise line – mostly due to activities onboard. Every cruise line specializes in something, and they do it better than most other cruise lines. For Carnival it’s the sheer number of things that you can do and activities that you can participate in from early in the morning until early the next morning.

My last 3 Carnival cruises have been great. I did not have such a good time on my 13TH in May 2014. After that one I decided to no longer go on cruises and retire from the sea. That “drought” ended almost exactly 4 years later when I went on a short 4-day Disney cruise to Key West and The Bahamas with my brother, sister-in-law, her parents, and my nieces. That turned out to be a surprisingly fun cruise, and it reinvigorated my passion for cruising. After that cruise I went back to Carnival and gave them another chance. I booked my next cruise for 9 months later, and that was the 1ST of 3 great Carnival cruises in a row – all in January – in 2019, 2022, and now 2023.

January is my preferred month for cruising. May is another good option for me, as is September and October. I try to avoid Spring Break (February, March, and April), Summer (June, July, and August), and the holidays of November and December.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll write more about the Carnival Celebration, and in the weeks to follow I’ll write about the 3 ports-of-call on the 7-day cruise – Amber Cove Dominican Republic, San Juan Puerto Rico, and Charlotte Amalie St. Thomas U.S. Virgin Islands. You may be surprised as to which of those 3 ports was – by far – my favorite of them all – at least on this cruise. This will likely be a 6-part series through the end of February, so let’s embark for fun at sea and abroad. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 309

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 nearly 45 years. Here’s this week’s chart – for the week ending Sunday January 15TH 2023 – the 309TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 1 13 Who I Am
[6TH week @ # 1]		 Ben Fuller
2 2 5 First Things First Consumed By Fire
3 3 22 New Creation Mac Powell
4 4 16 Love Me Like I Am for King & Country Ft. Jordin Sparks
5 5 19 Miracle Power We The Kingdom
6 6 13 Then Christ Came MercyMe
7 7 7 I See Grace Micah Tyler
8 8 5 My Story Your Glory Matthew West
9 9 3 For The Love Of God Andrew Ripp
10 10 2 Gratitude Brandon Lake

# 1 This Week In:
2022 – “Weary Traveler” – Jordan St. Cyr
2021 – “Every Step Of The Way” – Cade Thompson
2020 – “Holy Water” – We The Kingdom
2019 – “Nobody Loves Me Like You” – Chris Tomlin
2018 – “Lions” – Skillet

NO CHANGE – Every song from last week remains at its respective chart position for another week. That’s 10 non-movers. I promise there will be significant chart action next week. Maybe “First Things First” will be first ?

ABROAD – I was out of the country for this entire past week – on a 7-day Caribbean cruise visiting the ports-of-call of Amber Cove Dominican Republic, San Juan Puerto Rico, and St. Thomas U.S. Virgin Islands. You know I’ve always wondered if the K-LOVE app works abroad, and (at least) for the two U.S. ports – YES – it does. I briefly listened to K-LOVE via the app at both ports. I didn’t have Internet access (a cell phone signal) in the Dominican Republic or at sea, but I imagine that if I did – the K-LOVE app probably would have worked there too. I wonder if the K-LOVE app works worldwide ?

This concludes another weekend of blog posts. I’ll do it again with the new weekend – and 4 new entries – known as #TravelThursday, #RetroFriday, #SundayScripture, and #Top10Monday.

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 our 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) 2023 Christopher M. Day, CountUp