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Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday January 01ST 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.

It’s the start of a brand new year. My hope for you is for 2023 to be greater than 2022.

Remember not the former things, nor consider the things of old. Behold – I am doing a new thing. Now it springs forth. Do you not perceive it ? I will make a way in the wilderness, and rivers in the desert. (Isaiah 43:18-19 ESV)

When I was young in the Lord – during the early part of my salvation in Christ – I forgot where I came from. I erased the past – the memories of the good, the bad, and the ugly of my 39 years on this Earth at that point. But as I continued to move forth and mature in my Lord + Savior Jesus Christ – I realized that our God does not want me to (literally) forget the journey of old. He’s doing a new thing for me. He’s made me into a new creation. He wants me to see where I am – versus where I came from – whether it be yesterday, last week, last month, last year, or 17 years ago (before salvation for me). He wants to continue to lead me to His way – which is the only way forth to eternal life with our God.

My hope for you in 2023 is that you will read my testimony, accept Jesus Christ as your Lord + Savior, and honor Him above everyone and everything else.

… for you are a chosen people. You are royal priests – a holy nation – God’s very own possession. As a result – you can show others the goodness of God, for He called you out of the darkness into His wonderful light. (1 Peter 2:9 NLT)

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
1980s Blogging Holidays Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1988

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 5TH Friday of the month, so I go back 35 years ago (since last week was a special). Here it is – for the week ending Sunday January 03RD 1988:

  1. “Crazy” – Icehouse
  2. “Don’t Shed A Tear” – Paul Carrack
  3. “What Have I Done To Deserve This ?” – Pet Shop Boys With Dusty Springfield
  4. “True Faith” – New Order
  5. “Need You Tonight” – INXS

With this edition of #RetroFriday from 35 years ago I leave 1987 behind and enter 1988. It was an unusual year of pop music for me. It was largely a rerun of 1987 in that a lot of the hits that arrived stateside were already hits in Great Britain (where I lived) the year before. Many songs – especially early-on in 1988 – were spending over 20, 30, and even 40 weeks on my chart, as their chart runs were either a continuation or a resumption of their chart runs in 1987.

Longtime Australian band Icehouse scored a surprise # 1 smash on my first chart of 1988, and it was not a British rerun. It was their U.S. breakthrough hit at Top 40 radio and on the mainstream pop charts. Here’s the video that tells a “Crazy” story:

Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 15 years ago to January 2008. It’s when a Nashville Tennessee “Tooth & Nail” band were near the top of my chart with 1 of their 3 hits.

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) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Driving Travel

My Least-Driven Year Ever

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. For this final edition of 2022 – I look back at my year of driving. It defied all expectations. It turned out to be my least-driven year ever.

Last Wednesday December 21ST – I drove my 6,000TH mile of 2022. I’ll finish the year with a little over 6,100 miles. Back in 2020 during the onset and peak of COVID – I drove 6,395 miles, and that was a new record low for me. I thought that would never happen again – to drive as few miles as that in a single calendar year. Last year – 2021 – I drove 8,672 miles – a nice improvement over 2020, but still a bit below my typical driving in a year.

Fun Fact: My 1989-2022 average is a little over 10,600 miles per year. That’s over 360,000 miles of driving over the past 34 years.

Are you impressed that I’ve kept such extensive records ?

In 2022 I drove more than 500 miles in just 4 months – March, June, July, and October. March was my most-driven month at a little over 1,000 miles. That’s when I went on a fun 6-day / 626-mile road-trip with my family visiting from Texas. It was my longest road-trip of the year, and I blogged all about it here on 4 consecutive editions of #TravelThursday during the month of March.

Looking ahead to 2023 – it should be a completely different story, and it could be one of my most-driven years ever. I’ll be purchasing my new home in a couple of months 186 miles away, and I’ll be driving 186 miles twice per week – usually on Sunday mornings (southward) and Wednesday afternoons (northward). With each new trip northward to my new home I’ll be transporting more stuff. I’ll probably average about 450 to 500 miles per week from mid-February through probably the rest of the year. That’s up to 2,000 miles per month. I could very well approach or even exceed 20,000 miles of driving in 2023. I’ll be documenting a lot of those miles here on #TravelThursday.

Next #TravelThursday I’ll revisit Saudi Arabia. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 306

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 December 25TH 2022 – the 306TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 1 10 Who I Am
[3RD week @ # 1]		 Ben Fuller
2 3 16 Miracle Power We The Kingdom
3 2 13 Love Me Like I Am for King & Country Ft. Jordin Sparks
4 4 13 Ain’t Nobody Cody Carnes
5 5 10 Then Christ Came MercyMe
6 6 19 New Creation Mac Powell
7 7 20 Good Morning Mercy Jason Crabb
8 8 4 I See Grace Micah Tyler
9 9 2 My Story Your Glory Matthew West
10 10 2 First Things First Consumed By Fire

# 1 This Week In:
2021 – “Weary Traveler” – Jordan St. Cyr
2020 – “Every Step Of The Way” – Cade Thompson
2019 – “Unstoppable God” – Sanctus Real
2018 – “Well Done” – The Afters
2017 – “Control (Somehow You Want Me)” – Tenth Avenue North

FINAL CHART OF 2022 – This week’s chart looks very much like last week’s chart. There are only two movements, as We The Kingdom and for King & Country trade places at # 2 and # 3. This is my 52ND and final chart of 2022, so next week’s chart is all set. It’s “My Top 22 Of 2022”. You can check it out next Monday January 02ND 2023.

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 #Top22Of2022.

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) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp