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Bible Holidays Military Scripture

Memorial Day

2008 Memorial Day Poster #3.

It’s Memorial Day here in the U.S.A. It’s not appropriate to say “Happy Memorial Day”, for this is a truly solemn holiday. It’s the day each year that we honor our fallen heroes – those military personnel who served their country in a time of war – and who gave the ultimate sacrifice to keep our freedom strong. They gave their life.

This is not a day for those like me who once served in the U.S. Armed Forces, for I am still alive. My day is Veterans Day on November 11TH. It is not a day for those who are currently serving in the military. That day is Armed Forces Day – the 3RD Saturday of May.

On this day I remember our fallen heroes. I will never forget.

There is no greater love than to lay down one’s life for one’s friends. (John 15:13)

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

Categories
Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday May 29TH 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 #SundayScripture I began transcribing one of my recent sermons that I preached to my church family at the end of February – “Stones & Stumbles”. It’s the follow-up to “Holy & Redeemed” which I presented on here in December and January. “Stones & Stumbles” covers 1 Peter 1:23-2:9.

Here’s Part 2 of my sermon:

Isaiah has more types and shadows and associations and correlations with the New Testament than any other book of the Old Testament. Even today’s modern preachers who solely or mostly preach out of the New Testament often cite Isaiah from the Old Testament – sometimes without even realizing it. What’s concealed in the Old is revealed in the New.

But Isaiah really does more revealing than concealing. He tells us all about the God he knows. He told us all about the coming of the Messiah.

From Isaiah Chapter 40 – Verses 6 to 8:

A voice said – “Shout !” I asked – “What should I shout ?” “Shout that people are like the grass. Their beauty fades as quickly as the flowers in a field. The grass withers and the flowers fade beneath the breath of the LORD. And so it is with people. The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”

That Scripture looks familiar. (Back to the previous slide – and there’s Peter – referring to the Scriptures – with the same words – as told by Isaiah – on this slide.)

The prophet Isaiah was preaching about a messenger – clearing the way through the wilderness for the LORD. We would later find out that the messenger – is John The Baptist – introduced in Matthew’s Gospel – the 40TH book of the Bible – and that’s from Isaiah 40. See what I mean ? More to come.

We are mortal. We – are – mortal. We are earthly. Our God is not. We are short-lived here on Earth. Our God is not. Our God is almighty. Our God is eternal. Our God’s plans never waver and always succeed. That’s our God. As the Bible says:

“It will happen as I have planned. It will be as I have decided. (Isaiah 14:24b)

“My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts” – says the LORD. “And My ways are far beyond anything you could imagine. For just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so My ways are higher than your ways, and My thoughts higher than your thoughts. (Isaiah 55:8-9)

That’s our God right there. That’s why I trust Him over everyone else. He knows the way. He is the way.

So jumping back to First Peter and the start of the 2ND chapter:

So get rid of all evil behavior. Be done with all deceit, hypocrisy, jealousy, and all unkind speech. (1 Peter 2:1)

You know some modern preachers don’t like to preach on that verse right there. They will quietly skip over it, and preach on the other 24 verses of First Peter Chapter 2. I am not one of those modern preachers. I’m “old school”. I’m traditional. I believe that every verse in the Bible represents God’s voice. Every verse in the Bible is intentional. It is not there by accident. It is not filler material.

That’s one of those verses right there where the Bible tells us to not do something. Stop doing it ! And some people in the church (the church in general) don’t like to hear verses in the Bible that tell them to stop doing something. They don’t want to hear preachers telling them to stop doing something.

I know this is gonna sound hard to believe, but do you know that I am guilty of all of those things ? That’s right. Evil behavior – guilty. Deceit – guilty. Hypocrisy – guilty. Jealousy – guilty. Unkind speech – guilty. I’m probably the only one in here who’s guilty of all of these things – right ?

You know what ? I am forgiven. We are forgiven. We don’t intend to do those evil things, but we are mortal. We are earthly. When we realize that we’ve done those things – we must confess – we must pray – we must repent, so that we may be forgiven. And our God. He wipes our sins away. That is who He is.

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) 2022 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
1980s Blogging Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1987

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, 25, 30, or 35 years ago this weekend (rotating each week).

It’s the 4TH Friday of the month, so I go back 35 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday May 31ST 1987:

  1. “It’s Not Unusual” – Tom Jones
  2. “Under The Boardwalk” – Bruce Willis
  3. “Victim Of Love” – Erasure
  4. “Serious” – Donna Allen
  5. “Hot Shot Tottenham !” – Tottenham Hotspur FA Cup Squad With Chas & Dave

The Summer Of 1987: What a great summer that was. It was a great summer of British pop music. It was a great summer of fun with friends. It was perhaps the greatest summer of my life as a 20-year-old living in the United Kingdom.

Mr. Tom Jones enjoyed a career resurgence that began during that era. He followed-up a # 2 smash on the U.K. pop charts that received very little radio airplay (“A Boy From Nowhere”) with the reissue of his biggest smash ever – “It’s Not Unusual”. 22 years after its 1965 release it was on the charts again, and it hit # 1 on my Top 50 chart at the time. (That’s right – I did a Top 50 every week back then.)

Tom Jones and I share a birthday week. I was born on June 05TH. He was born on June 07TH. He’ll be 82 soon, and a few days later he embarks on a 4-month worldwide tour of Ireland, The U.K., Spain, Denmark, Austria, Netherlands, Hungary, Luxembourg, Italy, Croatia, Germany, Norway, Belgium, Sweden, The U.S.A., and Canada. The man’s got a lot of energy. No Florida date though. I would definitely see him in concert, for he is a legend !

Another one of Tom Jones’ hits – in fact his biggest hit here stateside – “She’s A Lady” – is and has been for several years – in heavy rotation on my iPod Shuffles that play at my desk at my workplace. I hear it almost every day, and I sing along to it.

Next #RetroFriday I’ll go back 15 years ago to the start of June 2007. It’s the week that I discovered Dustin Ruth and his band and their music.

It’s halftime my friends. I’ll be back on Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday with 3 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
1970s 1980s Blogging Driving Movies Radio Travel

Kings Dominion

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Kings Dominion is a fun seasonal amusement park located between Washington D.C. and Richmond Virginia (much closer to Richmond) right along I-95. The 280-acre park opened on May 03RD 1975 – the same exact date that my little brother was born. Starting in the late-1970s and continuing into the mid-1980s me and my family would visit the park every few summers. We would actually alternate between Kings Dominion, Busch Gardens near Williamsburg Virginia (opened 13 days after Kings Dominion), and Hershey Park in Pennsylvania (opened 116 years ago this weekend).

Kings Dominion is generally open starting in mid-March – weekends only at first, and then daily from Memorial Day Weekend to Labor Day Weekend. The park returns to weekends only during the Autumn months. It’s also open during Christmas and New Year’s Week for festive displays and events known as #WinterFest.

Me and my brother always had a lot of fun roaming around the park and riding all of the rides. My parents were there for the shows, shops, and restaurants.

There are still some original rides from the 1975 opening including what used to be the “Rebel Yell” rollercoaster – now known as the “Racer 75”. It rises to a height of 85 feet, and it drops 81 of those 85 feet at a top speed of 56 MPH. That was perhaps the first rollercoaster I ever rode on. It was scary back then, and I wouldn’t ride it today because – well – it’s still scary. (And nowadays I get motion sickness very easily on those types of rides.)

That’s me as a teenager in the early-1980s atop the Eiffel Tower – a one-third replica of the real thing – standing tall at 314 feet. (The observation decks are 40 feet below the top.)

So 26 years ago this week (leading-up to Memorial Day Weekend) was my final visit with my brother to Kings Dominion. My brother won a radio contest on Washington rock station #DC101 – two free tickets to Kings Dominion – where you got to go there as VIPs before the park opened to participate in a “Mission: Impossible” scavenger hunt all throughout the park. (The Tom Cruise movie premiered at the box office that week.) Me and my brother drove down to the park on an unseasonably chilly and drizzly day, and we had lots of fun with the scavenger hunt and the rides on that day.

A lot of fun family memories at Kings Dominion. It’s good to see it still thriving with new generations of families 47 years later.

Next #TravelThursday we’ll visit Chicopee Massachusetts. Let’s keep traveling together.

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