CountUp

Sunday Scripture

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date June 13, 2021

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday June 13TH 2021, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate another new day in His presence – on this journey that He set forth for us.

On this exact morning 36 years ago in 1985 (a Thursday) I arrived with others on a bus from San Antonio International Airport to Lackland Air Force Base. We arrived at around 0100 (after traveling all day the previous day), and we were instantly yelled and screamed at by our Training Instructor (T.I.). He put us to bed about an hour later, and he woke us up 4 hours after that for our first full day of military indoctrination.

I still work for the USAF today, so this is officially my 36TH anniversary. I’ve been serving as a Department Of Defense Civilian for the past 28 years. (I was Active Duty for 8 years.)

The first 22 years of my Air Force career (1985-2007) were mostly forgettable. A majority of those years were “bad years”. There were some highlights along the way, and I worked with some good people, but overall it was not a positive time professionally (or even personally). 1991 to 1993 stands out as the best 2 years of that early part of my career. Ironically I went to war in Saudi Arabia (Operation Desert Storm), and I watched Hurricane Andrew destroy my military base and surrounding region during that time. But it was the peak of the military portion of my career.

It went downhill fast after that. If there’s a “rock bottom” of my career (and life) then it was 2006. It was really spiraling downward for about a dozen years prior to that. I don’t think that it could have gone much further downward by the Summer of 2006.

By then my God had seen enough. He stepped in and intervened. He saved my life.

I’m approaching the 15TH anniversary of the start of my salvation, and it’s actually the inspiration behind the current sermon that I’m writing titled “Salvation & Hope” (based on 1 Peter 1:3-12).

This salvation began a little more than 11 months before my career did a complete 360. (I did a lot of newfound praying to my God during those 11 months.) I was placed in a new building – with a new job – and with all-new people (most of whom I had never met before). I’m currently enjoying the best 14 years (and counting) of my Air Force career.

I often wonder if I would know God today if it weren’t for those first 22 years, and particularly those dozen years leading-up to 2006, and especially 2006 itself. I was far from God during that time, but somehow God reached me as I was dying. Nobody led me to God. Nobody invited me to church. Nobody asked me to attend a concert with them. Yet God intervened. He rescued me. He saved me. He entered my heart. A new life had begun.

My salvation continues today, and it will lead to my inheritance in heaven – my final and eternal salvation – when Jesus Christ returns.

And through your faith – God is protecting you by His power until you receive this salvation – which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. (1 Peter 1:5)

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.

Tags Bible, Blog, Christ, Christian, Church, God, Jesus, Minister, Ministry, Scripture

1990s Blogging Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1996

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date June 11, 2021

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 2ND Friday of the month, so I go back 25 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday June 09TH 1996:

“Everything Falls Apart” – Dog Eye’s View
“Follow You Down” – Gin Blossoms
“Old Man & Me (When I Get To Heaven)” – Hootie & The Blowfish
“Theme From ‘Mission: Impossible'” – Adam Clayton & Larry Mullen
“Plush” – Stone Temple Pilots

Good music there from a quarter of a century ago when I turned 29 years old.

Recorded in 1995 when they were in heavy rotation on Rock, Top 40, and Hot A.C. radio with a string of hits in a row here in the U.S.A. – that’s from Hootie’s 2ND album – “Fairweather Johnson” – which was not nearly as HUGE as their debut album – “Cracked Rear View”. That music video was filmed in their hometown of Columbia South Carolina.

I credit Hootie with ending the grunge era in 1994 and rescuing Top 40 music. As grunge was dying Hootie came on the scene with “happy rock” that made you feel good. It was the dawn of a new era on the radio.

Speaking of grunge – let me explain “Plush” from Stone Temple Pilots. What was that song doing at # 5 on my chart in 1996 when it was 3 years old by that time ? Believe it or not it was my # 1 smash the week before – for the week ending Sunday June 02ND 1996. I was visiting my family in my original hometown area of Washington D.C. during the Memorial Day holiday week leading up to that, and my brother (age 21 at the time) played that song a lot in his car. It grew on me. I brought it back home to South Florida with me.

Next Friday on RETRO I’ll go back 30 years ago to June 1991.

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 !

Tags 1996, Music, Radio

Blogging Driving Nature Photography Travel

My Summer Vacation 2021 Road-Trip

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date June 10, 2021

Last Wednesday June 02ND 2021 about 45 minutes before local sunrise I embarked on my latest fun road-trip exploring my great state of Florida. This was actually a road-trip that was planned more than 3 years earlier and scheduled for the exact same Wednesday to Saturday time-period in June 2018. I had to cancel that trip when I was offered the opportunity to attend an important work-related trip to Middle Georgia (Warner Robins) later that same month in June 2018.

Earlier this year I decided to resurrect that June 2018 road-trip exactly 3 years later. I took my original itinerary for the trip, and I updated and enhanced it. As it turns out I actually visited a majority of the places that were on the original itinerary.

This was a 77-hour / (4-day / 3-night) / 472-mile road-trip spanning Miami-Dade, Broward, Palm Beach, Martin, St. Lucie, Indian River, and Okeechobee Counties (in that order). Aside from driving to and from Florida’s Treasure Coast I was always within about 5 miles of the Atlantic Ocean and the adjacent Indian River (which is actually a very long [121-mile] lagoon).

Starting today and continuing for the next 3 or 4 Thursdays I’ll share some of my road-trip adventures with you. I presented a sneak-preview of this road-trip recap this past Sunday here on my blog. (Check out “Sunday Scripture”.)

We start about 3 hours north of my home for a full Breakfast pitstop in Stuart Florida. I enjoyed a nice hearty meal at a local place called Berry Fresh Cafe. I’ve been there before (at their Jupiter Florida location), so I knew what to expect. I knew that I would be full when I walked out. My waiter was over-the-top energized and passionate about his job – perhaps even borderline bombastic – but in a good way. I told him that I was on vacation visiting the area, and he gave me a list of places to visit in Stuart. I didn’t have the heart to tell him that his restaurant was my only stop in Stuart proper. I now have a list of places that I can check-out on my next (perhaps longer) visit to Stuart. I actually have friends who live in neighboring Jensen Beach. I didn’t get a chance to visit them on this trip, so maybe next time.

My next stop was to a popular place located on the barrier island adjacent to Stuart (South Hutchinson Island) known as Bathtub Beach. My aforementioned friends go there on a regular basis with their young daughters, so I decided to check it out. It’s very unique in that it’s the Atlantic Ocean – but with subdued waves and currents. There’s a mile-and-a-half-long reef just offshore. It’s below the water surface during high tide, but during low tide there are exposed sections. This reef is not a typical coral reef, but rather a living worm reef. I’ll let this sign explain it in greater detail:

I spent a lot of time all along a 54-mile stretch of Florida State Road A1A – from 27.2° to 27.8° north latitude. I visited a lot of nice Martin, St. Lucie, and Indian River County beaches on this road-trip. I think this was probably the nicest and cleanest beach of them all. Check out this photo of this beautiful wide beach:

As you may know if you’ve been following me for awhile I try to keep my blog posts to under 3 minutes or less, and I think that we’re close to that ceiling right now, so let me close this part of my road-trip. Next Thursday I’ll present Part 2, and we’ll visit House Of Refuge Museum At Gilbert’s Bar and Elliott Museum.

Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 225

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date June 7, 2021

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 JUNE 06TH 2021	WEEK 225

TW	LW	WKS	SONG TITLE	ARTIST / SITE
1	1	13	Help Is On The Way (Maybe Midnight) [4TH week @ # 1]	TobyMac
2	4	5	Yes He Can	Cain
3	2	20	Fires	Jordan St. Cyr
4	5	2	When We Fall Apart	Ryan Stevenson Ft. Vince Gill & Amy Grant
5	3	12	God Who Listens	Chris Tomlin Ft. Thomas Rhett
6	6	9	Gospel Song	Rhett Walker
7	7	11	Child Of Love	We The Kingdom Ft. Bear Rinehart
8	9	2	Be Alright	Evan Craft X Danny Gokey X Redimi2
9	–	1	Under Grace	Tauren Wells Ft. Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts
10	10	2	Hold On To Me	Lauren Daigle

# 1 This Week In:
2020 – “I Will Fear No More” – The Afters
2019 – “Born Again” – Austin French
2018 – “The Way (New Horizon)” – Pat Barrett
2017 – “Live Like You’re Loved” – Hawk Nelson

The K-LOVE Fan Awards aired this past Friday night on TBN. It was canceled last year due to the pandemic. I actually wasn’t planning to watch it as it aired, as I was on vacation. But I finished seeing and doing everything that I had planned on my vacation, so I sat on my bed in my hotel room, and I watched it, and I enjoyed it, and I sang along to it. It was a fun show with a fun host (Matthew West) – one of only two awards shows that I still watch on TV. (The other being the GMA Dove Awards.)

Normally (as I’ve done in the past) I’d live-tweet during the original broadcast of the show (@ChrisMDay), but not so this year since I hadn’t planned to watch it until after I returned home from vacation. I’ll try again for the live-tweet during the 2022 awards show. (One of these years I plan to attend it LIVE and in-person in Nashville.)

I voted for 7 of the K-LOVE Fan Awards, and 4 of my 7 votes won:
– Male Artist Of The Year (Zach Williams – one of my favorite singers)
– Breakout Single (“Rise” – Cain – my # 4 hit of all of 2020)
– Worship Song Of The Year (“Waymaker” – Michael W. Smith)
– Song Of The Year (“There Was Jesus” – Zach Williams Ft. Dolly Parton).

There were a lot of great LIVE performances during the awards show, and Tauren Wells and Gary LeVox of Rascal Flatts performing “Until Grace” was one of my favorites of the night. It’s my only new entry this week at # 9.

Here’s the official lyric video for “Until Grace”:

This blog is # 37 worldwide on the Top 80 Christian Music Blogs, Websites, & Influencers in 2021 chart. Thank You for including us Feedspot !

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.