Categories
Career Military

Happy Armed Forces Week

Happy-Armed-Forces-Day

It’s Thursday May 13TH 2021, and National Military Appreciation Month continues with Armed Forces Week (all this week), and that culminates this Saturday with Armed Forces Day. Unlike Memorial Day (this year on May 31ST) and Veterans Day (November 11TH) this is an opportunity for us to honor everyone who currently serves within our military.

I’m a few weeks away from celebrating my 36TH anniversary within the United States Air Force. I actually committed to 4 years of active duty service about a month into my Senior year in high school in 1984. 6 days after graduating from high school in June 1985 I was on my way to Lackland AFB in San Antonio Texas for 6½ weeks of Basic Military Training.

I’ve been living in or near Homestead Florida since the end of 1987, so that’s 33 out of my 36 years in the Air Force. I work at Homestead ARB (formerly AFB prior to Hurricane Andrew). During the 19 months immediately after Hurricane Andrew – as the city and the base was being cleaned-up and rebuilt – I served at Andrews AFB Maryland and MacDill AFB in Tampa Florida.

My 36 years in the Air Force includes 28 years as a civilian. Prior to that I served 8 years on active duty and 6 years as a reservist (overlapping with the early years of my civil service).

Up until about the age of 16 I was supposed to go to college after high school and emerge with a degree in either Meteorology or Communications (radio and television). That didn’t happen, but here I am 36 years into an Air Force career at 54 years old. The Air Force determined that I was great at math, so they made me an analyst / statistician.

In the Air Force I’ve had some great years, some good years, some bad years, and some horrible years. There’s an entire 13-year era that was the worst of my career (and life). Thankfully I’ve followed that up with the best 14-year era of my career (and life) – where I am now. I’m ending this career on a high, and I’ve got about 2½ more years to go before I retire and move away from here.

To all of my fellow military service members – whether you are currently on active duty, a reservist, a civil servant, or a contractor working alongside all of the above – I thank you for all that you do with each new duty day.

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

Categories
Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 221

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 MAY 09TH 2021 WEEK 221
TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 1 16 Fires
[3RD week @ # 1]		 Jordan St. Cyr
2 3 7 Child Of Love We The Kingdom Ft. Bear Rinehart
3 6 9 Help Is On The Way (Maybe Midnight) TobyMac
4 2 5 God Of Revival Brian & Jenn Johnson
5 5 8 God Who Listens Chris Tomlin Ft. Thomas Rhett
6 4 12 Good God Almighty Crowder
7 7 24 Every Step Of The Way Cade Thompson
8 – 1 Yes He Can Cain
9 8 5 Gospel Song Rhett Walker
10 10 3 Mean Girls Leanna Crawford

# 1 This Week In:
2020 – “Almost Home” – MercyMe
2019 – “Alive” – Big Daddy Weave
2018 – “The Way (New Horizon)” – Pat Barrett
2017 – “Forgiven” – Crowder

#Surprise. Jordan St. Cyr is still at # 1 with “Fires”. We The Kingdom are back up a notch to # 2 with perhaps my next # 1 smash. Or could it be the latest from TobyMac – whose “Help Is On The Way” is now his highest-charting hit in over 3 years (since “I Just Need U.”). It’s his 8TH hit since this chart was resurrected in 2017, and it’s his 11TH hit overall since 2007. If we go back even further to 1996 we can include dc Talk’s hit – “Between You And Me” – since Toby was one-third of the band.

My Pastor’s sermon yesterday morning was titled “Help Is On The Way”, and it continued his message series on how great and glorious our God is. All throughout his sermon our Pastor would return to the title of his sermon, and I couldn’t help but hum the TobyMac song “Help Is On The Way”. I actually made note of it after his sermon when I took over to close the service, but I don’t think a single one of my brothers and sisters was familiar with the current hit on the radio.

Here’s the official music video for that current TobyMac hit on the radio – now with nearly 3.8 million views on YouTube:

This blog is # 52 worldwide on the Top 90 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.

All rights reserved (c) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

Categories
Bible Blogging Christian Church God Holidays Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday May 09TH 2021, and this is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it. Let us celebrate our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ and all that He has done for us.

From Proverbs 31:25-31 – “A Virtuous And Capable Wife” – and as the Bible says:

She is clothed with strength and dignity, and she laughs without fear of the future.
When she speaks – her words are wise, and she gives instructions with kindness.
She carefully watches everything in her household, and suffers nothing from laziness.
Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her:
“There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all !”
Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last. But a woman who fears the LORD will be greatly praised.
Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise.

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

Categories
2000s Blogging Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 2006

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 1ST Friday of the month, so I go back 15 years ago. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday May 07TH 2006:

  1. “Let U Go” – Ashley Parker Angel
  2. “Move Along” – The All-American Rejects
  3. “Dirty Little Secret” – The All-American Rejects
  4. “Pump It” – The Black Eyed Peas
  5. “Beep” – The Pussycat Dolls Ft. WILL.I.AM 

Well one of those songs is still a hit with me exactly 15 years later, and that’s “Dirty Little Secret”. It’s in heavy rotation on my iPod Shuffles that play at my desk at my workplace. It was actually my # 2 hit of all of 2006. I was about 3½ months away from the start of God’s salvation on my life. You’ll see my Top 5 “look-back” at 2006 suddenly flip to Christian rock and pop this September.

Exactly 15 years ago I ran a web site known as MASSIVESMASH.COM. It was in the middle of its 11TH year online at the time. It hosted my Top 25 weekly chart – known back then as the “Pure.Hits.Chart”. Here’s how I explained my chart just below my Top 25 that week in which “Let U Go” was at # 1:

The Pure.Hits.Chart is not based on actual raw data or statistics, but rather an intricate fusion of trends, indicatours, and factours to include retail and online activity, television, radio, street, and entertainment venue impressions, and other vital independent research. Based out of Homestead Florida U.S.A. its origins date back to November 1985. It was one of the very first weekly hit music charts (private, corporate, or otherwise) to ever publish on the World Wide Web (in November 1995). Today it is one of the most accessed and utilized privately-owned hit music charts on the web. It is consistently monitored and reviewed by numerous influential International chart compilation sites and hit music enthusiasts on the web. It is influential worldwide as commercial hit music radio station program directors, college and university radio station deejays, nightclub personalities, hit music fans, and the industry in general monitor the chart on a regular basis to determine what is currently hot, what is gaining steam, and what is cooling off. Up-and-coming hit music artists and their respective agents, producers, and labels search for their songs on the web, and they often find them right here on our chart. Positive feedback generated from all of these various sources and industries fuels the chart, and it’s always greatly appreciated. Feel free to write us at anytime !

That’s right – my web site was HUGE back then, and then it faded into obscurity.

Next Friday on RETRO I’ll go back 25 years ago to May 1996.

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) 2021 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries