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I’ll Take Potpourri For The Weekend

Greetings my friends !  It’s the weekend again – because here at #CountUp weekends always begin on Thursday mornings !

This weekend I’ll post the usual 4 new blog posts now (Thursday morning), Friday morning, Sunday afternoon, and Monday morning.

This Saturday I hope to do another “Walk-A-Thon” at dawn at the city park down the street from my neighborhood. After that I plan to visit the Fruit And Spice Park about 7 miles away from my home. I visited last March, and I was convinced (before I even entered the park grounds) to buy an annual pass for $25 in lieu of a one-time visit ticket for $10 thinking that (as a local) I would visit on a regular basis. Well I haven’t been back since then, so I might as well get in a free visit this weekend while it’s cool out. (We’ll be in the 50s and 60s this Saturday morning.)

Fruit & Spice Park

Later on Saturday I’ll return home (probably exhausted from all of that walking), and I’ll continue my Bible study and sermon-writing. I’m currently working on my sermon after next – tentatively titled “Malachi & Messages”. It’s probably the first of two (maybe even three) sermons in a row all about the minor prophet Malachi.

Oh ! – I’m part of #LivePDNation – so there’s that on Friday and Saturday night.

On Sunday I’ll enjoy quality time praising, worshiping, and celebrating my Lord + Savior Jesus Christ with my church family. As I tell my brothers and sisters in Christ on each new Sunday morning – it’s the peak of my week. It’s the greatest 4 hours of my life each week.

On Monday at 3 AM U.S. East Coast Time I’ll post my brand new Top 10 weekly hit music chart. Get ready for a brand new # 1 smash. (You read it here first.)

So that’s my weekend forecast. It should be a fun one !

I’ll be back here in 24 hours to go RETRO – back a full decade ago – to a time when I gave up Christian music on the radio forever (or so I thought at the time).

All rights reserved (c) 2020 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

Categories
Bible Christian God Ministry Music Radio Scripture

My Top 10 Hits – Week 155

Every Monday I post my all-new Top 10 Christian hit music chart based on personal preference and influenced by radio airplay. Here it is – for the week ending Sunday February 02ND 2020:

  1. “Rescue Story” – Zach Williams [# 1 last week / 17TH week on chart]
  2. “The God Who Stays” – Matthew West [2 / 11TH]
  3. “Almost Home” – MercyMe [3 / 7TH]
  4. “Waymaker” – Michael W. Smith Ft. Vanessa Campagna [5 / 2ND]
  5. “Your Name Is Power” – Rend Collective [6 / 4TH]
  6. “Holy Water” – We The Kingdom [4 / 10TH]
  7. “Like You Love Me” – Tauren Wells [8 / 3RD]
  8. “I Will Fear No More” – The Afters [9 / 2ND]
  9. “One Day” – Cochren & Co. [10 / 2ND]
  10. “Let The Redeemed” – Josh Baldwin [- / 1ST]

# 1 One Year Ago This Week:
“Nobody Loves Me Like You” – Chris Tomlin

# 1 Two Years Ago This Week:
“Gracefully Broken” – Matt Redman Ft. Tasha Cobbs Leonard

Zach Williams holds on at # 1 this week with his “Rescue Story”, but Matthew West could soon replace him with another track that was slow to grow on me. I love the words that begin “The God Who Stays”:

♫ 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

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

But somehow You don’t see me like I do
Somehow You’re still here ♫

I don’t understand why God chose me. I don’t understand why He rescued me. I was a lost cause. I was beyond repair. But He did rescue me. He did save me. I didn’t deserve it. But He gave me the gift of Grace. I accepted it. He took away all of my sins. He wiped the slate clean – as white as snow. He said, “Follow me.” I did. I am born again, but not to a life that will quickly end. My new life will last forever because it comes from the eternal living Word of God.

Jesus Christ wants a relationship with you. Do you want one with Him ?  He’s waiting for you. When you are ready He will be there. As long as you are living and breathing it is not too late. But know this. Tomorrow is not guaranteed.

You are not too far away from God’s reach. Reach out for God. He will lift you out of the pit of despair – out of the mud and the mire. He will set your feet on solid ground and steady you as you walk along. He will give you a new song to sing – a hymn of praise to our God. Many will see what He has done and be amazed. They will put their trust in the LORD.

This concludes another weekend of blog posts. I’ll do it again next 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 @ChrisMDay, and I’m the man behind the tweets for my church @LivingWatersHFL.

Enjoy this new week my friends !  May the God of hope fill you completely with joy and peace as you trust in Him.

All rights reserved (c) 2020 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

Categories
Bible Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Today was Communion Sunday with my Living Waters church family. Here’s how God led me:

It is the 1ST Sunday of a brand new month – February – and it’s our time here at Living Waters to observe and celebrate Communion. It’s an observance. It’s an opportunity – that allows us to slow down, and reflect, and honor, and remember what our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ did for us on that cross on that day. It’s also the continuation of this celebration that we enjoy corporately as a church body every Sunday morning when we bring the church from out there to in here.

Christ suffered for us. Never did He sin. Never did He deceive anyone. Never did He retaliate against anyone. Never did He seek revenge against anyone. None of us can claim that, but Christ can. Christ was innocent. We are guilty.

See He had no sins of His own, so He carried all of our sins – past, present, and future – to the cross. He died a horrible death to pay the penalty for our sins forever. He did that for us. That allows us to be dead to sin. That allows us to live for what is right. We didn’t deserve it, but by God’s Grace – we are saved. By His wounds – we are healed. By His suffering – we are free.

So let’s remember – what Christ did for us – and what He continues to do for us.

This is our believer’s Communion. We believe that we have one living and true God – in God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. 3 Persons – 1 God. Each is God individually; yet, they are one God together. One God – who is almighty. One God – who never changes. One God – who is eternal.

And so this believer’s Communion is open for everyone who hears me – everyone who believes this. If you believe that we are now under the eternal protection of our shepherd – then I invite you to accept this bread and this juice.

I’ve asked Larry and Shirley to serve us these elements today, so as they make their way up here to retrieve the elements I invite you to join me in honoring our 3-in-1 God – who reigns – now and forever.

At this time come forth to accept this bread and this juice. Take them back to your seat – and remain standing (if you can). After everyone is back at their seats – we’ll accept these elements together as a church body. Come forth.

[Praise & Worship Pastor leads us in “We Believe” from Newsboys.]

Communion

Let us take this bread, and know that it represents the sacred body of Christ that was given up for us on that cross. We take this bread in remembrance of Him.

Let us take this juice, and know that it represents the precious blood of Christ that was shed for us on that cross. We take this juice in honor of Him.

Let us bow our heads. Let us pray:

Thank You God for this Glorious moment – in this place – at this time. Thank You Lord for being the unchangeable and unstoppable God that You are – Creator, Christ, and Spirit as One.

Thank You Lord for Your awesome presence in our lives – and Your intentional purpose for our lives. May all of Your beautiful blessings and marvelous miracles constantly strengthen our faith in You, increase our love towards others, and unify our hearts and our souls. We honor You Lord. We praise You Lord. We worship You Lord. We celebrate You Lord. We love You Lord – on this day – and with each new day. And we confirm this by saying – AMEN.

(You may be seated.)

As the Bible says in the Gospel According To John (6:57), and this is in red letters, so Christ said it Himself:

I live because of the living Father who sent Me. In the same way – anyone who feeds on Me will live because of Me.

Receiving the body and blood of Christ during Communion means that we are embracing the life-giving sacrifice of Jesus.

All rights reserved (c) 2020 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries

Categories
1980s Music Radio

My Top 5 Hits RETRO – 1980

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 10, 15, 20, or 30 years ago this weekend (rotating each week).

It’s the 5TH Friday of the month, so it’s a SPECIAL !  Let’s go back 40 years ago. Now I didn’t write down my own chart back then, but I did follow Billboard Magazine’s Hot 100, and I did listen to Casey Kasem present “American Top 40” from coast to coast. Here it is – the Billboard Top 5 for the week ending Sunday February 03RD 1980:

  1. “Rock With You” – Michael Jackson
  2. “Do That To Me One More Time” – The Captain And Tennille
  3. “Coward Of The County” – Kenny Rogers
  4. “Cruisin'” – Smokey Robinson
  5. “Crazy Little Thing Called Love” – Queen

I wasn’t a big fan of 1980 pop music. It hasn’t aged well either over the decades. I was 12 going on 13 in 1980. I was in Junior High School in Lanham Maryland. I listened to Q-107 out of Washington D.C. They were famous for their “commercial-free music sweeps”.

Q107

One song in particular was huge in 1980, and it’s still huge (for me) in 2020. It’s Gary Numan’s “Cars”. It was a Top 40 hit here in the U.S. for about 4 months, and it reached the Top 10. Q-107 played it around the clock, and it’s played 1,119 times on my iPod Shuffles over the past 10 years. I saw Gary LIVE in concert in Oxford England in September 1987, and at the time of that concert “Cars” had been reissued as a single, and it was on the U.K. Top 20 !

Next Friday on RETRO I’ll start over and check out the music of my life from February 2010. It actually ended a chapter of my Christian life that was quite bittersweet. I’ll share it with you in 7 days. But until then keep your feet on the ground, and keep reaching for God !

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) 2020 Christopher M. Day, CountUp Ministries