Tag: Christian

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Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 426

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 almost 50 years. Here’s this week’s chart – for the week ending Sunday April 13TH 2025 – the 426TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 1 11 Money Can’t Buy
[3RD week @ # 1]		 Cochren & Co.
2 3 7 A Lil Church (Nobody’s Too Lost) TobyMac
3 2 13 Let It Begin Big Daddy Weave
4 6 3 Unashamed Matthew West
5 7 3 Oh Death MercyMe
6 8 4 You Never Gave Up On Me The Afters
7 4 6 My Promised Land Josiah Queen
8 5 5 Whisper And The Wind Bodie
9 9 2 You Way’s Better Forrest Frank
10 10 2 Jesus Loves Zach Williams

# 1 This Week In:
2024 – “He Does” – Brandon Heath
2023 – “The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours)” – Matt Maher
2022 – “Brighter Days” – Blessing Offor
2021 – “Good God Almighty” – Crowder
2020 – “Almost Home” – MercyMe
2019 – “Confidence” – Sanctus Real
2018 – “Freedom Hymn” – Austin French
2017 – “I Have This Hope” – Tenth Avenue North

MERCYME – 3 songs above were performed LIVE at the MercyMe, Zach Williams, and Sam Wesley concert over in Estero Florida. Zach Williams performed “Jesus Loves” (# 10), and MercyMe performed “Oh Death” (# 5) and “Almost Home” (# 1 exactly 5 years ago). I forget just how huge “Almost Home” was. It was the soundtrack at home during the COVID pandemic – hitting # 1 on the last Sunday of February 2020 and staying there through March, April, and well into May. When I hear the song today it reminds me of that eerie and uncertain period of time like no other when we were all locked down and socially dormant. It spent 12 weeks in a row as my # 1 smash, and it was my # 1 song overall for the entire year. It’s also my # 5 hit overall of this current era (since 2017).

SPOTIFY – You can hear “My Top 10 Hits” anytime by accessing my CountUp playlist on Spotify. All 10 hits are there from top to bottom. You can hear them in order from # 1 to # 10, or you can shuffle them. My playlist will be updated every weekend (usually before the actual chart is presented here on Mondays). You can link to it here.

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. God used loud music on the radio in South Florida to reach me in August of 2006. I’ve been testifying about Him ever since.

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) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Bible Blogging Christian Church God Ministry Scripture

Sunday Scripture

Greetings my friends. It is Sunday April 13TH 2025, 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.

Today I’ll be in Homestead and Florida City down in Miami-Dade County Florida. I’ll be attending church service at my longtime home church as an attendee – rather than as the Guest Preacher. It’s been a while – 4 months – since I last saw my longtime Pastor (Bob) preach. (I do watch him on Facebook every week.)

Another exciting life-changing event (hopefully) occurs tomorrow (Monday) morning. I’ll keep that to myself for now.

The next day – the news that Jesus was on the way to Jerusalem swept through the city. A large crowd of Passover visitors took palm branches and went down the road to meet Him. They shouted, “Praise God !  Blessings on the One who comes in the name of the Lord !  Hail to the King of Israel !” Jesus found a young donkey and rode on it – fulfilling the prophecy that said: “Don’t be afraid – people of Jerusalem. Look – your King is coming – riding on a donkey’s colt.” His disciples didn’t understand at the time that this was a fulfillment of prophecy. But after Jesus entered into His glory – they remembered what had happened and realized that these things had been written about Him. Many in the crowd had seen Jesus call Lazarus from the tomb – raising him from the dead, and they were telling others about it. That was the reason so many went out to meet Him – because they had heard about this miraculous sign. Then the Pharisees said to each other, “There’s nothing we can do. Look – everyone has gone after Him !”

The triumphal entry of Jesus into Jerusalem appears in all 4 Gospels – Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. The Scripture above is from John 12:12-19, and that’s the New Living Translation (NLT).

I greet you each Sunday with the words of Psalm 118:24 – This is the day that our LORD has made. Let us rejoice. Let us be glad in it.

The next 2 verses right after that are quoted in John’s Gospel:

Please – LORD – please save us. Please – LORD – please give us success. Bless the One who comes in the name of the LORD. We bless You from the house of the LORD.

My testimony is featured each week here on #SundayScripture – whether it’s part of a sermon, a testimony, or just me writing about the events of the past week. Hopefully it encourages you and inspires you to seek the Lord – and get closer to Him with each new day.

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) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

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Blogging Christian Driving God Ministry Music Radio Travel

Hertz Arena

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. Last Saturday night I attended my 14TH LIVE event over the past 15 years at the Hertz Arena in Estero Florida (adjacent to I-75 – between Fort Myers and Naples). Opened in 1998 – it’s my favorite medium-size arena. It’s got a maximum capacity of over 8,000, but a little over 7,000 for most events.

I attended the MercyMe, Zach Williams, and Sam Wesley concert. MercyMe and Zach Williams are two of my favorite Christian rock artists – with a combined 20 hits on my weekly music chart since 2017 including 8 # 1 hits. Sam Wesley is an emerging artist, and he’s the eldest son of Bart Millard – the lead singer of MercyMe.

It was my 5TH time seeing MercyMe, 3RD time seeing Zach Williams, and 2ND time seeing Sam Wesley. I bought my ticket to the concert last July First. It was originally scheduled for Thursday October 10TH 2024, but 3 days beforehand it was postponed and rescheduled for almost 6 months later due to Hurricane Milton approaching the area. (It made landfall and devastated the area late on the night before the scheduled night of the concert.)

The original concert had two different opening acts for MercyMe – Crowder and Cochren & Co. (I’ve seen both of them twice before.)

The concert itself was wonderful. I shared a few details on Zach Williams this past #MusicMonday. I love his “Rescue Story” – his song and his testimony on how his salvation started in 2012. He’s been praising and worshiping his Lord + Savior Jesus Christ ever since. His music truly reflects his fantastic journey and his love for Jesus.

MercyMe have been a band for 31 years. I’ve only been a fan since 2017; although, I actually saw them for the first time in concert as an opening artist in 2015. I saw them as headliners for 3 years in a row in 2019, 2020, and 2021. It was the last LIVE event I saw in March 2020 a few days before the COVID pandemic shut down the world. It was the 2ND LIVE event I saw in October 2021 post-pandemic. A MercyMe concert is always a fun time for all ages – from kids to adults. It’s always great to attend a concert that’s filled with families – all singing along in unison – with a little bit of swaying and even some “happy dancing” mixed in.

It cost $30 to park in the arena parking lot (cashless). For a 4½-hour event (arriving an hour before the start of the concert) – that’s less than $7 per hour. Considering that there are some other arenas in Florida charging as much as $75 to park – I’d consider $30 to be a bargain. (You can also park at the adjacent shopping center for free, and walk over to the arena.)

Departing an arena parking lot post-event can be aggravating, but that’s usually not the case with Hertz Arena. Traffic generally flows reasonably well out the parking lot and onto the main highway (Ben Hill Griffin Parkway) thanks to strategically positioned orange cones and police officers directing traffic. We had a sold-out show, so a few thousand vehicles all leaving at roughly the same time was no problem at all. It was much tougher getting out of the South Florida State College parking lot following the Three Dog Night concert on the previous weekend.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about my drive to and from the Hertz Arena through Lehigh Acres. Let’s keep traveling together.

All rights reserved (c) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp

Categories
Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 425

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 almost 50 years. Here’s this week’s chart – for the week ending Sunday April 06TH 2025 – the 425TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW LW WKS SONG TITLE ARTIST / SITE
1 1 10 Money Can’t Buy
[2ND week @ # 1]		 Cochren & Co.
2 2 12 Let It Begin Big Daddy Weave
3 4 6 A Lil Church (Nobody’s Too Lost) TobyMac
4 3 5 My Promised Land Josiah Queen
5 5 4 Whisper And The Wind Bodie
6 8 2 Unashamed Matthew West
7 7 2 Oh Death MercyMe
8 9 3 You Never Gave Up On Me The Afters
9 – 1 You Way’s Better Forrest Frank
10 – 1 Jesus Loves Zach Williams

# 1 This Week In:
2024 – “He Does” – Brandon Heath
2023 – “The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours)” – Matt Maher
2022 – “Brighter Days” – Blessing Offor
2021 – “Say I Won’t” – MercyMe
2020 – “Almost Home” – MercyMe
2019 – “Confidence” – Sanctus Real
2018 – “Freedom Hymn” – Austin French
2017 – “I Have This Hope” – Tenth Avenue North

ZACH WILLIAMS – This #TravelThursday I’ll post my review of the MercyMe, Zach Williams, and Sam Wesley concert over in Estero Florida. Zach Williams was awesome. He performed 9 songs – including his new radio hit “Jesus Loves”. He stated that it was one of his favorite songs to date, and I agree with him. It is now his 10TH hit on my chart over the past 8 years. It’s his follow-up to “Cornerstone” – his 2023 duet with TobyMac – which was his 3RD # 1 smash.

SPOTIFY – You can hear “My Top 10 Hits” anytime by accessing my CountUp playlist on Spotify. All 10 hits are there from top to bottom. You can hear them in order from # 1 to # 10, or you can shuffle them. My playlist will be updated every weekend (usually before the actual chart is presented here on Mondays). You can link to it here.

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. God used loud music on the radio in South Florida to reach me in August of 2006. I’ve been testifying about Him ever since.

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) 2025 Christopher M. Day, CountUp