Tag: Music

Homestead Florida

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date May 1, 2025

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. And a good May Day to you. It’s Labor Day (or Workers’ Day) in many countries, and European countries celebrate May Day as the unofficial start of Summer.

This post is a continuation of my #TravelThursday post from last week.

Following The 13TH Army Band of the Florida National Guard concert at The Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center in Cutler Bay – I proceeded back towards Homestead. It took me 45 minutes to drive about 16 miles to my motel in Florida City. Not a surprise. Just like everywhere else in Miami-Dade County and South Florida – the south end of the County is crowded, and traffic is congested.

I ate Breakfast at Denny’s right in front of my motel. The food was good. The service was bad in almost every way imaginable. I guess it’s better than having bad food but good service.

I went to my old condo of 30 years. I packed-up most of my old military uniforms from the early-1990s. (I left them behind all this time since I won’t be needing them ever again.) I met my Realtor, and we walked and talked about my condo. (It would go on the market exactly a week later. For an even $200,000 – you can buy my old condo. It’s way below market value.)

The nostalgia continues. I went to my first church – now at its 4TH location in 20 years. They are at a very nice place now, so hopefully they continue to be blessed there. I was actually there on business – to sign some paperwork (as a former Trustee). The current Lead Pastor actually took the position almost two years after I left that church in March 2015. He gave me a tour of their very large sanctuary. It was beautiful. It was the first time I had seen it. The last time I was there – for a celebration-of-life service in 2023 – they were starting construction / expansion of it.

After my visit there it was time to head back home to Sebring. It was my 36TH trip from Homestead to Sebring since I bought my dream home in my dream neighborhood during Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2023. My 36TH trip back to Homestead will likely be “Closing Day” for whoever buys my condo. It’ll mark the end of an era for me in Homestead that began nearly 38 years ago.

Next #TravelThursday – I’ll write about my visit to the Dallas Texas area. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Alva, Christian, Concert, Estero, Florida, LaBelle, Lehigh Acres, MercyMe, Music, Sam Wesley, Zach Williams

Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 428

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date April 28, 2025

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 27TH 2025 – the 428TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW	LW	WKS	SONG TITLE	ARTIST / SITE
1	1	9	A Lil Church (Nobody’s Too Lost) [2ND week @ # 1]	TobyMac
2	3	5	Unashamed	Matthew West
3	2	13	Money Can’t Buy	Cochren & Co.
4	5	6	You Never Gave Up On Me	The Afters
5	4	5	Oh Death	MercyMe
6	8	7	Whisper And The Wind	Bodie
7	7	4	Jesus Loves	Zach Williams
8	6	15	Let It Begin	Big Daddy Weave
9	9	4	You Way’s Better	Forrest Frank
10	10	2	No Fear	Jon Reddick

# 1 This Week In:
2024 – “He Does” – Brandon Heath
2023 – “The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours)” – Matt Maher
2022 – “See Me Through It” – Brandon Heath
2021 – “Fires” – Jordan St. Cyr
2020 – “Almost Home” – MercyMe
2019 – “Alive” – Big Daddy Weave
2018 – “Freedom Hymn” – Austin French
2017 – “Even If” – MercyMe

FORREST FRANK – “Good Day” spent 2 weeks at # 2, and “Never Get Used To This” spent 2 weeks at # 1. His 3RD hit is slowly building momentum on the radio. “Your Way’s Better” has a good melodic feel for the summertime, as lyrically – Forrest proclaims that our Lord’s Way’s better than anything the world has to offer.

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.

Tags Blog, Chart, Christian, God, Jesus, KLOVE, Music, Radio, Spotify, TheJoyFM, WayFM, WGTS, Z883

Blogging Christian Church Commerce Driving Food Geography God Military Ministry Music Shopping Travel

Cutler Bay Florida

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date April 24, 2025

Welcome back to #TravelThursday. A couple of Sunday mornings ago (early on Palm Sunday) I drove 3½ hours southward from Sebring to Homestead Florida. It took a little bit longer than normal for the trek on that particular Sunday morning due to a bicycling event that I wasn’t expecting until I reached Florida State Road 997 (Krome Avenue) in Miami-Dade County.

And actually when I went to plot my trek on Google Maps a few minutes prior to leaving home – it warned me that my route was partially closed – the northernmost 18 miles of Krome Avenue from U.S. 27 southward. I figured that it was due to wildfires adjacent to the road, as that’s sometimes a problem at this time of the year (the end of dry season). It was actually due to the annual GFNY (Gran Fondo New York) Miami endurance competition – a 35-mile loop for bicyclists (70 miles if you do it twice). The left-hand lane of both directions of Krome Avenue was orange coned off and reserved for the bicyclists, as regular vehicular traffic continued in the right-hand lane.

That was pretty unique to be driving alongside an active bicycle event. We rarely reached the speed limit of 55 MPH, and actually traffic slowed down quite a bit as we drove by bicyclists.

I arrived at my Sunday morning destination – my longtime home church from 2015 to 2024. I got to see my Homestead Pastor preach LIVE for the first time since December. (I previously filled-in for him for a couple of Sundays in January and February.)

From downtown Homestead I drove around the outside of the airbase for the first time since I retired almost 14 months ago. There has been rapid development adjacent to the main entry of the airbase since I was last there. A MASSIVE Miami Dade County Transit Operations Center for electric buses is currently under construction on 20 acres of land that was previously undeveloped for 30+ years ever since Hurricane Andrew destroyed what used to be the base housing area of the original airbase.

I proceeded northward and eastward over to Cutler Bay Florida – picking-up a longtime friend along the way. We went to Applebee’s for lunch. I was not impressed with my meal – or the service. Both were slightly below average. I remember Applebee’s being a bit better than that; although, it had been almost 3 years since we last ate there.

From Applebee’s we drove around the Southland Mall – which was unbelievably packed (at least on one side of the mall – facing U.S. 1). That was my neighborhood mall (sort of) during my 36 years of living down the road in Homestead. Southland Mall redevelopment has begun, and the former Sears building of 48 years (1972-2020) is no longer there. About 5,000 residential apartments (via high-rises) will be built to create a new live, work, and play community experience, and the legacy mall itself will be supplemented with new “town center” stores individually accessible directly from the exterior.

Finally – we made it to The Dennis C. Moss Cultural Arts Center (across the street from the mall) to attend a concert – The 13TH Army Band of the Florida National Guard. Tickets were free, but they had to be reserved in advance. The Army band was large, and they mostly performed patriotic and military songs. This was the 2ND such concert that I’ve seen at this nice modern entertainment venue since it opened in 2011.

Next #TravelThursday – My Miami-Dade County Florida adventure continues with more nostalgia on the Monday after – including a visit to the first church that I called home for 8 years. Let’s keep traveling together.

Tags Alva, Christian, Concert, Estero, Florida, LaBelle, Lehigh Acres, MercyMe, Music, Sam Wesley, Zach Williams

Blogging Christian God Ministry Music Radio

My Top 10 Hits – Week 427

Post author By Chris M. Day
Post date April 21, 2025

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 20TH 2025 – the 427TH week of this current era that began on Presidents’ Day Weekend of 2017:

TW	LW	WKS	SONG TITLE	ARTIST / SITE
1	2	8	A Lil Church (Nobody’s Too Lost) [1ST week @ # 1]	TobyMac
2	1	12	Money Can’t Buy	Cochren & Co.
3	4	4	Unashamed	Matthew West
4	5	4	Oh Death	MercyMe
5	6	5	You Never Gave Up On Me	The Afters
6	3	14	Let It Begin	Big Daddy Weave
7	10	3	Jesus Loves	Zach Williams
8	8	6	Whisper And The Wind	Bodie
9	9	3	You Way’s Better	Forrest Frank
10	–	1	No Fear	Jon Reddick

# 1 This Week In:
2024 – “He Does” – Brandon Heath
2023 – “The Lord’s Prayer (It’s Yours)” – Matt Maher
2022 – “See Me Through It” – Brandon Heath
2021 – “Good God Almighty” – Crowder
2020 – “Almost Home” – MercyMe
2019 – “Greatness Of Our God” – Newsboys
2018 – “Freedom Hymn” – Austin French
2017 – “Even If” – MercyMe

TOBYMAC – The man who’s been on my chart in the 1990s (as part of dc Talk), 2000s, 2010s, and 2020s – scores another # 1 smash this week, as “A Lil Church” ascends to the top as my favorite song of the week. Not including any releases before 2017 – it’s his 15TH hit (more than any other artist) and 5TH # 1 smash (tied for 2ND place with MercyMe). It was released as a single last December, and it began making an impact at U.S. Christian Radio in February. He sings about needing church right now – and it’s not about the four walls, the steeple up on top, them hard pews, or that torn-up parkin’ lot. It’s about the hands and feet of a God who came to love. You and I – we are the church.

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.