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Christmas and Candy Canes!

Thanks for hanging out with me today for the Afternoon Drive!
Today on the show, I gave a little recap of my Christmas day which involved lots of music and lots of good food! I also talked about today’s fun holiday… Candy Cane Day! I gave some history and fun facts about this traditional Christmas treat! Did you know that candy canes have a religious symbolism to them? Keep reading to find out more! We also talked about a few ways to fight through the post-Christmas depression.

Of course, it’s not the Afternoon Drive without some giveaways, right?
Today we gave away a $5 gift certificate to Troyer’s of Apple Valley playing some Christmas trivia!
We played Family Feud style, of course. Looking for the number one answer…
Our Question? Name a popular Christmas food.
Our number 1 answer? Cookies with 18 votes!
2. Ham – 16
3. Fudge – 11
4. Eggnog – 8
5. Hot Chocolate – 6

Congratulations to Doug from Mt. Vernon! He guessed correctly!

Thanks to our friends at Days of the Year for the history of the candy cane!
The original candy cane was made 350 years ago. Over time the candy cane has become a symbol and tradition during the Christmas holiday, used as a decoration for Christmas trees. The first candy cane was not made in the shape of a cane. It was white, completely straight and only flavored with sugar. According to German folklore, the first candy canes were made in the 17th century when a choirmaster in Germany needed to find a way to keep the children quiet during the exceptionally long Christmas Eve Mass.

So he ordered peppermint-flavored candy sticks from a local confectioner, but with a few twists of his own, steeping them in religious symbolism. He requested the sticks to be shaped as a visual representation of the canes that the shepherds coming to visit the baby Jesus might have had. Some also say that when turned upside-down, the candy cane becomes the letter J, which stands for Jesus. Of course, the sticks were colored white (to represent the sinless, pure life Jesus lived) and red (to represent the blood Jesus lost when he was crucified for the sins of mankind).

Here’s some fast facts about this Christmas treat!
Each year about 1.76 billion candy canes are made
90% of candy canes are sold between Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Candy canes are the number one selling non-chocolate candy in the month of December.
The biggest single week for candy cane sales is the second week in December.
A Geneva pastry chef broke his third Guinness World Record by creating the world’s longest candy cane in 2012, measuring at 51 feet long. The previous record was 38 feet.

Christmas can be hard time for some, and we need to acknowledge that “Post-Christmas Depression” takes effect on many. There are a few ways to manage the post-Christmas depression you may be feeling, and number one is to take care of yourself.
From Halloween to New Year’s, Americans tend to redefine the basic food groups to sugar, fats, and sugar. “Enough” is redefined as “stuffed.” Get back to a healthy diet with reasonable portions. Add a walk at least once a day and a more regular bedtime. Regular routines of self-care may have disappeared over the past month but you can reclaim them.

Take a meditative few minutes a couple times a day. Focus on what did go right over the holidays. It’s an old-fashioned idea but “counting your blessings” is an antidote to the blues. Kids home for the week? Get down on the floor and enjoy kid time. Play with the blocks and Legos. Help the kids make a fort or tent with the couch cushions. Read together. Play video games, watch a movie, play some music together. Honestly just be grateful for the time you get to spend with them.

Call a friend. Steer the conversations away from a festival of complaints and commiseration to a lively conversation of what has been going well and what you can laugh about. Sharing humor is a great way to lift the spirits.

Make a pact with yourself to do something small but positive for yourself at least five times a day. Stay in that hot shower a few extra minutes. Get nicely dressed and comb your hair. Make the bed up clean. Straighten up your kitchen. Make yourself a cup of tea and let yourself have 10 minutes to savor it. It’s letting yourself follow the Parks and Recreation “Treat Yourself” rule.

Arrange things to look forward to. This is something that I do even away from the holidays. The holidays aren’t the end of the world, they are only the end of the holidays. Try and shift the focus from the holidays to everyday things that give us pleasure. Make a coffee date with a friend or a movie date with your spouse. Set things, even small things, on the horizon to look forward to in small increments to get yourself through, week by week. Step by step.

Thanks for listening!
– Lilly

December 26, 2018 0

The Reconciliation of Christmas

On this Christmas Eve, we finish our three-day study from Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren where he offers us three major purposes for Christmas. We discover those purposes in the announcement the angel made in Luke 2:10-14 at the birth of Jesus Christ.

The first purpose of Christmas is celebration: “I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people.” (Thursday 12/20 show)

The second purpose of Christmas is salvation: “for unto you is born this day a savior who is Christ the Lord.” (Friday 12/21 show)

The third purpose of Christmas is found in Luke 2:14: “glory to God in the highest and on Earth, peace; goodwill toward men. So the third purpose of Christmas is reconciliation.

What is reconciliation?

Reconciliation is when a broken relationship is restored; reconciliation IS peace on Earth, goodwill toward men. As Pastor Warren shares, “there will never be peace in the world until there is peace in nations. There will never be peace in nations until there is peace in communities. There will never be peace in communities until there is peace in families. There will never be peace in families until there is peace in individuals. And there will never be peace in individuals until we invite the Prince of Peace to reign in our hearts.”

Jesus is the Prince of Peace. Isaiah 9:6 reminds us of this fact: “for unto us a child is born, to us a son is given and he will be called Prince of Peace.”

There are three kinds of Peace – A peace with God is a spiritual peace; the peace of God is emotional peace; and peace with others is relational peace.

Peace with God: If you’re trying to live your life without God, then you’re at war with God…and you need a peace treaty! How do you make peace with God? Well, you don’t do it by promising to be good. You don’t do it by being perfect. You can’t. You don’t do it by never sinning. You will. You make peace, the Bible says, by faith, faith in God’s grace. Ephesians 2:8 says “for by Grace you have been saved through faith and this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God.”

The Peace of God: it happens in your heart when you’ve made peace with God. You’ve got two choices in life. In every circumstance you can pray or panic. You can worship or worry.

Here’s a thought: if you (we) prayed as much as you (we) worried, you’d (we’d) have a whole lot less to worry about. Philippians 4: 6-7 says, “pray about everything…Tell God what you need and thank him for all he has done. If you do this, you will experience God’s peace, which is far more wonderful than the human mind can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.”

Finally, Peace with Others: a relational peace. 2nd Corinthians 5:18-20 says, “God reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation… and he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors.”

In other words, God has given us both a ministry and a message and it is reconciliation – helping people find peace with God and peace with each other.

In the beatitudes in Matthew 5:9, Jesus says “blessed are the peacemakers for they shall be called the children of God.” The greatest need in our nation and in our world is reconciliation. It’s the message of Christmas: peace on Earth, goodwill toward men.

Who do you need to rebuild a broken relationship with this Christmas? Who do you need to reconcile with? You need to let Jesus fill you with his love, so you can love other people the way he does. And then, you’ll have to let him fill you with his forgiveness. Until you feel truly forgiven, you don’t have the ability to forgive others.

Remember, Jesus came to erase the misconceptions about God – he was sent to show us what God is really like! Christmas tells us that we matter to God.

We are thankful for you! A blessed Christmas to you and your family.
– Joe and the Afternoon Drive team (Lilly, Hannah, Todd and Malisa)

December 24, 2018 0

The salvation of Christmas!

We’ve been sharing this week from Pastor Rick Warren’s book and study, The Purpose of Christmas, which offers us three major purposes for Christmas:

A time for celebration
A time for salvation
A time for reconciliation

The second purpose of Christmas can be found in the very next statement the angel made in Luke 2:10-11. Luke 2:10 reminds us to celebrate, but then…

¹¹The Savior—yes, the Messiah, the Lord—has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!

The second purpose of Christmas is salvation.

Surveys confirm that around 90% of our society prays on a regular basis…so people recognize their need for someone greater than themselves and ultimately to save them from something they can’t solve on their own.

Salvation is usually three-dimensional. You are saved from something, you are saved for something, and you are saved by something.

Jesus came to save you FROM sin. Sin is an attitude; it is a pride problem.

Sin is saying, “ I want to be my own boss. I don’t need God.”

Romans 3:23 reminds us that everyone has sinned and fallen short of God’s glorious standard. The problem with sin is that it separates us from God. Isaiah 59:2 reminds us that our sins are the “roadblock” between us and our God; that’s why he doesn’t answer our prayers.

Jesus came to set you free from your sin. But there’s something else you need to be set free from. You need to be set free FROM yourself. Romans 7:24-25 says “I’ve tried everything and nothing helps. I’m at the end of my rope. Is there no one who can do anything for me?” The answer, thank God is, that Jesus Christ can and does.

The answer to your problem is not in a place, a program or a pill. It’s not jumping into another relationship. The answer to your sin problem and to your dissatisfaction in life is Jesus Christ. You need a savior.

Jesus also came to save you FOR a purpose. 2 Timothy 1:9 reminds us that, “God saved us and called us to be his own people; not because of what we have done, but because of his own purpose and Grace.”

It’s in Christ that we find out who we are and what we are living for. Ephesians 1 reminds us that long before we first heard of Christ and got our hopes up “he had his eye on us; had designs on us for glorious living…part of the overall purpose he is working out and everything and everyone” (Message version). God has a plan and a purpose for your life. He’s had it all along! As your creator, he knows what’s best for you.

Pastor Rick says we can live life at one of three levels: the survival level, the success level, or the significance level. Hopefully we know that we were made for significance. Significance comes from what? Knowing God, knowing his purpose for your life, and then doing it. You were made by God and for God and until you understand that, life is never going to make sense.

Finally, Jesus came to save you by his grace. What is Grace? Grace is when God gives you what you need and not what you deserve. One good acronym for Grace is God’s Riches At Christ’s Expense.

Ephesians 2:8-9 remind us that by Grace we have been saved; through faith and not from ourselves…it is the gift of God, not by works so that no one can boast.”

The good news is this – Jesus Christ came to save you. He came to save you from your hurts, your habits and your hang-ups. He came to save you for his purpose and by his grace.

Congratulations to our Christmas Gift Exchange winners Tim from Gambier and Mary from Mt. Vernon!

Thanks for listening!
– Joe and Lilly

December 21, 2018 0

Praise Thursday – a time for Celebration!

This study today we’re sharing from Saddleback Church Pastor Rick Warren offers us three major purposes for Christmas:

A time for celebration
A time for salvation
A time for reconciliation

Today we’ll focus on Christmas being a time for CELEBRATION…

Remember that Christmas was God’s idea…he planned that it would happen, he planned when and where it would happen…and WHY it would happen.

We celebrate the message of good news. The good tidings of great joy. What are they? There are three parts to it:

1 – The good news that God LOVES us

God is telling us through the arrival of Jesus that He loves us…and that His love is not based on what we do, but who he is.

Romans 8:38-39

³⁸And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons,^[b] neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. ³⁹No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.

2 – The good news that God is WITH us

God isn’t absent or distant – he’s with us through the Holy Spirit. We may not feel His presence, but He’s here whether we feel it or not.

Psalm 139: 7-10

⁷Where can I go from your Spirit?
Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰even there your hand will guide me,
your right hand will hold me fast.

Hebrews 13:5

⁵Don’t love money; be satisfied with what you have. For God has said,

“I will never fail you.
I will never abandon you.”^[^a^]

God doesn’t like loneliness. You don’t have to face anything by yourself. You can, but you don’t have to! You don’t have to be anxious about tomorrow, because Christ’s presence gives us hope.

3 – The good news that God is FOR us

Guilt is what separates us from God. But the Bible reminds us that God didn’t come to condemn the world, but to save it.

John 3:17

¹⁷God sent his Son into the world not to judge the world, but to save the world through him.

Romans 8:31

If God is for us, who can be against us?

If we are followers of Christ, it is not our role to condemn the world either! If we want to be more like Jesus, we’re here to point people to Him. Reach out a hand of compassion and show them who Jesus is.

He came to save us, not to scare us – that was how the angel greeted the shepherds. There are 365 ‘fear not’s’ in the Bible – one for every day of the year.

Christmas is also a time for SALVATION and Christmas is a time for RECONCILIATION

Jesus came to erase the misconceptions about God – he was sent to show us what God is really like! Christmas tells us that we matter to God.

Thanks for listening!
– Joe and Lilly

December 20, 2018 0

Who Knew Wednesday!

Today on Who Knew Wednesday Joe and I shared a bunch of information about the advent season!

We shared some information from Rob L. Staples who is a professor of theology emeritus at Nazarene Theological Seminary.

Advent is preparation for Christmas, not Christmas itself. It is only in commercial advertising that the Christmas season begins the first of December (or the first of October!). In the Christian calendar, Advent is the season including the four Sundays preceding Christmas. Christmas Day is December 25, and the Christmas Season itself is the 12 days from Christmas to Epiphany. Remember the song, “The Twelve Days of Christmas,” with “a partridge in a pear tree?”

Epiphany, which celebrates the coming of the Magi, the first Gentiles to acknowledge Jesus as King, is January 6. Epiphany means “showing” or “unveiling” and thus “unveils” the truth that salvation was for Gentiles as well as Jews.

Advent differs from Christmas in the same way Lent differs from Easter. Both Advent and Lent are times of preparation—Advent for Christmas and Lent for Easter.

The Christian calendar, unlike the calendar on our walls or desks, does not begin January 1. It begins the first Sunday of Advent. Advent is that season when the Church turns its gaze in two directions—past and future. It looks backward as it prepares to celebrate the birth of Christ in Bethlehem, and it looks forward as it engages in self-examination in preparation for Christ’s Second Coming in glory.

The word “advent” comes from the Latin adventus, which means “coming” or “arrival.” Thus in certain contexts, it means the same as the Greek parousia. However, the latter term occurs in the New Testament only with reference to the Second Coming. During the Advent season, both these “comings” of Christ are embraced in the Church’s worship—His coming in the Incarnation and His coming at the end of the age.

Advent emphasizes hope, and it is this hope that makes Advent a proper preparation for Christmas.

Christian prayer during Advent might be summed up in the word “Come.” It is the “Come, Lord Jesus” with which the Book of Revelation ends. Some of the Advent hymns blend the joy of the Good News of Christ’s nativity with the expectation of the Second Coming. The hymn, “O Come, O Come, Emmanuel,” expresses the Advent hope, as does Charles Wesley’s hymn, “Come, Thou Long-expected Jesus.” Although Christ has been present in the world all along, we pray for His presence to take on a special intensity during Advent (Matthew 28:20).

God’s advent among us is so profound that we can never fully grasp the mystery of incarnate deity. So we must continue to remember and experience anew, year after year, the reality of light in the midst of the world’s darkness. At Advent, we experience the fear and joy and hope that Christian worship expresses in the story of God’s coming to judge the world in the form of a helpless Child lying in a manager who was to give His life to save His people from their sins.

This sheds light on our Christmas celebrations. Christmas is far richer and deeper than a mere sentimental remembrance of the birth of Jesus. Of course, we should value the

tenderness of the image of the “sweet little Jesus boy, born in a manger,” but Christmas means much more.

“Joy to the World, the Lord is Come!” is a reminder that the One who came to Bethlehem is indeed our Redeemer—the One into whose dying and rising we are baptized (Rom. 6:4), just as He was baptized in the Jordan and into our human condition.

As we move toward Christmas, let us not skip Advent!

What we see as we worship may be almost as important as what we hear. Some churches use an Advent wreath as an aid to worship during the Advent season. It is a circular evergreen wreath with five candles, four around the edge of the wreath and one in the center.

Usually, three candles are purple (the color of Advent), and one pink or rose-colored. The three purple candles may represent hope, peace, and love. The pink or rose candle stands for joy at the soon advent of the Savior.

On each Sunday of Advent, one new candle is lighted, accompanied by appropriate Scripture reading. In the center is a white candle, called the Christ Candle, which is lighted on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, or if there are no services on those days it may be lighted on the fourth Sunday of Advent, along with the pink candle.

We also played the Christmas Gift Exchange! Congratulations to Becky from Mount Vernon who got to play and pick something from under our tree and was registered to win our grand prize! Click HERE if you want more information.

Here is our Troyer’s Trivia question:

Can you name two out of the top five of the worst gifts from the 12 days of Christmas?

Answers:

Maids a milking – 19
Lords a Leaping – 18
Geese a Laying – 14
Drummers Drumming – 11
Partridge in a Pear Tree – 11
Calling Birds – 7
Pipers Piping – 6
Turtle Doves – 6
French Hens – 5
Swans a Swimming – 3

Congratulations to Dallas from Utica who guessed Maids a milking and Geese a Laying and those answers won him that $5 gift card to Troyer’s of Apple Valley!

Thanks for checking out our blog!

– Hannah and Joe

December 19, 2018 0

Games, News and Christmas Cheer with Todd!

I held down the fort today and got to share some exciting Artist News featuring one of my FAVORITE BANDS!

I am very pleased to announce that SwitchFoot will be releasing a new album on January 18th! To Harold its release, they just released an instant-grat track “All I Need” and you can read more about it here. https://www.newreleasetoday.com/albumdetail.php?album_id=20606

As if that wasn’t exciting enough Michal W. Smith Fans will be happy to hear about this crazy huge event coming up to celebrate his 35 year career! https://www.jesusfreakhideout.com/news/2018/12/12.MichaelWSmithAnnouncesSpecial35thAnniversaryFriendsConcertFeat35Artists.asp

Of course it woudn’t be Tuesday with out some games! Our winner for Song poetry was Brenda from Mt. Vernon! The song was Tobymac’s “Christmas this year’

Jane from Howard was our winner for the WNZR Christmas Gift Exchange!

December 18, 2018 0

Mystery Monday!

Today Todd and I gave you some chances to win with our Mystery Monday Question and a Christmas Gift Exchange!

Here is today’s Mystery Question:

Can you name two out of the top five most popular Christmas songs?

Jingle Bells – 45
White Christmas – 16
Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – 8
O Holy Night – 7
Silver Bells – 6
We Wish You a Merry Christmas – 5
Silent Night – 4
Jingle Bell Rock – 3
Joy to the world – 1
All I Want for Christmas is You – 1

Congratulations to Jana from Utica who guessed Jingle Bells and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and won that $5 gift card to Troyer’s of Apple Valley!

Here are the fun facts that we shared about these Christmas songs:

“White Christmas” is the top-selling Christmas song of all time. The song was written by Irving Berlin, a Russian Jewish immigrant who also wrote “God Bless America.”
The song “Jingle Bells” was written in the 1850s for a Unitarian church by James Lord Pierpont, but it wasn’t written for Christmas. It was originally written for Thanksgiving and called “One Horse Open Sleigh”.
“Silent Night” is one of the most recognizable songs at Christmas Mass and on a radio playing non-stop holiday music. (While most people recognize the lyrics “Silent Night, Holy Night, all is calm, all is bright,” the original lyrics are “Stille Nacht, Heilige Nacht, alles schlaft, einsam wacht.”) The song was originally written in German in 1816 by Father Joseph Mohr, a Catholic priest in Austria. Two years later, it was set to music by Franz Gruber. It was translated into English by John Freeman Young of Manhattan’s Trinity Church.
Silver Bells, written in 1950 by Jay Livingston and Ray Evans. The original title? “Tinkle Bells.” The title was changed when Livingston’s wife told him about the double meaning of tinkle.

We also played the WNZR Christmas Gift Exchange! Congratulations and thanks to Karen from Mount Vernon who played the WNZR Christmas Gift Exchange with us and won a gift from under our tree! If you want more information, click HERE.

Thanks for checking out our blog!

– Hannah and Todd

December 17, 2018 0

12 Days of Christmas!

Today Joe and I had the honor of talking with our very own, Trevor Moore and Rachel Rinehart who were out ringing bells for the Salvation Army Red Kettle Campain at Rural King in Mount Vernon! To know more about the Red Kettle Campain and our goal for today, Click HERE!

Here are some of the Big Blue Crew on the job:

Todd

Rachel

We also played the WNZR Christmas Gift Exchange! Congratulations to David who got to pick something from under the WNZR tree! To find out more about The WNZR Christmas Gift Exchange, click HERE.

We gave you a special chance to win a $5 gift card to Troyer’s of Apple Valley with a Christmas trivia question!

Here is the question: Can you name 2 out of the top 5 best (or most popular) Christmas movie, based on this poll?

Answers: First is Elf with 16 votes, second is It’s a Wonderful Life with 15 votes, third is A Christmas Story with 14 votes, fourth is Home Alone/ Home Alone 2 with 11 votes, and tied for fifth place is White Christmas and Christmas Vacation both with 10 votes, so both would count.

Congratulation to Karolyn from Mount Vernon who guessed Home Alone and White Christmas as the best or most popular Christmas movies!

-Hannah and Joe

December 15, 2018 0

Praise Thursday: Week 3

Today Joe and I dove back into our devotional, Fearless: overcoming the stronghold of fear. Fear is something almost all of us will battle during our lifetime, trying to paralyze you from truly living life. This devotional will lead you through five choices that will strengthen you and help you be victorious over fear.

Today’s choice is: Choose love over hate

Psychologists say that the base of all emotions is either love or fear. The brain also dictates that it cannot hold two contradictory thoughts simultaneously and that the most robust thought pattern wins. In your battle against fear, one of the greatest weapons at your disposal is love. You are loved—more than you know. Once you realize how very loved you are, you can garner the strength to fight this spirit of fear. God gives us a spirit of love and not one of fear.

Learn to live—loved. A loving heart is a loved heart. You cannot say you love others yet hate yourself—or them. Fear would have you traverse the complex road of unforgiveness and hate. These two concepts bind you further in chains. A forgiving heart is a forgiven heart and in that, there is no place for hate. Fear will lie to you and keep you captive, whereas love guides you into freedom. Love is the way of the kingdom of God.

My daughter and I prayed, shortly after the armed robbery, to forgive the men who attacked us, and we had to do it numerous times. God’s love quiets our anxious or fearful hearts. His love enables us to forgive and bless. It’s not easy, but that is the narrow road of the Kingdom of God.

When fear knocks at your door with its accomplices, unforgiveness, and hate, then respond in the opposite spirit and let love lead.

How can you embrace the love of God so that you can be set free from the chains of fear?

The verses we reflected on today:

Luke 10:27 – “He answered, “‘Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind’^[a]; and, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.”
1 John 4:18 – ” There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love.”
Zephaniah 3:17 – ” The Lord your God is with you, the Mighty Warrior who saves. He will take great delight in you; in his love, he will no longer rebuke you, but will rejoice over you with singing.”

Our prayer:

“Lord, help me remember that you give me a spirit of love and not one of fear and that when I understand just the smallest bit how much you love me, I have the greatest weapon against fear. Fear doesn’t have a chance against Your great love, and we praise you for that. Help me to not get caught in the chains of this world, in the chains of unforgiveness and hate. Nudge my heart when I head down the road of unforgiveness and hate and remind me that a forgiving heart is a forgiven heart; and in that, there is no place for hate. Give me the courage to lay my fears and hurts at your feet and to forgive as you have forgiven me. Amen”

You will never guess what game we played 😉 The WNZR Christmas Gift exchange! Congratulations to Charla for Utica and Casey from Apply Valley who were caller number nines! If you want to know more about this, click HERE.

Thank you for checking out our blog!