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Worship At The Charlie Kirk Memorial!

Let’s get into this week’s artist news!

This past weekend, we saw some familiar artist faces from WNZR worshipping onstage during the Charlie Kirk Memorial service. We got to see Brandon Lake, Phil Wickham, Chris Tomlin, Cody Carnes, and Kari Jobe Carnes onstage together, worshipping God with over 90,000 people in attendance, and hundreds of thousands online.

While onstage, Brandon Lake paused in the middle of worship to just take a moment to recognize the thick, real presence of God that was filling the stadium. Hundreds were giving their lives to Christ this past Sunday. We got to see truth come in full swing as God takes everything the enemy meant for evil, and turned it for good!

Listen and watch what Brandon Lake declares during worship at the Charlie Kirk Memorial!

We’re so excited to see Big Daddy Weave coming to Duncan Falls, Ohio this fall! They’re bringing their friends Megan Woods and David Leonard along with them.

These artists know how to worship and put on a spectacular performance, so if you want to see some of your favorite Big Daddy Weave songs live, ticket information is available by clicking HERE!

You can find a list of concerts on our concert page, by going to wnzr.fm!

One of your favorite worship music artists, Chris Tomlin is coming out with a brand new album this Friday, which is titled “The King Is Still The King”.

This album is featuring Tomlin’s new one on WNZR, called “How Good It Is”.

Alongside this release, he’s going on a tour of worship evenings, and he’s stopping in Cincinnati this Friday! You can find ticket information for this concert HERE!

Today, we took some lyrics from a song we listened to this afternoon and turned it into a poem for Song Poetry! Here were this week’s lyrics:

I pray into the atmosphere
Spirit of God, You’re here
You have all authority
I pray over my heart and mind
I am healed by Your stripes
Your blood declares that I am free

Today’s Song Poetry lyrics came from Hope Darst’s song Mighty Name Of Jesus!

Congratulations to Kandee from Mount Vernon for calling in and correctly guessing the song title and artist, taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in on Wednesday for a whole lot of fun facts and more prayer at 5:25 to celebrate Global Prayer Week!

Thank you so much for listening!
– Ethan Hershberger

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Have a Spirit Filled Life!!

We love getting to start our week off with some Monday Motivation for you! We took a look at some encouraging and uplifting songs during The Afternoon Drive! Here’s what we talked about:

Ben Fuller’s “Who I am” speaks to me because it’s about finding your identity in Christ. We all make mistakes, some mistakes are deeper than others, but it’s important to know God can transform your life. The meaning is centered on the Christian belief that God created us, and through faith in Jesus, we can shed past shame and embrace our worth as “a child of the Most High God”.

Here is your Verse of The Week on WNZR!

Mark 9:23 (NIV): ” ‘If you can?’ said Jesus. ‘Everything is possible for one who believes.'”

We’re doing another fun giveaway and all this week during the morning thing and Afternoon Drive! Be Caller #3 when you hear the Mark Schultz Music Montage, and you will WIN! Don’t miss your chance to win two tickets for “an evening with Mark Schultz”! Congratulations to Karen of Mount Vernon for being caller #3 and winning tickets for “an evening with Mark Schultz”!

For our Mystery Monday, we had another game of Family Feud!

Our Family Feud question today was “name something you have to squeeze into”

Unfortunately we had a stumper, but come back next week and win Two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica!

Tune in tomorrow for Artist News Day and Game Time Tuesday!

Thank you so much for listening!

– Gabriella Stanley 🙂

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The NZ Top 10 for 9/19/2025

Here’s your top 10 countdown for this week!

10. Hope Darst – Mighty Name Of Jesus
9. Crowder – STILL
8. Tauren Wells – Let The Church Sing
7. MercyMe – Oh Death (former #1)
6. Zach Williams – Jesus Loves
5. Forrest Frank – Your Way’s Better
4. Josiah Queen f/Brandon Lake – Can’t Steal My Joy
3. Emerson Day – Get Behind Me
2. Elevation Worship f/Brandon Lake – I Know A Name (4th week at #2)
1. Phil Wickham – What An Awesome God (7th week at #1)

New Music This Week:

Megan Woods – I Believe You

Katy Nichole – Have Your Way

We are so excited for Sonfest 2025, headlined by ELEVATION RHYTHM, on Saturday, September 20th! We got to listen to Ethan Hershberger talk with with one of the members from ELEVATION RHYTHM, Davide Mutendji! You can listen on our SoundCloud here:

These are Joe’s flowers that have been blooming in the past few weeks.

Joe talked today about how crazy these past few weeks have been, but despite those circumstances, God continues to grow flowers in the ashes and the valley. He is always holding a watering can!

Thank you so much for listening!
– Joe and Ethan

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Take Your Weakness to the Lord!!

Today on Praise Thursday, we gave wonderful devotions, had fun contests, and shared upcoming events at WNZR! Go to our website wnzr.fm!

Here’s our devotional we talked about for Praise Thursday!

Nora is going through her husbands passing and many of her friends tell her to “be strong”, but what does that mean? That I must deliver without fail in my responsibilities?

God gave great responsibilities to Othniel in a time of transition for the people of Israel. As discipline for the nation’s idolatry (Judges 3:8). Under the cruel king of Mesopotamia, the Israelites “cried out to the Lord,” and “he raised up for them a deliverer” Othniel, whose name means “God’s strength. ”How can we truly “be strong”? It’s by knowing we’re not strong and by trusting God to give us His strength. His “grace is sufficient for us, for God’s power is made perfect in weakness” (2 Corinthians 12:9). God’s strength works through us, doing things only He can do.  

Read more about this devotional by clicking HERE!

Congratulations to Addie of West Jefferson for winning Noah Live tickets for next week in theaters! Tune in for The Morning Thing and The Afternoon Drive Tomorrow for a chance to win tickets! Be caller number three, no trivia just call!

SonFest is this Saturday! All this week during The Morning Thing and Afternoon Drive, we have been giving trivia questions about one artist. The first caller to guess the artist correctly wins TWO SonFest tickets for this Saturday, 9/20! Tune into The Morning Thing tomorrow for your last chance to win! Congratulations to Robin of Fredericktown for winning two tickets for SonFest on The Afternoon Drive!

Today we played a 15 second clip of a song that we listened to on The Afternoon Drive for Name That Tune!

This week’s Name That Tune was “I Got You” from Danny Gokey. Congratulations to Jill from Howard for calling in and naming the song title and artist, taking home two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica!

Tune in tomorrow for New Music Friday and this week’s countdown of The NZ Top 10!

Thanks for listening!

– Joe, Gabriella, and Ethan

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Transform Your Mind!!

National AKC Responsible Ownership Day- focus on educating pet owners. It emphasizes regular vet visits, balanced diets, and proper grooming to maintain dogs’ health. 

To learn more about how to participate in today’s holiday click here.

Who Knew fact check: Play-Doh originally was wallpaper cleaner? In the 1930s Kutol Products for the Kroger grocery store chain to remove coal soot from walls. After WW2 the demand for wallpaper declined leading the Kutol product to almost fail until it was repurposed as an activity for children to play with.

Who Knew fact check: National Apple Dumpling Day: What is a Dumpling? is a small piece of dough that can be either filled with ingredients like meat, vegetables, or sweets, or be an unfilled dough mass served in a stew or broth. 

SonFest this Saturday! All this week during the Morning Thing and Afternoon Drive, we will be giving trivia questions about one artist. The first caller to guess the artist correctly wins TWO SonFest tickets for this Saturday 9/20! Stay tuned throughout the week! Congratulations to Kim of Centerburg for winning two tickets for SonFest on The Afternoon Drive!

Who Am I?  

  1. I was born today, September 17, 1995 in Tyler, Texas. 
  1. I am married to my high school sweetheart, Brittany, and together we have two children. 
  1. I played football at Texas Tech University, where I set multiple records for passing in the NCAA. 
  1. I was selected by the Kansas City Chiefs with the 10th overall pick in the 2017 NFL Draft. 
  1. I became the youngest quarterback in NFL history to win both league MVP (2018) and a Super Bowl MVP (SB LIV) 

I am… Patrick Mahomes! Congratulations Michael of Mount Vernon for guessing correctly and winning a $5 gift card to Watts restaurant in Utica!

Romans 12:2 (NIV)- “Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will”. 

Tune in tomorrow for Praise Thursday on The Afternoon Drive!

Thank you so much for listening!

– Gabriella, Ethan, and Joe

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We’re Looking Forward To Christmas With Natalie Grant!

We had a packed show with artist news from Natalie Grant, Phil Wickham, and more from the 2025 GMA Dove Awards!

Natalie Grant is now signed to record label Captiol CMG, and with this, she’s already announced a brand new Christmas album, with some old-timey classics like Hark! The Herald Angels Sing, and Jingle Bells! This will be her first Christmas record in nearly 20 years, and she’s so excited for it!

Did you know there’s only 100 days until Christmas? So alongside this album release, Natalie Grant and Danny Gokey are going on their annual “Celebrate Christmas Tour”, which is on its 10th iteration!

To learn more about this new album and tour, click HERE!

Last week, we talked about Phil Wickham’s brand new album, Song Of The Saints that released last Friday, 9/12/2025! Now this week, Phil is celebrating this album release by going on tour with this record, appropriately called the “Song Of The Saints Tour”!

He’ll also be bringing special guest Jamie MacDonald with him!

To learn more about this tour, click HERE!

Zach Williams’ album “Jesus Loves” is coming out this Friday, 9/19/2025! It’s title track, Jesus Loves, has been climbing The NZ Top 10 for quite a while now!

To learn more about this new record, click HERE!

More GMA Dove Awards Performers and Presenters have been revealed!

We’ll get to see some favorite WNZR artists performing on October 7th, including Tauren Wells, for KING & COUNTRY, CeCe Winans, Josiah Queen, Elevation Worship, ELEVATION RHYTHM, and so many more!

We also see some WNZR artists presenting awards, including Bart Millard, bodie, Chris Tomlin, Crowder, Natalie Grant, and many more great presenters!

There will be even more announced in future weeks! To see the full list of artists and guests performing and presenting, click HERE!

We took some lyrics from a song we heard on The Afternoon Drive today and turned it into a poem! Here were today’s lyrics:

Every heartbroken, lonely soul sitting all alone
And every outcast, stuck in their past, scared of letting go
These are the ones
The ones that Jesus chose

Today’s lyrics came from Zach William’s song Jesus Loves!

Congratulations to Satarah from Howard for calling in and guessing the song title and artist, taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for some fun facts for Sonfest 2025 on Who Knew Wednesday!

Thank you so much for listening!
– Xander and Ethan

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Let God Help and Heal!!

We love getting to start our week off with some Monday Motivation for you! We took a look at some encouraging and uplifting songs during The Afternoon Drive! Here’s what we talked about:

Find reasons to praise God and maintain faith even when life is difficult, filled with challenges and pain, not just during easy times. Bad things are prone to happen in a world with freewill. In bad times I hold my faith tightly and talk to God. It’s vital to pray and focus on the positives even when they’re hard to find. When times are hard find something to celebrate and praise God. He is here for us.

Isaiah 41:10 says “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand”.

“Hallelujah Anyway” – Rend Collective lyric video

We also talked about The Afters song “You Never Gave Up On Me” for Joe’s Monday Motivation!

Here is your Verse Of The Week on WNZR!

Isaiah 40:8 (NIV)- “The grass withers and the flowers fall, but the word of our God endures forever”. 

All this week during the Morning Thing and Afternoon Drive, we will be giving trivia questions about one artist. The first caller to guess the artist correctly wins TWO SonFest tickets for this Saturday 9/20! Stay tuned throughout the week! Congratulations to Janell of Mount Vernon for winning two tickets for SonFest on The Afternoon Drive!

For our Mystery Monday, we had another game of Family Feud!

Name a reason people wake up in the middle of the night. 

Bathroom – 35 (votes) 

Noise – 25 (votes)

Nightmare – 15 (votes)

Thirsty – 15 (votes)

Kids crying – 10 (votes)

Congratulations to Hannah of Mount Vernon for being the first call to answer the top two answers, taking home TWO $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow on Tuesday for Artist News Day and Game Time Tuesday!

Thank you so much for listening!

– Joe and Gabriella

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The NZ Top 10 for 9/12/2025

Thank you for tuning in to The Afternoon Drive! Here is this week’s top 10 countdown:

10. Micah Tyler – God Did It
9. Jon Reddick – No Fear
8. Tauren Wells – Let The Church Sing
7. MercyMe – Oh Death (former #1)
6. Josiah Queen f/Brandon Lake – Can’t Steal My Joy
5. Emerson Day – Get Behind Me
4.Forrest Frank – Your Way’s Better
3. Zach Williams – Jesus Loves
2. Elevation Worship f/Brandon Lake – I Know A Name
1. Phil Wickham – What An Awesome God (6th week at #1)

New Music This Week:

Blessing Offor – Lift Me Up

Thank you so much for listening!
– Joe and Ethan

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Lamenting To God!

On this stressful and heartbreaking anniversary, we took a step back to read devotions from Our Daily Bread Ministries!

Here’s our devotional we talked about for Praise Thursday!

“See, Lord, how distressed I am! I am in torment within, and in my heart I am disturbed.” Lamentations 1:20

“I viewed the opening displays of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City with curiosity but kept my emotions in check. That changed when we entered the inner exhibit, which the curators have wisely closed off from children and those wanting to shield themselves from the more heartrending images. As I encountered story after story of heartbreak and loss, waves of lament rose within me. This kind of honest crying out to God can help us to grapple with painful atrocities such as what happened on September 11, 2001, or other current-day evil deeds. We look to God for help, hope, comfort, and justice.”– Our Daily Bread.

Reflect: When you witness wickedness, how do you keep your heart tender before God? How might He lead you to pray for those who are hurting today?

You can read more about what we talked about HERE!

Today we played a 15 second clip of a song that we listened to on The Afternoon Drive for Name That Tune!

Come back next week for Name That Tune for a chance to win two $5 gift cards to Watts restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow as we introduce a new song and this week’s count down for The NZ Top 10.

Thank you so much for listening!!

-Gabriella and Ethan 🙂

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