Happy First Friday! Here is your top 10 countdown for this week:
10. We Are Messengers – A Thousand Times 9. Elevation Worship f/Brandon Lake – I Know A Name 8. ELEVATION RHYTHM f/Gracie Binion – Goodbye Yesterday 7. Zach Williams – Jesus Loves 6. Forrest Frank – Your Way’s Better 5. Micah Tyler – God Did It 4. TobyMac – a lil Church (falling after 2 weeks at #1) 3. Phil Wickham – What An Awesome God 2. Jon Reddick – No Fear 1. MercyMe – Oh Death (1st week at #1)
We took some time to slow down, listen to some worship music, and read some devotionals during Praise Thursday today. We took a look at some encouragement from Daily Bread Devotionals:
We see the story of a woman, Carol, who goes through some back-to-back hard circumstances. She went through a severe infection and then her daughter fractured her foot at school. All Carol could really do is ask God for strength and keep trusting in Him that everything was going to be okay.
This reminds us of the story of Job where we see Job go through so much loss and pain, but despite all of this he still kept his eyes, his faith, and his trust in God. Job led an incredible example of what how we should respond when we are faced with tragedy and pain. He definitely did not know why he was going through everything he went through, but God showed that He will take what the enemy meant for evil and turn it for His good and His glory! He will use what you went through to help others and build His kingdom!
You can read the full Daily Bread Devo by clicking HERE!
We also talked about having a generous heart!
Sadio Mené is a soccer player who displayed such generosity when he said he wants to use the money he’s made from playing sports to build schools and give to the poor rather than buy private planes or diamonds. This reminds us of the verse in Hebrews where it says “Do not forget to do good and to share with others, for with such sacrifices God is pleased.” (13:16)
Something we talked about was just being generous with how you treat people. Be selfless, like how Jesus was. Give people kindness, a smile, and a hand to help them out. Jesus was the perfect example of this, the biggest thing being that He died for all our sins on that cross!
We listened to a 20 second song clip for Name That Tune! Here was our song today:
Running Homeby Cochren & Co.
Congratulations to Brenda from Fredericktown for calling in and correctly guessing the title and artists for this week’s song clip, taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for the NZ Top 10 and New Music Friday!
Thank you so much for listening! – Xander and Ethan
For your Who Knew Wednesday today, we talked about National Cheesecake and National Share A Hug Day!
Today is a day where you’re encouraged to share a hug with your friends, family, or whoever may need one! How did this day start? It was by a man named Mike Brundritt. This is his story:
I am Mike Brundritt, I once lived a wonderful life. I was married to the woman of my dreams with plans to be married forever, and had spent 19yrs together. We both had successful jobs, were positive members of the community, and our church. We were raising two great sons; our oldest son was involved with every sport he could play, while our youngest enjoyed video games. As a family, friends and other family members have always surrounded us and have been a part of our lives. I would have said I was pretty fortunate.
On the afternoon of July 30, 2017, everything changed, we were returning home from a family vacation, camping. During our drive we were involved in a motor vehicle collision in which we were hit from behind by a transport truck. This collision, in the blink of an eye changed my whole world. My wife and oldest son passed away immediately. My youngest son and I both survived the accident but we both have mental issues since, and I am also recovering from back injuries. It has been a long road to make a recovery, and it still is.
Fast forward to the first anniversary of the accident. A few days before the anniversary I was thinking of ways that I could honour and remember my wife and son. I was remembering how much of a loving family we were, always sharing hugs, both as a greeting, or a goodbye. It was also a way to say I love you. A hug was also shared between many friends after the accident. A hug is a special connection between people that lets each other know they are cared about. The idea came to me that I could start a hug day to honour the lives of my family.
I woke up on July 30, 2018 with the idea that I wanted to start a special day, the problem was that I did not know how to start it. I started with a post on my facebook profile, and it was shared with friends. Friends and family then shared my message further, and the message magically took off. Within days it was shared across Canada, to various parts of the United States, to England, Lebanon, and Australia. I was contacted by the local news and my message was spread even more. I was amazed how fast and far my message has travelled.
You can find the full article talking about National Share A Hug Day on daysoftheyear.com by clicking HERE!
Today is also National Cheesecake Day!
You can celebrate by enjoying your favorite cheesecake, either by making it yourself or by going out to your favorite cheesecake bakery and enjoying some!
Who knew cheesecake dates back all the way with the Ancient Greeks around 200 AD! This sweet dessert is believed to be one of the first made in the world.
You can read more of the full article talking about National Cheesecake Day by clicking HERE!
We played a game of Who Am I? today! Here were the five biographical hints about our mystery famous person:
I was born today, July 30, 1863 in Dearborn, Michigan.
I was married to Clara Bryant in 1888, and we had one son named Edsel, who later took over my company.
In 1908, I created the first car that was affordable for middle-class Americans, and that car was called the Model T.
In 1903, I introduced the moving assembly line, which assisted in reducing production time and cost of the Model T.
I was best friends with Thomas Edison, and I credit him often for encouraging me to pursue my automobile ideas.
I am… Henry Ford!
Congratulations to Kari from Newark for calling in and guessing him correctly, taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for some devotions and worship music during Praise Thursday!
Today on Artist Newsday we celebrated Katy Nichole’s birthday, and with that we went over all that she has accomplished in this past year! We also got updated with what’s happening with Forrest Frank and his back injury.
Katy Nichole was born today, July 29, 2000, making her 25 years of age this year. Since her last birthday in 2024, Katy Nichole has appeared on the NZ Top 10 with her song When I Fall, speaking to listeners far and wide with her deeply honest song which emphasized her desperation for God through very painful moments in her life. This song is set to appear on her brand new full-length album coming out on August 15th, which is called Honest Conversations!
Forrest Frank has been recovering in bed since his injury a week-and-a-half ago when he fell off his skateboard at his home, breaking his back. He fractured his L3 and his L4, and this is what he has been up to since then.
Forrest says on his Instagram account, “Following God is kind of hilarious because I’m feeling thankful for my back breaking???????” He goes on to declare, “Drugs don’t do this, money can’t do this, nothing else…. only JESUS”. Forrest is finding joy in every circumstance he finds himself in… even in the midst of recovering from a broken back. What an example he is leading to a generations young and old on social media– To rejoice always, glorifying God no matter what situation he finds himself in!
Today we pulled some lyrics from a song we heard on The Afternoon Drive and played Song Poetry! Here were the lyrics we picked today:
Come see all the captives run free He’s tearing down the walls He’s tearing down the walls There’s grace shaking power when we sing The Name above them all Your Name above them all
Today’s Song Poetry was a stumper! If you think you know which song these lyrics are from, and who sings this song, listen in next week during The Afternoon Drive and give us the answer! If you can guess this stumper, you will get two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for some fun facts for Who Knew Wednesday!
Thank you so much for listening! – Ethan Hershberger
Happy Friday! Here is your top 10 countdown for this week:
10. We Are Messengers – A Thousand Times 9. Phil Wickham – The King Is In The Room 8. Zach Williams – Jesus Loves 7. Forrest Frank – Your Way’s Better 6. ELEVATION RHYTHM – Goodbye Yesterday 5. Phil Wickham – What An Awesome God 4. Micah Tyler – God Did It 3. Jon Reddick – No Fear [Was #1 for 7 Weeks] 2. MercyMe – Oh Death 1. TobyMac – a lil Church
Yesterday the Afternoon Drive celebrated National Vanilla Ice Cream Day by visiting Round Hill Dairy at the Knox County Fair! Marcy and Ethan talked with owner Tyler McCann about the legacy of his family business, and serving the Knox County community. Tyler and his team proudly support the Knox County Fair and the 4H participants.
WNZR thanks Round Hill Dairy for being a broadcast partner for WNZR’s coverage of the Knox County Fair!
Forrest Frank is hot off of releasing chart-breaking songs like “Good Day” and his latest, “Your Way’s Better”, receiving so much love on Instagram and TikTok. Recently, he has done it once again, but this time it wasn’t because of a song… kind of.
Forrest has gone viral once again on social media, but unfortunately the Internet isn’t the only thing he broken these past five days. Forrest was skateboarding outside his home and had an accident, breaking his back. He has been bed-ridden, with a fractured L3 and L4. However, despite the circumstance, Forrest has not let this stop him from making music to continue worshipping and praising God.
Two days later, stuck at home, he teased the chorus of a new song he’s been working on, called “God’s Got My Back”, which as you can see is poking a little bit at his accident.
You can watch him make the song here. Be aware: The video contains a couple seconds of raw footage when Forrest hit his back on the pavement.
It is absolutely incredible to see Forrest continuing to worship and praise God, despite the situation he is in right now. While he may not realize, he’s portraying an honorable example to a younger generation– Taking an unfortunate circumstance, and turning it into praise!
Here is what Forrest teased a couple days ago, reacting to all the love and support he’s already received from this new song he’s working on!
“You planned evil against me; God planned it for good to bring about the present result—the survival of many people.” – Genesis 50:20
Here are the lyrics we took from a song we heard on The Afternoon Drive today for a game of Song Poetry!
Some days life feels perfect Other days, it just ain’t workin’ The good, the bad, the right, the wrong, And everything in between.
Today’s Song Poetry lyrics were from TobyMac’s song “Speak Life”. Congratulations to Jenn from Mount Vernon for calling in and guessing the artist and song title correctly, taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Tune in tomorrow for a game of Who Am I? and a special Who Knew Wednesday where we continue going On The Road With Big Blue at the Knox County Fair!
Driving Notes 