It is Friday, praise the Lord for giving us another week! Here’s this week’s countdown:
10. bodie – whisper and the wind (third week at #10) 09. Katy Nichole – When I Fall 08. ELEVATION RHYTHM – GOODBYE YESTERDAY 07. Phil Wickham – The King Is In The Room 06. Matthew West – Unashamed 05. MercyMe – Oh Death 04. Brandon Lake f/Jelly Roll – Hard Fought Hallelujah 03. Jamie MacDonald – Desperate 02. TobyMac – a lil Church (nobody’s too lost) 01. Jon Reddick – No Fear (Jon’s first ever #1 hit, now two weeks straight!)
We didn’t have any brand new music added this week, but we did feature a relatively new song to WNZR, and it’s from CeCe Winans, called “Come Jesus Come”!
Thank you so much for listening! Make sure to tune in Monday for Monday Motivation and Mystery Monday, and win that $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica with Joe Rinehart and Ethan Hershberger!
The first full week of June is almost over, and we are thanking God for it! We listened to worship music together today on Praise Thursday and read some devotionals to brighten up the afternoon on this cloudy day! I’m glad we can take the time to just slow down, and give God the glory for every day He has made and everything He has done for us!
We read some devotionals from Our Daily Bread Ministries, and we talked about how Jesus is everything in us and our lives. We saw David display what that looks like in Psalm 63. “O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you. My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.” We see that even in the worst of troubles of being pursued and lost, David never lost sight of God, keeping his eyes set on the true, eternal treasure, who is his Heavenly Father, who is the same God we serve and love.
This passage also reminds me a little bit about Tasha Layton and Chris Brown’s song “Worship Through It”, which encourages us to just worship God for who He is, and that He is holy and above all, no matter what you’re going through. We see in David’s life and struggles that the battle simply belongs to the LORD, who has never lost a single battle.
If you want to read the full devotional, click here!
We also talked about the perfect example Jesus was to us when He lived on earth. We dove into how He washed all 12 of the disciples feet. Yes, ALL 12, including Judas, who Jesus knew was the one who was going to betray Him. Jesus showed us what love is and how to show love to your friends and your enemies. Something that will change the world is showing grace, love, and forgiveness to your enemies. You never know how much God will move with a simple act of love, especially to your enemies!
Today we played Name That Tune! We played a fifteen second clip for you to guess the title and artist, and win that $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica!
Today was a stumper! Make sure you tune in next week for the Afternoon Drive to see what the clip was, and see if you can guess the title and artist of the song! If you get it right, you’ll get two five dollar gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica!
Make sure to tune in tomorrow for a special NZ Top 10 where we count down the top 10 songs of the week, but also for a special broadcast for June First Friday!
Thank you so much for listening! – Xander and Ethan
Well, maybe some do… others maybe not so much. Today is Who Knew Wednesday, and we talked about some of the national days that land on June 4th!
Today is National Hug Your Cat Day! Whether you’re a dog or cat person, this day is sure to bring some smiles to these playful and flexible house pets. Let me know in the comments if you’re a dog or cat person, and what breed it is! It’s so cool to see all of the different types that God has made!
So how can you celebrate this day? Why, just simply give your cat a hug if you have one. If you don’t have a cat, I suppose a dog or even a friend will suffice! See how long you can hug your cat can go until they get bored or try to squirm away. Deep down they’ll know you love them.
Today is also National Cheese Day! I’d love to hear your favorite cheese in the comments. Mine has got to be mozzarella just because of how good it tastes on pizza and as stuffed crust! I’m interested to hear what you like the most!
You can celebrate this today by trying a new kind of cheese, or scour your fridge, grab all the cheese, and have yourself a feast trying all the different kinds!
On top of all of that, it’s National Christian T-Shirt Day! Put on your favorite artists’ merch, or make your own t-shirt to celebrate! People might ask you about your shirt if you go out with it. You could come across a great opportunity to tell someone about Jesus, who may not know much about Him yet!
Who knows… maybe if you have a t-shirt from your favorite artist, you could run into them in public, and it would be a really cool encounter!
Today we played a game of Who Am I?, which is where we give you five biographical facts about a person, and you guess who it is! Here were the five facts:
I was born today, in 1975 in Los Angeles California, and previously married to Brad Pitt.
I gained major recognition for my role in “Girl, Interrupted”, which earned me an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.
I became an international actions star by portraying Lara Croft, the video game heroine in Tomb Raider, and I was in the movie in 2001.
I also portrayed the iconic Disney villain Maleficent, which reimagined the classic “Sleeping Beauty” story from the villain’s point of view.
I served as a UNHCR Goodwill Ambassador and later as a Special Envoy, focusing on refugee and humanitarian crises.
I am… Angelina Jolie. Congratulations to Ester from Mount Vernon for calling in and guessing me correctly, and winning that $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica!
If you want a chance to win that $5 gift card, tune in tomorrow for a game of Name That Tune. Listen to a clip of a song with us and be the first caller to guess the song and artist. We’ll see you there!
Thank you so much for listening! – Ethan Hershberger
Do you remember Tenth Avenue North? It’s been five years since we have seen something new from them aside from some singles released throughout the years, but this week on Artist News Day, we talked about their brand new full release album, called “Learning to Trust”. Alongside that, we talked about Jon Reddick releasing his new one called “No Fear”, which includes the title track that has been exploding on the charts as of recent.
After being disbanded for a little over 5 years, we see Tenth Avenue North getting back together, bringing us a whole 14 songs on their latest release, “Learning to Trust”. As they reunite, we’re seeing new faces, and regarding that, the band stated, “We’re a new band that happens to have an old catalog that you love!” If you want to see more of what the band has to say, click here!
This is the band’s 10th full length album, and they dropped it last Friday, May 30th! It’s everywhere you stream music, and it’s called “Learning to Trust”.
We have loved the song from Jon Reddick called “No Fear”! It turns out that is the title track for Jon Reddick’s full length album that he released on Friday, May 30th as well! The album also includes another song we love, “I Believe It”, which was our theme for Lifeline 2024! Click here to here Jon Reddick talk about nis new
Jon Reddick has shown so much gratitude for the support and love you have shown toward the songs he’s been putting out. He’s going to be going on tour with these new songs, on CAIN’s “Live and In Color” tour, coming in November! He’ll be in Grove City, OH at The Naz Church, and that’ll start at 7pm! If you want to hear his top songs and maybe some of his new songs live, be sure to catch him there!
Today is Tuesday, so that means we played Song Poetry to win that $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Here is what our song poetry was today:
How long will I have to fight Just for me to stay alive? I know You’re there God, please Just meet me here tonight.
Today’s Song Poetry was a stumper! If you think you know what song this is and who sang this song, come back next week on Tuesday and give us your answer for a chance to win two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Make sure to tune in tomorrow for a game of Who Am I, where we give you 5 biographical facts about a person, and you try to guess who it is!
Thank you for listening! See you tomorrow afternoon! – Xander and Ethan
It’s a new week, a brand new day, and we’ve entered a fresh month of June! We had some great motivation to kick off the month from Danny Gokey and bodie!
Danny Gokey’s song “New Day” reminds us that God, who is the God of hope is alive and well within us, even though hope may seem to be far off. He’s made all things new, and this song gives us the kick we need to just let go of our worries and struggles. Just praise God for the new day that He has made, which He calls us to rejoice and celebrate in!
We also heard the story behind bodie’s “Whisper and the Wind”, where we remember that God not only moves in the big, presence-heavy moments, but also in the unseen moments where you can’t see Him or feel Him. We believe that even when we don’t see it or feel it, God is still working, and that He never stops working! Here is more of the story behind the song told by bodie himself! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ByUcPbPrnaU
The game we played today was Mystery Monday! In this game, we give you a prompt, or a question, and you try to guess what the top two answers were amongst 100 random people that were asked! If you can guess the top two answers correctly, you win a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Here was the prompt and top four answers:
Name a type of hoop! 1. Hula-hoop (74) 2. Basketball Hoop (18) 3. Hoop Earrings (4) 4. Embroidery Hoop (3)
Congratulations to Jim from Mount Vernon for guessing the top two answers correctly! Make sure to tune in tomorrow for a game of Song Poetry to win that $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica!
Thank you so much for listening! – Ethan Hershberger
Today we looked at two incredible devotions from Our Daily Bread! Our first devotional pulls from Matthew 18, and reminds us that we are to forgive others no matter how many times they may wrong us. If they ask forgiveness with pure intention and remorse, you are to forgive them, just as God has done so many times for you. Forgiveness, to infinity and beyond! Read the full devotional here.
Our second devotional reminds us that God has given us far more than we need. He has given us an abundance in His creation. From the many trees that bear fruit, to the stars in the sky, it’s evident our God is a creative, loving, and abundant God. But creation is not all that feels his abundance, Paul assures us in 1 Timothy that God’s grace is far more than enough, and offered knowing that we need it every day. Read the full devotional here.
We also played Name That Tune! We played a 15 second clip to see if you could tell us the artist and title of the song and win two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Unfortunately, our clip was a stumper for the second week! We’ll have a new clip for next week!
For this Who Knew Wednesday, we celebrated BOTH National Burger Day and National Brisket Day! It’s a perfect time to fire up the grill, which is easily the best way to celebrate these May 28th Holidays! We also talked about the controversial origin of the hamburger, and whether Otto Krause or Louis Lassen were the first inventors of the beloved sandwich. Here are the two theories:
The first theory is that the name comes from Hamburg, Germany and is said to be named by Otto Krause in 1881. Supposedly, Otto was a cook who decided to fry Hamburg steak in butter, topped with an egg, and placed on a bun. The burger was then popularized in the United States after sailors brought over the idea, scrapping the egg. However, the most believed and widespread theory is that it was created by Louis Lassen, a Danish Immigrant to the United States back in 1900. One day while working at his restaurant, New Haven eatery, a businessman in a rush requested something that could be made fast, and eaten on the go. Louis then put some grilled ground steak between slices of toast, and thus the hamburger was created.
What do you think? Team Otto or Team Louis? Let us know!
National Brisket Day not only celebrates one cut of meat, but all of them! It’s all about getting creative as you cook them. The most popular recipe for brisket is Texas BBQ, but we encourage you to come up with your own unique recipe!
We also played “Who Am I?” Trivia! We gave five facts about a person born on this day in history. The facts included: 1. This person is an American singer, songwriter, and actress who is referred to as the “Empress of Soul” 2. This person gained fame as the lead vocalist of a soul and R&B group in the 1950s, which was inducted in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. 3. This person starred in the sitcom Charlie & Co. in the mid-1980’s. 4. This person competed in the 14th season of Dancing with the Stars at 68 years old, making it to the top eight. 5. Lastly, this person is behind “License to Kill”, the title theme song to the 1989 James Bond film of the same name.
The person we described is… Gladys Knight! Congratulations to Charla of Utica for guessing Gladys Knight and winning a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica!
Today we talked about some movie releases from two Christian music legends here on the station! We discussed how Jeremy Camp’s movie, I Still Believe, will be coming to Netflix. This will bring the movie to a whole new global audience, and give you one more option to view it. The movie follows Jeremy’s incredible story of faith, love, and loss. It is based off his 2002 hit, I Still Believe from his album, Stay.
We also shared exciting news from MercyMe! March 20th, 2026 is the day when I Can Only Imagine 2 comes to theaters. The movie is a direct continuation of lead singer Bart Millard’s inspiring story and deeply personal battle as a father that he can’t fight alone. John Michael Finley will return to star as Bart Millard, while Dennis Quaid and Trace Adkins will reprise their roles as Arthur and MercyMe’s manager Scott Brickell.
We also played song poetry today! We play this fun trivia game every Tuesday at the 5 o’clock hour to give you a chance to win two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica! Here was today’s song poetry:
I learned the lines and talked the talk But the road less traveled is hard to walk It takes a soldier Who knows his orders To walk the walk I’m supposed to walk
This one, for the second week, was a stumper today! We’ll have some new song poetry for next Tuesday!
Praise the Lord it’s Friday! Here’s this week’s countdown:
10. bodie – Whisper & the Wind (1st week in the Top 10) 9. Seph Schlueter – Running Back To You 8. MercyMe – Oh Death (1st week in the Top 10) 7. Leanna Crawford – Still Waters (Psalm 23) 6. Matthew West – Unashamed 5. Katy Nichole – When I Fall 4. Brandon Lake f/Jelly Roll – Hard Fought Hallelujah 3. TobyMac – A Lil’ Church (Nobody’s Too Lost) 2. Jon Reddick – No Fear 1. Jamie MacDonald – Desperate (7th week at #1)
New Music Friday adds this week:
Phil Wickham – What an Awesome God
Thanks for listening – we will see you tomorrow at the Utica Ice Cream Festival! – Joe and Ethan
Driving Notes 