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Celebrating those who make things happen!

So today’s show is a celebration of two big things:

  • the 2021 Knox County Food For The Hungry drive
  • people who GET THINGS DONE (Cat Herders)

Make sure you check out our recap of FFTH 2021 by clicking this link. Our total is just over $249,000 and still growing!

Now onto the herders…have you heard (no pun intended) this before? From DaysoftheYear.com:

“You don’t have to be a cat lover to celebrate Cat Herders’ day, you only have to be someone attempting to complete a seemingly impossible task or working in a job that is a continual up-hill battle, tall-order, hard-work, or in short, some activity that is like ‘herding cats.’ Have you ever seen a cowboy or cowgirl herding cats? Didn’t think so – that’s because if we ever attempted to it would take us longer than an infinite monkey to type the complete works of Shakespeare.

You’ve probably heard the saying that something is as impossible as “herding cats”, used in reference to a seemingly futile or difficult task. Granted, if you have actually attempted to literally herd a bunch of cats for some reason or the other, you would know exactly how impossible this task actually is.

What we can say is that the phrase is pretty suitable for what it describes. And while cats are independent, solitary, and easily distracted, many humans also share the same characteristics.”

– I was born December 15, 1832 in Dijon, France
– I was a French Engineer, and started with building bridges 
– I helped design the Statue of Liberty 
– My most known work is the signature landmark in Paris
– After retiring from my company, I went on to do important work in meteorology and aerodynamics 
– I died on December 27th, 1923 while listening to Beethoven’s 5thsymphony, in my mansion in Paris

I am…Gustave Eiffel. Congratulations to Charla from Utica, who guessed correctly and wins the $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup.

Jenn from Danville and Pat from Mount Vernon – congratulations!

– Joe and Dylan

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Christmas for everyone!

Today’s Monday Motivation reflections about Christmas remind us that Christmas is an invitation for everyone.

Lisa Samra shares ‘Joy to the World’ here:

Every Christmas we decorate our home with nativity scenes from around the world. We have a German nativity pyramid, a manger scene fashioned out of olive wood from Bethlehem, and a brightly colored Mexican folk version. Our family favorite is a whimsical entry from Africa. Instead of the more traditional sheep and camels, a hippopotamus gazes contently at the baby Jesus.

The unique cultural perspective brought to life in these nativity scenes warms my heart as I ponder each beautiful reminder that Jesus’ birth was not just for one nation or culture. It’s good news for the whole earth, a reason for people from every country and ethnicity to rejoice.

The little baby depicted in each of our nativity scenes revealed this truth of God’s heart for the entire world. As John wrote in relation to Christ’s conversation with an inquisitive Pharisee named Nicodemus, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

The gift of Jesus is good news for everyone. No matter where on earth you call home, Jesus’ birth is God’s offer of love and peace to you. And all who find new life in Christ, “from every tribe and language and people and nation” will one day celebrate God’s glory forever and ever (Revelation 5:9).

—

Amy Boucher Pye shares ‘Welcomed Into God’s Family’

We were singles and couples and a family with children, together celebrating Jesus’ birth on Christmas Eve. The conversation flowed, the food tasted scrumptious, and we even had fun washing up the dishes. Between courses we read through the Christmas story from Luke’s gospel, marveling over the greatest gift of the season, Jesus. Because of Christ, we who previously had been a ragtag bunch of strangers were now sisters and brothers.

Jesus always welcomed the stranger. Even as at His birth God beckoned the shepherds to come and worship the newborn baby: “The Savior-yes, the Messiah, the Lord-has been born today in Bethlehem, the city of David!” (LUKE 2:11). Curious, the humble shepherds hurried Bethlehem. And after they saw the baby, they went and spread the good news about Jesus the Savior, and “all who to heard the shepherds’ story were astonished” (v.18).

As Messiah, Jesus the baby grew up to be the Man who died on the cross, the perfect sacrifice who wipes away the sins of those who follow Him. Jesus, the Son who is God, humbled Himself to be born in a stable and then willingly sacrificed His life for us.

When we bow before Him in worship, even as the shepherds did as they glorified and praised God for all they had seen and heard (v. 20), He makes us part of His family. Jesus welcomes us into His worldwide community of those God uses to spread His love and light.

Name the top two desserts people eat a lot of at Christmastime:
1- cookies (54 votes)
2- pie (12)
3- pudding (7)
4- fruitcake (6)
5- fudge (5)
6- candy/candy canes (4)
7- gingerbread (2)

Congratulations to Danelle of Fredericktown, who guessed correctly and wins the $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup!

Amy from Howard
Jeff from Mount Vernon

Thanks for listening!
– Joe and Jonathon

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The promise of Immanuel – delivered!

Today’s Monday Motivation continues with a Christmas theme:

The word Immanuel means, as we learn in Matthew 1:23, “God with us.”  The coming of the Christ child fulfilled what Isaiah wrote in chapter 7, verse 14: “the virgin will conceive and give birth to a son, and will call him Immanuel.”

In his book Hidden Christmas, Pastor Timothy Keller shares that for centuries, the Jewish religious leaders and scholars had known that prophecy, but did not think that it should be taken literally. They thought it was simply predicting the coming or arrival of some great leader through whose work, God would be present with his people.

However, Matthew writes that this promise is greater than anyone imagined!  It did not come true figuratively, but literally. Jesus Christ is “God with us,” because the human life in Mary’s womb was a miracle performed by God himself.  Then Jesus, with his life, his claims and his resurrection, convinced his closest followers that he was not just a prophet telling them how to find God, but God himself coming to find us.

Keller writes that this claim, that Jesus is God, gives us the greatest possible hope.  Why?  Because it means this world is not all that there is…it means that there is life and love after death and it means that evil and suffering will one day end.

And it is not just hope for the world, but hope for you and me personally. A God who was only holy would have not come to us in Jesus.  He would have just demanded that we pull ourselves together and be moral and holy enough to be worthy of relationship with him. But our God is fully holy and fully human – so he doesn’t send someone else – he comes himself!  Jesus is one of us – and that should give us all hope!

Christmas Gift Exchange winners today:
Becky from Howard and Krista from Howard! Remember the grand prize drawing is Thursday morning on The Morning Thing!

Thanks for listening!
– Joe and Todd

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NZ Top Ten!

Here is Today’s Countdown:

10. Fighting for Me – Riley Clemmons
9. The God Who Stays – Matthew West
8. Believer – Rhett Walker
7. Reason – Unspoken
6. Yes I Will – Vertical Worship
5. Rescue –  Lauren Daigle
4. Burn the Ships – for King & Country
3. Dead Man Walking – Jeremy Camp
2.Rescue Story – Zach Williams
1. Nobody – Casting Crowns/ Matthew West
Here are the videos for New Music:

(Click on the picture)

Stars go dim xmas is here

Chris tom xmas day

Big daddy weave joy! He shall reign.jpg

 

 

 

Copy of Mystery Monday xmas

Congrats to Janice from Mount Vernon and Luther from Fredericktown won got to place The WNZR Christmas gift Exchange!  If you want to know more about this click HERE. 

 

If you want to know more Food For the Hungry? Click HERE.

Thanks for checking out the blog!

-Hannah and Todd

 

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Who Knew Wednesday: Dr.VanNest shares!

Today Todd and I had so much fun playing the WNZR Christmas Gift Exchange and getting to share a great conversation with Dr. VanNest about his favorite Christmas Carol!

If you want to hear the conversation about “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” click on the picture!

_Dr. Doug VanNest

 

Copy of Mystery Monday xmas

Congratulations are in order to Linda from Utica who won an awesome WNZR Kitchen Kit and Peggy from Mount Vernon who won the “Same type of Different as Me” DVD.  If you want to more about the WNZR Christmas Gift Exchange click HERE. 

animation (3)

Who was the author of the Christmas carol “Hark the Herald Angels Sing”?

Answer: By Charles Wesley

Congratulations to Nancy Joe from Mount Vernon who took a chance and guessed right! They won the $5 Gift Card to Troyer’s of Apple Valley!

Thanks for clicking on our blog!

– Hannah and Todd

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Mystery Monday: Three games and three winners!

Today Joe and I had so much fun launching the first Afternoon Drive Christmas Gift Exchange of the season!

Copy of Mystery Monday xmas.png

Congratulations to our winners for the WNZR Christmas Gift Exchange Rob from Fredericktown who won a Veggie Tales DVD, and Sally from Mount Vernon who won a MercyMe CD. They have both been entered for the Grand Prize. If you want to find out more about the WNZR Christmas Gift Exchange click HERE! 

Here is Today's Family Feud Style Mystery Question! (1)

If Santa’s sleigh broke down, name another form of transportation he might try.

1. airplane
2. Automobile / car
3. Train
4. Helicopter
5. Snowmobile
6. Truck
7. Bus

We also had few other guesses that weren’t on the list like a flying tractor, a boat and candy apple red Corvette Stingray!

Congratulations to Michelle from Gambier who  one that $5 gift card to Troyer’s of Apple Valley!

-Hannah and Joe

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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? 

  1. Jingle Bells – 45
  2. White Christmas – 16
  3. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer – 8
  4. O Holy Night – 7
  5. Silver Bells – 6
  6. We Wish You a Merry Christmas – 5
  7. Silent Night – 4
  8. Jingle Bell Rock – 3
  9. Joy to the world – 1
  10. 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

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Who Knew Wednesday

Today Todd and I talked about a somewhat mysterious Christmas Carol, The 12 days of Christmas!

Here is what we talked about:

What are the 12 days of Christmas?

The 12 days of Christmas is the period that in Christian theology marks the span between the birth of Christ and the coming of the Magi, the three wise men. It begins on December 25  and runs through January 6. The four weeks preceding Christmas are collectively known as Advent, which begins four Sundays before Christmas and ends on December 24.

The history of the carol is somewhat murky. The earliest known version first appeared in a 1780 children’s book called Mirth With-out Mischief.  Some historians think the song could be French in origin, but most agree it was designed as a “memory and forfeits” game, in which singers tested their recall of the lyrics and had to award their opponents a “forfeit” — a kiss or a favor of some kind — if they made a mistake.

Many variations of the lyrics have existed at different points. Some mention “bears a-baiting” or “ships a-sailing”; some name the singer’s mother as the gift giver instead of their true love. Early versions list four “colly” birds, an archaic term meaning black as coal (blackbirds, in other words). And some people theorize that the five gold rings actually refer to the markings of a ring-necked pheasant, which would align with the bird motif of the early verses.

In any case, the song most of us are familiar with today comes from an English composer named Frederic Austin; in 1909, he set the melody and lyrics (including changing “colly” to “calling”) and added as his own flourish the drawn-out cadence of “five go-old rings.”

The song is not a coded primer on Christianity

A popular theory that’s made the internet rounds is that the lyrics to “The 12 Days of Christmas” are coded references to Christianity; it posits that the song was written to help Christians learn and pass on the tenets of their faith while avoiding persecution. Under that theory, the various gifts break down as follows, as the myth-debunking website Snopes explained:

2 Turtle Doves = The Old and New Testaments

3 French Hens = Faith, Hope and Charity, the Theological Virtues

4 Calling Birds = the Four Gospels and/or the Four Evangelists

5 Golden Rings = The first Five Books of the Old Testament, the “Pentateuch,” which gives the history of man’s fall from grace.

6 Geese A-laying = the six days of creation

7 Swans A-swimming = the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit, the seven sacraments

8 Maids A-milking = the eight beatitudes

9 Ladies Dancing = the nine Fruits of the Holy Spirit

10 Lords A-leaping = the ten commandments

11 Pipers Piping = the eleven faithful apostles

12 Drummers Drumming = the twelve points of doctrine in the Apostle’s Creed

The partridge in the pear tree, naturally, represents Jesus Christ.

If you want some more information on the 12 days of Christmas, like how much it would cost to buy all of these items, click HERE. 

We played the WNZR Christmas gift exchange and had two lucky people pick a present from under our tree! Click HERE if you want to know more.

Here was today’s Trivia question:

Question: What Christmas decoration was originally made from strands of silver?

Answer: Tinsel
Congratulations to John from Utica who guessed right and won a $5 gift card to Troyer’s of Apple Valley!
Thanks for checking out our blog!
-Hannah and Todd
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Artist News Day Game Time Tuesday

Today Todd and I had a jammed packed Afternoon Drive for you and plenty of chances to win!

Here is the Artist News that we shared today:

News Boys and Michal W. Smith Join Forces for the Surrounded and Untied Tour

SKILLET opening for BREAKING BENJAMIN

Not only did we play the WNZR Christmas Gift Exchange once, but twice! Congratulations to Kristina from Fredricktown and Cheryl from Danville who played the WNZR Christmas Gift Exchange and got some pretty awesome gifts from under our tree here at WNZR! If you want more information on The WNZR Christmas Gift Exchange, click HERE.

Here are today’s Song Poetry lyrics:

Taking all I have and now I’m laying it at Your feet
You have every failure God, and You’ll have every victory.

Congratulations to Lori from Brinkhaven who correctly guessed that our song was “You Say” by Lauren Daigle! She won that $5 Gift Card to Troyer’s Apple Valley!

Thanks so much for listen and checking out our blog!

-Hannah and Todd

 

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