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Chocolate Covered EVERYTHING!!

Today on Who Knew Wednesday we gave some out of pocket Who Knew Facts and our Who Am I Trivia! Here’s what we talked about!

Who Knew Wednesday: Inconvenience yourself day – Go out of your way to do something!

Who Knew Wednesday: I can only imagine 2 IN THEATERS NOWW!!!!!

Who Knew Wednesday: National Chocolate Covered Nuts Day – What’s your favorite? Peanuts, almonds, cashews, maccadamia? Click HERE to read some of our dad jokes we shared!

You have one more chance to win a pair of tickets tomorrow, on The Morning Thing! Be prepared to be the first caller to call in and tell us your blessing!

Who am I? 

  1. I was born today, in 1963, in Columbus, Ohio. 
  1. I made my Major League Baseball debut in 1985 with the Cincinnati Reds. 
  1. I am best known for playing right field for the New York Yankees from 1993 to 2001, where I was a key part in their championship teams. 
  1. I won five World Series championships: 1 with the Reds (1990) and four with the Yankees (1996, 1998, 1999, 2000). 
  1. After retiring in 2001, I became a television broadcaster and analyst for the Yankees on the YES Network.

I am… Paul O’Neil!! Congratulations to Steve of Mansfield for guessing our Who Am I correctly and taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica!

Tune in Tomorrow for Praise Thursday With Brook Abella and Joe!

Thanks so much for listening!

– Joe and Gabriella 🙂

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Behavior Indicates What We Believe!!

Today for Monday Motivation we talked about our identity in Christ, started The Afternoon Drive’s first “Give Us Your Blessing Giveaway”, and played our family fued for Mystery Monday! Here’s what we talked about:

Joe’s Motivation:

The Cretan Church. Cultural problems affecting the church: if you lied, you were a Cretan! Titus 1:12. Liars, evil brutes, and lazy gluttons. Jewish Cretan Christians. In that order. Detestable, disobedient.

  1. Moral looseness – sensuality normalized. 
  2. Deceptive speech – truth was flexible.
  3. Laziness and indulgence – discipline was rare
  4. Story-driven spiritually – myths more attractive than the truth 

False teaching doesn’t usually deny truth. It dilutes it. Making it less powerful. Be careful of taking away the power of the gospel.

Why does this matter today?? The greatest threat to the modern church is not persecution, it is profession without transformation.

They claim to know God, but their actions deny him. Colossians 3:1-11. Set your hearts on things above. When you come to Christ, that is now your culture. A follower of Jesus. He transforms you. How do we live and dwell when we’re Christians? Transformation. Our culture applauds belief as long as it costs nothing. Being a Christian is tough and it costs something. You are going to wrestle with everything. How do I be a Christian and do this? (Fill in the blank) He’ll give us strength and hope as we wrestle.

But…Scripture never separates belief from behavior. It does the opposite. Behavior indicates what we believe. Romans 3. Paul wants Titus to understand that the Gospel should be changing everything. They say they know Jesus, but deny His power.

Claim vs action. It’s that simple. Our question? How is it changing us? Me? You? If we believe that the Gospel has power, we have to stop living like Cretans. We have to yield to the Gospel.

Gabriella’s Monday Motivation: Guilt should not be a paralyzing burden of blame, but rather a tool for spiritual growth that leads to repentance, healing, and deeper reliance on grace. Instead of staying stuck in shame, we are called to turn guilt into gratitude by accepting Christ’s forgiveness, replacing guilt with the joy of freedom in Him. Here’s some steps to move forward:

  1. Turn Guilt into Gratitude: Instead of dwelling on a mistake, let it remind you of how much grace you’ve been given. This creates a heart of gratitude that motivates you to live better.
  2. Stop “Worshiping” Your Mistakes: Remaining stuck in guilt is like worshiping your failures rather than God’s mercy. Accept that you cannot pay for your own sins—Jesus already did.
  3. Focus on Identity, Not Action: Your identity is “child of God” and “new creation,” regardless of your performance
  4. Hebrews 8:12: “For I will be merciful to their unrighteousness, and their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no more.” Based on His sacrifice, Christ will never bring up our past sins and he will treat them like they never happened.

An exciting NEW Contest is coming to The Morning Thing and The Afternoon Drive Monday February 23rdthrough Wednesday February 25th! Listen to The Morning Thing and The Afternoon Drive for the “Tell Us Your Blessing Giveaway”! Tune in at 7:30am and 4:30pm for the “Tell Us Your Blessing Giveaway”. We are going to open up the phones at both of those times and the first person to call in and share a blessing wins TWO tickets to the Seph Schlueter concert at Crossroads Church in Mansfield on Thursday night. Go to our website wnzr.fm for more information! Congratulations to Brad of Bellville for sharing his blessings and taking home a pair of tickets to Seph Schlueter’s concert!

Name something that contains the word ‘mac.’ 

  1. Macaroni 
  1. Big Mac 
  1. Macintosh 
  1. Mac Book or iMac 
  1. McDonald’s 
  1. A McIntosh apple 

Congratulations to Sue of Mount Vernon for guessing the top two answers correctly and taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Resturant in Utica!

Tune in Tomorrow for Artist Newsday and Gametime Tuesday with Ethan and Xander!

Thanks so much for listening!

– Joe and Gabriella 🙂

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Happy Valentine’s Day Eve-Eve!!

Today on Praise Thursday we did devotionals, Spread The Love Giveaway, and we did Name That Tune! Here’s what we talked about:

Gabriella’s Valentines Day Devotion:

  • Willing. Jesus said, “No one takes my life from me, but I lay it down of my own accord” (John 10:18).
  • Sacrifice. There is no such thing as love without sacrifice.
  • If you are only interested in loving people because you get something good in the end, you are not motivated by love for them but by love for yourself.
  • The Bible says that Jesus died for us while we were still sinners. If he had waited until we were able to reciprocate, there would be no hope for us! 
  • Love does its best work when the other person is undeserving.

Brook Abella’s Waiting Period Devotion:

I was waiting in my guitar class to play, but ended up watching everyone else. In the end I played and did well, but one thing I realized is I wouldn’t have done as good as I did if I didn’t wait. I learned the famous saying “Patience is a virtue” in real time. It didn’t take much to realize if I didn’t wait I wouldn’t have done as well as I did in the end. Waiting is THE formative time to make sure you do good, after the waiting season God will have so much for you, you will be grateful you waited.

Joe’s Perfect Image Devotion:

In this day and age we’re so used to not having to deal with people face to face. On social media it’s easy to dislike someone’s post, but 99% of the people doing that would never do that in person. It’s important we keep note on what we should be doing. Recapture the incarnation where the word connects with face to face and we’re created in God’s perfect image. It’s easy to have low self esteem when people dislike on social media, but YOU were made in God’s perfect image.

Today was the last day to participate and the winners for the grand prize drawing with be Tomorrow during The Morning Thing!  Congratulations to Mary of Fredericktown for participating in spread the love giveaway and winning a $25 gift card to ACTS Thrift Store in Mount Vernon!

This week’s Name That Tune was Zach William’s with Heaven Help Me! Congratulations to Lyle of Apple Valley for guessing it correctly and taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica!

Tune in Tomorrow for The NZ Top 10 with Ethan and Joe!

Thanks so much for listening!


– Brook Abella, Gabriella, and Joe

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Spread Love and Prayer!!

For ending relationships focus on spiritual well-being, alignment with biblical values, and maintaining peace .When there is any lack of peace/internal disquiet, unsafety, hindrance to spiritual growth, unequal yoking, unrepentant behavior/bad character, lack of clear guidance/confirmation, you need to rethink the relationship and talk about it or LEAVE!! You should be seeking God’s will, focus on holiness, and prioritizing God over worldly relationships.

Joe’s Monday Motivation: You might’ve felt lost or helpless and that’s never the case. You aren’t powerless if you have a plan. One way to help fight against feeling powerless is have a plan for prayer. Read the Bible and think about things YOU can pray about. Have three things ready to go to prayer about yourself, have three things you can pray about that are stressing you, and have three things that you can pray about for other people close to you or people you think about. God is our ARMERED tank.

You could win a fabulous prize from February 2nd through 12th! Each day of the contest, our DJs will select Valentine’s gifts to put in the WNZR Valentine’s box. During The Morning Thing and The Afternoon Drive, the DJs will give a cue to call 740-397-WNZR (9697). Caller #5 gets the chance to answer a Valentine’s question to win a prize. Congratulations to Trevor of Saint Louisville for taking home a $10 gift card to Dancing Bee Market & Studio and getting registered for the grand drawing!

Name a famous David: 

  1. David from the Bible (40) 
  1. David Letterman (11) 
  1. David Copperfield (7) 
  1. David Niven (6) 
  1. David Hasselhoff (6) 
  1. Dave Chappelle (6

Congratulations to Chris of Gambier for guessing the top two answers correctly and taking home TWO $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica!

Tune in Tomorrow for Artist Newsday and Gamete Tuesday with Ethan and Joe!

Thanks so much for listening!

– Joe and Gabriella 🙂

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Be God’s Walking Church!!

Today on Praise Thursday we went through devotionals and gave important updates. Here’s what we talked about:

Having a terrible memory is frustrating, but it is a chance to rely on God’s grace and the Holy Spirit’s help to recall what matters most. While you may forget daily details or past sins, God promises to “remember them no more” (Hebrews 8:12), encouraging you to focus on the present “new thing” He is doing (Isaiah 43:18-19). Use the Holy Spirit as your memory, a “bad memory” can be a blessing, focus on the present, exercise and routine: treat your memory like a muscle, improving it through consistent, daily study of scripture, replacing, not just forgetting.

We often use the word “hope” as wishful thinking—a desire for things to go a certain way, with no guarantee they will. But the hope that Scripture offers is something far greater. As believers, our hope is alive. It’s grounded in the unshakable reality of Jesus Christ, who defeated death and rose from the grave. Living with biblical hope requires shifting our perspective. Instead of hoping for specific outcomes, we trust God’s sovereign wisdom. We know He works all things according to His perfect will. Our hope is grounded in God’s promises, not in possibilities or probabilities

Knox County is NO longer under any snow emergency.

Coshocton is under a level 1 snow emergency

Announcements for Thursday 1/29/26 (updated at 3:30pm on Thursday 1/29/26):

The Weather Vane Women’s Clothing Boutique will reopen on Thursday 2/5. They are currently closed due to a heating issue.

The Community meeting at the Danville Community Center is cancelled for tonight. This public meeting to share ideas for the Village has been rescheduled to February 26.

1 hour delays: Centerburg

2 hour delays:

– Danville

– Fredericktown

– Knox County Community Center

– Mount Vernon

Closed:

– Johnstown Monroe

– Mount Gilead

​

Our Name That Tune was Danny Gokey with “I Got You!” Congratulations to Ryan of Mount Vernon for taking home TWO $5 to Watts Restaurant in Utica!

Tune in Tomorrow with Ethan and Joe for the NZ Top 10!

Thanks so much for listening!

– Joe and Gabriella 🙂

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God’s Word AND Giveaways?!

Most importantly, the Spirit of God lives in each believer, knitting us together so powerfully that the Bible compares us to the interconnected parts of the human body. First Corinthians 12:13 says, “We were all baptized by one Spirit so as to form one body”—the body of Christ.

God often works in our lives through others who love Him, whether they’re near or far, known or new acquaintances. In our loneliest times, we can ask Him to send His people—even as we offer ourselves to be used by Him to encourage others. Click HERE to read more!

God said, “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing.” These verses were spoken to Israel during their exile in Babylon—a period of deep despair and longing for restoration. God commanded His people to not fixate on their past failures or the pain of captivity but to look forward to the new work He was about to do—a new and more significant exodus—their deliverance from Babylon and return to their homeland. He wasn’t just erasing the past but “making a way” (v. 19) to a future filled with hope and purpose.

Instead of dwelling on failures or regrets, let’s trust that God has “scrubbed” our past sins, regrets, and shame and—through Jesus’ sacrifice (Hebrews 10:10)—“remembers [our] sins no more” (Isaiah 43:25). God propels us toward the future He’s preparing. Click HERE to read more

Congratulations to Wyatt for guessing the WinterJam Trivia correctly and taking home a pair of WinterJam 2026 passes!

Congratulations to Robin of Fredericktown for guessing our Beat The Box Office Giveaway for the Ohio State Fair! For more information go to our website wnzr.fm!

We had a stumper for this week’s Name That Tune, but come back next week for a chance to win TWO $5 to Watts Restaurant in Utica!!

Tune in Tomorrow with Ethan and Joe for the NZ Top 10!

Thanks so much for listening!

– Joe and Gabriella 🙂

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God Is There In The Unseen!

Today on The Afternoon Drive, we shared some devotionals for Praise Thursday! Here were Ethan and Gabriella’s devotions:

Today, Gabriella shared how as followers of Jesus, we don’t walk alone! In Romans 12, Paul is adamant as believers that we shouldn’t even try to face our life alone. We need Jesus and each other! Instead of thinking that we are self-sufficient and “more highly than [they] ought” (v.3). When we live in harmony with one another as followers, we see that God didn’t create us to live alone, but walk together as an independent body!

Click here to read the full devotional and the story along with it, found on Our Daily Bread Ministries!

Ethan talked about what he has been reading in God’s Word recently: The book of Job!

While the book of Job may be a sadder book to start the new year, Ethan has been trying to see God’s character on every page, even the sad parts!

When reading in chapter 19 of Job today, Ethan notices in the midst of Job’s lamenting, he says this in verse 25:

“I know that my redeemer lives,
    and that in the end he will stand on the earth.
26 And after my skin has been destroyed,
    yet in my flesh I will see God;
27 I myself will see him
    with my own eyes— I, and not another.
    How my heart yearns within me!”

Through all of Job’s pain and grieving, he still recognized that God is sovereign over all, no matter the circumstance. And He lives! Keep looking for God in whatever situation you’re going through!

To read the full chapter of Job 19, click here!

This week, we listened to a song clip from a song we listened to today, on The Afternoon Drive!

Today’s Name That Tune song was Black Sheep, from Ben Fuller!

Congratulations to Trevor from Saint Louisville 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 Friday for a special NZ Top 10, featuring four new songs being added to WNZR to start off the new year!

Thanks for listening!
– Gabriella and Ethan

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A look back, a glimpse forward.

Friends,

I am reading a lot of reflections on 2025 and seeing a ton of photo galleries from you, about the year that was. I have debated internally about how deep or shallow to go as I think about one of the most impactful, difficult, yet rewarding years of my life, both personally and professionally. Here we go.

So what’s the song thread running through my mind as I sit here on January 2, 2026? A few, but this one jumps to the top:

Because He lives, I can face tomorrow.

2025’s overarching event was the loss of my father, Bill, to dementia on September 20th. As one of my friends shared so accurately, dementia (and Alzheimer’s) are ‘a cruel thief.’ Seeing his decline and eventual passing was incredibly difficult. Still, seeing my mom’s resolve and strength through this was inspiring. My older brother, Jeff, has been a rock for our family, taking the bulk of the responsibility for Dad’s care. 2026 is a year where they will get more of my attention and time. I can face tomorrow because I know my dad no longer suffers and is in the loving arms of Jesus. I am also very thankful to so many of you who reached out to me in one form or another to express your sympathy.

Because He lives, all fear is gone.

2025 meant another skin cancer surgery, this one more invasive then the last – my basal cell carcinoma took away a chunk of my right nostril! I got the diagnosis in June, the surgery in August, plus two plastic surgeries to repair it into September, just as my dad was failing. Humbling? Yes. When you are bandaged, then have a nose and a half for the repair, then finally carved back, it causes you to take a really long look in the mirror. Reflection? You bet. I tell everyone I’m the walking PSA for sunscreen 🙂 BUT…all fear was gone because I had an honest and confident medical team behind me (thank you, Stephanie, Dr. Nemer and Dr. Nogan) and Marcy to encourage, support and drive me back and forth to these procedures. Rachel was also cheering me on from Minnesota. So were you, and again, I’m grateful.

Because I know He holds the future.

2025 at work started out awful. Honestly. It stunk. Was rotten. It seemed like a bad dream we couldn’t wake up from. and a time where some of us at MVNU would like to forget. If you’ve lived enough years, you know that the ability of people, even God’s people, to get along, is on the ropes every day. The enemy uses all the tools at his disposal to distract, distort and destroy. Many of my dear friends and colleagues chose to walk away for reasons I understood and affirmed.. There was anger and frustration. There was defensiveness and ego. There was misinformation and massive judgement. I don’t like using the word ‘hate,’ but to be honest, I hated all of it. Still, in the smelly mess, I still had a job to do. Teach our students. Serve our listeners. Because they are not mine, they are HIS! I know He holds the future. This became my focus. I had to enter some very difficult conversations. I had to listen well. I had to choose my words wisely. I had to remove my ego from the criticism and focus on trying to use my experience and God’s wisdom to help pave a better path. And honestly, we’re still working on that path. It’s still messy at times. But having Lifeline 2025 hit right in that time was a blessing! Our theme? MADE FOR THESE DAYS? It was perfect – God called us by name! We were in the right place and in the right time.

Life is worth the living, just because He lives!

So I just gave you some of the challenges of 2025, but this is the GOOD NEWS. Life is still worth the living. Why? Because He’s still on the throne. He conquered our greatest enemy – death. There were so many 2025 victories! The blessing of being able to do what I love with the people I love. My wife, Marcy, and our daughter, Rachel. Seeing and hearing them serve the Kingdom every day. The opportunity to make and renew friendships. The smiles of our community and campus and the giggles of children with things I’m involved in, like WNZR radio and WNZR.tv, church, the Mount Vernon Music and Arts Festival and Food For The Hungry. The growth of my students and their confidence. Having awesome co-hosts like Ethan, Gabriella and Xander (and Judah who graduated this May). Our wonderful small group of five families at church. Feeling your prayers! I can go on…but remember, with Jesus, we have an eternal hope and a future we can’t imagine. Don’t let the enemy’s hurdles stand in the way of that hope.

2026 is already proving it will bring its fair share of challenges. Please pray for me! Please pray for WNZR and MVNU! I want to pray for you, too! I need God’s wisdom and direction every single day, at work or at home or wherever I am. I want to help encourage, build and connect. I want to live out ‘all fear is gone.’ I want to honor this year’s Lifeline theme by reminding you that GOD DID IT. He’s the all-time champion, the King of the Universe, the Way, the Truth and the Life.

Here’s to 2026 and thanks for listening!

Joe

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Seeking God’s Help

Today is Praise Thursday! We read two devotions today from Our Daily Bread. Our first one was called “Seeking God’s Help” by Amy Boucher Pye. God rescued His people from the invading armies, and He hears us when we cry out to Him in distress. Whatever your concern—whether a relationship issue or something threatening from the natural world—lift it to God in prayer. Nothing is too hard for Him. To read more click HERE. Our second devotion was called “In the Vine” also by Amy Boucher Pye. When we who believe in Jesus embrace the idea of being as close to Him as a branch is to a vine, our faith is strengthened and enriched. Click HERE to read more!

Q: When David wanted to fight Goliath, what did Saul try to give him?

A: His armor

Congratulations to Letha of Mount Vernon for answering that question correctly, she won a $5 gift card to Everlasting Cup!

Thanks for listening

-Kelsi and Alyssa

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