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The NZ Top 10 for 1/23/2026

On this week’s top 10 list, we saw songs shift up and down, with a new song entering the chart! Here is this week’s countdown:

10. Phil Wickham – What An Awesome God (former #1 for 12 weeks)

09. For KING & COUNTRY ft. Taylor Hill – World On Fire

08. Chris Tomlin – How Good It Is

07. Josiah Queen & Brandon Lake – Can’t Steal My Joy (former #1 for 4 weeks)

06. Crowder – STILL

05. TobyMac – Heaven On My Mind

04. Seph Schlueter – Won’t Start Now

03. Lauren Daigle – Let It Be A Hallelujah

02. Jeremy Camp – No Survivors (6th week at #2)

01. Jamie MacDonald – Left It In The River (8th week at #1)

New Artist On WNZR:

Peter Burton

Peter Burton is from California, and seeks to write songs to lead people to hope. When overcoming mental illness, Peter would experience the beauty of how blessing and suffering can go hand in hand, and how faith can transcend feelings. The message of hope he brings is solely through Jesus Christ – the foundation of his life and music.

Peter’s solo career may have just begun, but he is well-versed in the industry, having written for and toured with Lincoln Brewster, and joining Matthew West on his Don’t Stop Praying Tour. He also helped start Thrive Worship, contributing to their first album which charted at #1 on Billboard charts.

Read more about Peter Burton HERE!

New Music This Week:

Peter Burton – Where Would I Be

BREAKING NEWS: WinterJam 2026 will be postponing the Columbus, OH show to Monday, February 16 to avoid safety concerns regarding the winter storm warning this weekend. Stay warm. Stay safe.

Stay updated with cancellations on 90.9FM WNZR, and our Facebook page!

Thank you for listening!
– Joe and Ethan

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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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Get a hug in your cheesy socks!

Today is one of those wacky celebration days on two fronts:

1- National Hugging Day! (from DaysofTheYear.com)
The best way you can celebrate this holiday is by hugging people! Hug your mom, your dad, your grandparents, your kids – hug everyone you know. You also might want to raise awareness of why National Hugging Day is so important. It is an opportunity to push back against fear and isolation and join together as communities. Everyone agrees that there’s a need for more love and compassion in the world.

Hugging helps to break down both physical and emotional barriers between people.

2 – National Cheesy Socks Day!
It wasn’t that long ago that socks were simply a utilitarian accessory that had no other purpose than keeping those feet warm. But in this modern day, socks have become a fashionable way for people to express themselves. And the more outrageous the better.

For King & Country was announced as The Ohio State Fair’s Christian artist in their concert lineup! You can see them at the Celeste Center on August 3rd at this summer’s fair!

This week, we have been giving away Beat The Box Office tickets by playing for King & Country Name That Tune!

Anna from Mount Vernon was today’s winner for our giveaway on The Afternoon Drive. Keep listening on The Morning Thing and The Afternoon Drive on Thursday for your chance to win!

For King & Country will be seen at the Ohio State Fair, in the Celeste Center, so don’t forget this date: This summer, August 3rd! Regular ticket sales go live on Friday!

For more information, go to our Facebook post HERE!

  1. I was born January 21, 1940 in Columbus, Ohio.
  2. I played football and golf at Ohio State, eventually settling on golf.
  3. I was AP’s Athlete of the Decade for the 1970’s.
  4. I won 18 major championships, including 6 Masters tournaments!
  5. I now stay involved hosting the Memorial Tournament and designing courses.

I am… Jack Nicklaus!

Congratulations to Keryn from Mount Vernon for calling in and correctly guessing correctly, taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica!

If you tune in from 4-6pm on Thursday, you’ll have one more chance to win a pair of WinterJam 2026 passes and a pair of Beat The Box Office tickets to see for King & Country at the Ohio State Fair! And of course, we will be singing worship music and sharing devotionals throughout the show.

We’ll see you here tomorrow!
– Joe and Ethan

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Chris Tomlin Talks About WinterJam 2026!

WinterJam 2026 is finally arriving in Ohio this Saturday! We’ve been anticipating their arrival to Columbus, Ohio by talking with the WNZR artists that are a part of this year’s lineup! We wrapped up our conversations with Chris Tomlin! You can listen to our conversation here:

WinterJam isn’t the only big concert we’re excited to cover! This morning, the Ohio State Fair announced their Christian artist taking part in their concert series this Summer 2026! This year’s artist is none other than for King & Country!

We’re celebrating this announcement by giving away “Win It Before You Can Buy Them” tickets by playing for King & Country Name That Tune!

Linda from Utica was our first winner for our giveaway on The Afternoon Drive. Keep listening on The Morning Thing and The Afternoon Drive Wednesday and Thursday for your chance to win!

For King & Country will be seen at the Ohio State Fair, in the Celeste Center, this summer on August 3rd! Regular ticket sales go live on Friday!

For more information, go to our Facebook post HERE!

On top of our two ticket giveaways, we also played a game of Song Poetry for our $5 Watts Restaurant gift card giveaway!

Here were this week’s lyrics:

And I don’t need to see it to believe it
For my whole life, You’ve been that all I’ve needed
And I, I’ve felt You in the fire and the rain

This week’s Song Poetry was a stumper! If you think you know the song title and artist these lyrics are from, tune in next week for a chance to win two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica!

Tune in on Wednesday for another chance to win a pair of WinterJam 2026 passes and a chance to win “Win It Before You Can Buy Them” tickets to see for King & Country at the Ohio State Fair! You’ll also hear some fun facts for Who Knew Wednesday!

Thank you for listening!
– Xander and Ethan

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Life Centered on GOD!!

On this week’s Monday Motivation Joe and Gabriella focused on how important having a God centered life is. Plus we did our Winter Jam Artist Trivia and our Mystery Monday! Here’s what we talked about:

Joe’s Motivation: We need to have God in the center of our life. Changing the perspective on our lives and understanding that life WILL be miserable when God is not the center of the life. The song “Center” by Bethel Music is a great worship song about centering God in your life. Place Jesus at the core of life because Jesus needs to be your focus, reflecting biblical calls to love God wholeheartedly and live for His glory, “You, be the center of it all”!

Gabriella’s Motivation: Taking apart 2 Corinthians 4:18 (NIV)-“Things which are seen are temporal”: – Our bodies, possessions, status, and suffering will eventually pass away. “Things which are not seen are eternal”: God’s presence, love, truth, the inner spiritual self, and the future hope of heaven, which are everlasting. Focusing on the Unseen: Paul urges Christians to train their minds and hearts to focus on these eternal truths, not worldly gain. It’s all about perspective focus on the unseen promises of God, knowing that temporary struggles are producing an eternal weight of glory!

Congratulation to Justin of Mount Vernon for guessing our artist Trivia correctly and taking home a pair of Winter Jam passes home!

Name a question people ask their dogs. 

  1. Wanna eat/treat? (37) 
  1. Wanna go out (24) 
  1. How are you? (9) 
  1. What do you want? (5) 

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

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

Thanks for listening!

– Joe and Gabriella 🙂

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The NZ Top 10 for 1/16/2026

We’re already halfway through January! With another Friday, comes a fresh NZ Top 10 list on WNZR! Here is this week’s countdown:

10. Leanna Crawford – Honest

09. Hope Darst – Mighty Name Of Jesus

08. Phil Wickham – What An Awesome God (former #1 for 12 weeks)

07. TobyMac – Heaven On My Mind (peaked at #2 for 1 week)

06. Lauren Daigle – Let It Be A Hallelujah

05. Crowder – Still

04. Seph Schlueter – Won’t Start Now

03. Josiah Queen & Brandon Lake – Can’t Steal My Joy (former #1 for 4 weeks)

02. Jeremy Camp – No Survivors

01. Jamie MacDonald – Left It In The River (7th week at #1)

New Music This Week:

MercyMe – Make It Well

MercyMe’s new song is tied to their upcoming movie, I Can Only Imagine 2, which is coming to theatres February 20th! This sequel is a follow-up to the story of the first I Can Only Imagine movie, and we’ll see how Bart Millard takes on the father role this time!

You can learn more about I Can Only Imagine 2 HERE!

Thank you for listening!
– Joe and Ethan

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The God Of Heaven’s Armies Is ALWAYS By Your Side!

For Praise Thursday on The Afternoon Drive, we remembered exactly who is on our side in the battle, and how much greater He is than any physical, emotional, or spiritual force that comes against us.

In January 15, 2026’s devo from Our Daily Bread, we looked at a snippet from Elisha’s story in 2 Kings. In chapter 6, Elisha and his servant were facing against a “strong force” of enemy soldiers and chariots. Petrified, Elisha’s servant asked him what they should do, but Elisha replied, “those who are with us are more than those who are with them,” and prayed for his servant, “‘Open his eyes, LORD, so that he may see.” Once he prayed this, the servant’s eyes were opened to “the hills full of horses and chariots of fire all around Elisha.” This passage of scripture can be found at 2 Kings 6:14-17!

We see that God’s armies are infinitely larger than any physical, emotional, or spiritual force we come up against. God is NOT against us; He is FOR us! Nothing will be able to separate us from God’s love. How comforting it is to rest in this truth, that no matter what comes against us, God is infinitely stronger than it all!

The full devo from Our Daily Bread can be found here!

Sing along with Chris Tomlin, and declare you know the God of angel armies is always by your side!

We took 15 seconds from a song we heard on The Afternoon Drive, and used it to play Name That Tune!

This week’s song clip was from Heaven On My Mind, by TobyMac!

Congratulations to Jennifer from Fredericktown for calling in and correctly guessing the song title and artist, taking home a $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant in Utica!

On Friday, catch Joe Rinehart and Ethan Hershberger, counting down the top 10 songs in Christian music on The NZ Top 10! Tune in to hear a brand new song to WNZR, which is tied to a new movie coming out in February!

Click here for a clue for what artist this new song is from, and what movie the song is connected with!

Thank you for listening!
– Gabriella and Ethan

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Matthew West Talks About WinterJam 2026!

As we’re leading up to WinterJam 2026, we got to talk with one of the three artist headliners, Matthew West!

WinterJam will have its first stop in Ohio on Saturday, January 24, at the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio! Make sure you arrive 2-3 hours early when arriving to WinterJam to secure yourself a seat, and beat concert traffic!

WNZR will begin giving away WinterJam passes starting this Thursday on The Morning Thing and The Afternoon Drive! We will be playing WinterJam artist trivia!

For more information about WinterJam, click here:
https://www.wnzr.fm/winter-jam-2026

Back in 2019, Jason Gray filled listeners in with the battle against cancer that his son, Jacob, was fighting. Through time, Jacob showed no sign of cancer after he went through treatments, and the Gray family believed this chapter of their life was behind them.

Recently, Jacob started showing signs of the cancer returning. Jason Gray shared on his Instagram, “I’m heartbroken to share that Jacob’s journey has taken a sudden and devastating turn.” A swollen eye the size of a baseball led to Jacob having a biopsy revealing that his ALL (Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia) returned, and the family is once again on the fight with this cancer.

Despite the circumstances, the Gray family is fighting the cancer with a vengeance. Jason Gray has been giving viewers updates on his Instagram, sharing “In late December, he improved enough that we were able to get back on track with the original plan. Whew. And that’s where we are now. He continues to respond well, and it truly seems like the tide is turning.”

The Gray family is looking at the next step with treating Jacob’s ALL. “In February, he’ll begin CAR T-cell treatment, which will require relocating to Seattle for a couple of months,” Jason Gray shared. “It’s drastic. It complicates his life, his ability to work, and how he pays his bills—but it’s doable. Especially with the help you’ve all so generously given. Truly… thank you.”

Please pray for the Gray family as they face this battle of cancer, relocate Jacob to Seattle, and for Jacob to beat this cancer once and for all!

To support Jacob and the Gray family, click here:
Help Jacob Fight Leukemia (Round 2)
https://www.gofundme.com/f/help-jacob-fight-leukemia-round2

Read the full story on CCM Magazine here:
https://www.ccmmagazine.com/news/jason-grays-son-shows-fight-update-on-jacobs-2nd-battle-with-cancer/

We had a stumper for this week’s Song Poetry lyrics!

Here were this week’s lyrics:

Don’t forget the things that He has done before
And remember He can do it all once more
It’s like the brightest sunrise
Waiting on the other side of the darkest night

These lyrics were from Haven’t Seen It Yet by Danny Gokey!

Congratulations to Jennifer from Centerburg for calling in and correctly guessing the song title and artist, taking home two $5 gift cards to Watts Restaurant in Utica!

Tune in on Wednesday for some Who Knew? Wednesday fun facts and a game of Who Am I? for another chance to win that $5 gift card to Watts Restaurant!

Thank you for listening!
– Joe and Ethan

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Pure hearts and LEGOs!?!

For Monday Motivation and Mystery Monday we shared wonderful insight on how to have a pure heart and how to cleanse yourself. Along with our Family Feud Question! Here’s what we shared:

Jesus said “blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God”. Everything there is in life comes out of your heart and if you have a pure heart you will have a pure life. How do you get a pure heart? Engage in Gods word, surrender your life to Christ, practice faith, be quick to repent and confess sins, and share the gospel to everyone you can.

Meditation is like letting the gospel simmer. Let the word of God stay with you when you are studying the Bible. During this 21 day fast, decide what you want to fast from, it doesn’t have to be from food. Remember to Study the bible and let it stay in your heart through this time.

Starting this Thursday we’ll be doing a fun giveaway! Listen to The Morning Thing and The Afternoon Drive for your chance to win Passes to WinterJam 2026! During the weeks of 1/12 and 1/19, you will have a chance to answer WinterJam Artist Trivia to win!!

Name something you build with blocks.

  1. Tower
  2. House
  3. Castle (20 votes)
  4. Bridge (10 votes)
  5. Car (5 votes)

Congratulations to Amy of Howard for guessing the top two answers correctly and taking home TWO $5 gift cards to Watts restaurant tin Utica!

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

Thanks for listening!!

– Joe and Gabriella 🙂

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