100 great songs, 100 great stories. Listen to the soundtrack of your life. What do you hear? Which songs and artists have impacted your spirit and inspired your faith? This ultimate guide chronicles such songs?the top 100 songs of contemporary Christian music that have not only achieved commercial success, but have forever changed the lives of those who have listened. Selected by votes of thousands of CCM Magazine readers with the input of a top panel of Christian music insiders (including artists, executives, producers and songwriters), this list represents the best of the best. Become part of the moment where divine inspiration meets sheer musical talent. From Rich Mullins, Amy Grand, dc talk, Steven Curtis Chapman and MercyMe to pioneers like Larry Norman, Keith Green and the Gaithers, watch how the musical expression of these artists' own lives resulted in the songs that forever changed yours.

stories behind the music that changed our lives forever. ---book jacket.

Get the stories behind the greatest albums in Christian music from the people who know them best(a veritable Whos Who of Christian music journalism. In this first-of-its-kind book, leading Christian music critics celebrate the artists and albums that have impacted generations of believers.The 100 Greatest Albums in Christian Music presents each chosen album along with pictures of the original jacket art, photographs, and information on the making and influence of that recording. Readers will cherish insights into artists that include Amy Grant, Rich Mullins, dcTalk, Jars of Clay, Keith Green, and Larry Norman and savor the history of such landmark albums as Lead Me On, Another Land, and No Compromise.

(Piano/Vocal/Guitar Songbook). 25 contemporary worship hits are presented in this collection for piano, voice and guitar. Includes: Glorious Day (Passion) * Good, Good Father (Chris Tomlin) * Holy Spirit (Francesca Battistelli) * King of My Heart (John Mark & Sarah McMillan) * The Lion and the Lamb (Big Daddy Weave) * Reckless Love (Cory Asbury) * 10,000 Reasons (Matt Redman) * This Is Amazing Grace (Phil Wickham) * What a Beautiful Name (Hillsong Worship) * and more.

Christian Congregational Music explores the role of congregational music in Christian religious experience, examining how musicians and worshippers perform, identify with and experience belief through musical praxis. Contributors from a broad range of fields, including music studies, theology, literature, and cultural anthropology, present interdisciplinary perspectives on a variety of congregational musical styles - from African American gospel music, to evangelical praise and worship music, to Mennonite hymnody - within contemporary Europe and North America. In addressing the themes of performance, identity and experience, the volume explores several topics of interest to a broader humanities and social sciences readership, including the influence of globalization and mass mediation on congregational music style and performance; the use of congregational music to shape multifaceted identities; the role of mass mediated congregational music in shaping transnational communities; and the function of music in embodying and imparting religious belief and knowledge. In demonstrating the complex relationship between ’traditional’ and ’contemporary’ sounds and local and global identifications within the practice of congregational music, the plurality of approaches represented in this book, as well as the range of musical repertoires explored, aims to serve as a model for future congregational music scholarship.

Apostles of Rock is the first objective, comprehensive examination of the contemporary Christian music phenomenon. Some see CCM performers as ministers or musical missionaries, while others define them as entertainers or artists. This popular musical movement clearly evokes a variety of responses concerning the relationship between Christ and culture. The resulting tensions have splintered the genre and given rise to misunderstanding, conflict, and an obsessive focus on self-examination. As Christian stars Amy Grant, Michael W. Smith, DC Talk, and Sixpence None the Richer climb the mainstream charts, Jay Howard and John Streck talk about CCM as an important movement and show how this musical genre relates to a larger popular culture. They map the world of CCM by bringing together the perspectives of the people who perform, study, market, and listen to this music. By examining CCM lyrics, interviews, performances, web sites, and chat rooms, Howard and Streck uncover the religious and aesthetic tensions within the CCM community. Ultimately, the conflict centered around Christian music reflects the modern religious community's understanding of evangelicalism and the community's complex relationship with American popular culture.