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Ccm's Top 100 Greatest Songs in Christian Music 1

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After painstaking work, CCM Magazine came up with a list of what it considers the top 100 Christian songs of all times. But instead of simply creating the list or even releasing a book (which they did), they also decided to release those songs on four CD's. This is the first of that set.

This CD takes songs randomly from the list. These aren't the top 25 or the bottom 25. They worked hard to mix the songs from different decades as well to make sure the set was well rounded. For instance, they've got "Praise the Lord" from the 70's and "God of Wonders" from just a few years ago.

Naturally, with any list, you'll get some obvious choices. This time, the obvious choices include such classics as "Awesome God," "The Great Adventure", "Where There is Faith," "The Warrior is a Child," "Place in This World," and "What if I Stumble." There are even one of two songs I'm not a big fan of that I knew had to be included, like "People get Ready...Jesus is Comin'" and "Heaven."

And, equally as naturally, there are songs on the list that wonder why they are included. For me, the biggest question is "Stand." I'm a huge Susan Ashton fan, but always felt this was one of her weaker songs. Surely they could have found something else to include here. "Lead Me On" is another curious selection because I can think of several other Amy Grant songs that belong here instead. Not that I don't like that song. Of course, without seeing the entire list, it's hard to judge in this case.

23 of the songs are the original recordings by the original artists. Two of the songs are tribute recordings. The first is "When God Ran" as recorded by Across the Sky. When I first heard they'd be recording this song, I knew it was a perfect fit, and I was right. Also rerecorded here is "Oh Lord, You're Beautiful." This song is covered by Warren Barfield, who does a very good job with it.

Almost every song on this two-disc set has a place in my heart. I could go on about many of them and what they've met to me over the years. And if you've listened to Christian music for a significant length of time, you'll feel the same way. This is a great way to get many of those songs together in one place.

This album actually only has 25 of the Top 100 CCM songs in Christian Music. This was suppose to be album 1 of 4 released. But it was the only one that was actually released. This is well worth the the purchase. I have searched all over the net to try to find the list of the top 100 songs, it is only available in the book of the same name. I am still working on making my own collection of all 100 songs from my album collection.

Here is the list from 1 to 100

Rich Mullins, Awesome God, (Winds Of Heaven, Stuff Of Earth)
dc talk, Jesus Freak, ( Jesus Freak)
Michael W. Smith, Friends, (The Michael W. Smith Project)
Mercy Me, I Can Only Imagine, (Almost There)
Amy Grant, El Shaddai, (Age To Age)
Delirious?, I Could Sing Of Your Love Forever, (Cutting Edge)
Jars Of Clay, Flood, ( Jars Of Clay)
Steven Curtis Chapman, The Great Adventure, ( The Great Adventure)
Newsboys, Shine, ( Going Public)
Darlene Zschech, Shout To The Lord, ( Shout To The Lord)
City On A Hill, God Of Wonders, (City On A Hill, Songs Of Worship And Praise)
Nicole C Mullen, Redeemer, (Nicole C Mullen)
Larry Norman, I Wish We'd All Been Ready, ( Upon This Rock)
Jaci Velasquez, On My Knees, ( Heavenly Place)
Gaithers, Because He Lives, (Because He Lives)
Third Day, Agnus Dei, (Exodus)
Michael English, Mary, Did You Know? (Michael English)
Bob Carlisle, Butterfly Kisses (Butterfly Kissses, Shades Of Grace)
Point Of Grace, The Great Divide, (The Whole Truth)
Twila Paris, How Beautiful, (Cry For The Desert)
Rich Mullins, Step By Step, (The World As Best I Remember It, Vol. 1)
Michael W Smith, Place In This World, (Go West Young Man)
Avalon, Testify To Love, (A Maze Of Grace)
Third Day, Show Me Your Glory, (Come Together)
Audio Adrenaline, Big House, (Don't Censor Me)
Steven Curtis Chapman, I Will Be There, (More To This Life) have
Nichole Nordeman, Holy, (Woven And Spun)
Newsboys, He Reigns, (Adoration The Worship Album)
Russ Taff, We Will Stand, (Walls Of Glass)
Amy Grant, Thy Word, (Straight Ahead)
dc talk, What If I Stumble?, (Jesus Freak)
Third Day, Consuming Fire, (Third Day)
Clay Crosse, I Surrender All, (My Place I With You)
Amy Grant, Sing Your Praise To The Lord, (Age To Age)
Rich Mullins, Hold Me Jesus, (A Liturgy, A Legacy And A Ragamuffin Band)
Ray Boltz, Thank You, (Thank You)
Steven Curtis Chapman, For The Sake Of The Call, (For The Sake Of The Call)
Gaithers, He Touched Me, (He Touched Me)
Michael W Smith, Above All, (Worship)
Keith Green, Oh Lord, You're Beautiful (So You Wanna Go Back To Egypt)
Michael Card, Love Crucified Arose, (Legacy)
Crystal Lewis, People Get Ready, Jesus Is Comin', (Beauty For Ashes)
Amy Grant, Breath Of Heaven..Mary's Song, (Home For Christmas)
Steve Green, People Need The Lord, (Steve Green)
Bebe and Cece Winans, Heaven, (Heaven)
Michael W Smith, Secret Ambition, (i 2 Eye)
Point Of Grace, Jesus Will Still Be There, (Point Of Grace)
Twila Paris, The Warrior Is A Child, (The Warrior Is A Child)
Randy Stonehill, Shut De Do, (Equator)
Swithfoot, Dare You To Move, (Learning To Breathe)
Evie, Mirror, (Mirror)
Dallas Holm, Rise Again, (Dallas Holm And Praise Live)
Don Francisco, He's Alive, (Forgiven)
Keith Green, There Is A Redeemer, (Songs For The Shepherd)
God's Property, Stomp, (God's Property From Kirk Franklin's Nu Nation)
Sandi Patti, Via Dolorosa, (Song From The Heart)
Andrae Crouch, Jesus Is The Answer, (Live At Carnegie Hall)
Chris Rice, Welcome To Our World, (Deep Enough To Dream)
Andrea Crouch, My Tribute, (Keep On Singin')
Amy Grant, Lead Me On, (Lead Me On)
4 Him, For Future Generations, (The Ride)
Phil Keaggy, Your Love Broke Thru, (Love Broke Thru)
David Meece, We Are The Reason, (Are You Ready)
Andrae Crouch, Soon And Very Soon, (This Is Another Day)
Sandi Patti, We Shall Behold Him, (Love Overflowing)
Twila Paris, He Is Exalted, (Kingdom Seekers)
Imperials, Praise The Lord, (Heed The Call)
Wayne Watson, Watercolour Ponies, (Watercolour Ponies)
2nd Chapter Of Acts, Easter Song, (With Footnotes)
Stryper, To Hell With The Devil, (To Hell With The Devil)
Charlie Peacock, In The Light, (Love Life)
Petra, More Power To Ya, (More Power To Ya)
Sandi Patti, Love In Any Language, (Morning Like This)
Newsong, Arise My Love, (People Get Ready)
Larry Norman, Why Should The Devil Have All The Good Music?, (Only Visiting This Planet)
POD, Alive, (Satellite)
Wayne Watson, Friend Of A Wounded Heart, (Watercolour Ponies)
Steven Curtis Chapman, Dive, (Speechless)
Wes King, The Robe, (The Robe)
4 Him, Where These Is Faith, (4HIM)
Benny Hester, When God Ran, (Benny From Here)
Michael English, In Christ Alone, (Michael English)
Mark Schultz, He's My Son, (Mark Schultz)
Susan Ashton, Stand, (Wakened By The Wind)
Larnelle Harris, How Excellent Is They Name, (I've Just Seen Jesus)
Twila Paris, Runner, (Kingdom Seekers)
Rich Mullins, My Deliverer, (The Jesus Record)
BJ Thomas, Home Where I Belong, (Home Where I Belong)
Cindy Morgan, I Will Be Free, (A Reason To Live)
Kathy Troccoli, Stubborn Love, (Stubborn Love)
Carman, The Champion, (The Champion)
White Heart, We Are His Hands, (Vital Signs)
First Call, Undivided, (Undivided)
Jennifer Knapp, Undo Me, (Kansas)
Scott Wesley Brown, He Will Carry You, (Signature)
Chuck Girard, Sometimes Alleluia, (Chuck Girard)
Leslie Phillips, Strength Of My Life, (Dancing With Danger)
Degarmo and Key, Ready OrNot, (Mission Of Mercy)
Margaret Becker, Say The Name, (Soul)
The Choir, Beautiful Scandalous Night, (Flap Your Wings)

I really enjoyed this particular compilation because it included hits over a wide timespan. I wasn't limited to hits from just the recent years, so I was thrilled to see this CD encompassed even the songs I grew up on in the Christian arena. I would recommend this particular product to anyone who wishes to have a wide range of contemporary Christian music.