I enjoy Christian music in its many forms, which includes mostly everything from the liturgical to the contemporary. Though I’m not likely to utter a Georgian chant, I admire the many different forms of worship that is expressed by the Body of Christ, marveling at the scope and breadth of believers from around the world and down through the ages.

Contemporary Christian Music

I have a fairly good grasp of the origin of what is known as CCM — Contemporary Christian Music — having listened to Larry Norman (the father of Christian rock), Keith Green, 2nd Chapter of Acts, Mylon Le Fevre and others from a generation ago proclaim God’s goodness through songs employing a modern beat.

These days, Christian music has changed and I can honestly say that I like a lot of what I’m hearing. There was a period during the late 1980s to late 1990s when there just didn’t seem to be too many artists with a strong heart for God, though Steve Camp, Steve Green, Twila Paris and a handful of others I found to be particularly inspiring.

One CD given to me recently by my wife, The Best of Passion (So Far), has been getting a lot of playtime from me lately as I find myself listening to it in the car or at home. A collection of 30 songs — the two disc CD contains music from a variety of artists including the David Crowder Band, Charlie Hall, Matt Redman, Chris Tomlin, Candi Pearson Shelton, Kristian Stanfill, and others. Many of the songs we sing at church while others I have heard on Christian music radio stations, particularly K-LOVE.

The Passion Conferences

The album is from the Passion Conferences, a movement of college students that began in 1995 under the banner of CHOICE Ministries. Birthed at Baylor University, the movement has spread across the country and is now global, encouraging believers to hold fast to Isaiah 26:8 — Yes, LORD, walking in the way of your laws, we wait for you; your name and renown are the desire of our hearts. Those who are involved with the Passion Conferences are called the 268 Generation, a term pointing to that verse in Isaiah.

Music, of course, is a big part of the Passion Conferences and out of these conferences quite a few CDs have been produced. The “Best of” CD encompasses music from the first nine CDs produced, with three more having been released since its 2006 debut. I must say that I have never hear a more generous collection of quality Christian songs put together in one package as this CD offers. I find it a treat when you can get 12 good songs, but when you find 30 the blessings are abundant!

I haven’t included a sample of the music here, rather I encourage you to explore what Passion Conferences is all about and to hear some of these tunes yourself by clicking the links located in the fourth and fifth paragraph above.  I hope that you find the music to be uplifting, worshipful music for Lord Jesus Christ.