CCM Thursday: Geoff Moore & the Distance Top 10

Me & Geoff, 1996

I first met Geoff Moore and the Distance while standing in line to get a table at a restaurant at the 1995 National Youth Worker's Convention in Nashville.  I didn't know much about their music, but they were really nice guys.  After meeting them, I heard them play at the NYWC and loved them.  I bought several CDs and took them back and began playing them for the youth of FUMC-Kissimmee, and they liked them as well.  The following year at the NYWC in Anaheim, Geoff and a make-shift band lead by the incomparable James Ward did a killer rendition of Home Run.  That's when the picture you see here was taken.  The following summer we hosted GMD in Kissimmee for an amazing live show (that lost $7,000- you can read that story here).  Then at the 1997 NYWC in Philadelphia they presented all of us that had been in youth ministry for 20 years or more with a framed copy of the lyrics to Geoff's song, Only A Fool.  Mine still hangs on my wall.  I used their songs as themes for summers, camps, retreats and Bible studies.  You can see why I feel such a connection to this band, and why I was so excited when my Twitter feed just blew up yesterday when I asked for suggestions for this list.  So here is my own personal Geoff Moore & the Distance Top 10.  Please feel free to correct me in the comment section!


10) Free  (From the 1997 album Threads) - This remake of a song from The Who and their classic album Tommy gets a spot just based on the fact that Kissimmee was the first time they had ever played it live- and they KILLED it.
   9) Evidence of God (From the 1995 album Home Run) - A great song about seeing God's handiwork around us every day.  "Look around you- SEE the evidence!"
   8)  Live To Tell (From the 1993 album Evolution) - This song, about letting our lives speak of our love for Jesus, was the theme song for the most ridiculous youth trip I ever led.  (Click here for that story!)
   7)  When All Is Said and Done (From the 1993 album Evolution) - An amazing song that says exactly the things I hope are said about me when my life is said and done.  This song was mentioned by many of the folks who responded on Twitter.   
   6)  Tell Me Again (From the 1995 album Home Run) - "Tell me again of the old, old stories...I don't want to forget, so please tell me again."  Not one of GMD's more popular songs, I sang it in worship at 6 different churches over the years.  I couldn't leave it off this list.
   5)  Life Together (From the 1993 album Evolution) - A song of friendship and community that always takes me back to my own high school days and my youth group- 16 years before it was written. "To my mother we were known as the gang..."
   4)  Why Should the Devil Have All the Good Music? (From the 1993 album Evolution) - This cover of the great Larry Norman classic introduced a new generation to Larry's music.  And when the guys played this live, the house came down!!!  Geoff Barkley's keyboard solo always blew me away...
   3)  Home Run (From the 1995 album Home Run) - A challenge to every Christian to get out of the stands, get off our butts, and PLAY BALL!!!  I love this song.  Plus I wore a green GMD baseball hat for years after this song came out- until it died of wear and tear!
   2)  Friend Like U (From the 1992 album Friend Like U) -  Just a fun and infectious song that I happen to know you can form a pretty mean conga line to!  A video of this tune featuring pictures from my youth groups throughout the years can be seen at the bottom of this post.
   1)  Only A Fool (From the 1997 album Threads) - "Show me the big in the small, show me the beauty in the call, show me the road that I must choose, and I'll take the job only a fool would do..."  I still can't listen to it without strange liquid leaking from my eyes.  An amazing song about the kind of ministry we are all called to...if you don't know this song, FIND IT!
Also receiving votes:  The Vow, Listen To Our Hearts, Scattering, Desperate Man, Evolution, Threads, Good To Be Alive and Heart To God, Hand To Man.  Special mention goes to Geoff's great love song, If You Could See What I See.  I tried to get him to come sing it at the wedding of Brian & Jill Painter Watson, but I didn't have that much clout!  :)  Now enjoy the video!