Music has the ability to not only move us in the present, but also take us back in time. The connection between songs and our autobiographical experiences is one that is well-researched and well-established; basically, music serves as milestones in our lives. 

With the release of WOW's 20th Anniversary collection (buy on iTunes), some of the biggest songs from the past two decades have been put together, and it's bringing up a whole bunch of memories for the NRT staff. We share some of our memories tied to some of these WOW hits, and we encourage you to do the same on social media, using the hashtag #WOWIRememberWhen. 
 
#WOWIRememberWhen I first heard Audio Adrenaline's "Big House." 
After youth group during the summer of 1994, I went over to my friend's house where a bunch of us were gathering to hang out, and Audio A's album, Don't Censor Me, was blasting from the boombox. It was my very first introduction to Christian music, and I was hooked. Before that, my musical diet was a lot of mainstream pop, but afterwards, I really began to dive into what Christian music had to offer and it defined my lifelong calling to Christian music ministry.
#WOWIRembemberWhen I would crank the song "Testify to Love" by Avalon.
That song was my jam, and when it came out, the vocal group was the biggest act in Christian music (at least as far as I could tell). Christian pop wasn't full fledged at that time, and so Avalon was the standard-bearer at the time. I remember not only singing it out at the top of my lungs in my room and in the car when it would come on the radio, but I think I even bought the instrumental background CD to sing it at church. Making matters even more serious, I eventually joined two different vocal groups where we'd bust out that song. I loved its unmistakable declaration of faith, fun rhythms (particularly on that part that goes, "I'll be a witness in the silences when words are not enough") and, really, Jody McBrayer's power vocals. Oh, and the subtle reference to John Lennon's "Give Peace A Chance." 
#WOWIRememberWhen I first heard "Dare You to Move" by Switchfoot live...
...after it had already become one of my definitive life theme songs years after its release. I was in college when a local church announced, less than 24 hours before the event, that through chance and a friendship connection, Jon Foreman would be playing a set in their auditorium. This "auditorium" happened to be a tiny room on the second story of a Texas shopping center, where around 200 of us crammed together on the warm April evening. Jon stood unassumingly in the middle of the room with a borrowed guitar. He started immediately with the opening chords of "Dare You to Move"--you know the ones. All 200 of us sang along so loud I swear I could feel the floorboards vibrating. We were all caught up in the swell of the song's bold dare to hope, to lean into redemption and live. It was a beautiful moment of seeing how this song somehow had the ability to tie the soul narratives of so many strangers into one brave anthem.
#WOWIRememberWhen I heard the song "Dive" by Steven Curtis Chapman. 
I wasn't saved until I was 28 years old in 1999, and my wife and I got baptized together in 2001 at a local lake with our church congregation. When we did, we wrote out the entire lyrics of Steven's hit song, "Dive" in our scrapbook. That was our story, and Steven had put our story into a song that we could give as our testimony to our friends and relatives. At the time, we had one baby girl, and now we have three girls. We preserved our handwritten lyrics as a witness to our story being told in his great song. 
#WOWIRememberWhen I heard Jeremy Camp's "There Will Be A Day"...
... and fell in love with Christian music for the first time. It was right after the loss of a close friend and the words were hope to my heart. It was the first time a song had met me in the midst of such sorrow and it gave me comfort in a way that nothing else could at that time. I realized that Christian music was like that as a whole -- hopeful -- and soon I was a huge fan. That song has pulled me through many difficult nights, saved my life many times, and is the reason I know that music has immense power.
#WOWIRememberWhen I first heard "Jesus Freak" by DC Talk. 
I was totally blown away that they were showing the video on VH-1 and MTV--a Christian group! In the late '90s I used to put this song on in my apartment in college and basically spazz out! My roommate used to sit and look at me as if I had lost my mind--and he had a great reason to do so! When they went into the bridge ("People say I'm strange, does it make me a stranger..."), I would actually lay on the ground and sing it as if I was some sort of eccentric alternative rock star. Then when that semi-metal guitar solo came in, I would jump around and mosh--a bald-headed black man with no hair to whip back and forth; it never stopped me though! Another fond memory that I had was doring a cover of this song with my youth pastor. That was a lot of fun, but I DO NOT want to see any footage of this performance.

What about you? Share your Christian music memories on social media now using the hashtag #WOWIRememberWhen, and then stroll down memory lane by listening to the best from the past 20 years, WOW Hits 20th Anniversary!