Tag Archives: bridges

MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 6: JOSH GROBAN

To say that I am 100% prepared to write about this artist would be a lie. Because I’m not. Frankly, with everything that has been happening this week, from work to what has been suddenly portrayed on the news, the research for this artist has been minimal, to say the least. Nevertheless, what I have heard (and what I will continue to hear) has blown my own expectation of the genre of classical opera/pop that this artist is famous for, right out of the water. When I was younger, I used to have an aversion to anything of that musical variety. Not really sure why, but if I’m going to be completely honest, I’d say that I was too much in my CCM bubble not to notice the great quality music that exists (and continues to do so) outside the confines of whatever is to be sung on Sunday mornings at church service…I’m sure you get the picture, right? Music is a gift from the Lord, and it is up to us as stewards of this gift to bring hope and encouragement into the light, and to bring to listeners a sense of camaraderie and unity in times of difficulty, to ask questions that may not have been asked if it had not been for the music. There are many genres of music, and many people stand tall within their own genres. As I’ve discussed in these blog posts in previous weeks, artists like Michael W. Smith places a firm stamp on the CCM/Christian pop ‘genre’, while bands like Switchfoot and Lifehouse influence heavily on the rock music scene. Avril Lavigne’s music imprints a mark on pop/punk while Delta Goodrem is very prominent in Australian music. And so which artist stands out amongst the opera/pop genre? Well, Josh Groban, of course!

Continue reading MOMENTOUS MONDAYS: INFLUENTIAL ARTISTS OF ALL TIME – WEEK 6: JOSH GROBAN

Message Mondays (Are We Really Undergoing the Change, or Are We Just Gasbags and Don’t Even Know It?)

We always need an applause. Either affirmation that we’ve done a good job, from our parents, or from our peers. But nevertheless, we need someone to tell us that we’ve done a great job, to ‘keep up the good work’. As soon as we don’t hear that, we suddenly feel as if we’ve laboured in vain, our morale decreases and we hide in our shell. We labour all night to fix an essay for uni, and all we get in return, is a suggestion that the essay was too long, and for next time, it should be cut down. But then you think, Hang on, wasn’t that the same person that wanted me to increase the length of my essays? And now they’re saying that it’s too long? Sometimes we don’t get the praise and exaltation that we as humans want. We don’t get the credit that we feel as if we need to deserve. I did it, yet this guy who hasn’t lifted a finger gets the new car, gets the new house, all because he’s a smooth talker and what did he contribute- his name! That was it. And then he gets the fame, he gets the opportunity to be on radio, he gets the new house, and what do I get?…though it’s not normally like that, and I doubt that any friend would do it; there is that hint of ‘if I don’t get my fair share of credit, then I’m stuffed, literally’. Well, maybe not literally, but at the end of the day, humans are a selfish bunch. We all want to matter in our own way. We all want to have a piece of the action. We all want the spotlight to be shone on us. But then when push comes to shove, it’s natural to think that if we do have that ‘fame’ that goes with living a life for Christ, to naturally think, ‘Gee, I can truly live like this,’ but then forget that we didn’t have anything to do with us getting to that place at the start anyway.

Continue reading Message Mondays (Are We Really Undergoing the Change, or Are We Just Gasbags and Don’t Even Know It?)