Jeff Johnson

Amazed is the perfect word for a worship release. Anyone not amazed by the God they’re worshiping, probably isn’t paying close enough attention. Jeff Johnson’s new five-track EP expresses awe for God with mostly one word titled songs.

Old-timers might be confused about exactly who Jeff Johnson is because there’s already another established Christian musician with that same name. The “other” Jeff Johnson writes slightly more esoteric Christian music; much of it with a Celtic-influenced flavor. My former pastor is also named Jeff Johnson, but he couldn’t sing – at least not well enough to make and release albums – so there shouldn’t be any confusion there. Let’s just call this Johnson the young Jeff Johnson.

Produced by Will Hunt, Amazed has a bright, positive feel to it. Johnson wrote four of these five songs (always with a little help from his fellow musicians), with Reuben Morgan’s (of Hillsong) “Stronger” being the disc’s lone cover song.

Johnson is amazed at God because of His many worthy attributes. This short recorded musical slice opens with “Reign”, which speaks of God’s lordship. But quite honestly, it’s sometimes amazing to realize that God actually reigns – especially when we look at how dark the world is. The song is a reminder, however, of what is happening in the universe, even though we cannot see it with our eyes. As believers, it’s necessary to learn how to walk by faith, not by sight. Johnson’s spiritual fact-of-a-song is an excellent way to open up his new project.

God reigns in the universe because of His mighty strength, and the Bible tells us that the One in us is greater than the ‘outer’ ruler of this world. Reuben Morgan’s “Stronger” helps support the initial statement made with “Reign” by pointing out that only an almighty God can take dominion over the darkness, which is seemingly all over the earth right now.

A song like “Beauty of the Cross”, in contrast, is a work only Christians can truly comprehend. To the outside observer, Christ’s death on that tree is the ugliest event imaginable. But it requires keen spiritual insight to fully realize why Jesus had to go through all that misery. The beauty of the cross is the realization that this finished work of salvation is the purest expression of love, ever. Bruce Cockburn once sang — and U2 eventually quoted him on it — that you have to kick at the darkness till it bleeds daylight. And in a very real sense, this is precisely what Christ did for us. He became darkness (or sin) for us, and then literally bled the daylight of forgiveness all over that old rugged cross.

Johnson is an enthusiastic performer throughout Amazed, although he has not yet developed a unique voice. One is left with the lingering impression that he could be almost any worship leader, at nearly any evangelical congregation, on any given Sunday. In other words, there isn’t much character in Johnson’s voice, yet. Johnson’s basic, generic style is what drives many snobby music critics to folks like Neil Young and Bob Dylan. These men are not great vocalists by any stretch of the imagination, but when they start to sing, everybody knows it’s them. Another strike Johnson has going against him is that his songs are straightforward worship tunes, which say a whole lot more about the God he’s praising than the man doing the singing. And that’s how it ought to be. But from a critical point of view, the listener is left wondering just who this Jeff Johnson character is.

If Jeff Johnson wants to separate himself from the Jeff Johnson that came before him, as well as the slew of praise-oriented performers filling out the Christian marketplace these days, he’ll need to give us music that also throws in a few biographical details, in addition to the understandable amazement he feels toward his Creator. But until then, he’ll be just another Jeff Johnson.

Tagged as: Amazed, Jeff Johnson

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