Jordan Janzen, a singer-songwriter from Canada, was born into a family of professional musicians who loved music and loved the Lord. They were part of the 1980s Christian rock band Sojourner, but after Janzen was born they started leading worship.
When Janzen was 7 years old, he was already showing the rock influence of his parents when he started playing drums with the worship team.
“This is what they told me later: I played so loud that they had to put pillows on the drums so that they wouldn’t be so loud,” Janzen said.
Even more importantly, Janzen grew up with a priority of worshipping through music.
“Just the focus of the music being a Christian rock band and then being in a worship team dynamic and watching them and then, I think, having an early understanding that music was more than entertainment. … I think it was very impactful, honestly, and set the course for my life,” he said.
Colorful life
Janzen followed his parents’ legacy by becoming part of a band in high school and just knew he was going to be famous. But when college years arrived, the band dissolved and the members moved on with their lives.
Janzen got married and became a youth minister. He wanted to put his energy into that role so he felt he had to give up music. But a desire for accountability led Janzen and his fellow former band member James Shiels to start meeting together, which inspired new songs.
This led to forming a new group — The Color — whose name comes from the “idea that color brings life to the world around us.” They wanted to share that colorful life that could be had through Jesus.
For several years, The Color toured in Canada and won multiple GMA Canada awards. They played with Christian artists such as Tenth Avenue North, For King & Country and Building 429.
Then came the pandemic.
“For so many years, we kind of got into a bit of a routine of busyness, and we were doing a lot of things to try to keep it going. Then we were really forced to stop,” he said.
One band member left during this time, which led to the band reevaluating what they were doing.
“Our families are being impacted by the decision to be on the road, and so it was a really interesting season of reflection. It was also a season of new creation,” Janzen continued. “During that time I definitely was not intending to begin a solo thing, but God just opened some doors that had never been opened before.”
Going solo took courage and vulnerability, and it also brought up some new insecurities. However, he had support — his former band members. Though no longer The Color, some band members still currently play with Janzen.
Vulnerability
Marriage and children add to the difficulty and stresses of this type of music ministry, so he puts a lot of trust in the Lord’s timing. He has been praying for the past year and a half for God to open and close doors accordingly.
“I’m just trusting that God has given me certain gifts and He’s placed songs in my heart, and He has provided some opportunities for me to travel and share that with different people,” he said. “So I’m really trusting Him in all of this that He has a plan.
“In those days when I feel unqualified and insecure, I really do try to just kind of push against those feelings and recognize that I can do hard things, even though sometimes I don’t feel like I can,” Janzen said.
One of the aspects that fans love about Janzen is that vulnerability.
Growing up in church culture in a Christian home and on stage from a young age makes him feel like he’s put on a pedestal. He wrestles with the ideas of needing to be perfect and using works instead of grace to get to God.
His latest song, “You Can Let Go,” portrays that struggle:
Aren’t you getting tired of the fighting
Saying that you’re fine but you’re lying
Holding onto shame got your knuckles white
Thinking that you have to be perfect
Got it all together on the surface
The problem’s out of sight not out of mind
But God loves you just as you are
You are precious in His eyes
You don’t have to cling so tight
“He loves me because I’m His child. ‘You Can Let Go’ just tells that story and really emphasizes God’s grace and His love for His people and His children and how we have His heart. And there’s nothing that we can say or do that changes that,” Janzen noted.
“I’ve learned about myself just how much I really do try to, or how much I do rely on my own strength. It’s been something that I have wrestled with probably most of my life, but in my age now where I have a little more experience and wisdom, I think just recognizing how much I need Him and how much I want to allow Him to take the lead because I am just not enough.
“But He is — and He is good.”
This fall, Janzen has joined the Newsboys for their current tour, which ends Nov. 23 in Sandy Springs, Georgia. To find out more about Janzen go to www.jordanjanzenmusic.com.
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