In some ways, "Turn Your Eyes to Christ" feels like a classic CCM radio single. It has a pop/rock feel with all the right builds and breaks in it to be familiar with the casual listener. But there's enough here to make it stand out. The opening hook is heard enough through the track's runtime to get lodged in the listener's ear. Aside from this, the lyrics avoid the usual cliches that could come from a song covering such a topic. With references ranging from Psalm 119 to Isaiah 40, there's a richness to Shepard's simple cry. Lines like "A lamp unto our feet, is enough for the next step," give the lyrics more heft than some of its contemporaries.
"Turn Your Eyes to Christ," then, is a solid, catchy, encouraging tune that walks the line between appealing to the wider CCM market while being unique enough for those who may be tired of the same-old-same-old. As the song says, "In your coming, going, joy, and grieving", you can take in this song as a reminder to keep your focus on Christ when it's so easy to look elsewhere. With his latest single, Jared Shepard has crafted a simple expression of faith that many can sing along with as well.
- Review date: 5/23/25, written by John Underdown of Jesusfreakhideout.com
Record Label: None
Album length: 1 track: 3 minutes, 47 seconds
Street Date: April 15, 2025
Buy It: Amazon Music
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Jared Shepard: So, I grew up in a musical home in Huntsville, AL. From a very early age, it was just engrained in my mind that music was a part of life. Around middle school or so, I began taking it more "serious" (as serious as you can in 6th grade, I guess?). I was in a little band and we did a 6th grade talent show night and honestly I just fell in love with all of it. I also played sports through middle school and tried to balance the two. But, when I got to high school I was debating playing on the football team or staying in the marching band. My dad sat me down one day and said, "you can do whatever you want, but I want you to think about something: how much football will you play when you're 40?" Fortunately, wisdom prevailed and I really leaned in to the craft of musicianship. From there, I was still in garage bands (ska is incredibly fun music to play, btw), and that began to include playing at church in youth groups, on Sunday mornings, etc. Fast forward to college, I began traveling with some bands and recording music (mainly worship, but also a country band - fun fact, Thomas Rhett was a good friend and one of our singers.. different story for another day. Great guy though) and fell more in love with the idea of having somewhat of a career with music somehow. Longer story short, that was short-lived, haha. I got a business degree and was on the path to take over my dad's business, but still had a gnawing on my soul to go into ministry full time and lead worship. I remember a friend of mine at a church I would lead at a lot kept saying to me, "dude, you belong in ministry! Just come be on staff with us!". I always said no, until one day on a job site, I just broke down, called my mom and said I just can't do this job anymore. My wife and I then just said, "Lord, what do you want us to do?" Next day.. my buddy called again and said, "Man, I know you've said no, but I am telling you, you belong in ministry." We said, "we're in." So, I transitioned to a full-time vocational worship leader at a church in Birmingham, AL. I was still traveling with a band and writing and recording music, but I now had a place to call "home" and a flock to shepherd through worship. I was so excited!
That said, as much as I wanted vocational to be all sunshine and cloudless days, I quickly learned that sheep bite back and ministry is incredibly challenging - especially when it comes to any role with music. I was in Birmingham for a couple more years and then had a chance to be the worship pastor at the church I went to in college, in Tuscaloosa, AL. I jumped at the opportunity! My role was to effectively help a church pioneer a new worship culture, and steer toward a very modern ethos. At a 120+ year old baptist church, you can imagine the challenges that involved to try to paint vision compelling enough for people to leave what was comfortable and, in a unified effort, change directions. Frankly, it was exhausting and while we did establish a thriving contemporary service, we also had a church that was split between two distinct worship cultures. To be blunt, it eventually beat me; I came to a place where I had nothing left to give after 5 years of striving and honestly straining to lead change. So, after multiple pastoral changes and staff turnover, I knew the best thing for me (and my family) was to step aside. Through prayer and consideration of other opportunities, we ended up moving back to Huntsville, AL, which is where we still call home now. In all the best ways, this move gave my family and I the opportunity to really lean more toward song writing, recording, itinerant ministry and traveling - which is what I still love doing now.
Jared: I love the Local Church. I want to see it thrive and have healthy, whole leaders who are not exhausted and burnt out! I would say from experience, I firmly believe right now the worship leader/pastor role is the most difficult job in the modern church. And I consistently see worship leaders in particular leaving ministry faster than any other role. I would know! There are many reasons for this, but undoubtedly one of the reasons is a lack of opportunity in leadership development and spiritual formation. That's where I want to offer whatever help I can for leaders walking through the challenges of vocational worship leadership. I want to be a consistent voice of encouragement that others were for me on my hardest days, I want to offer training in how to not just be an effective worship leader, but also maintain a wholistic approach to spiritual formation and a relationship with Christ that bleeds over into worship leading - because you can't lead people where you haven't first been.
More specifically, one of my favorite parts of my roles on staffs have been to develop intern and mentoring programs for worship and leadership. The thing that gives me the most life is seeing other, younger leaders lean into the potential they didn't even know they had and walk boldly in that gifting. One of the things a mentor of mine told me that I always tell other I am leading/training is, "my goal is for you to begin your journey where it has taken me a lifetime to get to." That is the heart of discipleship, I believe. The future of the church is in the hands of the next generation and I want to do anything and everything I can to equip and train competent worship leaders, paired with outstanding character. The future of the church in many ways depends on it.
Jared: Yeah.. You know, this song was one of the only songs I can remember that I mostly wrote in a single sitting. It was like this "divine download" of lyrics that had been bubbling in my soul for several months while walking through perhaps the darkest season of my life to date. It kind of seemed like everything I thought was certain in ministry was ripped away: I stepped away ("resigned") from my role as a worship pastor at a church I loved dearly and didn't get afforded the ending I wanted (and selfishly really thought we deserved), inevitably loved it enough to leave it, and accepted a job in Texas I thought was the clear next step to only be met with what would ultimately be a rescinded offer on the same day we found out our home had sold, to then move back in with my parents (exactly how I saw my life going at 35 with a wife and two kids), and from there not being able to find work even after applying for over 1,000 jobs (I have the Indeed numbers to prove it). If I am honest, those were the days where the "rock of our faith" felt more like a pebble in my shoe. I may have been standing on it, but it was uncomfortable and I think at my worst moments I wanted to just shake it out. At the same time, I was reading books about God's faithfulness and the story of Israel. Israel was a people of promise and purpose, but the route to the promise was a maze through the wilderness - to them, what felt like aimless wandering for decades! At least there were certainties while in captivity by Egypt! But through their wandering, the Lord was effectively laying low mountains, raising up valleys, parting waters, providing when no provision seemed possible, and never stopped leading His people. These stories and verses about the promises of God to His people were things I have sung about for years, preached dozens of times, and discipled or counseled others with in dark times; but I hadn't truly lived these experiences and stories myself, where my only hope truly was the promises of God. This season, while excruciating in many ways, has been irreplaceable. While I feel like we are still kind of in hiding, driven behind the mountain for a season, I know it has brought healing and restoration, and I believe has filled me with stories of the Lord's certainty, and how the test of faith produces endurance. At the time of writing this, I do not think we have been led out from behind the mountain yet - we are still hiding and perhaps healing in many way - but I also am certain of a future ahead, and this season has bubbled up and brewed more songs in my heart than ever before. I am so excited and expectant for the future! I say all of that to say this song was one I sang over myself for months, prayed over myself, read these promises in scripture, screamed them in my car, wrestled and toiled over them with the Lord, pleaded for them to come true and be true for me, and in the end have quieted my soul to say, "Lord, you know. Have your way. In all seasons, I will praise you and keep my eyes fixed on Christ, to the best of my ability. - and when my ability fails, Holy Spirit, keep my gaze gripped on Christ."
Jared: I have found the biggest thing is just bringing everything to Christ, and keeping an ongoing conversation with the Spirit throughout my day; I try to let my conscious thoughts be directed and connected with the Spirit, inviting Christ in to overwhelm all aspects of my daily life, surrendering to His plan even when it makes absolutely no sense at all. Maybe that's cliche, but I truly have found a new appreciation of conversing with Christ all day. I believe this is what Paul had in mind about "praying always" and bearing in mind the things of Christ. This season has placed a new dependency on following the Lord in all ways and in all seasons. It seemed like I was in a time where I thought I was thriving: I was in a band that was having pretty significant success (at least to us), we had opportunities to lead at fun conferences, write and record music, and had a community of very talented team members, I was at a church getting to lead worship and occasionally preach at a fairly large college worship service, I had a job playing music with great benefits, we lived in a comfortable home, our family was enjoying our season of life. And then it was like one by one, the Lord began to remove each one of those things from my life, almost systematically, and it's like I felt Him asking me, "do you love me more than this?" I have learned my identity is in Christ and all else is a waste and cannot sustain the weight of my identity. Worship has been a core piece of all of this: when I have felt like it, and especially when I haven't. Solitude has had a huge piece, as well. Where I once found myself on a platform in front of hundreds and perhaps thousands, now I am often alone on a porch at my parents' house, watching my two boys play in the yard, while I read Scripture, a book, or muse through lyrics of new songs. And I'll take the latter every time, because I often imagine Christ in the other rocking chair, sitting with me, enjoying the stillness of the season and the beauty of the unexpected seasons through the wilderness.
Jared: Yes! This is the first installment of what I plan to be a 5 song EP that will be released with the 5th song. On June 12, I will release a hymn re-write of Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus (sense a theme?), which will then be followed by a song a dear friend of mine sang on called Lord, Have Mercy. From there, I am finishing one song with the theme from Hebrews 11:16, which basically says God is not ashamed to be our God (really excited for this one). I am still thinking through what song will be the 5th - either another hymn re-write or a song I'm writing around this line from a quote by GK Chesterton that says "our God knows His way out of the grave". Beyond that, I am prayerfully hopeful there will be more projects! But right now, this one has my attention.
Jared: You can connect with me via email (jared.shepard12@gmail.com) or on social media (instagram: @jshep12). I welcome and receive any and all prayer! You can pray for faithfulness when it seems pointless, a steadfast and stubborn heart set on the will and ways of the Lord, and also just clarity and direction while we wander.
Jared: What a fantastic question.. Can I take both?? If the sheep and cattle are in a pasture that I have in mind, in Switzerland on the side of a mountain overlooking a pristine and scenic lake, then I'll take that every time (yes, Lord, amen and amen). That said, I was just in Portugal a couple months ago and had an opportunity for a guided tour through a lot of Lisbon and the wine country and it was absolutely delightful! On most days, I think I'm taking the pasture on a mountain, but I also love a good guided tour if food and wine are involved.
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