Seventh Day Slumber
Seventh Day Slumber is a christian Rock band from Spring Hill, TN that formed back in 1996. The band's name Seventh Day Slumber is taken from the book of Genesis 2:2 where on the seventh day, God rested, after creating the universe.
The band has some pretty impressive credentials to say the least starting in 2005 with the release of 'Once Upon a Shattered Life' where we find that this album went to No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart and it also went to No. 26 on the Top Christian Albums chart. Then with the release of 'Finally Awake' in 2007 we find that it peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard's Top Christian Albums chart. Seventh Day Slumber released a spanish album in 2009 that included some re-recordings of earlier songs and it won the 2009 Dove Award for Spanish Language Album of the year. The album 'Take Everything' was comprised of the bands renditions of various worship songs. This album reached No. 141 on the Billboard 200 and No.11 on the Top Christian Albums charts. Also to the bands credit is their perseverance as a band in that they have 12 releases to their credit.
The band has some pretty impressive credentials to say the least starting in 2005 with the release of 'Once Upon a Shattered Life' where we find that this album went to No. 1 on the Billboard Heatseekers Albums chart and it also went to No. 26 on the Top Christian Albums chart. Then with the release of 'Finally Awake' in 2007 we find that it peaked at No. 16 on the Billboard's Top Christian Albums chart. Seventh Day Slumber released a spanish album in 2009 that included some re-recordings of earlier songs and it won the 2009 Dove Award for Spanish Language Album of the year. The album 'Take Everything' was comprised of the bands renditions of various worship songs. This album reached No. 141 on the Billboard 200 and No.11 on the Top Christian Albums charts. Also to the bands credit is their perseverance as a band in that they have 12 releases to their credit.
2007
Seventh Day Slumber released 'Finally Awake' in 2007 which delivers up some hard hitting Rock tunes that are sure to get you moving. On this album along with many others, the band's lyrics deal with pain, finding our purpose in life, personal change, and the need for salvation.
Musically, SDS isn't trying to pave new ground in the music industry by creating new musical styles however, what they do, they do well and have garnered a strong fan base.
Finally awake is a solid album with some strong vocal work from Joseph Rojas and some nice riffs from guitarist Jeremy Holderfield.
In order to understand the band better and to understand where they are coming from then it helps to understand the testimony of Vocalist Joseph Rohas. The following is his story:
Musically, SDS isn't trying to pave new ground in the music industry by creating new musical styles however, what they do, they do well and have garnered a strong fan base.
Finally awake is a solid album with some strong vocal work from Joseph Rojas and some nice riffs from guitarist Jeremy Holderfield.
In order to understand the band better and to understand where they are coming from then it helps to understand the testimony of Vocalist Joseph Rohas. The following is his story:
I found this testimony of front man Joseph Rojas on CBN.com:
Jospeh Rojas grew up in the housing projects of Victoria, Texas, where gunfire and sirens echoed through the neighborhood. But, for Joseph, the rough streets became a refuge from the nightmare from his home life.
In the words of Joseph Rojas:
"I remember being about three and a-half-years-old and being ten feet away from my father as he beat my mother bloody, and that was the memory I grew up with, of a father."
When Joseph was still a small child, his father left the family.
"It made me feel like, what is wrong with me? My dad hasn’t called me. My dad hasn’t come by. I haven’t seen him in years since I was a baby and I wondered what was so bad about me that I couldn’t even keep a dad around."
Joseph’s mother worked long hours to provide for her two boys. Many times they were left alone to fend for themselves.
"I was just hurting so bad and felt so empty and so alone, and like I was never going to be accepted. I was looking for something to take the pain away and I found it by hanging out with a group of kids that got high."
"I went straight to cocaine, at about the age of 14 I did my first line of cocaine. Before I knew it, a line became two lines, two lines became three lines, and then by the end of it all, at the age of 21, I had a $400 a-day cocaine addiction."
"People would ask me, Joseph how would you use $400 a-day worth of cocaine if you didn’t have a job? I would sell drugs. I would sell, or rob, or steal."
"When I was about 18-years-old, my mother gave her life to Christ. She was looking for help so desperately for me, that my mother ended up meeting a lady that took her to church."
"She ended up meeting Jesus. I remember her coming home and telling me that Jesus could change my life. That he can make me brand new."
"I just didn’t really believe in God."
"What kind of God lets you grow up without a father? What kind of God allows you to hate yourself the way I hate myself?"
"I would say, Mom, even if there is a God in Heaven, what would He want with a worthless drug addict like me?"
"I am a convicted felon. I have been in and out of jail and institutions since I was a kid. And if he was going to pick someone, wouldn’t he pick someone that was almost already together? What would he pick me for?"
"I stole from my own mother to get high; a mother that would have given her life for mine, did nothing but love me."
"My mother took her life savings to send me to a rehab in California and 30 days later I was high and her life savings was gone, everything. She filed bankruptcty because of my drug addiction but she still believes in God."
"These things were almost unbearable. I decided to take my life. I was tired of hurting my mother. I was tired of breaking my mother’s heart."
"I decided to take a lethal dose of cocaine to stop my heart. I didn’t want my mom to find me, but I had just made the decision that I was done living."
"My mother walked in unexpectedly and I overdosed on cocaine in front of my mother on our living room floor. I remember my mom calling the paramedics and screaming out to God."
"When the paramedics came they had me hooked up to all these wires and this machine and they put me in the back of this ambulance. It was in the back of this ambulance that I felt the power of God. It was in the back of that ambulance that I felt the very hand of God and I remember saying, Jesus - I couldn’t speak, but I remember saying in my heart and in my mind, 'Jesus, if you will still have me, as broken and empty as I am, just a worthless drug addict, that I will give my life to you tonight."
"And that was the first time I knew the love of a father. That was the first time in my life that I felt like I got picked. It was the first time that I felt like a complete person."
After becoming a Christian, it took Joseph nearly two years to break free from drug addiction.
"For some people it is a day-by-day, one day at a time. For me it was hour by hour. I pick myself up and go another hour, and before I know it I’ve got two days and then a week, and before you know it, it is 11 years later and you have a beautiful wife and three kids and beautiful home and three dogs and life is awesome - and I see God every step of the way as I look back."
Joseph also started a Christian rock band, now known as Seventh Day Slumber. Because of their strong emphasis on ministry, the band has helped countless teens through online counseling at teen hopeline.com. They have also seen thousands of people answer altar calls at concerts, among those people, Joseph’s own father.
"I began to pray that God would move in his life and God would let him know that he may have made a mistake, but he is not worthless."
"We had a concert and I had the altar call and it was raining and people and adults started coming to the altar in the rain. I saw my dad in the crowd. I was able to lead my father to Jesus."
"Now, my mom still cries a lot, but it’s because I call her from the road every night to tell her how many kids gave their lives to Christ at our concert that night. That is how awesome God is."
"I am here to tell you that God is a restorer, that he is a healer and he changes lives and there is nothing that you have even done that you can’t come back from with the love of Christ."
"I can promise you one thing, I promise you with all of my heart, that if you will give your heart to Christ, if you give your life to Christ, he will take your life to places that you have never even imagined possible, I promise you that."
Jacob Folk's( Reviewer) reflection: If this above story is a reflection of your own life and you are ready to receive Jesus free gift of salvation then here is a verse that states what is necessary of us:
John 5:24 states: 24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."
We have to repent of our sins and believe in Jesus Christ as the only Lord and Savior. He has promised to come into our hearts and change us giving us the ability, through Him, to change. He also states in the above verse that there will not be and condemnation for the believer because He paid the price for all your sins, past and present when He died for your sins. In other words, you can't lose you salvation because it doesn't depend on works but on Jesus who redeems all those that believe in Him.
Lyrics are Christ centered, uplifting, and evangelical. The following are some lyrics off their 'Finally Awake' album: The tune "Always" is a lyric that shows how God can work to mend the hurting wounds:
Jospeh Rojas grew up in the housing projects of Victoria, Texas, where gunfire and sirens echoed through the neighborhood. But, for Joseph, the rough streets became a refuge from the nightmare from his home life.
In the words of Joseph Rojas:
"I remember being about three and a-half-years-old and being ten feet away from my father as he beat my mother bloody, and that was the memory I grew up with, of a father."
When Joseph was still a small child, his father left the family.
"It made me feel like, what is wrong with me? My dad hasn’t called me. My dad hasn’t come by. I haven’t seen him in years since I was a baby and I wondered what was so bad about me that I couldn’t even keep a dad around."
Joseph’s mother worked long hours to provide for her two boys. Many times they were left alone to fend for themselves.
"I was just hurting so bad and felt so empty and so alone, and like I was never going to be accepted. I was looking for something to take the pain away and I found it by hanging out with a group of kids that got high."
"I went straight to cocaine, at about the age of 14 I did my first line of cocaine. Before I knew it, a line became two lines, two lines became three lines, and then by the end of it all, at the age of 21, I had a $400 a-day cocaine addiction."
"People would ask me, Joseph how would you use $400 a-day worth of cocaine if you didn’t have a job? I would sell drugs. I would sell, or rob, or steal."
"When I was about 18-years-old, my mother gave her life to Christ. She was looking for help so desperately for me, that my mother ended up meeting a lady that took her to church."
"She ended up meeting Jesus. I remember her coming home and telling me that Jesus could change my life. That he can make me brand new."
"I just didn’t really believe in God."
"What kind of God lets you grow up without a father? What kind of God allows you to hate yourself the way I hate myself?"
"I would say, Mom, even if there is a God in Heaven, what would He want with a worthless drug addict like me?"
"I am a convicted felon. I have been in and out of jail and institutions since I was a kid. And if he was going to pick someone, wouldn’t he pick someone that was almost already together? What would he pick me for?"
"I stole from my own mother to get high; a mother that would have given her life for mine, did nothing but love me."
"My mother took her life savings to send me to a rehab in California and 30 days later I was high and her life savings was gone, everything. She filed bankruptcty because of my drug addiction but she still believes in God."
"These things were almost unbearable. I decided to take my life. I was tired of hurting my mother. I was tired of breaking my mother’s heart."
"I decided to take a lethal dose of cocaine to stop my heart. I didn’t want my mom to find me, but I had just made the decision that I was done living."
"My mother walked in unexpectedly and I overdosed on cocaine in front of my mother on our living room floor. I remember my mom calling the paramedics and screaming out to God."
"When the paramedics came they had me hooked up to all these wires and this machine and they put me in the back of this ambulance. It was in the back of this ambulance that I felt the power of God. It was in the back of that ambulance that I felt the very hand of God and I remember saying, Jesus - I couldn’t speak, but I remember saying in my heart and in my mind, 'Jesus, if you will still have me, as broken and empty as I am, just a worthless drug addict, that I will give my life to you tonight."
"And that was the first time I knew the love of a father. That was the first time in my life that I felt like I got picked. It was the first time that I felt like a complete person."
After becoming a Christian, it took Joseph nearly two years to break free from drug addiction.
"For some people it is a day-by-day, one day at a time. For me it was hour by hour. I pick myself up and go another hour, and before I know it I’ve got two days and then a week, and before you know it, it is 11 years later and you have a beautiful wife and three kids and beautiful home and three dogs and life is awesome - and I see God every step of the way as I look back."
Joseph also started a Christian rock band, now known as Seventh Day Slumber. Because of their strong emphasis on ministry, the band has helped countless teens through online counseling at teen hopeline.com. They have also seen thousands of people answer altar calls at concerts, among those people, Joseph’s own father.
"I began to pray that God would move in his life and God would let him know that he may have made a mistake, but he is not worthless."
"We had a concert and I had the altar call and it was raining and people and adults started coming to the altar in the rain. I saw my dad in the crowd. I was able to lead my father to Jesus."
"Now, my mom still cries a lot, but it’s because I call her from the road every night to tell her how many kids gave their lives to Christ at our concert that night. That is how awesome God is."
"I am here to tell you that God is a restorer, that he is a healer and he changes lives and there is nothing that you have even done that you can’t come back from with the love of Christ."
"I can promise you one thing, I promise you with all of my heart, that if you will give your heart to Christ, if you give your life to Christ, he will take your life to places that you have never even imagined possible, I promise you that."
Jacob Folk's( Reviewer) reflection: If this above story is a reflection of your own life and you are ready to receive Jesus free gift of salvation then here is a verse that states what is necessary of us:
John 5:24 states: 24. "Verily, verily, I say unto you, He that heareth my word, and believeth on him that sent me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come into condemnation; but is passed from death unto life."
We have to repent of our sins and believe in Jesus Christ as the only Lord and Savior. He has promised to come into our hearts and change us giving us the ability, through Him, to change. He also states in the above verse that there will not be and condemnation for the believer because He paid the price for all your sins, past and present when He died for your sins. In other words, you can't lose you salvation because it doesn't depend on works but on Jesus who redeems all those that believe in Him.
Lyrics are Christ centered, uplifting, and evangelical. The following are some lyrics off their 'Finally Awake' album: The tune "Always" is a lyric that shows how God can work to mend the hurting wounds:
"Always"
I’ll never find the words to say
How beautiful you are, my son
And everyday that this life brings
You have to know how much you’re loved
Even when I’m far away
I will dream of you tonight
I will pray to God to bless your life
Always, always
As you grow and start to change
I will love you just the same
Always, always
And when you feel like giving up
I will walk you through the pain
And when you feel like life’s too much
Remember Jesus is your strength
Always
There will come a day when I’ll explain
All the mistakes your dad has made
I hope you see that it was Christ
And only Him that rescued me
Even when I fell away
"Missing Pages"
On the outside all we see is clay
That hides the perfect light
But no one really knows the pain inside
I understand how much it hurts
To be the one who's never seen
The missing pages in a magazine
No one knows you anymore
You're lost inside the walls you've built
No one knows you anymore
A prison deep within your soul
There is One who sees it all
He'll give you life you've never dreamed
He can see the pain underneath your skin
It's hard to see you fading
Nothing that I do can bring you back
I pray to God that you don't fade away
Your addiction is a symptom of a lost and dying soul
Without Jesus there's no hope at all
There's so much more this is not the end
It's all in your hands don't throw it away
A beautiful life with so much to give
The image of God underneath your skin
The beauty of God underneath your skin [3x]
I’ll never find the words to say
How beautiful you are, my son
And everyday that this life brings
You have to know how much you’re loved
Even when I’m far away
I will dream of you tonight
I will pray to God to bless your life
Always, always
As you grow and start to change
I will love you just the same
Always, always
And when you feel like giving up
I will walk you through the pain
And when you feel like life’s too much
Remember Jesus is your strength
Always
There will come a day when I’ll explain
All the mistakes your dad has made
I hope you see that it was Christ
And only Him that rescued me
Even when I fell away
"Missing Pages"
On the outside all we see is clay
That hides the perfect light
But no one really knows the pain inside
I understand how much it hurts
To be the one who's never seen
The missing pages in a magazine
No one knows you anymore
You're lost inside the walls you've built
No one knows you anymore
A prison deep within your soul
There is One who sees it all
He'll give you life you've never dreamed
He can see the pain underneath your skin
It's hard to see you fading
Nothing that I do can bring you back
I pray to God that you don't fade away
Your addiction is a symptom of a lost and dying soul
Without Jesus there's no hope at all
There's so much more this is not the end
It's all in your hands don't throw it away
A beautiful life with so much to give
The image of God underneath your skin
The beauty of God underneath your skin [3x]
(See Site Info for Sword Scale Meaning)This rating is for the album 'Finally Awake".
If you like Rock Music and are in the market for some new tunes then you should give Seventh Day Slumber a listen and Rock On!
Discography:
1999-'Matthew Twenty Five'
2001-'Freedom From Human Regulations'
2003-'Picking Up the Pieces'
2005-'Once Upon a Shattered Life'
2005-'Picking Up the Pieces'
2007-'Finally Awake'
2008-'Rescatame'
2009-'Take Everything'
2011-'A Decade of Hope'
2011-'The Anthem of Angels'
2013-'Love and Worship'
2014-'We Are the Broken'
1999-'Matthew Twenty Five'
2001-'Freedom From Human Regulations'
2003-'Picking Up the Pieces'
2005-'Once Upon a Shattered Life'
2005-'Picking Up the Pieces'
2007-'Finally Awake'
2008-'Rescatame'
2009-'Take Everything'
2011-'A Decade of Hope'
2011-'The Anthem of Angels'
2013-'Love and Worship'
2014-'We Are the Broken'
Musicians:
Joseph Rojas—Vocals/Guitar
Jeremy Holderfield—Guitar
Ken Reed—Bass
Blaise Rojas—Drums
Joseph Rojas—Vocals/Guitar
Jeremy Holderfield—Guitar
Ken Reed—Bass
Blaise Rojas—Drums
