No Other Rock

Gather up the fragments that remain, that nothing be lost. ~ John 6:12

One of my favorite albums ever is Once Upon a Shattered Life by Seventh Day Slumber. The album name is more than an eye-catching phrase. It was born of the struggles and setbacks faced within the group and a desire for rebirth through Christ’s cleansing blood.

Singer and songwriter, Joseph Rojas, once supported a $400 a day cocaine habit and experienced several run-ins with the law. After years of a reckless lifestyle, legal trouble, failed rehab stints and dire hopelessness, Rojas nearly lost his earthly life due to a drug overdose. As paramedics attempted to save his life, somewhere in the flashing lights and commotion, everything change for Rojas.

“I was laying there realizing I was about to die and knew I needed to do something,” he recalls. “In every rehab center I went to, there was always this mentioning of reaching to a higher power. For some reason that night, I reached out to God and asked him to save me from the situation.” [source: ChristianMusicToday.com

Along the road to recovery, Rojas decided to dedicate his life to the Lord. While in Bible college, he started writing songs and becoming serious about music as a means of serving God. Soon, Seventh Day Slumber and their debut effort, Picking Up The Pieces, became available to the waiting world. Once Upon a Shattered Life followed not too long after.

What I like so much about these two discs is the way SDS relates to people by presenting real issues - issues that break apart people, marriages, families - and ultimately remind us that God offers the solution.

“The fact of the matter is there are kids we talk to every day that want to end their lives, just like I did at one point, because their struggle is so great,” Rojas relays. “We’re trying to point them toward the truth and we’re not afraid to lay ourselves on the line in these songs in order to do that.”

If you want to read more, I suggest you start with Joseph Rojas’s testimony. Also see SDS on MySpace to listen to some of their music.

Today, my prayer for you and I is that we will seek God’s help in picking up the fragments when they occur in our lives.