CAMP

I am at camp!

Send me mail!

Zach Fifelski
12500 Prang St.
Jones, MI 49061

Wilderness-man

When the people followed Jesus into the wild-er-ness in mark 8, what were they going on? I mean, Jesus did not say "If you do this, i'll feed you", or "You will see financial blessing!". He didn't even say "Don't worry, you won't die." He just went, and they followed.

It's crazy because, even though he did feed them after 3 days, they had nothing else to go on other than trusting that he knew what he was doing--that he knew where he was taking them. If they had died following him, it would have been to his glory. They went with the knowledge that, "Hey, wait. I could die doing this. But that's ok."


That is actually what Jesus expects. Our death is something that we need to be comfortable with. Jesus actually believes more in my death than I do (thanks Rflu), so when he does something absolutely crazy like lead me 3 days into the wilderness, he's not thinking "Man, I sure hope he can handle this, otherwise..." No way! He's operating out of the truth of me already being dead, so death isn't an issue.

So here I am. The wilderness. I will die if i go back now. I could die if I stay here. That's something that I'm slowly becomming ok with. All I really know is the guy that I'm following.

What are you doing?

Here's what I'm doing.

-Writing: (and recording) the next album, aiming to be done mid-september; a short-story (which is more of a 'study' of certain elements--character, setting, tone, etc--that I'm toying with in a larger project.)
-Reading: The Mystery of Marriage by Mike Mason; The Fires from Heaven by Robert Jordan; and a collection of Dostoyevsky stories, currently White Nights (love his characterization of a house in the beginning... writers back then were just good at that sort of thing.)
-Watching: Life on Mars (the BBC version. Seriously, folks, this show is pretty cool. The US version seemed like it was good, though it only lasted one season so they had to end it early, and thus had to change the ending. The BBC version is allegedly quite different, and it continues.)
-Listening: Not much, actually. I'm in this musical mode where i'm playing more than i'm listening, and when i'm listening it's to myself. It's a good season... doesn't happen much, so i'm letting it happen.
-Hearing: There is a new revelation of the Cross and of Christ to step into every day. Neat.

I leave friday or saturday for camp, then up north. these next 2 1/2 weeks will be good.

For the record...

...my life IS good. After looking at my latest 2 posts, i realize it can come off that it's not, but my life really is. I've got a great family, I've got great friends, and I've got a great Jesus. I think acknowledging the truth in my life is important because it reminds me of from where the cross brought me. My life, not even 4 years ago, was full of hopelessness and despair. It was tough, rough, and sad. And Jesus came and rescued me from that. So all of this totally un-fun stuff going on... it's not who I am... it does not define my life... my life is defined by the Christ! (Thank God!)

Warning: Serious personal blog ahead

Whatever is it that happens to make you so sure of something--to have total certainty that something is going in this direction--and then to have that hope be challenged?

The Lord challenged me massively on friday relating to a certain 'issue' that ive been dealing with for over a year--something that, until friday, i had been so certain about... the Lord's voice was stronger than it had ever been in my entire life--there was massive favor and encouragement present--and his presence in my life has been huge--not directly as a result of this issue, however, but i can see the intensity of my relationship has grown just by observing the progress of this issue.

And on friday, the Lord told me to let it go.

oh.
ok.

So what happens now?

I know that he isn't going to leave me now, I know that he knows what he's doing, but its still heartbreaking.

I have a natural inclination to find a purpose for everything going on--meaning to how and why i feel certain ways, why things work out the way they do, and why situations must be. This kind of situation im currently in, then, throws a big wrench in that whole rational line of thought.

Does there have to be a reason for everything? Do i have to understand why everything happened? No, of course not. His ways are higher than my ways. I don't get it 98% of the time. But that doesnt mean i dont want to understand whats going on, why things happened, where this leads.

It's all relatively tough to wrap my brain around, so i can imagine how chaotic all this sounds being its so vague.

There is a faith, there is a hope, there is a love. These aren't just nice concepts--they're real things. This is exactly the kind of situation that they are made for. In fact, this is the type of situation in which the Lord wants us to take hold of him--and thats exactly what I did on friday; its exactly what I'm doing now, at every moment.

That's all.

PS I deleted my facebook. I know its not permanent, but whew! Look how much time i have!

Recollections 1

I remember once when i was little my family went out to eat somewhere. I remember looking at this guy (back then i would stare at people a lot without realizing it) who was working at this place. As he was working, however, he suddenly looked up and noticed the 11-year-old me staring at him. Upon making eye contact i quickly lowered my head and counted to ten. i then slowly looked back up at this man.

When i looked up, he was making the most--no offense--retarded, goofy, creepy face--so much so that i remember thinking ''this guy is actually mentally challenged!''. He was still looking right at me. I was so ashamed and embarrassed that i looked away immediately.

I have given this experience much thought, and I came to a conclusion a few years later. This guy was NOT mentally challenged. He was a normal dude. He just saw me starting and made the most frightening face he could muster.

and to this day, I find myself doing the same exact thing to kids that stare at me.

live music

There's a certain dynamic that's present in live music. Seeing a band live, to me, is what really determines how talented a band truly is.

Last night we saw Coldplay at the DTE. It was phenomenal. The bands that opened for them were quite good as well: Howling Bells and Pete Yorn--though i must say i was not familiar with either.

Howling Bells put on a great show, i thought. Their dynamics were great, they had a uniqueness and a groove to their songs, and their presence was pretty good. And they were from australia. But, this morning when i checked out some of their stuff on itunes, i found the music to be lacking.... something. This totally dissuaded me from actually buying anything, keeping me on this side of the buying line. There was just an element in their set last night that made it so good, and if all of their music sounded like it did last night i would TOTALLY buy it, but for some reason the actual album just doesnt have what they produce playing live...

I think this is why people buy merch at live shows so much. There's a certain satisfaction that comes from hearing the music in the now, as it is being created, and it hits something in people. Live performance, in my opinion, will make or break a good band: bands that otherwise may not have an outstanding album, like Howling Bells (which you should all check out anyway--i only didnt buy any stuff because they set the bar high right off the bat), will sound really great live, and bands that have really good albums will absolutely suck in concert (Billy Talent, blink-182 [an anomaly, really: though they suck live musically, i have yet to meet someone that didnt thoroughly enjoy themselves at a blink show]). *edit* ideally, bands will have awesome albums and be even better live, much like Thrice, or this band.

in conclusion,

I enjoy following studio blogs for bands like this

Also, the two newest albums i am processing are Underoath's Lost in the Sound of Seperation, and as of this morning, i purchased the rest of Sigur Rós' newest, Med sud i eyrum vid spilum endalaust