Check Off a Bucket List Item

So I totally have the coolest job on campus. One thing on my Bucket List is "See a concert from backstage." Well this past week was finals week and because I had no finals on Monday and Tuesday I worked a lot those 2 days. On Tuesday we had a Manafest, Hawk Nelson, and Family Force 5 show and I got to work it! I worked from 8 am until 11:30 pm but it was so worth my time. I got to do all the concert stuff from load in to strike and got to meet a lot of cool people. I got to meet 3 of the 5 members of Family Force 5 and some of the friends and family of Hawk Nelson. I was also able to make connections with people in this industry as far as roadies and sound techs and such. Before the show and during most of Hawk Nelson I had to sit out in the hall and check backstage passes but during Family Force 5 I got to watch from backstage. I did have a job technically; it was "Watch and if a fan comes on stage get them off." I said, "Deal." So I got to check something off my bucket list, have an all access pass to a concert, and and see Family Force 5 from backstage. I think that their music is slightly above average but boy can they play a show. It's kind of like a huge party that just goes forever. They have crazy costumes, heavy bass, fun dances, cool tricks with instruments, and an excepting atmosphere. I will admit it to all you MaHa people out there, I'm a fan.

New Found Love of Classical Music

So on My Snowy Sunday Morning a few weeks ago I listened to classical music quite a bit. I have never been a huge fan, ask anyone that knew me in my teen years. Recently, however I have begun listening to solo piano more and more. I am slowly warming up to full symphonies and choirs. I do find the solo piano to be one of the most relaxing forms of music ever. I put it on and it makes me wish I had a library full of books top to bottom; and that I was sitting in a big, red, leather chair in comfortable clothes, reading a classic by a fire place, and bear skin rug to finish off the room. Yeah, I know, that's kind of silly, but it's true none the less.

However, I still really love pretty much every other genre of music. I still love rap, rock, death metal, country, blues, etc. but I recently have been listening to Sleep Serapis, Sleep! a lot because they are sadly breaking up. They were certainly one of my favorite bands in high school, if not my favorite, and I will miss their music. Here is a link to one of their greatest album introductions "Dead Man Walking." I was hoping to find a link to find a link to "Bludgeoning Baby Seals to Death" (Yes, I do know what I just wrote. No, I didn't name the song. No, I don't believe that it is a good thing. Please don't report me to PETA or some other animal rights thing. I am not an animal torturer, you can ask any one of my or my fiance's pets.) but sadly I could not. That was the song that got me into death metal as a genre. I loved the gnashing guitar and fast drums and everything about it. Once I had finally gotten permission from my parents to go to one of their shows with my friend they didn't play it anymore, so I never got to hear it live. They are playing their last show on January 28.  If you are in the Milwaukee area and you even remotely like metal you should go. These guys play a sweet show. Don't forget to rock out for me.

Here is a poster with all the information.

This is another "poster" for the last show, just kind of funny.

I think I may know why I am starting to like classical music. I think it is because, like most metal I like, it is incredibly complex. When I was growing up I didn't see the similarities because I didn't understand music very well. I see the way all the instruments come together to make one beautiful sound, just like the do in metal, rap, country, or what have you. The problem was that I was to immature to notice and appreciate the similarity. Now I do, and I like it.

Christmas Time is Here

Well, Thanksgiving has come and gone and we are on to the crazy season during which we celebrate very much. From being done with school for a while to the birth of our Savior we have much to sing about. I have put together a list of Christmas songs that I will be listening this season. Feel free to let me know what you think and what songs you like as well, I'll check them out.

Breath of Heaven- Amy Grant
O Holy Night- Andy Williams (Preferred)
It’s the Most Wonderful Time of the Year- Andy Williams
Carol of the Bells
You’re a Mean One Mr. Grinch- Boris Karloff
Joyful, Joyful- Casting Crowns
Rudolf, the Red-Nosed Reindeer- Dean Martin
Grandma Got Run Over by a Reindeer
I’ll Be Home for Christmas- Frank Sinatra
Little Drummer Boy (Grinch Mix)- Jars of Clay
Mary, Did You Know- Kenny Rodgers
Go tell it on the Mountain
O Come, O Come Emmanuel

Those are my Christmas mix suggestions. Merry Christmas all.

Bucket List

As I said in the post I was working on a bucket list. Well, after much thought I have finished it, for now that is. I assume I will continue to add to it as I get older and continue to live life. The document in its entirety is about 5 pages, so I will not be posting that. However, I did promise a list of the highlights, as if anyone cares because I know nobody is reading this blog. Anyway, here are some of the better/cooler things on the list.

See the Tour de France
Make a hole in one
Hunt deer
Hunt alligator
Bowl a perfect game
Learn to box
Scuba dive in the Great Barrier Reef
Climb Mount Kilimanjaro
See the 24 Hours of Le Mans
See the Monaco Grand Prix
Drive on the Audubon
Deep sea fish
Ride a mechanical bull
Complete a marathon
Go to the Superbowl
Swim in all the Great Lakes
Drive a Ferrari
See the Kentucky Derby
See the Masters
Hold the Lombardi Trophy
Learn to play piano
Learn to play guitar
Learn to play saxophone
Learn to play harmonica
Attend a concert of Bob Dylan's
Attend a concert of Billy Joel's
Meet Jonny Lang
Record an album
Be exhibited in an art gallery
Write a screenplay
Get paid to act
Do stand up
Be in a live studio audience
Meet Johnny Depp
Be an extra in a movie
Attend a movie world premier
Publish a book
See all 50 States
Do a Route 66 Trip
Go on a Serengeti Safari
See a wild tiger
Visit all 7 continents
Live in another country for at least 6 months
Attend a high class party or event
Learn to speak Melanesian Pidgin



Again, those are just some of the highlights. I hope that this inspires you to create your own list.

Spring Classes

Today I signed up for the beginning of my senior year of college. That's pretty crazy!  I'm super excited though. I'm taking Practice of Youth Ministry, Christian Theology, Family Studies, Practice of Biblical Counseling (so if you liked the post on Introduction to Biblical Counseling stay tuned for more), and Leadership.  That's 17 credits leaving only 20 credits left! I will take at least one internship this summer, hopefully both, and maybe my science class. If I did that all I would have for my last semester would be 16 credits, I haven't had that few since Fall of Freshman year! Crazy!

I woke up earlier than I had to today to register for classes at 8:30, made some coffee (again), and will probably do some stuff for my Bucket List now. Yes, I will post some of the highlights of it, thank you for asking. I worked on that most of Saturday and some of Sunday. I don't have class until 12:40 and then I'm not done with work until 5 but hey, if that's all I have to do today, it's a good day. 

My Snowy Sunday Morning

My fiance and I decided to not go to church this morning. As sad as that was it was probably for the best. Driving in the snow last night was not terribly difficult, but it was slippery and today is probably much worse. It is 20 degrees this morning, I hate winter, so the likely hood that all of the roads are ice is quite high. The gas thing was another issue all together. We are going to go back to my house for Thanksgiving on Tuesday night and church is so far away that there is a lot of gas used in one trip to and from church.

I told you all that to tell you this.

Because we did not go to church I slept until 10 and then took a very nice, hot shower. After that I saw some tea I had on my desk, which inspired me to make coffee, chuckle to myself. I then turned on my computer and began to check Facebook and emails and such. I opened my iTunes and it wanted to update, meaning that I couldn't listen to music because iTunes would be shut down to properly update. That changed the morning. I was going to listen to a playlist of country music or a sermon, I know they are nothing alike but that was the plan. Instead I turned on classical music on Pandora and began reading some of my friend's blogs. That inspired me to blog. So here it is, the product of that inspiration. My morning was not what I had planned, but it was much more enjoyable than I would have guessed. I am off to take a pizza to my wonderful fiance before she goes to work.

O yeah! I almost forgot, GO PACK GO!

Biblical Counseling

Alright, so the posting once a week thing didn't happen; but I'm going to post now and hopefully start this again.

This post will be my notes from my Biblical Counseling class.  It is a great class and offers great insight into lives of others and my own life, and the struggles we deal with on a daily basis.  Hope they are enjoyable and feel free to comment or ask for a copy.

There are four questions that make Biblical Counseling different from other counseling methods

1)    How is God portrayed?

A)   Secular psychology doesn’t answer this

B)   How relevant is God to life inside and outside counseling?

2)    How is human nature interpreted?

A)   Deeply rooted in question one

B)   Unique because the issues you face are not outside of you-you are the issue because of your sin nature

C)   Even healing from abuse comes from working on the sin inside you and realizing that they need God

D)   If we do not do that we develop three harmful emotion and the only solution is to immerse yourself in the truth

a)    Despair

b)    Resentment

c)    Anxiety

3)    How are circumstances weighed?

A)   Does God wish to use these circumstances?

B)   Does this have anything to do with God?

C)   Does God cause, allow, or become oblivious to them?

4)    How are the goals and activities of counseling conceived?

A)   Psychology works on symptom reduction while Biblical Counseling has a goal of growth

The most common response you will get when trying to help is resistance-which is the beginning of learning

Three types of Counseling

1)    Biblical

A)   God centered

B)   Growth

C)   Client/Ministry

2)    Christian

A)   Client and God

B)   Growth and Symptom

3)    Secular

A)   Client centered

B)   Symptom

C)   Insurance

You feel what you feel because you think what you think

Question 1-How is God portrayed?

1)    Covenant Partner

A)   Bond, in blood, until death

B)   Covenant ceremony

a)    Cutting (animals)

b)    Vows and oaths

c)    Stipulations

d)    Blessings and curses

e)    Witnesses

f)     Exchanges

g)    Sign

h)   Ways to remember

2)    Covenants

A)   Adam and Eve

B)   Noah and the rest of creation

C)   Abraham

D)   Moses

E)   David

F)   New Covenant

3)    God wants to bind himself to us

A)   He is a covenant God

B)   He wants to be intimately bound to all people

We hold onto sin because we do not see it and we do not see it because we do not ask God

4)    Old and New Covenant

A)   Galatians

a)    Circumcision and Jesus

b)    Physical and Spiritual

c)    The enemies in the Old are physical and the enemies in the New are Spiritual

5)    Betrothal Covenant

A)   Father chooses bride from son

a)    John 6:44

b)    Ephesians 1:4

B)   Marriage documents presented to bride

a)    Revelation 5:9

b)    Matthew 26:26-29

c)    1 Corinthians 11:25

C)   Groom gives gifts to the bride

a)    1 Corinthians 12

D)   Ceremonial cleansing of the bride

a)    Titus 3:5

b)    Ephesians 5:25-27

c)    Acts 2:38

E)   Groom goes to prepare a place

a)    John 14:23

b)    Matthew 24:36

-       Father’s decision

c)    John 15:19b

-       Bride wears veil in public

d)    Matthew 25:1-13

-       Bride keeps oil, lamp, and veil beside her bed always

F)   Groom and groom’s men return

a)    They shout, blow a horn, go to the Bride’s house

b)    1 Thessalonians 4:16-17

G)   Grooms brings bride to his father’s house for marriage supper

a)    John 14:3

b)    Revelation 19:7-9

H)   Spend seven days in the wedding chamber

I)     Bride discards her veil and her identity is revealed

a)    Matthew 13:40-43

6)    Covenant blessings

A)   I will be your God

B)   Land to steward

C)   Descendants

These blessings come when you honor God and the curses correlate if you dishonor God

Question 2-How is human nature interpreted?

There are three needs that bridge the gap between question one “How is God portrayed?” and question two “How is human nature interpreted?”

1)    Intimacy with God

2)    Something to steward

3)    A place to belong

When we trust God to give us those three things we honor Him

If we put trust in those three things they become and idol as the usurp God

When you turn a desire into a need you create and idol

When we have experiences the order of events is

1)    We have an experience

2)    We associate things with that experience

3)    We notice variables

4)    We tell ourselves it is unpleasant

5)    We think it is a bad thing

Instead of doing all that if we say to ourselves, “This is unpleasant, but it is all in my head and I am causing this myself.” it reverses the effects of the order and stops the association

There are three lies that take away from our three needs that are satisfied by God

1)    God isn’t…

2)    I’m not capable of…

3)    I am alone

These lies all appear in more specific forms

1)    I should never make mistakes

2)    I must please others to be worthy

3)    If people knew me as I really am they wouldn’t like me

4)    To please others is better than to please yourself

5)    I am not capable

6)    I am not a worthwhile person

7)    If I died no one would notice

8)    My opinion doesn’t count

9)    My thoughts are dumb

10) I am a bad/flawed person

11) The things I’ve done cannot be forgiven

12) I’m not as smart as others so I am no good

13) I don’t deserve pleasure

14) I will not be attractive when I am older

15) I am not capable of loving people

16) I must live up to my parents’ expectations

17) I am powerless and helpless

18) I should never be angry or irritable

19) Unless you worry about a problem it gets worse

20) If I am a good parent my children will be perfect

21) People cannot be trusted

22) People don’t want to listen to me

23) The world is not a safe place

24) If I’m happy then something bad will happen soon

25) The world won’t survive and neither will I

26) Life isn’t fair and I can’t handle that

27) The world needs to take care of me

28) Most other people are happier or better off than me

29) You need to be smart, rich, powerful, and attractive to be happy

30) If my partner is attractive or unattractive it reflects on me

31) My job is to improve my partner

32) My partner is supposed to take care of me

33) The opposite sex only wants one thing

34) The opposite sex can’t be trusted

35) My partner can’t survive without me

36) I can’t survive without my partner

37) I can’t attract or keep  good person

38) All the good members of the opposite sex are already taken

39) What my partner says or does reflects on me

40) I am all alone

41) Nobody understands me

42) This situation is more than I can handle

43) My fear, anger, or depression is bigger than I am

44) I deserve to be mistreated

45) If I can’t do it perfectly I won’t do it at all

46) If I fail it will be devastating

47) I am going to screw up

48) If a someone doesn’t like me it will be terrible

49) I need to be liked by ____ (Specific person)

50) I need ____ (Specific person)

51) I need ____ (Specific event) to happen

52) God is disappointed in me

53) I’m doing good as long as I don’t do what is wrong

54) God isn’t concerned about me

55) God is angry with me

56) I hate myself, I should have known better

57) I am entitled to special treatment

58) I deserve to be able to do as I please

59) Rules are necessary for others but don’t apply to me

60) Since I didn’t get caught I didn’t do anything wrong

61) Whew! I got away with it

62) My behavior is good as long as I have good intentions

63) I shouldn’t have to suffer

64) If I don’t express how I feel completely I am being fake

65) I hate them because they did this to me on purpose and they knew it would hurt me

66) I have the right to hate them and get even

67) I need to take matters into my own hands and settle this like a man

68) One member of the opposite sex is not enough for me

69) People exist for me to use

70) I can look as long as I don’t touch

71) I don’t need anyone else, I can do it on my own

72) I’ll confess my sins to God, but I don’t need to tell anyone else

73) If I obey God I will be healthy and wealthy

74) I am responsible for how others feel

All of our strategies to obey are or to not do something are because we are attempting to control

Personal theory

People are like computers

1)    We have two input drives-N and S

A)   N receives data from the natural world

B)   S receives data from the Spiritual world

C)   We are born with a broken S drive

D)   We have a default setting to trust the data in the N drive

2)    We have an operating system

A)   We always seek pleasure and avoid pain

3)    We are vulnerable to viruses

A)   Demonic world

4)    We create mental files in which we store experiences

5)    We are all networked together

When we say yes to God our S drives start to work and our default setting is then the S drive

Our newly restored S drive helps us create new mental files and edit or delete each of the existing files

However, this process takes a lifetime, and we are still vulnerable to viral attacks and we are still in networks with others

Those old mental files are activated automatically

Our metal files are formed in three ways

1)    Observation

2)    Reinforcement

3)    Association

Everything we learn we learn to

1)    Value it

2)    Do it

3)    Justify it

All of that being said we can come to two learning outcomes

1)    God is never disappointed with us

2)    Everyone is doing the best that they can

Two rules of counseling

1)    See yourself in your client

2)    Do not work harder than your client

Act righteously

1)    Eat, sleep, and move correctly (righteously)

2)    Psychological righteousness through disabling lies and taking thoughts captive

3)    Social righteousness by being with the right people and fleeing the wrong people

Depression

1)    “Don’t think I haven’t tried, I have”

2)    “I find all of life totally overwhelming”

3)    Sometimes seen as normal teenage behavior

4)    “I was meeting expectations outwardly while crumbling inwardly”

5)    “All day I would just be wondering…”

6)    Suicide is the second leading cause of death in college students

7)    “Everything about my mind is chained.”

The way you label a chemical relating to your body is a large portion of how we experience it

The Brain and Psychological Disorders

1)    Limbic System

A)   Basal ganglia

a)    Stores learned patterns and emotions

B)   Cingulated system

a)    Ability to shift attention

C)   Amygdale

a)    Volume control on emotions

D)   Hippocampus

a)    New cells generated and transported

2)    Prefrontal Cortex

A)   Controls expressions

B)   Critical thinking

Our brain uses electro-chemical neurotransmitters

Common medications

1)    Antidepressants

A)   SSRIs

a)    Prozac

b)    Paxil

c)    Zoloft

d)    Celexa

B)   SSNRIs

a)    Effexor

b)    Remeron

C)   Wellbutrin

D)   MAO Inhibitors

a)    Nardil

b)    Parnate

2)    Mood stabilizers

A)   Depekote

B)   Tegretol

C)   Lamictal

3)    Anti-psychotics

A)   Haldol

B)   Navane

C)   Thorazine

D)   Clozapine

E)   Risperdal

F)   Zyprexa

4)    Anti-anxiety

A)   Beta blockers

B)   Benzodiazapines

a)    Short term

-       Xanaz

-       Valium

-       Ativan

-       Klonopin

b)    Long term

-       Buspar

5)    Psycho-stimulus

A)   Ritalin

B)   Concerta

C)   Adderall

D)   Cylert

Avoidance tactics

1)    Lie by omission or commission

2)    Be deliberately vague

3)    Stay under the radar

4)    Agree too quickly

5)    Play dumb

6)    Minimize

A)   Use passive language

7)    Fantasize

8)    Use the silent treatment

Diversion tactics

1)    Become historical

2)    Make a mountain out of a mole hill

3)    Confuse the issue

4)    Quibble over words

5)    Bring up irrelevant issues

6)    Accuse others of not understanding or caring

7)    Find out what they know and then confess that part

8)    Answer questions with questions

9)    I forgot

10) Make it an abstract issue

11) Claim to be changed after doing the right thing once

12) Cry

13) Use humor

14) Pacify your confronter

15) Blame the others

A)   Play the victim

Aggression tactics

1)    Argue, rage, get big, bow up

2)    Use threatening words or behaviors

3)    Use sarcasm or teasing

4)    Split authority

All lies and tactics can be beaten over time if we believe the truths about us and about God

1)    I am a part of God’s family

A)   I belong

2)    I am never alone

3)    I am forgiven, restored, and reconciled

4)    I am an image of God and worthy of respect

5)    I am God’s beloved and He delights in me

6)    I am bound to God and He is bound to me

7)    I am able to accomplish what God has for me

A)   I am uniquely gifted

8)    I am the worst sinner I know

9)    I am strongly influenced by my broken N drive

10) I am no longer bound to the desires of my flesh

11) I am being perfected by my suffering

12) I am destined to be like Christ

13) I am doing the best I can given the variables in my life

A)   And so is everyone else

14) I am not responsible for how others behave, think, or feel

15) I am never the object of God’s wrath or disappointment

16) I am not the judge of where someone else is or should be in their walk with God

17) I am successfully learning

A)   To love others

B)   To face my fears

C)   To be aware of my emotions

D)   To forgive others and myself

E)   To return good for evil

F)   To never gossip

G)   To confront others in love

H)   To honor others

I)     To submit to authority

J)    To confess my sins to others

K)   To receive support from others

L)    To say “no”

M)  To be aware of lies and deflection strategies

N)   To be healthy in how I eat, sleep, and move

O)   To “befriend” healthy people while still ministering to the “unhealthy”

18) I have a new heart

A)   I rejoice in the process of suffering and testing

B)   I hear the voice of God

C)   I gladly sacrifice for others

D)   I grieve when sin is expressed

E)   I rejoice when righteousness reigns

F)   I anger over injustice

G)   I hate evil and love good

H)   I am creative and passionate

I)     I am grateful in all circumstances

J)    I know that God will weave all of life’s events into something good

K)   I know that failing to do the right thing will always lead to doing the wrong thing

L)    I know that doing the rights thing brings more pleasure than doing the wrong thing

Question three-How are circumstances weighed?

What is on my plate is there to grow me and the people around me

God has a reason for all this

I need to approach this with joy

Question four- How are the goals and activities of counseling conceived?

Biblical counseling has the goal of getting down to the roots of the problem rather than just diagnosing and then treating symptoms

We need to try to reconcile the covenant rather than make some of the symptoms go away for a short period of time