Bubble, bubble, bubble, bloop

This week was break. Yay! Every night I have been studying so when Megan said I should come with her to garden crest to hang out, I almost didn't go. But the awesome people who live there won out. When I walked in they were all busy cleaning the house. As we migrated to the kitchen/living room, I heard a scream. Ellen dashed out of their closet with her hand over her mouth and stammered that there was a mouse in there. It was barely caught in a trap by only it's foot. As it struggled to free itself, it squeaked mournfully. Since I had just said I had once squished a mouse with a two by four, I was designated to kill the thing. I carried it, hanging by its foot, to the bathroom where I was told to "flush it." After it had dropped into the toilet, we slammed the lid and flushed. I opened it to check to see if we had succeeded, but it was still there. I tried to get it to go down, even used the plunger to force it down, but it wouldn't budge. The little bugger was going for the long haul. Since we weren't getting anywhere, we let the toilet fill up and Ellen, Megan, and I watched it swim laps. Eventually, it sunk down a little and blew out a three bubbles. I said "I think it's dead." But then it swam again to the surface to try a little longer. Enraptured, we spectators watched the toilet like it was a colosseum where the Christians were sacrificed. Some sympathetic but too worried top share the same fate, others just waiting for the pest to be eliminated, and the rest watch carefully from the side lines. At long last there was a stillness that overcame the little mouse. Bubble, bubble, bubble, bloop... And he sunk to the bottom curled into a little ball. (Flush) the torment was over, and I washed my hands (literally) of the deed and germs. Poor little fella never had a chance... Such is life, but maybe I f he had been born into a pet store he could have had a happier life, but instead his blessing was a short time of freedom. Let it be said of him that He fell for something good, fought valiantly, and died relatively fast. RIP mouse....

Life...as normal

I'm back at school now. Have been for a while i guess, but time this year has gone by so much faster. I spent the first several weeks learning the faces and names of all the new students, helping them adjust and also myself. I am a senior!!! Awesome, i know, but with this new level of achievement comes a lot of responsibility.  In short, i support everything here. Even if i don't like it, i will be a positive influence because my negativity can influence a lot of people's attitude too. During senior survival i think all of my classmates got a lot closer together, and we're on our way to an awesome year. Although as a whole we may be quite a "realist" class, we are trying to be positive. On that note, i don't think there will be any problematic relationships inside our class. And that's really sayin' something. We all miss those of us like Katie S., Saraiah, Andrew S. and Nateesha that have left for other places like College or other academies. Everyone pray that this year will be a blessing to the whole school.

Winter Campout

 On the first weekend of March 2012, a group of about twenty students and staff had a campout up near Joffre Lakes in British Columbia. The snow was wonderfully deep, but at 40 degrees F, it was a little warm. We set up camp on friday afternoon. It consisted of a large eating area dug down to ground level, which was maybe 7-8 feet below the snow, to provide a place out of the wind. We didn't sleep in a cabin or even tents-we all dub down into the snow and made snow cave like things. My shelter-mate and I made a "tree well" shelter that uses the natural hole around a tree as a tunnel down to the ground, then you dig holes into the snow bank at ground level just big enough for you body to slide lengthwise into. It's a pretty "cool" experience if you don't do it right. I'd say mine was half way effective.... On Sabbath we took a hike across Joffre Lake towards the glacier. Because of the early sunset and the rain, we didn't make it all the way. We did make it past the avalanche area though. When we headed back to camp, everyone was cold because we were wet, either from the rain or sweat. Overall, the voting census was to pack up that night and go home because it was too warm and our shelters would be melting. That night was a blast! We took the plastic from our shelter roofs and piled all our packs and snow shoes on it, then sat on the top to slide down the hill to the bus. Over and over again we slid down the hill in the dark, screaming and laughing :). Even though we had to leave early, it was well worth the cold, rain, wind, and awkward snow shoes.

Joffe Lake surroundings

Just past our campsite we pulled over to use to the outhouse for the last time that weekend.

Heather Ueeck

Katie Sloop--Best bud 

Girls latrine--dug by Katie Sloop, Amaris Benardo, and I

View from my tree well shelter

trees--go figure

Andrew Donesky

Ben Deitel and Courtney Calvert

Laurie

Heather Ueeck and Britany Learned

Wayanne Watson

Stephen Fujimoto

Joffre Lake with the glacier in the distance

The avalanche (It looks a LOT smaller than it is...)

Joffre Lake from the opposite side

Pastor Jorge Baute

 This past friday afternoon I watched my old pastor, Pastor Jorge Baute, give a live sermon on OHA live. It was really an engaging, interesting, and wonderful sermon. I was really blessed.  Here are a few shots from the sermon. If you don't figure it out, it was on relationships--his favorite topic aside from the sanctuary :). Anyway, I'll apologize now to anybody from my school that may not find this a timely post... but it is what it is. Hope you enjoy.

 This next slide includes our own church, if they don't accept the present truths.

 This next quote is probably one of the most powerful quotes he used.

 continued...

 continued....

 Best quote is next.

 continued...

It's a lot to chew... but it can be done. Let's all work together to be more like God would have us to be.

Airport Scanners

Are you tired of airports being more like a strip club? Sign this petition. If you don't agree, just keep your shirt on.

http://www.change.org/petitions/hey-tsa-airports-are-not-strip-clubs#share

Junior Shots

These are a few of my junior pictures that were taken by Sierra Buhler. Thanks so much, Sierra. :)

http://sierrabuhler.blogspot.ca/

 

Personal Artwork

These are a few drawings i have done at school. I don't have as much time as i would like for my hobbies, but it's life, right? I drew these from pictures i found (All of these are free hand drawings and i would appreciate it if you let me know if you want to copy my links.)

Wolf Howling

Wolf face drawing. 

Coffee/Tea modern art. I drew this one for my friend Mason since he loves tea so much, and it is the only piece of modern art i have ever done.

Hands drawing originally done by M. C. Escher. I drew this for my dad's birthday.

Leap Year Aging

A couple weeks ago i turned seventeen years old. I can already feel the wrinkles on my skin.... I know, i'm ancient! Well, maybe not, but drawing closer to that ever present and future doomsday (when everyone must dye) has me worried. Since this year was a leap year, it got me to thinking. For some people they are told they are only four or five years old because they were born on that horrible February 28. They only get a birthday every four years because the day they were born on only exists every four years. I was thinking  dude that's really awful to only have a birthday every four years. This applies to everybody, though. If you think about it, at the age of four you were four years and one day old. So wouldn't it make sense to have your birthday move one day down every four years. So if you were born on Jan 1, 1990, your birthday would be on Jan 2 in 1994. Now here's the mind blowing part. At the age of 91.25, you are actually 92.25 years old. It's not what all the old women would want to hear, knowing they are a year older than they thought, but, hey, science never lies. Except for when it does ;) Happy Leap birthday to everyone over 90!

Bible 2nd Term Paper

Note: This paper was written for a specific class where we taught specific theology. Some of the idea's portrayed i am still studying, since they are not my church's standard beliefs. I hope you enjoy.

  Morgan Metcalf

Bible 11

January 29, 2012

Term 2 Research Paper

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Daniel 2:40-44 Exegesis

  Previously in Daniel chapter two, Daniel is recounting to the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, what the king had dreamed and what it meant. The kingdoms were listed from Babylon and descending. Verse forty is a description of the fourth kingdom, Rome. As a historically proven fact, Rome used quite a bit of iron which supports the part in verse forty that says, “The fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron.” Just as the metal iron can break almost anything, the kingdom of iron “will crush and break all the others.”

  In verse forty one, the image moves down from the legs to the feet. This kingdom had the strength of Rome’s iron combined with the brittleness of potters’ clay, but they would never mix completely. Continued in the content of verse forty-two, the description of the last kingdom shows that because of the incompatibleness of the two substances that the kingdom would always be partly strong and partly broken.

The ten toes of the feet represent Rome’s region that was divided into ten smaller kingdoms as listed: Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Suevi, Alamani, Anglosaxons, Heruli, Lombardi, and Burgundians. Daniel 7:24 also supports this. It says, “And the ten horns out of this kingdom are ten kings that shall arise: and another shall rise after them; and he shall be diverse from the first, and he shall subdue three kings.” The weird kingdom that rises afterward is the Papacy, seeing as they killed off three of the ten original kingdoms.

At this point in the scripture, the description splits into two perceptives. There is the literal translation, and the prophetic translation. Verses forty-three and forty four’s literal translation basically is that the iron and clay’s ten kingdoms would try to join themselves into one body through alliances of marriage, but because of their elemental incompatibility, it didn’t hold together. During the reign of the ten kings, the true God of creation will set up a kingdom—the New Jerusalem that will never be destroyed or conquered. It will also utterly defeat the ten kingdoms, and will stand forever. This is a prophecy of the last days of earth in its literal and simple sense.

  In the symbolic sense, these texts are a little more complicated. Verse 42-43 says, “And as the toes of the feet were part of iron, and part of clay, so the kingdom shall be partly strong, and partly broken. And whereas thou saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.”  It may seam simple, but the prophet Ellen White wrote in Ms 63, 1899, pp. 12, 13 a little more about this.

  “We have come to a time when God's sacred work is represented by the feet of the image in which the iron was mixed with the miry clay. God has a people, a chosen people, whose discernment must be sanctified, who must not become unholy by laying upon the foundation wood, hay, and stubble. Every soul who is loyal to the commandments of God will see that the distinguishing feature of our faith is the seventh day Sabbath. If the government would honor the Sabbath as God has commanded, it would stand in the strength of God and in defense of the faith once delivered to the saints. But statesmen will uphold the spurious Sabbath, and will mingle their religious faith with the observance of this child of the Papacy, placing it above the Sabbath which the Lord has sanctified and blessed, setting it apart for man to keep holy, as a sign between Him and His people to a thousand generations. The mingling of church craft and state craft is represented by the iron and the clay. This union is weakening all the power of the churches. This investing the church with the power of the state will bring evil results. Men have almost passed the point of God's forbearance. They have invested their strength in politics, and have united with the papacy. But the time will come when God will punish those who have made void His law, and their evil work will recoil upon themselves. (Untitled Manuscript, April 22, 1899.)

Mrs. White makes it very clear that in the last days of God’s work that the people who joined in union with the iron and clay mixture, church/state—strong/broken, will not be able to stand. “Every kingdom divided against itself is brought to desolation; and a house [divided] against a house falls,” Luke 11:17.  Before they even start, they are destined to fail.

 To clarify, this church in Daniel 2:43 is the Papal church and all those that follow her teachings. The verse says, “And whereas thou saw iron mixed with miry clay, they shall mingle themselves with the seed of men: but they shall not cleave one to another, even as iron is not mixed with clay.” The “they” here mentioned is the apostate protestants who do not cherish the vital principles of protestants. In The Great Controversy Ellen White says,

“Babylon is said to be "the mother of harlots." By her daughters must be symbolized churches that cling to her doctrines and traditions, and follow her example of sacrificing the truth and the approval of God, in order to form an unlawful alliance with the world. The message of Revelation 14, announcing the fall of Babylon must apply to religious bodies that were once pure and have become corrupt. Since this message follows the warning of the judgment, it must be given in the last days; therefore it cannot refer to the Roman Church alone, for that church has been in a fallen condition for many centuries. Furthermore, in the eighteenth chapter of the Revelation the people of God are called upon to come out of Babylon. According to this scripture, many of God's people must still be in Babylon. And in what religious bodies are the greater part of the followers of Christ now to be found? Without doubt, in the various churches professing the Protestant faith. At the time of their rise these churches took a noble stand for God and the truth, and His blessing was with them.” “But they fell by the same desire which was the curse and ruin of Israel--the desire of imitating the practices and courting the friendship of the ungodly. ‘Thou didst trust in your own beauty, and played the harlot because of thy renown.’ Ezekiel 16:14, 15.

   Many of the Protestant churches are following Rome's example of iniquitous connection with "the kings of the earth"--the state churches, by their relation to secular governments; and other denominations, by seeking the favor of the world. And the term "Babylon"--confusion--may be appropriately applied to these bodies, all professing to derive their doctrines from the Bible, yet divided into almost innumerable sects, with widely conflicting creeds and theories.” Great Controversy 382, 383

When the first angle’s message came to the believing Protestants in 1844, many believed in it, but most of the others did not. This quote above tells what became of them. Together, joined with the Papal power and Rome, they became the ‘they” of Daniel 2:43.

 Although the apostate Protestants are now part of the ten iron/clay toes of the image, most of them still remained in church attendance, mingling, with the true “seed.” The “seed” refers to the true Christians of the last days that did not reject the first angel’s message and still obey the commandments of Christ, but most importantly honor the seventh-day Sabbath. Since verse forty-three of Daniel two says the iron/clay mixture will try and mingle themselves with the “seed,” it shows that God’s remnant last day people are still somewhere they shouldn’t be. Revelation 18:4 says, “And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.” In the time of the end the “seed” will be called out of the iron/clay mixture that could not and will not be united with the true seed, God’s last day people. “But light and darkness cannot harmonize. Between truth and error there is an irrepressible conflict.” {GC 126.3

            In verse forty-four it says, "In the time of those kings, the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that will never be destroyed, nor will it be left to another people. It will crush all those kingdoms and bring them to an end, but it will itself endure forever.” In Revelation 17:12-13 the Bible says something similar: “And the ten horns which thou saw are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast.” Since Daniel and Revelation are parallel in most prophetic proclamations, we can assume that “those kings” of Revelation 17:13 are the same as “these” kings of Daniel 2:44. This kingdom is made up of iron and clay which we saw was church and state, but in Revelation we see the beast’s power is ruled by the Papacy, or Babylon. The ten kings of Revelation sit upon seven heads. These heads are Babylon, Medo-Persia, Greece, Pagan Rome, Papal Rome, United States as the kingdom that “is”, and Papal Rome reborn after her “deadly wound.” In addition, Revelation 17:11 mentions an “eighth, and is of the seven, and is going to perdition.” This could only be Papal Rome as the beast itself that will control all the kingdoms territories that came before it. But who are the ten horns (kings) that are on the seven heads? Revelation 17:2-13 says, “…but they receive authority for one hour as kings with the beast. These are of one mind, and they will give their power and authority to the beast.” In Daniel chapter two we see the ten European kings, mentioned earlier, and they are part of the Papal Roman Empire. But they also represent the apostate Protestants of the last days. It is from these that the beast receives its power. For a short period of time, they are given power to be kings with the beast in the last days when they will make war with the Lamb. Here is a quote from Ellen White:

“Yet under one head--the papal power--the people will unite to oppose God in the person of His witnesses. What is it that gives its kingdom to this power? Protestantism, a power which while professing to have the temper and spirit of a lamb and to be allied to Heaven, speaks with the voice of a dragon. It is moved by a power from beneath.” “In the warfare to be waged in the last days there will be united, in opposition to God's people, all the corrupt powers that have apostatized from allegiance to the law of Jehovah. In this warfare the Sabbath of the fourth commandment will be the great point at issue; for in the Sabbath commandment the great Lawgiver identifies Himself as the Creator of the heavens and the earth. 

Through the two great errors, the immortality of the soul and Sunday sacredness, Satan will bring the people under his deceptions. While the former lays the foundation of spiritualism, the latter creates a bond of sympathy with Rome. The Protestants of the United States will be foremost in stretching their hands across the gulf to grasp the hand of spiritualism; they will reach over the abyss to clasp hands with the Roman power; and under the influence of this threefold union, this country will follow in the steps of Rome  in trampling on the  rights of conscience,”  Maranotha 187. 

From this quote we can recognize how the ten toes of iron and clay in the lasts days is destroyed by the “rock” that decimates Nebuchadnezzar’s image. The Papacy stirs up the apostate Protestants into war against the remnant of the “seed.” Because the beast challenges God’s holy Sabbath and question that they are mortal, thinking they could be gods, God has no choice but to destroy the wicked. “…God of heaven set up a kingdom, which shall never be destroyed: and the kingdom shall not be left to other people, but it shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand for ever,” Daniel 2:44. This kingdom is the New Jerusalem and it will be on Earth forever.

Joyful noises

"Make a joyful noise unto the LORD, all the earth: make a loud noise, and rejoice, and sing praise."
- Psalms 98:4
      This year has been quite interesting. It seams that every day something happens that makes the day just a little better. Yesterday in Math 11 with Mr. Corrigan, there is one white board marker that makes squeaking noises when you use it. Sarah M. and I found this amusing. It was like the story where Jesus came into Jerusalem riding on a donkey and the people were singing praises around him. The Pharisees said to Jesus, "Make these people stop!" and He replied, "If they don't sing the rocks will cry out."
So here at fountainview we are always singing and making music or some kind. Music is in the halls, people sing while they work, music is recoded... the math pens can't even help but make a noise of some sort either. :)

Snow Day

Today is the second day that it has been snowing. Up until now, this new year hasn't given us an inch of fluffy goodness. Now, we will have snow for 10 days strait! It's wonderful to see the mountains all covered in in white. Since it's sunday, too, Brittany and I went sledding on our new sledding hill. We thought that since the guys always went sledding on their hill, we could use ours too. Man is that thing exciting! Lot's of little bumps, one rock, and the last leg is really steep! You blaze all the way down till you almost hit the side of the dorm. So much fun! Maybe next year will be even better.

"Just" a Teenager

“I’m just a teenager,” I heard one day.

“They expect too much. What can I say?

The old can’t ever regain their youth,

So shouldn’t I live up mine now, in truth?”

I thought a while on what had been said.

“I think these people have been misled

Being young is a gift, to all is given,

But if you misuse it, can it be forgiven?”

Truly, some duties may seem mundane,

But if we were adults, we would go insane!

God purposely put us in the middle

To use our strengths, not just piddle.

Kids don’t know what they should do.

The old don’t feel like they all used to.

It falls to us, the half way breed,

To take up the cause and forward succeed.

The knowledge passed down to us from our folks

We can put to good use and stand like the oaks.

They have taught us their ways,

And over those days,

We were given something the world can’t take,

Even with all its cruel influence and hate.

This gift from the old, the final presage,

Their last urgent plea, “Please take this message!”

“To all the world, you have to spread

The substance of life, our Daily Bread.

In this those who search will find,

And thereafter will not have peace of mind.”

All must know Jesus is coming soon,

It may be morning, or it may be noon.

Teenagers today, to us it is laid.

We don’t have time to live a charade.

Show your strength and give all you’ve got.

At a time like this we can’t be sold or bought.

Everything hangs, as prophet’s foretold,

On mostly the young, not just the old.

Christ wants to come and take us home

Do you really want to sit like a garden gnome?

So show them you’ve got somethin’ worth fightin’ for.

Put away your young life ‘cause this is war

The gospel call will ever ring on our ears.

It never, like humans, faded over the years.

As the majority of humans on this earth today,

It should be our privilege to find those astray.

We are the teenagers of this time.

Our lives are meant for something more sublime.

Awkward Turtle

    For me, i run into a lot of interesting situations. Some are worse than others, but some are a little more on the funny side. First of all, Megan and I were flying home from Seattle airport for christmas break. All day we sat in the same vicinity checking our emails, looking up songs, ect. (Such an un-amusing existence.... ) Since we had been sitting in the airport for over 12 hours, we were really tired when it was time to board our flight. The caffein takes no effect, and the sugar seams to not even exist! But when i get tired, you might as well just have fun with me because it definitely gets... interesting.
      Anyway, that was a side note. As Megan and I approached our gate to board, we were listening to the monotone voice of the flight attendant. She was constantly making annoying announcements every 10 seconds, so it was very hard to not notice. I was quite shocked to find out, once i arrived to the front, that the flight attendant was not a lady, but was a guy. Megan turned to me and said, "I thought he was a guy." (My thoughts exactly.) When the not-so-lady-like man checked the boarding pass of the mexican gaucho in front of us, the scanner beeped red. The flight attendant curtly informed him of this: "Ma'am, your flight doesn't leave until the next plane from this gate. This plane goes to Newark, NJ. Not Houston." He then continued on with his annoying announcements. Megan and i stood there a second, passed through the check, but once we got past ear shot we both burst out laughing. I was like, "Did that female sounding guy just call that passenger Ma'am?" It was incredulous to me, but i also noticed this guy in front of me watching us from his periferal vision. kinda weird I thought, but i kept talking to megan. We then said something else that he thought was interesting, so he turned a little more and looked at us closer. I saw him turn, so i faced him and said, "Hello." I stared a second, waited for him to say something but he didn't respond. Awkward. I turned away and kept talking. Over a space of 15 minutes, megan and i covered a wide range of topics. From college to farming, classmates to GMO, and cows to Jesuits. You name it, we probably covered it. Oh yeah, and the whole time, that guy was listening to us. Needless to say, he had a lot to think about during the flight.