Here is a moving presentation of Hebrews chapters 9 and 10 from memory! It starts off seeming like it is a sermon, then you realize that it sounds familiar. I think the message would have originally been presented to the first century audience in a similar oratory style.

According to the blog, Worship Matters:

This video captures one of the highlights of the WorshipGod06 Conference hosted by Sovereign Grace Ministries this past August. Ryan Ferguson shared a memorized dramatic presentation of Hebrews 9 and 10 from the ESV Bible.  The power of God’s Word came through in a fresh, compelling way. Ryan, a member of  North Hills Community Church in Greenville, South Carolina, has actually memorized the entire book of Hebrews. However, we only asked him to share two chapters with us at the conference.

HatTip: ESV Bible Blog

In looking for ways to learn Spanish I ran across a number of podcasts that are targeted to students of Spanish. Some are way beyond my abilities now, but may be helpful once I get to the intermediate or advanced levels.

• Spanish Phrase of the Day - Daily dose about a Spanish phrase that helps you build your Spanish comprehension. Has been publishing almost daily since November 2005 from El Cajon, California. These 1 to 2 minute podcasts can be used by all levels of Spanish students.
• Rolling R’s - this is actually a video podcast starting at the beginner level by a Junior High School Spanish teacher in Mesa, Arizona. I like it except that the ’start-up’ time for each video is almost as long as the video itself. He has produced 29 video-casts since January 2006.
• Español Segunda Lengua para Todos  (ssl4you) - Has stories in Spanish and English that accompany the audio podcast. 30 podcasts have been released since she started publishing in February 2006 at a respectable rate of about 3 a month. Intermediate level. The podcast is based out of Zamora, Spain.
• Notes in Spanish - Has intermediate and advanced levels and you can purchase the worksheets that provide a complete transcript of the the Spanish conversation and a list of the vocabulary and phrases for each show. The podcast is recorded in Madrid, Spain by a native speaker and an American who learned Spanish after moving to Spain. The intermediate level just started in September of 2006 and has had 10 podcasts so far. The advanced has just released the 56th episode. Both seem to come out weekly.
• Trying to Learn Spanish - These podcasts are not designed to teach you Spanish as much as help you find the tools and resources that will help you learn Spanish. He has published 19 since March 2005, but only 4 were recorded this year. I am not sure if he ran out of time to produce the podcasts or if he ran out of material to talk about. The comments by listeners also have some good links to resources related to the podcast subjects.
• Podsonoro - I include this just in case you want to listen to Spanish podcasts, this site collects the links. It will be a while before I can even consider these.

I received an email from an old aquaintance that he has set up a light show at his home in Kennewick. We stopped by and the kids loved it! They want to bring their cousins to see the display when they arrive from Boise for Christmas. I must admit that I was impressed and won’t mind taking them again.

According to the email there are 15,000 Christmas lights dancing to the music and I am surprised. It looks like alot more than that to me. The lights are even choreographed to the Christmas songs and the music is broadcast over FM radio frequency 99.7, so you can listen in your car.

Rudolph The Reindeer sings some of the songs, his mouth moving in time with the words. The 16-foot Christmas Tree has more lights than I would want to even consider having to put up. 24 candy canes ‘boogie’ to the music and there is even a train that is coordinated with the music of Polar Express.

Tune your car radio To 99.7 as you get close to the neighborhood. You can hear the signal from the low power transmitter. Christmas music plays 24/7 and switches to the music for the show at start up time.

TOYS FOR TOTS
He also mentions that they have teamed up with USMC Toys For Tots program to help provide Christmas toys for under privileged children - you can help put a toy in the hands of a local boy or girl by bringing a new unwrapped toy and dropping it in the drop box near the front door.

It is definitely worth your time to take the kids (or just yourself) to go see show.

Dazzle Your Senses!
5:30 - 9:30 (Sunday - Thursday)
5:30 - 10:30 (Friday & Saturday).
420 W. 20th Ave, Kennewick, WA

CNN.com has a funny story about a young German guy who wanted to visit his girlfriend in Sydney, Australia buy typed an ‘i‘ instead of a ‘y‘ and ended up in Montana!

Dressed for the Australian summer in T-shirt and shorts, Tobi Gutt left Germany on Saturday for a four-week holiday. Instead of arriving “down under”, Gutt found himself on a different continent and bound for the chilly state of Montana.

He landed in Portland, Oregon, where he changed planes and arrived in Billings, Montana. At this point he realized his error, he was

about to board a commuter flight to Sidney — an oil town of about 5,000 people.

Dressed for a warm, down under, the 21 year old spent three days in the Billings airport before receiving some money from his parents and friends in Germany to buy a new ticket to Australia.

As his mother told Reuters:

“I didn’t notice the mistake as my son is usually good with computers.”