James's Weblog

Tell the idols!

Sat, 09/10/2010 - 07:26 -- James Oakley

The Bible repeatedly says that idols, being false gods, are little use. There is plenty of mockery of them to make the point. I love this detail...

The next day, when the Philistines came to strip the slain, they found Saul and his sons fallen on Mount Gilboa. And they stripped him and took his head and his armour, and sent messengers throughout the land of the Philistines to carry the good news to their idols and to their people. (1 Chronicles 10:8-9)

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Télépéage

Wed, 15/09/2010 - 10:58 -- James Oakley
Update: 20th April 2012
I've made a new post today that brings the information in this one up to date. I've also included an FAQ section there that distills the content from the comment thread on this post. Instead of reading this post, which is now slightly out of date, and then trawling through 80 comments, may I suggest you go directly to the new post where you'll find all that information more easily. (Comments on this thread are now closed).
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HDR Photography of Kemsing Church

Tue, 07/09/2010 - 10:22 -- James Oakley

I've recently been experimenting with a technique known as HDR Photography, short for High Dynamic Range.

Here's the idea: Not long after I arrived in Kemsing, I took a photograph of the interior of the church to use on some printed materials. I used an ordinary digital camera, and took a single photograph. The result is below:

Kemsing church

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Praise God for his wonderful deeds

Tue, 31/08/2010 - 07:26 -- James Oakley

We are forever looking for things God has done for us for which we can give him thanks. Things he has done for us and for no other people. That could be a temporal thing - we want things he has done for our generation and not for previous ones. That could be a spatial thing - we want things he has done for our village / town / county / nation and not for others. It could be both at once - things he has done for me and me alone.

Psalm 105 is a total contrast. It starts

Oh give thanks to the Lord;
call upon his name;

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Structure of Exodus 32-34

Wed, 04/08/2010 - 13:00 -- James Oakley

I find Motyer's proposed structure of Exodus 32-34 more convincing at some points than at others, but it definitely contains some useful observations about how the section as a whole is working:

A1      Moses doubted (32:1-6)
      B1      Covenant under threat. Moses’ intercession (32:7-14)
            C1      The broken tablets (32:15-19)

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Heaven in space and time

Wed, 21/07/2010 - 12:12 -- James Oakley

“It is most fitting that the Sabbath be the sign of this covenant. Israel, as we have noted, is a new creation. This is a new people of God, whom he intends to use to undo the work of the first man. Also, the tabernacle is a microcosm of the created order, a parcel of edenic splendour established amid the chaos of the world. The Sabbath is not just a reminder of the original creation in Genesis 1 and 2, but a reminder of God’s re-creation of the cosmos in the tabernacle.”

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Coffee Picking

Wed, 14/07/2010 - 16:39 -- James Oakley

Steve Leighton has a fascinating post about Day 3 of his recent trip to Machacarmarca farm in Bolivia. That was the day he spent picking coffee with the other farm workers, and seeing first-hand how the methods used on this farm result in the quality you get in the cup.

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