As many of you know I am a minister, and I think about stuff way too much. Although I do have the ability to shut my brain down, most of the time it is going full speed. Recently I have been thinking about the book that is owned by 92% of the households in America, the BIBLE. The King James (KJV) Bible is still the most popular Bible–and for a quick fact, it just celebrated it’s 400 year anniversary. New International Version is the top selling Bible.

I still remember the first time I ever walked into a Christian book store to buy a new Bible. I owned a KJV and the thees and thous were getting to me. Plus, it was not very cool looking in black and saying, “Holy Bible” on the front. Now I look back and think there is something special about the simplicity of my first Bible. I walked in expecting to find 1 or 2 translations and about 5 styles in each. I set out to buy a Bible and left more confused about translations and why American’s need so many Bibles. In writing this, I could not find clear statistics on how much money is spent on buying Bibles in America, but I am sure it is a lot.

I am all for Bible and Bible translations. I think everyone should own and Bible in their language. After thinking about this I found a couple of helpful charts to help find the right Bible for you. There are over 20 modern English translations of the Bible.

The Bible is full of rich history inside and out. Many scholars devoted their whole life to translating the Bible from the original Greek, Hebrew, and Aramaic. Every one of the translators, until modern day, had the same cause in mind. People need to be able to read from the Word of God and not just trust the church. In order to read the Bible they first needed it in their own language. With knowledge comes power to change, and the church did not like that. Many people were forced to trust what the church was teaching was true, and many churches in the 13th century were preaching and teaching from a Latin Bible, a language the people neither spoke nor read. Many spoke early forms of English. And many translators were persecuted and sometimes killed for going against the Church.

One of the major hurdles for modern day missions is getting the Bible translated into languages that do not have it yet. Just like those that came before modern day translators they are being killed and persecuted by those in charge and those they are trying to reach. Bibles should be made available to all people. It is the word of God without a mixture of error. By that I mean what is in the Bible is exactly what God wanted to be in it. He used the Holy Spirit to guide the writing of what we call the Bible today.

So where was I…oh yeah–modern day translations. Here’s a chart I find very helpful (click twice to see it larger):

In my opinion, everyone should stay as close to the Word for Word translation as possible. Again the point is to have a Bible you can read and understand. Some word for word are written at a scholarly level and can be hard to read. Whereas, the other side of the spectrum, you maybe able to read it well, but the meaning is lost.

My suggestion (and the Bible I use all the time) is the English Standard Version. It is written at an 8th grade level and is in modern English. I believe my wife’s words were, “this Bible sounds like I talk.” You can buy one at any Christian book store or your local Walmart.

If you are more digital savy and want to have many translations are your fingertips LifeChurch.tv has created one of the best apps ever.

So, I hope the next time you are looking for a Bible you will think through buying you Bible.

Buy a Bible you will read, and it will change your life.

Until Then,

Beau Bredow

I was speaking recently with someone who said, “Well, if only I knew God’s Will.”

That got me thinking.

Is God’s will lost or is God’s will really hard to find?  I think many people including myself believe that only certain people know God’s will. As if it is only for the elite or those that are on fire for God.

If God’s will is elusive, and if God’s will is something we never really discover, then God does not want us to do the right thing or what He has called us to do. I think God would be pretty frustrated with His people if He said do my will yet never says what His will is. I really think it is a matter of good people wanting to do God’s will for their life yet have been misguided to think that God is specific about all details. I think God works more in the generalities than should I buy this house or that house, should I go here or there, should I invest my time in this ministry or that ministry, and/or should I attend this church or that church.  If His will is hard to find, then we have a God who likes to play with us, who likes to frustrate us, who likes to torture us. That is not who God is. God is love. God is kind. God is mercy. God is grace. God is righteous.

So how can we know God’s will?  Well this has been a progression for me. A progression through wise counsel, studying the Bible, faith, and doing. God has already shared with us his will about certain things, yet we do not always obey them in our daily life, yet we expect God to reveal specifics for our life. When we read the Bible we are more aware of God’s will for daily living which will in turn impact our choices in life.

When we read God’s Word we see things like this:

~ Refraining from sexual immorality is God’s will (1 Thess. 4:3)
~ Giving thanks in everything is God’s will (1 Thess. 5:18)
~ Doing good, which silences evil men, is God’s will (1 Peter 2:15)
~ Having our minds transformed from evil to righteous is God’s will (Rom. 12:2)
~ All things that are done in Heaven are God’s will (Matt. 6:10)

* Examples of things done in heaven:
- Worship of God
- Communication with God
- Fellowship with other believers
- Unwavering obedience

~ All men turning from sin and turning to God so they do not perish is God’s will (2 Peter 3:9)

* If it is God’s will for people to repent and turn to Him, then any action that we take to further this (we call it evangelism) is clearly God’s will.

Every time that I share this with people, they say things like, “Yeah, but I mean, what is His will for me.  Not just general principles.”  In other words, people want to know, which college to go to, who to marry, what job to take, what house to live in, what church to join, what choices to make, etc.  God cares more about your lifestyle choices and aligning your lifestyle with His. If His will is for you to be a mentor he does not care where you mentor or who, but that your mentor. God does not care the size or look of your house or car as long as you do not limit what God wants you to do because of financial burdens. He want you to belong to a church where you can use your gifts. When we read how God wants us to live and we respond correctly than these decisions become easier because God is not going to go against His word.

Ultimately is important to make sure that we are making the right choices because of what the word of God says.  But it simply goes back to knowing God’s Word in order to know God’s will.  When we align our hearts with God’s, the path is made evident for us, but it is made evident to us just one step at a time.  God is not going to send you an email with the next ten years laid out in front of you.  He wants you to trust Him step-by-step, day-by-day.  We call this faith.  If we had the whole plan laid out, then we would have no need of God.

Want to know God’s will?  Spend more time getting to know God’s Word, and trust Him each and every step of the way.

But in the meantime…

Sal and I went out last Saturday to see what kind of luck we’d have just walking around a neighborhood without any preparation.  It was good we did this, because as we learned, this was not a very effective method.

I stopped by my friend Veronica’s and took pictures of her, Alicia and Asia.

We did these on her front porch. One noticeable issue I ran into was, other than using her house as a backdrop (as the case with Asia), each angle we turned to had a busy, messy background.  On a technical note, I could have gotten around this by shooting with my aperture wide open, but that would require a very fast shutter speed. However, since I used a flash as my main light, I was limited in shutter speed–around 1/200 at the max–giving me a small aperture, aka, a long, sharp depth of field.  Oh well.

On the two above: f/11, shutter 1/160, ISO 160, 98mm (first), 40mm (second), shot on 5d/II, 24-105L (no surprise).

On the below: f/14, shutter 1/160, ISO 160, 47mm

Earlier in the day I test shot with Sal.  In the above two he was my V.A.L. (voice-activated lightstand), but in this one I just held the flash out in my left hand.  One thing that shows up a little off on this one is I didn’t CTO gel the flash, so to me the light on his face is a different color than the background light (didn’t think about that at the time).  I was playing around with it in post production and couldn’t get it to look right until I realized what the problem was.

Speaking of post production, I’ve been playing around with some vintage effects, and although I feel I’m pretty far from getting anywhere presentable, here’s a quick little curves adjustment that will get you started.

This is curves built into Aperture 3 (I believe the current Lightroom also has Curves).

Here I show the RGB overlayed only to illustrate in one picture what I did, but I adjust each Red, Green, and Blue individually.  On the Red and Blue I pull up the left and right border point which effectively takes out the contrast by color. For the green, I just bent it  up (north-west?) a tad.  Once you play around with it, it makes a lot more sense.

I’m still in the learning-a-lot phase, but it’s an easy jumping off point.

In Sal’s picture, I used a de-vignetting tool a few times over, brushed in on the left side only.  Other than bringing back some blown-out highlights (shot in RAW), that was the only post-production.

In modern church, there seems to be a common and acceptable way of referring to God’s Love as a one-sided thankfulness on our part.  But there’s no talk about the consequence and the non-happy parts of it.

Like when we don’t love back.

What if God’s anger were roused against us?  that is, 10:30-am-every-Sunday-us.  Do we pray about that?

We should.

And for grace.

And mercy.

And then more love.

But in Your great mercy You did not put an end to them or abandon them, for You are a gracious and merciful God. Nehemiah 9:31

Other people are just liked. And popular. They don’t really do anything to perpetuate it, they just act natural and the rest takes care of itself.

Others still are behind-the-scenes people. They work hard, rarely receive praise, many of which really don’t like public praise. But they’re the people that make things happen. They know that much of what people enjoy happens because of them, unbeknownst to the public.

You can find all of these people in both the Church and the secular world, because these are just personalities. And alone, there’s nothing wrong with this. They are the things that make us different.

These are just a few, so maybe you see yourself in a different role. But whatever good you do, have you ever considered whether or not you allow this to determine your self-worth?

I think it’s a very easy and natural thing to do. I know I do it! But then again, I do a lot of things that if I’m being completely honest, I have only selfish and ungodly reasons for.

So, what does the Bible say about our self-worth?

“God created man in His own image.” Genesis 1:27.  Notice God did the making, not us.

“Everyone who is called by My name, whom I have created for My glory; I have formed him, yes, I have made him.” Isaiah 43:7.  God states our purpose clearly: to worship Him, and with that comes our self-worth.

Bam. Done.

As an equipper of those that are called, I typically am narrow minded toward what works for me in sharing Jesus works for everyone. This conference helps to hear how others are using their God given gifts to share Jesus with those they come in contact with. They do not have a program or outline of steps on how to do. They do it more in meeting needs while inviting the people into a relationship with Jesus Christ. I would like to share with you a couple of ways people are using their gifts and talents.

The first person is Zach Williams. Zach uses music to tell the stories of those he loves and comes in contact with. He has an amazing gift to be able to tell stories through his songs. Not all of the songs make sense at first because every good song is supposed to make the listener want more or to think about what is being shared.

He is not much of a public speaker. Seemed nervous and awkward, but once he started playing his guitar and singing it was like he became another person. It was awesome to see. He truly believed everything he sang. Through his playing, singing, body language, and style I could tell he has a special gift.

After a tragic incident in his life, him and some of his closest friends moved to Brooklyn to discover what ever Christian community that was there and help the movement. He is the worship leader at church plant that grew out of a Bible study in his house.

The second person is Jeremy Cowart. Jeremy has photographed some of the most famous and rich people in the world. He has a great gift of photography and an eye for people. He started a campaign called help portrait which you can see here.

Help portrait is a calibration of people from all over the world finding and inviting people that many of us turn our head from as if we do not look at them they do not exist. Inviting them to come to a special day of focus of them, their story, and to take their picture and give them a copy. I heard one guy say he never had his picture taken except when he was arrested. These people find worth and hope through this cause. It is great to see what Jeremy dreamed one day and is now a global event.

I am not one that has a gift of arts. I know people that are and they do make me a little jealous. I know I am great at some things and know my limits in others. I think Joe should look into help portrait and team up with people in the New Orleans area. There is probably someone that is already taking the lead. Let us band together to encourage and make Joe do this.

Until Then,
Beau

EDITORS NOTE: Last  year around this time I first heard about Jeremy Cowart’s Help Portrait project, and although I wasn’t able to get involved then, I really liked the idea. A few days ago Beau mentioned the idea to me. And the philosophy, as Beau notes above, is something that’s always been very close to me. Some of the beneficiaries of this have only had their picture taken in a line-up. Sometimes people need to be convinced of their self-worth, and when God gives us the tools and timing to do it, we should.

As an open note: to anyone, photographer or not, wanting to work on this project with me this year, please get in touch with me.  I’m going to focusing on this culminating in the month of December, prior to Christmas. I can use all kinds of help (if you know me, you’re probably nodding your head as you read this!).

Located one block off Bourbon in the heart of the French Quarter, the service started, as Pastor Greg Hand mentioned, “on French Quarter time.” Which, to it’s credit was only about twenty minutes behind everyone else’s. And that’s okay.

I was not familiar with this church until my good friend, Michelle, told me about it, and although she was very encouraging, I wasn’t quite sure what to expect. But to my great amusement, it was quite normal. Greg spoke about how to gain greater specificity in our relationship with God, which is at the very heart of His desires for us.

The service held about fifteen in attendance and had the warm feeling of a house-church. Probably because it was a house at sometime in it’s past. There were regular members who greeted each other with familiar smiles and seemed to hold a genuine excitement for being in their place of worship. All in all it was a great experience I look forward to repeating more in the future.

One funny moment happened in the beginning as Greg mounted the drum set buried in the corner.  Bowing his head, he said, “let’s not forget what today is.” The regulars seem to know what this mean as they in unison struck up together in song. I didn’t recognize the song. At first. Until it morphed into When The Saints Go Marching In. And then into a drum and a cappella Who Dat chant.

Kristin and I both exchanged big smiles at this.

Funny as that account may be, Greg is doing the very essence of what the Gospel teaches–meeting people on their terrain with the message of God.

I walked up in time to meet two blue-FTC-tshirtted volunteers leaving a mostly empty parking lot where the distribution was in the final stages of cleaning up.

I missed it, but I wasn’t too discouraged. I was standing on the edge of an interesting-looking neighborhood, so I decided to go in and take some pictures. As I walked down sidewalks and crossed streets and turned corners I saw people everywhere. Some were walking to places while others were just walking, or sitting.

While walking, I passed one such woman sitting on her steps; she was surrounded by her two kids (that is, two kids that could have been twenty kids at speed they bounced!).  She called out hey and motioned me closer. After saying hi I stood there waiting while she starred at me. Long enough to make me think perhaps she didn’t call me after all. Then after some more thought, she asked if I was a “paparazzi.”

“No,” I smiled.

“Oh, then you’re a good samaritan.”

Uhh, well, I guess, if those are the two options… okay.

I went on to explain I came to help with the distribution (which was a little ways away from her house), and perhaps that’s what she was referring to. That seemed to be satisfactory, because next she told me to lean in closer so no one around would hear what she was about to say.

I’ll admit, this piqued my interest a little. I had no idea what she was about to tell me.

And she wasted no time, in hushed tones she delved into what was a long story about herself: the raps she creates–which she doesn’t always understand herself; the symbolism of her tattoos (including the two she had done just one night before); and the way the people around her can’t seem to grasp her message.

In short, she was special and wanted me to know it. Maybe because I was different looking (a short-haired white boy in a black neighborhood). I’m not sure of the reason, but nevertheless she was insistent upon telling me these things.

Up to this point I hadn’t done any talking (except to ask her name. Veronica). Truthfully, I had no idea what to say. I was still back trying to figure out what was going on. Everything in her body language suggested she was being honest in her intention. So, I kept going with it.

As she bounced from one topic to another, she touched a few times on some vague ideas of God and eternity and her life-mission–which, I may add, consisted of not many more words than that.

It was here I intervened to ask this direct woman a pointblank question: “Veronica, where are you going when you die?” With not much confidence, she relayed to me lines she’d heard before about good people going to heaven, so I got specific and asked her in a new way: “Veronica, where are you going when you die?”

I began to see she was thinking. Not regurgitating.

From here we talked openly about how a person gets to heaven, how it’s not about good people doing good things, and how everyone has to chose for themselves.

Growing up in this city, everyone knows something about God; there are subcultures upon subcultures all laced with their own theologies about how to get to heaven. The details are never boring, but the end results are always the same, be good: go to heaven. As we talked I listened to what she said, and she was reinforcing this.

After we had been through what the Bible says about becoming a Christian, I asked her if she wanted that.

She did. We prayed. She’s in.

Veronica:

My brother makes a big impact on everyone he meets, and typically not a good one. I was on staff or maybe just a member at the time. I even convinced Joe to help me out with a  program for elementary aged boys on Wednesday nights at church and to go to camp with them. We had fun and Joe bought a camera, so in a way I single handedly kick-started Joe’s photography expeditions.

My name is Beau Bredow, and I am a Baptist minister living in Lakeland, Florida. I oversee the elementary children’s programs and Bible study programs at Scott Lake Baptist Church. I am married to Andrea–you guessed it: Bredow–and we have a two-year-old son named Blake, and another child on the way (coming in February of 2011). I am a Christian (a person who does his best to love Jesus and show His love to others through words, actions, and lifestyle).

Not sure what I will write about each time. I have my own blog, but the topics I discuss there are direct more toward church ministers and church ministry, but much is applicable to life, leadership, and relationships. Before this gets too long and boring, I’ll tell you now. I want to talk about TRIBES.

Seth Godin is, well, I am not really sure what exactly he is or does, but I heard him speak a few years back at a leadership conference where he talked about his new book called tribes. (You can download a free audio book here). At first I thought, what does this have to do about anything? After all, when I spend 300 dollars for a conference, it had better be about me. Years later I am still thinking about the tribes concepts.

Tribes are: groups of 3 or more people with at least one thing in common and have a leader. Anyone can be the leader, but typically the person with the most passion or interested naturally becomes the leader. People are asked to be part of these tribes (groups) and are expected to participate and be involved with whatever the purpose is while promoting it to others.

Think about groups on Facebook, AA classes, social groups, Tea Party, politics, Bible study classes, Trekies, Vampires, Harry Potter, Disney, Red Hat Society, Mason’s, Justin Bieber followers, Twitter, or as simple as a I-am-so-cool-I-have-my-name-tattooed-on-my-arm tribe (which I started, but canceled). I was sharing tribes with a friend, and she just could not get the point or the importance. I told her to start a Facebook page for red-haired, curly headed girls. The purpose to discuss hair styles and products for their hair and bond with other red-heads. Not sure if she ever did it, but if I had red, curly hair and was a girl I would join it. It’s informative, holds a status of belonging, and gives useful tips; these are things everyone is looking for, even for something as superficial as hair.

I think Joe has strong potential when it comes to tribes. When there is something Joe cares about, buys into, and finds reward in, he takes off and leads it. Photography, music, New Orleans, movies…

For me, what stands out are the principles found in starting Bible study groups. Once I have a leader who is passionate about sharing the Bible with people I can start the group (tribe). He or she as a leader will invite people to be part of it. If the group is, say, for young-marrieds, he will find all the young married people he can find to be a part of the group. The group needs to be marketed broadly, but defined specifically to those that qualify. The group is open to both those in the church and not a part of the church. The group’s purpose is to share life together, discuss the Bible, meet regularly, and start more tribes.

I have never met a person that did not wants friends, to be included, find purpose in what he or she is doing, and not to be judged for what he or she believes. These groups are very easy to get into, but if the follower (participant) does not hold up their part of the agreement to attend, participate, and promote the group, he or she will need to be removed because the group is the more important than the individual person. Some people want to make these groups broad, vague, and inclusive; but smaller, exclusive, and targeted groups have the most success, and they are the ones that people want to belong to.

Think about a person standing on the outside looking into what he or she really wants. He will do anything to get into the group, even start a new group of his own.

For me Tribes is important for developing Bible study groups. What kind of tribe(s) do you want to start or be included in? And as a side note, if you want a Power Point with Notes on Tribes email me, and I can get it to you.

Until Then,

Beau Bredow

beaubredow@gmail.com
http://beaubredow.blogspot.com/

The crawfish race was my favorite.  Perhaps by the time I got there, the little guys were just sick up and fed with racing and ready to be eaten, but their lethargic stillness after being plopped down in the ‘ring’ made me laugh a little. Good stuff.