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“Late in time behold Him come/Offspring of a Virgin’s womb”

Between singing “Hark! The Herald Angels Sing,” listening to sermons, and doing advent readings with my daughter, I can’t help but think about the significance of the virgin birth.

I thought I’d take the opportunity to show how to use Logos 4 to study the virgin birth. Typing Matthew 1 or Luke 1 into the box on the Home Page and clicking “Go” is a great place to start. Doing a Bible Word Study on parthenos (παρθένος) is also a useful exercise. You can launch a Bible Word Study from the Guides menu by typing g:parthenos or by right-clicking on virgin in a verse like Matthew 1:23, selecting “Lemma παρθένος,” and choosing “Bible Word Study.”

Another direction you might take is a systematic or theological one. I started by doing a search of my entire library for “Virgin Birth.” I instantly received over 7,500 hits. Awesome, but I wanted to make my search a bit more focused.

In order to narrow it down, I made a collection of my Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias. Searching only those books yielded a more manageable 565 results. I started by looking at the article “Virgin Birth of Jesus” in the Baker Encyclopedia of the Bible. Of its theological importance I learned, “From the very beginning the doctrine of the virgin birth became the foundation of a high Christology. Many have pointed out that the earliest church fathers stressed this more perhaps than any other event as proof of the incarnation and deity of Christ” (2126). And in New Bible Dictionary I read about Biblical evidence for the virgin birth outside of Matthew and Luke. It turns out those books aren’t the only place to go for allusions to the virgin birth. Paul makes a possible reference in Galatians 4:4.

The next thing you might do is ask, “What have Christian writers throughout the centuries had to say about the virgin birth?” I quickly made a collection of all my systematic theology books and discovered over 1,000 potential targets!

The first thing I checked was G. C. Berkouwer’s chapter in The Work of Christ entitled “The Great Mystery.” In it he dealt with the virgin birth at length and connected it with a doctrine of original sin: “In confessing the virgin birth we do not attempt to exclude Christ from the original sin which supposedly would be derived from a human father, but rather from the original guilt of all who are born of Adam” (129). Clearly that’s food for thought!

In Church Dogmatics I/2, Karl Barth called the virgin birth the “Miracle of Christmas” and described the coming of the Son of God in flesh through the Virgin Mary as a “new thing” outside our normal experience as humans. And because Jesus Christ came for us and our salvation, the exclusion of an earthly biological parent excludes the possibility of us humans contributing to our salvation in any way. The virgin birth is a sign of God’s total grace towards us.

However you celebrate your Christmas, Logos 4 is an excellent tool for understanding the significance of this important season.

Already a Logos Bible Software user?
Visit our custom upgrade discount calculator to see what discounts you qualify for on an upgrade to a brand new Logos 4 base package.

Want to be a Logos Bible Software user?
New customers should visit http://www.logos.com/4 to learn more and see what discounts are currently available.

You should follow us on Twitter here.

Today's post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

As you know, when you travel to a new place you want to ask the locals where to eat and what to see. People who live in an area know more than what’s in a travel brochure. That’s my philosophy when it comes to Camp Logos, our two day training seminar for Logos Bible Software. I want to give you practical suggestions and applications that you may not read in a help file or discover on your own. For example, try this:

Open a Bible from the Library. Now open a commentary which should display in a separate tile. Click the panel menu (cover image; top-left) of each tile and select Link set A for both resources. Now when you jump to a different verse in one, they’ll both move there.

Return to the Library and drag some of your favorite commentaries into the same tile as the previous commentary. Make sure to set these to the same Link set A.

You now have a Bible in one tile and several commentaries in the other. Jump to a different verse in the Bible and all the commentaries will follow. Click in the commentary tile to read your first. Now press Ctrl + Page Down to move to the next commentary. That keystroke will take you through just the tabs in one tile!

For the icing on the cake, choose the Layouts menu and name the Now Snapshot. When you want to return to this setup choose the Layouts menu again and select this Named Layout. You now have instant commentary insights from your favorite resources!

Now for the cherry on top, drag the named layout from the Layouts menu to the Shortcuts bar. Click the icon and your commentary layout opens!

If this has been helpful, I think you’ll thoroughly enjoy Camp Logos. We move through many of the features of your software in a thorough yet very practical manner.

Grand Opening Seminars

We’re kicking off the New Year with two more Logos 4 Grand Opening Seminars in northern California, January 6–7 and 8–9. We have special prizes to give away (including a leather bound ESV Study Bible) and Dale Pritchett, Vice President of Logos, will be present for Q and A sessions. Please check out mpseminars.com for more information and the Camp Logos calendar for a complete schedule of seminars. I look forward to seeing you soon at Camp Logos.

Already a Logos Bible Software user?
Visit our custom upgrade discount calculator to see what discounts you qualify for on an upgrade to a brand new Logos 4 base package.

Want to be a Logos Bible Software user?
New customers should visit http://www.logos.com/4 to learn more and see what discounts are currently available.

You should follow us on Twitter here.

Today's post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

As I was growing up in Nashville, TN, my father was truck driver. He knew every back road in our area. As a result, when I learned to drive he was constantly asking me, “Do you want to know a shortcut to the store? How about a shortcut to the park?”

If you’ve ever attended one of our Logos training seminars called Camp Logos you know I’m all about shortcuts. At least I come by it naturally.

So do you want to know a shortcut to the Home Page? How about to the Library? What about to start a Search?

Well here are some keyboard shortcuts to save you some time:

• Alt + H opens and closes the Home Page
• Alt + L opens and closes the Library
• Alt + S opens the Search panel

For an extended list, check out the Logos 4 Keyboard Shortcuts article.

Already a Logos Bible Software user?
Visit our custom upgrade discount calculator to see what discounts you qualify for on an upgrade to a brand new Logos 4 base package.

Want to be a Logos Bible Software user?
New customers should visit http://www.logos.com/4 to learn more and see what discounts are currently available.

You should follow us on Twitter here.

Today's post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

You and I have a lot of books. Then we have our favorite books. For example, within Logos Bible Software 4 we have a boatload of Bibles. Yet we also have our favorite Bibles. We have considerable commentaries. Within those, we have our favorite commentaries. These favorite resources in Logos are called Prioritized Resources. These favorites are then opened first in various places throughout the software. The good news is you get to designate your priorities. Here’s how:

• Open the Library
• Click Prioritize on the right to open a pane called Prefer these resources:
• Now drag and drop your favorites from the Library to the list on the right

I suggest placing your Bibles at the top, then Bible dictionaries, then commentaries, and so on. This way your list is neatly organized so you can easily change it if you wish. Remember, within the list you can drag and drop resources to a new position.

The next time you launch a Bible study from the Home Page, notice what commentaries appear first in the Passage Guide. Notice which five of your top Bibles open first in the upper center tile.

You can edit this list as much as you want!

Already a Logos Bible Software user?
Visit our custom upgrade discount calculator to see what discounts you qualify for on an upgrade to a brand new Logos 4 base package.

Want to be a Logos Bible Software user?
New customers should visit http://www.logos.com/4 to learn more and see what discounts are currently available.

You should follow us on Twitter here.

Today's post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

You no doubt have at least one bookshelf (probably more) in your home or office for print books. If you’re like me, those bookshelves get filled, yet you keep buying books and soon you start lying books one on top of the other. Before long I can’t find a specific book I’m looking for. Imagine for a moment if that bookshelf contained a voice activated book locator. You say something like: Pursuit of God by Tozer. Then instantly that book sprang from the shelf.

Perhaps that’s wishful thinking for print books, but not with our Logos Bible Software 4 e-books.

First of all, you have an electronic bookshelf called the Library. Click the Library icon on the toolbar to open it. You can learn to use the Library by watching one of our training videos.

For now, notice the Find box in the Library. This is the locator we just imagined. You can type practically anything in the box.

Type ESV to find any resource with ESV in any of its bibliographic data such as title, publisher, and so on.

This is where it gets fun, though:

Type title:twelve and the word twelve has to be in the title of the book.

Or type title:twelve AND author:bruce. Now twelve must be in the title and Bruce must be in the author fields, respectively.

When you type that, you’ll discover A.B. Bruce’s book Training of the Twelve will spring from the bookshelf right into your hand! This is what we just imagined. You’ll never lose another book with Logos Bible Software 4.

Already a Logos Bible Software user?
Visit our custom upgrade discount calculator to see what discounts you qualify for on an upgrade to a brand new Logos 4 base package.

Want to be a Logos Bible Software user?
New customers should visit http://www.logos.com/4 to learn more and see what discounts are currently available.

You should follow us on Twitter here.

Like many companies in the US, Logos will be closed today for the Thanksgiving holiday. While we may be closed, we realize that many of you will be using, buying, or simply wanting to learn more about Logos 4. Since we won't be in today to answer your questions, I thought I'd put together some links that might help you out.

• First, for those of you who are browsing Logos.com today and thinking about buying Logos 4, you might want to start by viewing the Logos 4 demo. This 4 minute video gives you a brief demonstration of what Logos 4 is all about.
• After that, if you're interested in seeing more footage, head over to our video page where we have over 50 videos highlighting many of the new features of Logos 4.
• With videos behind you, visit www.logos.com/products to take a look at all our base packages.
• After viewing those pages, you'll want to stop by our special discount page to see what sort of sweet offers we have for our new and existing customers. When you visit the page, be sure to login or create a Logos.com account so you can see a custom price tailored just for you.
• Once you have a good idea of what all your options are for Logos 4, read through the special FAQ we created for people considering the purchase. This will help answer some of the question you may have, or didn't even know you had.
• Finally, if you're looking for more information, head over to our community forums where there are literally hundreds of conversations about Logos 4. Join in the discussion and ask any questions you may have. The community is more than happy to help you out.

• As I mentioned in the above section, you should head over to www.logos.com/upgrade. Whether you are an existing user or new to Logos, this page will give you the best price for all our base packages. Be sure to login or sign up for a Logos.com account to see the best price.
• Before completing your purchase, be sure to read this FAQ. We outline some important information that will help make your purchase and installation run more smoothly.
• If you're looking for something to do while you wait for Logos 4 to install, check out our videos and visit our community forums.

• Our customer service department has been pulling extended hours and weekend shifts for the last 3 1/2 weeks to help all our users get used to their new software. While they are getting their well-deserved rest today, our community forums are here for you 24 hours a day.
• If you haven't seen our training and feature tutorial videos, be sure to check them out.
• Be sure you catch up on all our Logos 4 blog posts from the past couple weeks. There is a lot of great information in there.

So, there you have it. I hope that this information helps you out. If you need further assistance, we'll be in the office bright and early Friday morning. Wait, who am I kidding, we live in Bellingham, WA. We'll be in the office dark, cold, rainy, and early Friday morning.

Finally, from everyone at Logos, we truly hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Today's post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

When you first open Logos Bible Software 4 you come to the Home Page. This screen may not resemble anything you’ve ever seen in software before. It should look very familiar, though. It looks like the front page of a newspaper or the home page of a web site.

Think with me about the newspaper analogy. Each day we pick it up to read, we see the front page lays out the same yet contains different content. We always know where the title of the paper, the edition, the weather, and so on are located. Yet the articles are never the same. Who wants to read the same articles day after day?

The same is true for the Logos Home Page. At the top in the “ribbon” you’ll see features that stay the same day in and day out: your Preferred Bible, Reading Plans, and more.

In the lower section, however, you discover content that changes every day. It’s just like the front page of your very own Bible study newspaper! You see articles from books, images, maps, this mp|seminars Tips blog post, or most anything.

When I first saw this Home Page I did a double take. I wasn’t sure I liked it. I want things to stay the same. Now I understand, though, it’s not supposed to stay the same. It’s supposed to change.

Every day we’re to have our sanctified imagination and curiosity motivated to dive into God’s Word perhaps in a way we never have before. I encourage you, each day look for something different and follow a link to where it takes you. You never know what you’ll learn about the Bible with Logos Bible Software 4.

Already a Logos Bible Software user?
Visit our custom upgrade discount calculator to see what discounts you qualify for on an upgrade to a brand new Logos 4 base package.

Want to be a Logos Bible Software user?
New customers should visit http://www.logos.com/4 to learn more and see what discounts are currently available.

You should follow us on Twitter here.

Today's post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

Congratulations on securing Logos Bible Software 4! This is beyond a shadow of a doubt the world’s most powerful AND easy to use software. If you're not already, you will soon be studying the Bible in ways you never thought possible.

Many of the features are obvious and self explanatory. For example, to launch a Bible study from the Home Page just enter a biblical reference in the passage box and click Go. In mere moments your computer screen transforms into a desk or kitchen table with numerous reports and resources open ready for your investigation!

To insure that you have an enjoyable and profitable experience with Logos Bible Software 4, we’ve prepared various means for you to get help when you need it.

First, click the question mark (?) icon in the upper right-hand corner of the screen to access quick reference Help files. The search feature allows you to jump just to the article you need.

Also, in your software sleeve you’ll see a disk labeled PC Videos containing instructional videos prepared by my company, mp|seminars. You can watch and listen as you learn to execute numerous Logos features.

In addition, these same videos as well as numerous other tutorials are located at Logos.com.

For more in-depth training materials and seminars you can visit mpseminars.com for additional information.

Enjoy your Bible study with Logos!

Already a Logos Bible Software user?
Visit our custom upgrade discount calculator to see what discounts you qualify for on an upgrade to a brand new Logos 4 base package.

Want to be a Logos Bible Software user?
New customers should visit http://www.logos.com/4 to learn more and see what discounts are currently available.

You should follow us on Twitter here.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

The Reference Browser is like a Scripture reference index in the back of a print book. Use it to locate occurrences of Bible verses in any Libronix e-book.

For example, open the Logos Hymnal. Now open the Reference Browser from the Go menu or use the keystroke shortcut Ctrl + R. Set the In box to the Logos Hymnal and the Type box to Bible. Type "Rev 19" in the Find box and click Search.

You've just found all of the hymns based on Revelation 19.

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

You should follow us on Twitter here.

English cleric and writer Charles Colton said, “Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.” In this high-tech culture Colton’s aphorism might be updated to “Fidelity is the sincerest form of flattery.” Running into those true believers who use, love and cannot help but spread the word about Logos Bible Software is always flattering.

Meet Carl Bosma, ordained in the Christian Reformed Church in North America, church planter, leadership developer with Christian Reformed World Missions, Professor of Biblical studies at Seminario Presbiteriano do Sul, Sao Paulo, Brazil, Associate Professor of Old Testament at Calvin Theological Seminary, Th.D. candidate and Logos Bible Software user. In fact, Mr. Bosma wrote a very thorough and impressive manual for Libronix 3.0 that, although Logos wasn’t affiliated with, those of us who have perused it were very impressed.

I touched base with Prof. Bosma recently to get more information about this huge project:

Logos: How were you introduced to Logos Bible Software?

Prof. Bosma: I was introduced to Logos Bible Software by a student at Calvin Theological Seminary in 1991, shortly after my arrival at Calvin Theological Seminary from a church planting ministry in Brazil. The student loaded a copy onto my desktop and when I began to work with it I found the program to be very user friendly.

Logos: With your background, I am sure you are familiar with a variety of different Bible applications and software. What have you found particularly useful to you, personally and professionally, in Logos Bible Software?

Prof. Bosma: In comparison with some of the other Bible software programs, I found Logos to be very user friendly. It fit my style. Moreover, unlike some of the other programs, Libronix is a library that allows me as a preacher and teacher to add on commentaries and other theological books. Consequently, our aim at Calvin Theological Seminary is to prepare students to use this program to build their library. With their library on their laptop, graduating students do not need to rent a truck to transport a library to the church where they are called to minister.

Logos: Have you found that people who have had Logos for a while and attend your workshops are surprised at the number of features and applications that they were not using or were unaware of?

Prof. Bosma: In my workshops, I typically find that pastors who purchased Libronix and never had any training typically do not know how to use most of the resources of this excellent program.

Logos: What are some examples of applications that don’t get used and pastors are excited to discover?

Prof. Bosma: Here are some examples:

• 1. They are not acquainted with the note the taking feature.
• 2. They do not know about the resource association feature and other power tools.
• 3. They do not use the visual filters but once we introduce them to this feature and give them our customized filters they love it.
• 4. They do not know about the NET Bible or the Reverse Interlinears.

Logos: The user manual that you have created is a great resource. How much work went into creating it? And what made you decide to put that together?

Prof. Bosma: It took about 14 years to put this manual together. Once I started training students and pastors in this program, I decided to keep a record of all the examples that I used. As I was training, I had my student assistants take note. The first student assistant who began this process was Rev. Andrew Beunk. The assistant that really helped me give the manual its present format was Jonathan Luis Hack from Brazil.

I want to thank Carl for answering my questions and to thank him and the rest of you out there who are contributing so much to the Logos community.

If you have Logos software and you feel you might be missing out on some of its functionality I would encourage you to check out Carl’s manual and visit our forum—another great resource to augment your Logos experience!

You should follow us on Twitter here.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

You can easily transform your English keyboard to Hebrew or Greek with the F2 key.

When you’re in English, press F2 and you go to Hebrew. Press it again and you go to Greek. Press it once more and you’re back to English.

To see the display of a Hebrew or Greek keyboard press Alt + F2

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

You should follow us on Twitter here.

Sometimes I find myself feeling chagrined when I am making a large purchase and the clerk offers to let me buy the extended warranty plan. Her company will stand behind the product they are selling me if I pay them to do so, otherwise I am on my own. There is nothing like that feeling of paying for the security that should be the hallmark of every good business transaction. Oh . . . word to the wise, go ahead and get that extended warranty for any Xbox 360 purchases; you don’t have to thank me.

Sadly, having to pay for indemnity is quickly becoming the standard in the software industry. If you look at the user agreements for most of the software you use, you are prompted to buy, at an average of about $10.00, the privilege of downloading the software you have already purchased beyond a thirty to sixty day window. What that means is this: if you have purchased and downloaded that great anti-virus software, you have a one year subscription, but if after sixty days your hard drive crashes you have to pay to download the software again in order to use the service you paid for the rest of the year.

Logos bucks this trend. In a resounding act of industry integrity, Logos tells you, the end-user, that the license that you have paid for belongs to you. With your license, all downloads and unlocked items are backed up in our servers for FREE! That’s right, gratis. You bought it, it’s yours. If your computer crashes, when you finally upgrade from that laptop you bought in 2002, or if you just can’t find the discs so you can reinstall your Scholar’s Library Logos has all of your licenses saved on their servers. How cool is that? It is pretty nice when your initial purchase with a company comes bundled with the protection that you deserve.

You should follow us on Twitter here.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

Sometimes it's possible to locate additional articles about a specific subject without having to execute a search.

For example, open the Logos Deluxe Map Set. Type Corinth in the Current Reference box and press Enter. A map about Corinth opens. Now press the Reference Locations arrow to the right of the box. A list of all the maps containing Corinth appears! Click one and you're there.

Look for the Reference Locations arrow in other books especially topically indexed books like dictionaries. This can be a real time saver.

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

You should follow us on Twitter here.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

Have you ever had one of the volumes of the Early Church Fathers open and you have no idea which church father you’re reading? If you’ve never experienced this before, just open a volume to some random location and you’ll discover you’re lost in a sea of text!

Stay calm! A life saver is available. It’s called the Locator Pane.

On the resource’s toolbar, click the last icon on the right. The Locator Pane appears at the top of the text telling which church father you’re reading. This trick of course works for other books as well.

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

You should follow us on Twitter here.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

Did you know you can search the Early Church Fathers by topic? The developers of the electronic version of this set tagged each volume with topics! This means if you want to find out what the patriarchs of the early church thought about a subject you don't have to do a word search and then wade through thousands of hits. Instead you can search by topic and jump right to a location where your subject is discussed in depth. Here's how to take advantage of the developers hard work.

First, create a collection for the Early Church Fathers. Choose Tools | Library Management | Define Collections. Click New. Name the collection Early Church Fathers. Type fathers in the find box. When the list appears click on the first volume and press the Enter key. The selection moves down the list. Continue pressing the Enter key until all volumes have been added. Click OK.

Open the Topic Browser from the Go menu. Set the In box to the Early Church Fathers. Type a subject like kingdom in the Find box and click Search. When the list of Topics appears, select one like kingdom of God and all the places the church fathers discussed, that subject will display.

Click one of the articles to jump right to that spot!

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

You should follow us on Twitter here.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

Have you written a paper using various Libronix e-books and now you need to create a bibliography for the paper? Libronix can help.

First, create a collection of all the books you cited in the paper. Choose Tools | Define Collections. Click New. Name your collection. Add the books to the collection.

Now, create the bibliography. Choose Tools | Library Management | Bibliography. Select the newly created Collection from the drop down list. Select the Style your professor requires. Click Generate.

Now all you have to do is Copy / Paste the bibliography to your word processor!

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

You should follow us on Twitter here.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

Logos Bible Software for Mac is off to a great start. I am getting a lot of e-mail regarding training materials for the Mac. Please visit www.mpseminars.com often because we'll be releasing new materials very soon.

Also, I am getting a lot of questions about whether Mac users should attend Camp Logos. We have prepared a special page to answer that question.

If you're a Mac user, though, here are a couple of tips that hopefully will come in handy:

• When you're working in a resource window (Bible, commentary, dictionary, etc.) press the keystroke shortcut Tab (for Mac 1.2) to select the current location box. Now just type your new reference. This just saves you from having to click the mouse in the box every time you want to jump to a new location.
• While you're working in your Bible software choose Libronix DLS | Preferences | Appearance to customize your system.

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Update: Logos Bible Software for Mac 1.2 Now Available! Be sure to read Thursday's blog post for details.

You should follow us on Twitter here.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

March Madness 2009 is now history and the Complete Works of Francis Shaeffer emerged as champion. Now that you perhaps own this resource, what is the best way to mine its riches? To get you started, I have created a search collection for you that you can download for free at www.mpseminars.com.

You can now search this collection by word or phrase or use the Reference Browser to locate Bible verses.

I suggest, however, you use the Basic Search dialog and conduct a "proximity search." Here's how it works. Based on John 13.35, Schaeffer often spoke of love being the "mark of a Christian." You of course could search for the phrase "mark of a Christian" but he may have written something like, "A Christian should bear the mark of love." He's discussing the same subject just using a different phrase. The proximity search solves the challenge.

• Choose Search | Basic Search
• In the In box, select your new Schaffer search collection that you have download from mpseminars.com
• Type this in the search box: love within 7 words mark

This will locate every time the words love and mark occur within seven words of each other regardless of the exact phrasing.

Try the same search with this search string: truth within 8 words total

Enjoy this incredible resource!

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Our EULA allows you to install Logos on two of your machines for your personal use. If you have Logos on two machines, you may be well aware of the challenge of keeping everything in sync between your desktop and your laptop or netbook, or between your home computer and your work computer.

You can currently keep your licenses in sync between your two machines by going to Tools > Library Management > Synchronize Licenses (your licenses are safely backed up on our servers), but what about the rest of your data?

If you use Logos extensively on both machines, you will probably eventually end up with notes, visual markups, favorites, bookmarks, Bible reading plans, prayer lists, toolbars, collections, resource associations, diagrams, saved searches, etc. that are on one computer but not on the other—or even worse, that are on both, but not identical. Having your valuable data spread between two computers is not a good scenario. I originally tried to create or edit my content only on one machine and use the other machine only to access my library and do searches. But this proved not to be a very good long-term solution for a number of reasons. If Logos is installed on two of your machines, it makes the most sense to use all of its features on both machines.

But what’s the best way to accomplish this?

Manual Method: USB Thumb Drive

Some people solve this problem by using a USB thumb drive. They carry their drive with them at all times and copy their My Documents\Libronix DLS folder to it after every use—replacing only the updated files. Then they copy those files to their other computer—again, replacing only the updated files. This method can work, but it’s far too tedious for most, and it’s too easy to forget to do it every time. Before you know it, your files are out of sync.

Thankfully there’s a better way.

Automatic Method: Sync Software

There are many free applications that allow you to sync files and folders across a network or across the internet. Some sync directly between the two computers, requiring that both be running at the same time. Others use a cloud backup of your files, eliminating this problem.

My personal recommendation is to use a combination of Windows Live Mesh and Windows Live Sync (formerly FolderShare)—Live Mesh for your My Documents\Libronix DLS folder and Live Sync for your Program Files\Libronix DLS\Resources folder.

Live Mesh: Sync Your Personal Files

Live Mesh allows you to sync up to 5GB of data with no limit to the number of files and folders that make up that 5GB. It uses a cloud backup of your data, so your machines can stay in sync even if you never have them both powered on at the same time—and your data is protected if both of your machines are stolen, destroyed, etc. Live Mesh also comes with remote desktop functionality, so you can log on to one of your machines (if it is powered on) from your other machine to access data you need but aren’t syncing.

Before you use Live Mesh, be sure to back up all of the data you plan to sync. If you do something wrong, it’s possible to unintentionally delete important files. Our customer service team cannot provide support for third-party software, so proceed with caution if you’re not at least moderately techie.

To use Live Mesh to sync your personal Logos files, install the application on both machines, navigate to your My Documents folder, right click on Libronix DLS, and then click “Add folder to Live Mesh.” Live Mesh will begin syncing your files and notify you of any conflicts that need to be resolved. In my experience, it’s best to start either with identical data on both computers or with the data only on one computer. Otherwise you may have hundreds or thousands of file discrepancies to deal with.

Live Sync: Sync Your Resources

Unlike Live Mesh, Live Sync has no GB limit, but it does have a file limit of 20,000 files per synchronized folder (you can have up to 20 synchronized folders). This makes Live Sync ideal for keeping your resources in sync, since many users have more than 5GB of resources, and a cloud backup of resources is unnecessary. No more having to install a new product on both machines. Install it on either machine, sync your licenses, and Live Sync will take care of syncing your new resources.

To use Live Sync to sync your Logos resources, install the application on both machines, and then set up and sync your folder from the Live Sync website. Live Sync errs on the side of protecting your data, so when duplicates are found, it will keep both by renaming one of them to indicate its source. To avoid having lots of duplicates to clean up, it’s best to start with identical data or with data only on one machine.

Using a combination of Live Mesh and Live Sync will enable you to keep your Logos files in sync effortlessly. If you’re looking for a good sync solution for Logos, I highly recommend giving this a try.

What do you do to keep your Logos data in sync? What are your favorite sync programs? Let us know in the comments.

Update: Mark points out in the comments that Live Mesh can sync more than 5GB by simply disabling the sync to Live Desktop for the folder that you don't need a cloud backup of. This means that you could use Live Mesh for both your personal Logos files and your resources. Thanks for the tip, Mark.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

There are some books in your library that you need quick access to like your Preferred Bible or favorite commentary. You may get tired of going to My Library to open them so why not place them on the toolbar? That's right, put as many books as you want on the toolbar so with the click of a button the book opens.

Right click on the toolbar and select Customize and then New. Name the toolbar. With the Category Special selected, click the Command Open (Resource) and click Add. Now click Details. From the Resource line click Change. Type the name of your book in the Find box. Click the name of the book when it's displayed. Click OK. OK again and then Close.

Now click the new icon on your toolbar to open your book!

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

When you type a Bible reference or keyword in a passage box on an automated report (like the Home Page) a drop down list appears. The list contains pericope titles (or section headings) from your Bibles. Libronix is asking you if you prefer what you typed or one of the pericopes in the list.

If you never use this list you can turn it off.

Choose Tools | Bible Tools. Click Pericope Sets. Uncheck Use Pericope Titles in Reports.

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

As mentioned in a previous blog, Logos released The John Piper Sermon Manuscript Library. Here's how to locate sermons on a particular topic or passage from the library:

• After installing the sermon library click the small black arrow next to the Home icon on the toolbar
• Choose Sermons from John Piper from the list of Home pages
• When his Home Page opens click the Browse tab

Now you can browse his sermons by Series, Topic, Occasion, or Scripture!

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

When you generate a Passage Guide (PG) report, one of the sections you may see is Biblical People (BP). BP is an automated report that displays a relationship graph of anyone mentioned in your passage.

To open the report just click one of the ovals (nodes) containing someone's name. The report builds for the name of the person you clicked.

To copy this image to another program like PowerPoint right click in a blank white area near the BP report and select Copy. Go to the other program and Paste the image (Ctrl + V).

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

From My Library you can initiate a search in all of the books by a particular author.

Right click on an Author's name like Chambers. Select Search All These Resources. When the search dialog opens enter your search query and click Search.

Now you can see what any author including Oswald Chambers has to say about a word, phrase, topic, or Bible verse.

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

If you find helpful articles on the web you can place links to them right in a note file.

• Open to any place on the web
• Right click in the address bar of your internet's browser and select Copy
• Right click in the text area of a Libronix note file and select Paste
• If the pasted address is not automatically hyperlinked then click the Tag References as Hyperlink icon on the note file formatting toolbar

If you want you can now change the text of the pasted address which is usually pretty long. Just select (highlight) the pasted address and type in any new text. The new text will still link to your website.

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

You may have an elaborate system of Favorites on one computer and wish to have it on another. You don’t, however, want to invest the time needed to recreate it.

All you have to do is copy / paste the Favorites file from one computer to another.

All of the Favorites, including folders and subfolders, are contained in one file located at My Documents | Libronix DLS | Favorites.

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

When I studied with print books, paper, and ink I created numerous study folders. For example, I would take a file folder and label it Forgiveness. Then as I read books, articles, etc about the subject I would place copies of the articles or notes to myself in the folder. In the future when I studied forgiveness I could return to the folder for all of my previous research.

In Libronix, you can create electronic study folders called Favorites Folders. Choose Favorites | Organize Favorites. Click New Folder. Name the Folder and click OK.

To place a Favorite (bookmark or link) in that folder, open the desired resource to a specific location. Choose Favorites | Add to Favorites. Click the specific folder to place it in. Click OK.

To open the Favorite, choose Favorites | the specific folder | the specific favorite.

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

SermonCentral.com is a website containing thousands of sermons and illustrations contributed by people from around the world. The Libronix automated report called the Passage Guide automatically searches this site for sermons about your specific passage.

On the Home Page enter a passage in the Study Passage box and click Go. When the Passage Guide opens look for the section named SermonCentral.com containing links to specific sermons on the site.

If SermonCentral.com does not appear on the Passage Guide complete these steps:

Click the Properties icon on the Passage Guide toolbar. Make sure in the Web Resources section that SermonCentral.com is checked.

If this section does not appear in Properties, then please update the Libronix software by choosing Tools | Libronix Update.

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

In the back of many print books is a subject or topic index. You know how it works. Look up a subject like heaven, and all the page numbers where the subject is discussed are listed. In Libronix, you have the equivalent and more of this subject index. It’s called the Topic Browser. It can be found on the Go menu of the toolbar or opened with the keystroke Ctrl + T.

When it opens set the In box to the books you wish to search. Type in the Find box a word. This is the subject you would normally lookup in a subject index. Click Search. All of the topics containing your word are listed. Now click a specific topic. All of the places discussing your specific topic are listed! Click an article to jump to that location.

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

All throughout your Libronix Bibles and resources you’ll notice green text indicating footnotes, cross references, etc. If you have difficulty seeing the green color you can change it to whatever you desire.
Choose Tools | Options | KeyLink. Select Popup as the Data Type from the drop-down list. Click Display. Select a new color. Click OK.

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

Think how big an exhaustive phrase concordance for a Bible would be in print! With Libronix, however, you have the capability of finding every occurrence of a phrase in any Bible.

Press the Bible Speed Search icon on the toolbar. Select a Bible from the drop down list. Type a phrase in the search box enclosing the phrase in quotation marks like: “kingdom of God”. Almost instantly every occurrence of that phrase in your Bible appears.

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

Libronix contains some great "commentary like" books that aren't versified, which means they won't show up in the list of commentaries on the Passage Guide or in Parallel Resources when a commentary is open. Among these books are Hard Sayings of the Bible, Difficulties in the Bible, and The Training of the Twelve. They contain excellent insights but you have to know how to find them. Try this trick. First create a collection of these non-versified books. Choose Tools | Library Management | Define Collections. Click New. Name the Collection Non -Versified Books. Add the books I listed along with any others you desire. Click OK. Open the Reference Browser from the Go menu. Set the In box to Non-Versified Books. Set the Type to Bible. Type a Bible passage in the Find box like Matthew 12.40. Click Search to see a list of every place the passage is discussed in the non-versified books!

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

Wuest's Word Studies in the Greek New Testament is great resource for word study if you can ever find the information. The four volume print edition doesn't have a master index. In print you spend most of your time just trying to find the definitions of words. Watch how Libronix enhances the book's value.

1. Open Wuest's Word Studies in the Greek New Testament.
2. Choose Go | Topic Browser. Set the In box to Wuest.
3. Type grace in the Find box. Click Search.
4. Click grace in Topics list.

Now you'll see all of Wuest's information about grace in the Articles with Topic list! Click an article to open it.

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

If you haven't yet discovered The Message by Eugene Peterson, I encourage you to spend some time with it. It's a modern paraphrase of the Bible. Use it like you would a devotional commentary. You'll notice however, there are no verses in The Message only chapters. You can change that. With The Message as the active window choose View | Bible Text Only. That's what we call Instant Versification!

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

Normally Paul opened his letters with something like grace and peace to you from God our Father. It's very easy to locate all the verses with both grace and peace. Open the Bible Search dialog from the Search menu. In the Search box type grace and peace. Select your Bible and set your Range to Paul's Epistles. You just found all the verses in Paul's letters containing both words! When you perform an "and" search, all terms must be present to be a hit. Try typing grace and peace and mercy to locate the verses with all three words.

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

Did you know that you can have a Bible and commentary look up your Bible cross references? Choose Tools | Options | KeyLink. Select Bible as the Data Type. Click KeyLinking. Set Number of Windows to Open on a KeyLink to 2. Select your favorite Bible and click Promote. Do the same for your favorite commentary. Click Close. Now when you click a blue Bible cross reference in an e-book both your Bible and commentary will jump to that location!

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

When you execute a search on a word like bless you'll also receive hits on the various forms of the word like blessed, blessing and blessings. This feature is called stemming. If you just want to locate a word without the forms you must type nostem and then your word in parenthesis. For example, to find just the word bless, type this in the search box: nostem(bless).

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

Did you know you can add your favorite web sites to your Libronix toolbar? This way while you're studying the Bible with Libronix you can click an icon to have your web browser jump right to a web site. Here's all you have to do. Right click on the toolbar and select Customize and then New. Name the toolbar. With the Category Special selected, click the Command Go To (Internet Address) and click Add. Now click Details. Type or paste an Internet Address like www.logos.com or www.mpseminars.com. Click OK, OK again, and then Close. Now click the new icon on your toolbar to go right to your favorite websites directly from Libronix!

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

By default, Libronix searches are not case sensitive. If you search for God you'll also receive god as a hit. If you just want to find god you must execute a case sensitive search. Choose Search | Bible Search. In the search box you must type the word case and then place what you want to be case sensitive in parenthesis. For example type this in the Search box: case(god).

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor’s Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

Today's guest post is from Morris Proctor, certified and authorized trainer for Logos Bible Software. Morris has trained thousands of Logos users at his two-day Camp Logos training seminars.

If you enjoy small groups meeting in homes, you may like to find the places where Paul refers to a church in a house. To do so, execute a proximity search. Launch the Bible Speed Search or choose Search > Bible Search. Type this in the Search box: church within 7 words house. This search locates all the places where church and house occur within 7 words of each other. In the ESV, it turns up 5 results: Acts 8:3; Rom 16:5; 1 Cor 16:19; Col 4:15; and Philem 2. The proximity search is very helpful if you don't know an exact phrase to look for. Give it a try.

For more tips like this, be sure to visit Morris Proctor's Tips & Tricks blog or subscribe to the RSS feed.

One of my favorite features of the Libronix Digital Library System is the ability to link from emails, Word documents, PDFs, blog posts, PowerPoint presentations, etc. to just about anything in Libronix. I've blogged about this feature before, so I won't go into the details here. If external linking is new to you, be sure to give the post a read.

The one downside to linking to Libronix from Microsoft Office applications like Word and PowerPoint is that you get that pesky security warning every time you click a Libronix link.

Since there is no security threat at all, there's nothing to worry about. You can just click "Yes" every time it pops up. But if you use external linking often, you may want to permanently disable it. It's not incredibly difficult to do, but it's not for the novice either. If you feel comfortable editing your registry, check out the appropriate support article for the details:

• How to Disable Hyperlink Warning Messages in Office 2003
• How to Disable Hyperlink Warning Messages in 2007 Office Programs

After a few short steps, the warning messages will be gone for good. Ah, much better.

Back in the early 90s, before the days of the Libronix Digital Library System (LDLS), there was the Logos Library System (LLS). Version 1 shipped in December of 1991, and version 2 followed in August of 1995.

In 2001 we shipped our brand new platform, the Libronix Digital Library System, which replaced the Logos Library System. It is far more robust with loads of added functionality. LDLS has now gone through three versions (version 1 in December of 2001, version 2 in July of 2003, and version 3 in May of 2006), with development of the next version well underway.

Even though the Logos Library System is more than 13 years old, we still have many customers using it. Perhaps you're one of them. The Logos Library System is an excellent tool for Bible study, but it is important for people who have not yet updated to our Libronix Digital Library System to consider making the switch now.

There are several important reasons to move to Libronix:

1. First, it's free! You can update to the new core engine for Windows at no cost. It won't replace your existing Logos Library System, so you can run both of them as you learn the new system.
2. Second, you're missing out on a huge number of amazing and powerful new tools and resources that come with our Logos Bible Software 3 base packages. Give us a call at 800-875-6467 to get a special customized upgrade price based on what LLS package you own.
3. Third, LLS was originally designed for Windows 95 and Windows 98. It's a 16-bit application and will not work on 64-bit operating systems like the 64-bit versions of XP and Vista. 64-bit is fast on its way to becoming the norm for all new computer purchases. Though Windows 7 won't be 64-bit only, it is very likely that the next version of Windows will be. The majority of new machines from Dell and HP now come standard with the 64-bit version of Vista, which means that if you purchase a new machine, you'd likely have to run LLS on an older dedicated computer or use virtualization software like Virtual PC, Virtual Box, or Parallels Workstation. The best solution is simply to update to Libronix.
4. Finally, Libronix is now available for Mac. If you've moved to the Mac platform, our new Mac version is a much better alternative to running LLS via virtualization. You can simply purchase our Mac engine and immediately have access to most of your old LLS resources native on your Mac—or better yet, upgrade to one of our Mac base packages!

If you're ready to make the switch, we're happy to help you get your existing resources working in our Libronix Digital Library System. Our desire is to have all of our customers ready to use their Logos Bible Software when they upgrade to a new computer, whether that computer is Windows or Mac based. Especially here in Customer Service we have the knowhow to help you get from wherever you are to wherever you want to be.

Give us a call at 800-875-6467, or email us at cs@logos.com. We look forward to helping you get the best tools for Bible study—and make sure that your digital library is ready for the future.