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It’s Time: You Won’t Get This Deal Again

  |  Thu, January 31, 2013   |  Products   1

Logos Base PackagesThis is it, folks: after Monday, the introductory upgrade deals available for Logos 5 will be gone forever.

Now is the time to upgrade. If you don’t upgrade now, you’re just leaving savings on the table. But if you do upgrade today, you’ll get the very best deal on Logos 5 you can.

And the biggest savings go to those who get our biggest, best base packages: Portfolio and Diamond.

Portfolio: Best Package, Best Deal

It’s the largest, most robust base package we could put together. The Logos 5 team hand-picked the books that went into Portfolio—it’s a master library with master tools. There are lots of reasons it’s awesome, but here’s a short overview:

  • 2,585 resources—up from 1,669 resources in the Logos 4 version
  • A $78,000 value—up from $31,000 in Logos 4
  • All Logos 5 features
  • 18-month payment-plan option

If you’ve had your eye on Portfolio for a while, skip the rest of this post and get it now—you won’t have another chance to get this introductory deal on it!

Diamond2Diamond: a Smart New Upgrade Level

Second only to Portfolio, Diamond is for people who won’t settle for a puny library, but want to keep their bills low. It’s a solid upgrade choice that gives you lots of good stuff:

  • 2,028 resources—a library that would cost $52,500 in print!
  • All Logos 5 features
  • 18-month payment-plan option

Wish You’d Upgraded to Diamond or Portfolio?

You might be thinking, “Boy—I got Logos 5, but now I wish I’d upgraded to Diamond or Portfolio instead. Those savings are top-notch!”

Don’t worry: we’ll fix you up with the library (and corresponding savings) you really want. But this offer ends Monday, too.

Time’s Running Out: Save Right Now

You’ve heard about our introductory discounts, but here’s a refresher: you can save up to 25% when you upgrade to Logos 5. We’ll calculate a custom upgrade discount for you based on the library you already own (so you don’t pay for any books twice).

The time is now: once the introductory sale is over, it’s over. Get the best deal and upgrade to Logos 5 before it’s too late.

What’s a Lemma, and How’s It Used in Bible Study?

  |  Fri, January 25, 2013   |  Products, Training   1

The word “lemma” shows up everywhere in original-language books and tools, including Logos 5 features—but what is a lemma?

Lemma

Obviously, it’s a key concept when it comes to digging deeper in Bible study.

So What Is a Lemma, Anyway?

A lemma is the dictionary term for the word you’re looking up. If you were to look up the word “jumping” in an English dictionary, you wouldn’t find it as a headword. What you would find is “jump,” the word that represents “jump,” “jumping,” “jumped,” and “jumps.” In this case “jump” is the lemma.

What’s So Important about Lemmas in Bible Study?

Because Logos ties biblical words to their lemmas, you can search the Bible by a word’s meaning, not just by the word itself.

For example, let’s say I’m studying Mark 4:35–41. In this passage, Jesus and his disciples set sail across the Sea of Galilee. A violent storm arises and threatens to sink the boat. Jesus then says to the wind and sea, “Hush, be still” (NASB), and the storm immediately calms.

The word “hush” in verse 39 is interesting to me, probably because other translations (like the ESV and KJV) use the word “peace” instead. I wonder, “how is this word used in the rest of the New Testament?” I have my Reverse Interlinear panel open in Logos 5, so I see two Greek words listed under “hush.”

Lemma II

But if I look up the lemma, I can find all the different forms tied to the lemma. I can right-click the word “hush,” and run a Bible Word Study report on the lemma right from my Bible . . .

Lemma III

. . . and see the verb used in six different ways across the New Testament!

Lemma IV

 

A lemma is the basic dictionary form of the word you’re interested in, and it’s your ticket to a deeper understanding of the text you’re studying.

Upgrade to Logos 5 now!

With Logos 5, you have the most cutting-edge features available for Bible study. Upgrade now and see how you can take your word studies to the next level. But hurry—introductory discounts expire February 4.

We Messed Up, and We’re Sorry

  |  Wed, January 16, 2013   |  Misc, Products   4

Logos Base PackagesWe’re really sorry about the mess.

We admit it: things got confusing, difficult, and downright weird with Logos 5. We introduced all-new base packages with new names and prices. The website crashed. We threw in a completely new custom discount system. The Minimal Crossgrade came out. And it all went down during the busy holiday season!

That’s a lot to take in, and in the hullaballoo, you may feel like you missed out on the best upgrade opportunity:

The first few months of Logos 5 were crazy, and you’re wishing we’d given you a clearer upgrade message.

Did This Happen to You? Let Us Make It Right!

The confusion has died down. You’ve had time to play with Logos 5, explore the new and enhanced features, watch the videos, read the blog posts, and connect with other Logos 5 fans. You know more about the upgrade discounts than you did when you upgraded—and now you have a chance to get the base package you really want without missing out on that first-time-upgrade discount!

Just email our Sales Department and ask for the Second-Chance Deal, or call them at 1-800-875-6467. You’ll get a clean slate. You’ll get to pick your bigger, better Logos 5 base package and get the huge savings that come with it.

You deserve a shot at the best deal you can get during Logos 5’s introduction, and we’re sorry that we didn’t make all this easier to understand back in November. So seize this opportunity: contact Sales and enjoy the base package (and discount) you really want.

Email Sales for Your Second-Chance Deal!

Who Are the Unnamed Prophets in Matthew?

  |  Sat, December 22, 2012   |  Misc   4

Today’s post continues Logos Talk’s Christmas Bible study. Check back throughout December for more ways to study the birth of Jesus!

As he details the birth of Jesus, Matthew references several prophets and prophecies without mentioning their names:

  • “Now all this took place to fulfill what was spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘behold, the virgin shall be with child . . .’” (Matthew 1:22–23 NASB)
  • “for this is what has been written by the prophet: ‘and you, Bethlehem . . .’” (2:5–6)
  • “what had been spoken by the Lord through the prophet: ‘out of Egypt I called my son.’” (2:15)

Who are these prophets?

If you’re using Logos 5, finding out is easy: just turn on the speaker labels filter . . .

. . . and see who’s speaking by hovering on the quotation!

And if I click the bullhorn, I can see the Bible Facts entry for that person. Using this tool, it takes seconds to discern the first three unnamed prophets in Matthew’s gospel: Isaiah, Micah, and Hosea, respectively.

But why is this important?

Like Corey said earlier, Matthew has already used God’s history with Israel—his story of redemption—to set the stage for the birth of Jesus. Now let’s see if these prophecies tie into that story.

  • Isaiah: Matthew quotes Isaiah 7:14 (NASB), a message the prophet gave Ahaz, king of Judah. Ahaz was afraid that Jerusalem would fall to her enemies and another king would take the throne God promised to David’s family. Isaiah prophecies that Judah’s enemies will fail; then he speaks of Immanuel. God kept his promise: the enemy nations didn’t overthrow Jerusalem. Now, in Matthew, the promise of Immanuel is fulfilled through Jesus, and Ahaz is part of the story (Matthew 1:9 NASB).
  • Micah: Matthew quotes one of Isaiah’s contemporaries here. In Micah 5:2 (NASB), the prophet says the Lord will send a “ruler in Israel” from Bethlehem. This would be no ordinary ruler, though: Micah says “his goings forth are from long ago, from the days of eternity,” “he will be great,” and “this one will be our peace.” Again, this isn’t just a sign or prediction; this is God declaring his faithfulness to his people.
  • Hosea: the 11th chapter of Hosea gives us a glimpse of God’s indignation and compassion regarding Israel. God says that Israel will fall to the Assyrians (which it did), but promises to bring them back home, and that he “will not destroy [Israel] again.” This prophecy never explicitly mentions the Messiah, but it does promise redemption to Israel.

So, by looking at these prophecies, I learn a few things:

  1. Understanding Old Testament prophecy helps me understand the New Testament. Each of these snippets that Matthew quotes is a goldmine for understanding God’s relationship to his people.
  2. God’s relationship and promises to Israel are already important in Matthew. I should keep an eye out for these themes in the rest of the book.
  3. God keeps his promises. He is faithful and good and mighty and trustworthy. And using Logos 5, I can use each one of these prophecies as an avenue to knowing God better and knowing his word more thoroughly.

You’ll find all the tools we used today in Logos 5. If you haven’t already, upgrade to Logos 5 and join us as we continue our Christmas Bible study.

10 Christmas Sermons Just Waiting to Be Preached

  |  Sat, December 15, 2012   |  Misc   0

Today’s post continues Logos Talk’s Christmas Bible study. Check back throughout December for more ways to study the birth of Jesus!

Christmas is upon us, and it’s a vital time for good preaching. Students are coming home, families are gathering in their hometowns—and more people are pouring into your church. Maybe you’ve planned ahead for all the visitors. Maybe God has blessed your church with faster growth than you expected. Either way, Logos 5’s Sermon Starter Guide makes it easy to brainstorm Christmas sermon (or any sort of sermon) ideas in seconds.

In fact, we can come up with 10 exciting Christmas sermon concepts right now.

5 Passage-Based Christmas Sermon Ideas

Let’s say I want to preach about the birth of Jesus in Matthew 1:18–25. There’s a lot of content here, though—and lots of message ideas. The Sermon Starter helps me identify plenty of clear message ideas.

Clicking any one of these gives me more to go on, and even spawns new sermon ideas. For example, when I click “Angels as God’s messengers,” I see a scriptural overview of the messages angels relay. I can zero in on one of these passages and compare it to the message the angel gives Joseph in Matthew—yet another sermon idea!

And just like that, I have five Christmas sermon ideas to work with:

  1. Just how human was baby Jesus? (Jesus: Humanity theme)
  2. What makes this baby special? (Jesus: Divinity theme)
  3. Did Mary and Joseph see Christmas coming? (Prophecy: Jesus)
  4. God’s message from God’s messengers (Thematic outline on angels)
  5. The true story of Jesus’ birth (thematic outline on Jesus’ birth)

 5 Theme-Based Christmas Sermon Ideas

Now let’s say I want to find some Christmas sermon ideas, but I don’t have a particular starting verse in mind. The Sermon Starter works with themes as well as passages, so I just type in “Christmas.” It suggests the theme of “Jesus: Birth,” which I select.

Wow—plenty of sermon ideas here! The first four ideas link to the Topic Guide, which is an awesome place to see relevant Scripture and background information. The last points to Isaiah 9:6–7, where I could use the Bible Word Study to understand what “Wonderful Counselor,” “Mighty God,” “Eternal Father,” and “Prince of Peace” mean.

This gives me five more starting points for more Christmas sermons:

  1. What is the origin of Advent?
  2. Jesus: God in the flesh
  3. The original Nativity
  4. Star of wonder, Star of light
  5. Four more names for baby Jesus

The Sermon Starter Guide makes it far easier to come up with sermon ideas—and it brings to light some concepts I wouldn’t have thought about otherwise.

You’ll find all the tools we used today in Logos 5 Bronze and higher. If you haven’t already, upgrade to Logos 5 and subscribe to the Logos blog as we continue our Christmas Bible study.

4 Factors That Make Diamond a Solid Upgrade Choice

  |  Fri, December 14, 2012   |  Products   0

You’ve probably noticed the newest member of the base package family: Logos 5 Diamond. It’s a huge library that stands in the gap between Platinum and Portfolio, but it’s more than just our second-biggest base package: Logos 5 Diamond is one of the smartest ways to upgrade to Logos 5.

In fact, when we first unveiled Logos 5, Diamond was the first base package purchased. Not the enormous Portfolio, the basic Starter, or the middle-of-the-road Gold—Diamond first.

Let’s take a closer look at why Diamond is such an intelligent upgrade choice.

1. You Get All Logos 5 Features

From the improved Passage Guide and Search Suggestions to the sophisticated Clause Search and Bible Sense Lexicon, it’s all yours. Every feature of Logos Bible Software is at your command, ready to help take your Bible study into deeper, richer territory.

2. You Save at Least 15%!

You get lots of amazing features and 2,028 resources, but you save at least 15% off the regular price. Why the “at least”? Because with the Custom Upgrade Discount Calculator, you get a discount tailored to your existing library. You’ll only pay for the books and datasets that are new to you.

3. Your Per-Book Price Is Miniscule

Let’s say you get the bare minimum discount of 15%. You’re still getting 2,028 resources for $2,933. That’s only $1.45 per resource! And that price is ever more unbelievable when you factor in how much it would cost to get these books in print: $52,500!

4. Your Unbeatable Payment Plan Makes It More Affordable

Even at this deal, $2,900 isn’t exactly pocket change. But that’s no problem: Logos 5 Diamond qualifies for an 18-month payment plan. You get to spread that cost over a year and a half, and the monthly cost is only about $11 more than what you’d pay every month if you started with Platinum. There are more ways a payment plan can help you afford the library you want, but the important thing about Diamond is that it’s the lowest base package to qualify for an 18-month plan.
And remember: this doesn’t take into account the special pricing you’ll get with the Custom Upgrade Discount Calculator!

Diamond: a Solid Choice

These are just four reasons Diamond is a really smart way to upgrade to Logos 5. If you already have Diamond, did I leave out any good reasons? Let me know in the comments!

7 Biblical Facts about the Angel Gabriel

  |  Fri, December 7, 2012   |  Misc   1

Today’s post continues Logos Talk’s Christmas Bible study. Check back throughout December for more ways to study the birth of Jesus!

The angel Gabriel is one of the prominent characters in the Nativity narrative. He’s remembered as the angel who told Mary she would give birth to the Son of God. But what else can we know about him from the Bible?

A quick check in Logos 5’s Bible Facts tool makes it easy to find out: I just look through the related verses and browse the Bible dictionaries the tool fetches for me.

  1. Gabriel is mentioned in the Old and New Testaments. He’s known for bearing good news of Jesus’ coming birth, but his first biblical appearance is in Daniel 8:16, when he is told to explain a vision to the prophet.
  2. Gabriel stands in the presence of God. This is how he describes himself to Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist (Luke 1:19). The Greek word for “stands” is paristánō, which means to wait before a superior. The Septuagint uses this word to describe how Joshua served Moses and how David assisted King Saul.
  3. Gabriel is one of only two angels explicitly named in the Protestant Bible. The other is Michael, a warrior archangel.
  4. The Bible doesn’t call Gabriel the “archangel.” The Book of Tobit (of Catholic and Orthodox canon) identifies the angels who stand in the presence of God as archangels, and so Gabriel has been called an archangel by tradition.
  5. Gabriel looks like a man (but see #6). The name Gabriel means “man of God” or “strength of God.” The second time Daniel encounters Gabriel (Daniel 9:21), he describes Gabriel as a “man [. . .] seen in the vision previously.” We don’t get any more details on Gabriel’s looks. Perhaps that’s because his messages are always so important.
  6. Gabriel scares people. When Daniel meets Gabriel, he is frightened and falls on his face. When Gabriel greets Zacharias, his first words are, “Do not be afraid.” Mary’s greeting is more celebratory, but Gabriel still follows up by telling her not to fear.
  7. Gabriel anticipates Jesus. Gabriel relays a prophecy concerning “Messiah the Prince” to Daniel. He tells Zacharias that John the Baptist will be a forerunner before the Lord. And most famously, he tells Mary that her son will be called “the Son of the Most High.”

All this information and more is only seconds away when I’m using the Bible Facts tool in Logos 5. You can use it to dig up facts on the other people involved in the story of Christ’s birth: Mary, Joseph, Elizabeth, the Wise Men, the shepherds, take your pick!

You’ll find all the tools we used today in Logos 5 Starter and higher. If you haven’t already, upgrade to Logos 5 and join us as we continue our Christmas Bible study.

2 Steps to Greek & Hebrew Bible Study

  |  Wed, December 5, 2012   |  Misc, Products   2

Today’s post continues Logos Talk’s Christmas Bible study. Check back throughout December for more ways to study the birth of Jesus!

You probably remember the first time someone told you about doing Bible study by looking at Greek and Hebrew, the languages it was originally written in. When I first heard that, I wondered how much Greek or Hebrew I would need to get under my belt.

Well, there’s good news: Logos 5 makes it easy to start exploring Greek and Hebrew words, even if you don’t know these languages. Here’s a fine way to get started.

1. Turn on the Reverse Interlinear.
It sounds technical, but what it does is pretty straightforward: it reverses the English translation back to its original language. It also opens up a few new pathways for exploring the text, but we’ll get to those later. First, we need to turn it on.

Without the reverse interlinear, your Logos 5 Bible will look like this.

But when we hit the Reverse Interlinear button, we get simple word-by-word comparison of the passage.

We’ve just opened up a bunch of new study possibilities, but for now, we’ll focus on the Strong’s numbers in the bottom row.

2. Look up the Strong’s number.

Matthew kicks off his gospel with the genealogy of “Jesus the Messiah.” What is a Messiah? With the Reverse Interlinear, it’s easy to find out.

Just hover over the Strong’s number, and Logos looks up that word in your preferred Bible dictionary. I enjoy The Complete Word Study Dictionary: New Testament because it explains Greek words in ways that a non-Greek scholar (like me) can understand. Whatever your preferred dictionary is, Logos pulls its definition for the word instantly—so long as you have that dictionary in your library.

 

I learn that both “the Messiah” and “the Christ” refer to “the Anointed One.” I also see that it’s used in conjunction with “King of Israel” and “Savior of the world.”

So, without leaving my Bible, I’ve already learned a few things:

  • The first time Matthew references Jesus, it’s as the Messiah, or Anointed One. That gives me an idea of how Jesus will be portrayed in the rest of the book.
  • It tells me why the following 17 verses of genealogy are important: it’s how the long-awaited Messiah came to us.

And I’m already hungry for more. Not only do I have a better understanding of what the Bible says, but I also have some more questions for further study:

  • Why is this word translated “Messiah” instead of “Christ” (which is far more common in the NT)?
  • What was Jesus anointed specifically for? Priesthood? Kingship? Both?

That’s one thing I love about studying Greek and Hebrew words—you learn what you need to know, and you know what else you need to learn. And it only takes a few seconds when you’re doing word studies with Logos 5.

Do you have any friends new to Bible study? Share this article with them!

You’ll find the full Reverse Interlinear in Logos 5. If you haven’t already, upgrade to Logos 5 and subscribe to the Logos blog as we continue our Christmas Bible study.

Bible Study on the Birth of Jesus Begins Today!

  |  Tue, December 4, 2012   |  Misc   14

Christmas is coming, and we’re all excited to celebrate the Lord Jesus Christ’s coming to dwell among us. But how many of our ideas about Christ’s birth come from the Bible, and how many from Christmas carols, TV specials, nativity scenes, and the like?

The biggest holiday on the Western calendar recognizes the birth of Jesus—let’s do a Bible study to see how it really happened.

Now through Christmas, we’ll  be posting new ideas for studying the birth of Christ. Some of the Logos bloggers and I will walk through the Gospel accounts of the Nativity using the powerful Bible-study tools in Logos 5.

Let’s get started!

So, if we’re doing a Bible study on the birth of Jesus, where do we start? The new Topic Guide is the easiest way to get started, even if you’ve never read the biblical account of the Nativity. Let’s open the Topic Guide and see what’s in store.

I start typing in “Christmas,” and the guide suggests both Christmas and the virgin birth of Jesus Christ. That’s helpful, because I’m really interested in the second option in this Bible study. I select it, and the Topic Guide brings me places to start my study! I get a definition of the topic and links to my Bible dictionaries and encyclopedias. I also get a list of related verses and topics.

This gives me plenty of Scriptures to read and examine, and other topics to explore. So using the Topic Guide, I get:

  • A suggestion for the topic I really wanted (even though I typed something else)
  • The definition of the topic
  • A list of passages for future Bible study
  • Ideas for more topics to explore

It took me only nine seconds to get to all this information from the Home Page. It doesn’t matter if I’ve memorized the New Testament or if I’ve never opened the Bible before—either way, I’m ready to start learning more about the birth of my Savior. Logos 5 makes Bible study more approachable than ever, and I can’t wait to study the birth of Christ further.

You’ll find all the tools and books we used today in Logos 5. If you haven’t already, upgrade to Logos 5 and join us as we continue our Christmas Bible study.

How to Get a Custom Discount on Logos 5

  |  Thu, November 29, 2012   |  Company   1

Logos 5 isn’t the only thing that’s new this month—our website’s updated, too. You’ve seen our blurb about the Custom Upgrade Discount Calculator at the bottom of every Logos 5 blog post thus far (including this one) telling you about special pricing. But what does that mean? Just how special is “special pricing”?

You Get Credit for What You Already Own

The Custom Upgrade Discount Calculator takes your entire Logos library into account, and then generates a custom discount based on every Logos resource you own. That’s right: the calculator tallies it all so you only pay for what’s new to you.

  • What if I don’t own a base package? No problem. If you’ve only ever picked up commentaries or collections and never invested in a base package, your books still contribute to your custom price.
  • What about my Libronix books? No problem. The Custom Upgrade Discount Calculator factors them in.
  • What about my pre-Libronix books? No problem. The calculator doesn’t overlook them, even if you’re still using Logos 1.0.
  • What if I own part of a collection in the base package I want? No problem. You’ll see that it’s a product you partially own, and we’ll credit you for it.
  • What if I bought my base package at a retail location? No problem. It doesn’t matter where you got your Logos library; if you’re logged in, the calculator takes it all into account.
  • What about my Logos T-shirt? Sorry! Until we start encoding Bible software into our T-shirts, they won’t count for credit toward your Logos 5 purchase.

How to See Your Discount

Just log in on Logos.com, and then explore our seven new Logos 5 base packages. The Custom Upgrade Discount Calculator updates your price dynamically; you never have to wonder if you’re missing out on your custom discount. The price also adjusts to reflect the current pricing of resources across Logos.com; when a relevant product price changes, your custom discount changes, too.

And now you know what we’re talking about when we say:

It’s time to upgrade to Logos 5. See the special pricing our Custom Upgrade Discount Calculator has for you. (Seriously, folks, it’s really cool!)

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