Logos Talk: The Logos Bible Software Blog

Weekly Roundup: October 15

Jayson Bradley | Sat, October 15, 2011 | Misc Comments Off

The Weekly Roundup is a regular feature alerting you to significant things happening at Logos this week. Take a few moments to check out these newsworthy items for the week of October 15, 2011.

Important Information!

To celebrate the value of pastoral ministry, Logos has created Pastor Appreciation Month Specials.

For every week of October we’ve selected a theme: leadership, worship, pastoral care, and preaching. We’ve chosen five resources (books, collections, or other goodies) for each of these themes which we think will benefit your pastoral ministry. Check back every day to see what new deals we’ve released—you never know what discounts or freebies may await you!

Introduce your pastor to Logos! Get 15% off of a base package today when you use the coupon code BLESSING at checkout—your pastor will thank you!

Pick Up Your Free Copy of Spurgeon’s The Pastor in Prayer!

As part of our Pastor Appreciation Month specials, we are offering Charles Spurgeon’s The Pastor in Prayer to you—absolutely free!

This offer—like the rest of our Pastor Appreciation Month deals—is good through the end of October!

Logos Talk

Interesting Discussions

Facebook

The second week of Pastor Appreciation Month has been focused on worship. On Monday, our Facebook community answered the question, “What is your favorite worship song?”
Have a free book, on us! See what our Facebook fans are saying about our Spurgeon giveaway!

Products

New Pre-Pubs

Blueprint for the Kingdom

Last Chance Pre-Pubs

These are Pre-Pubs shipping next week. Don’t miss your last chance to pick these up at their amazing Pre-Pub prices!

Community Pricing

New to Community Pricing

These Community Pricing products are getting close to meeting their production costs. Don’t miss out on these savings!

Job Postings

Logos is hiring! Here are just a few of the newer postings on our Careers page:

Design & Editorial

Marketing Department

Publications

Original Languages Copy Editor

Software Development

Was there anything else from Logos you found interesting this week? Leave us a comment and let us know!

Get Spurgeon’s The Pastor in Prayer for Free!

Jayson Bradley | Fri, October 14, 2011 | Misc, Products 2

Charles Spurgeon has been called the “Prince of Preachers.” Both an influential pastor and a prolific writer, Spurgeon was a dominant Christian figure in the latter nineteenth century. Over a hundred years have passed, but Spurgeon’s influence has scarcely waned.

Now you can add Spurgeon’s The Pastor in Prayer to your library—absolutely free!

This 175-page book contains a collection of Spurgeon’s prayers and includes the Scriptures which inspired them.

You may already be familiar with Spurgeon’s works, but it is particularly inspiring to read the prayers which invigorated this man whom Mark Driscoll has called, “the greatest Bible preacher outside of Scripture.”

In The Pastor in Prayer you see Spurgeon’s pastoral heart on every page:

“We do pray for all who are out of the way; for such in this congregation as remain unsaved. Lord, let them not die in their sins. Have mercy upon some that have had a godly training, but remain ungodly. Oh condemn them not, we pray Thee, with such a mass of guilt upon them; but save them yet. Lord, have great mercy upon such as are ignorant of Christ, and therefore sin, but know not what they do. Let them become trophies of Thy wondrous love. Gather them in; oh, gather them in to-day.”

“Our Father, for that is the sweetest title by which we can address Thee, we pray Thee save us entirely from sin. There are many in Thy presence who are resting in the peace which comes of justification by faith. We know that we are righteous through the righteousness of another, even Jesus Christ; but we pant and pine for personal likeness to Thyself. If Thou be our Father, then upon every child of Thine should be the Father’s image impressed: so let it be.”

Share This Deal!

Excited about free books? Then tell your friends and alert your followers! Share this post on Facebook and then tweet it to all of your followers! Tell every Logos user you know how they can get their free copy of The Pastor in Prayer.

Check Out Our Other Pastor Appreciation Month Specials

The Pastor in Prayer is just one of the specials we are running for Pastor Appreciation Month.

So pick up your copy of The Pastor in Prayer through the end of October, and then make sure to check back to see our new deals for Pastor Appreciation Month.

Free! Revised Common Lectionary: Daily Readings

Kent Hendricks | Thu, October 13, 2011 | Misc 4

Did you know there might be a free copy of the Revised Common Lectionary: Daily Readings waiting for you? We just added this lectionary to all our base packages, so if you already own a Logos 4 base package, you can get it for free!

About the Revised Common Lectionary: Daily Readings

These daily readings are centered around the main Sunday text of the Revised Common Lectionary. The readings on Thursday through Saturday prepare for the Sunday text, and the readings on Monday through Wednesday reflect on it. This resource was developed by the Consultation on Common Texts, an ecumenical organization which includes several Protestant denominations as well as the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Whether you use the Revised Common Lectionary as part of your liturgical tradition or simply to help guide your personal devotions, the Daily Readings are the perfect companion resource.

Instead of charging for the Revised Common Lectionary: Daily Readings, we decided to make this resource free for everyone who owns a KF or LE base package. It’s just one more reason to stay up-to-date with the latest base package. Sometimes we give stuff away to everyone (think Perseus). Other times we make books available to specific groups of people. In this case, we’re offering the Revised Common Lectionary: Daily Readings to everyone who has a Logos 4 base package.

How to Get It

Go to the upgrade page.
If you own an LE or KF base package, select the free crossgrade option.
Your free crossgrade to JG (from LE or KF only) includes the Revised Common Lectionary: Daily Readings.
Next time you start Logos 4, the lectionary will download automatically. (If you noticed the book didn’t come through, simply type “Update Resources” in the Command Bar and Logos 4 will download them.)

See If You Qualify

Head on over to the upgrade page to see if you qualify for the free Revised Common Lectionary: Daily Readings. While you’re there, be sure to check out all your upgrade options.

Upgrading your base package is one of the best ways to build your library. When you upgrade, you’ll add hundreds—potentially even thousands—of books to your library for a fraction of the cost. Most books run around 90% off if you get them as part of a base package upgrade. Check out your options!

The Legacy of Archibald Alexander

Jayson Bradley | Wed, October 12, 2011 | Products 2

“Do not for a moment suppose that you must make yourself better, or prepare your heart for a worthy reception of Christ, but come at once—come as you are.”—Archibald Alexander

Some people carve a name for themselves out of the tumultuous times in which they live. Others create notoriety by challenging the status quo. And some, like Archibald Alexander, create a lasting legacy by simply leading a life of steadfast faithfulness.

Alexander was born to a Virginian farmer and trader in 1772, only four years before the United States declared its independence from Great Britain. Despite such turbulent times, Alexander spent his early years working and studying hard. It became apparent quite early that he was a remarkable student. By seventeen, Alexander was a tutor in the home of General John Posey.

An aged Christian woman named Mrs. Tyler was also living in General Posey’s home, and one of Alexander’s responsibilities was to read to her from the sermons of John Flavel. Although not a particularly spiritual individual, the young tutor was touched while reading Flavel’s sermon on Revelation 3:20. Jesus’ words, “Behold I stand at the door and knock. . .” filled Alexander with wonder at God’s patience and benevolence towards sinners. Soon young Alexander was pouring over the works of such preachers as John Owen, Richard Baxter, George Whitefield, and Phillip Doddridge. Before the end of his seventeenth year, Alexander had made his profession of faith.

Feeling called to ministry, Alexander was ordained at twenty-two and preached his way across the northeastern United States. By twenty-four he was president of Hampden-Sydney College in Virginia where he served five years before being called to the Third Presbyterian Church of Philadelphia.

In 1812, the Princeton Theological Seminary was founded in New Jersey. Alexander was chosen as the college’s first professor. As more faculty joined the staff at Princeton and the number of students increased, he was able to focus more and more of his energy on pastoral theology and polemics. He was an institutional pillar at Princeton until his death on October 22, 1851.

Alexander was valued by his students for his godly leadership and influence. One student, Charles Hodge, even named his child after Alexander. This child—Archibald Alexander Hodge—went on to be the principal of Princeton (1878–1886).

Archibald Alexander’s 20-volume collection is currently on Pre-Pub. Pick up this theologically rich collection for over 80% off the retail price. With this collection, you will get the first works ever written at Princeton to defend biblical inspiration against the claims of higher criticism, two volumes dedicated to the history of Israel, and a collection of sermons, lectures, and his address delivered at his own inauguration as professor of theology at Princeton.

Order yours today!

What Does It Mean That Love Is Kind?

Rick Brannan | Tue, October 11, 2011 | Products Comments Off

In my previous post about the Apostolic Fathers, I gave an example of how the Apostolic Fathers can be helpful when considering language/phrasing that sounds a little unusual.

They can also be helpful in understanding words and concepts that don’t occur too often in the New Testament. This is one of the primary reasons I look to these writings, and one of the primary reasons I wanted to make these writings more widely available in the form of the Apostolic Fathers Greek-English Interlinear.

My guess is that most of us are familiar with 1 Corinthians 13, the so-called “Love Chapter.” You know, “Love is patient, love is kind,” and all that?

Did you know that the Greek word translated “is kind” in that verse (1Cor 13:4) is the only instance of that word in the New Testament? The Greek word is χρηστεύομαι. It isn’t a difficult word, though, and looking elsewhere isn’t going to change the definition we’d use in 1Cor 13:4. But did you know this word occurs three times in First Clement?

First Clement is a letter that was probably written in the early 90′s from the Roman church to the Corinthian church (you know, the church that Paul wrote First and Second Corinthians to about 30 years earlier). In Clement’s time, the Corinthian church had booted out its leadership, but the Roman church didn’t think the action was merited. So they wrote a letter to the Corinthians saying, essentially, “You guys need to get along. Here’s why.” In the midst of that, Clement talks to them about being kind in chapters 13 and 14.

In the first two instances (1Cl 13.2), after attributing his words to “the Lord Jesus” in 1Cl 13.1, Clement gives a pastiche of gospel quotations (Mt 5:7; 6:14–15; 7:1–2, 12; Lk 6:31, 36–38), mixing “kindness” in with them:

For [Jesus] spoke as follows: “Show mercy, that you may be shown mercy; forgive, that it may be forgiven you; as you do so will it be done to you; as you give so will it be given to you; as you judge so will you be judged; as you are kind so will kindness be shown to you; with which measure you measure, with it will be measured to you.” (1Cl 13.2)

Continuing the argument in chapter 14, Clement uses “kind” one more time:

Therefore it is right and holy, men and brothers, for us to be obedient to God rather than to follow those instigators of loathsome jealousy in arrogance and insurrection. For it is not common harm but rather great danger we will endure if we recklessly surrender ourselves to the purposes of the people who plunge into strife and rebellion in order to estrange us from what is good. Let us be kind to them, according to the tenderheartedness and sweetness of the one who made us. (1Cl 14.1–3)

Do you see what Clement is doing? He is exhorting the Corinthians to put aside how they feel, to be “obedient to God,” and to not treat the leadership of their church with the same harshness the leadership dealt them. Verse 3 (using our word, χρηστεύομαι) turns it back around: “Let us be kind to them.” Verse 4 follows this using a very similar word, χρηστός (the noun form, “kind”), again probably quoting Scripture, this time Prov 2:21–22; Ps 37:9, 38, “The kind shall be inhabitants of the land ….”

Whether purposefully or not, Clement is using the same word Paul used as he writes to the same church. Paul told the Corinthians that “love is kind”; Clement is telling them how to show the kindness of love to the exiled leadership of the church.

This is one of the reasons why I so enjoy the writings of the Apostolic Fathers. They use the same language and the same themes, and careful examination of them in conjunction with study of the Bible can reap profitable dividends.

If this kind of stuff appeals to you, maybe you should get in on the pre-pub for the Apostolic Fathers Greek-English Interlinear while it is still available with Pre-Pub pricing.

Recommended Commentaries: Deuteronomy

Jayson Bradley | Mon, October 10, 2011 | Products Comments Off

The Expositor’s Bible (6 vols.)

Logos Talk’s Recommended Commentary Series highlights some favorite commentaries by Logos academics and the user community.

We want to hear from you!

Each week we will post a forum thread asking which commentaries, available from Logos, are your favorites for a specific book in the Bible. This is a great opportunity to let other Logos users know which commentaries you have found valuable in your studies.

Deuteronomy Commentaries

We asked Michael Heiser, resident scholar and academic editor for Logos Bible Software, to give us his favorite commentaries on Deuteronomy. Here are a few of his choices in no particular order:

The JPS Torah Commentary: Deuteronomy by Jacob Milgrom
The New International Commentary on the Old and New Testament: The Book of Deuteronomy by Peter C. Craigie
The New American Commentary: Deuteronomy by Eugene H. Merrill

Logos Community Favorites

Here are a few commentaries suggested by Logos users:

Tyndale Commentaries: Deuteronomy by Mark F. Rooker
A Critical and Exegetical Commentary on Deuteronomy, 3rd Ed. by S. R. Driver
The Expositor’s Bible (6 vols.):Volume 1: Genesis to Ruth by R. Dennis Cole
C. H. Mackintosh Collection (34 vols.):Notes on the Pentateuch: Genesis to Deuteronomy by C. H. Mackintosh
College Press NIV Commentary: Deuteronomy by Gary H. Hall
Cornerstone Biblical Commentary: Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy by Eugene H. Merrill, David Baker, and Dale A. Brueggemann

Do you have a favorite Logos resource on Deuteronomy which isn’t listed here? Leave us a comment. Then jump over to the forum and share your favorite commentaries on Matthew!

Logos 4: Finding Metaphors and Similes for the Word of God

Morris Proctor | Mon, October 10, 2011 | Training 1

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 and provides many training materials.

A Logos user recently e-mailed me this question:

I want to study the images of the Word of God. For example: the Word of God is like a sword… How do I accomplish that?

Here’s my response:

Perhaps the most straightforward way is to:

Open a topical Bible like Naves Topical Bible (1)
Navigate to the article for Word of God (1)
Click the plus sign to the right of its tab to open to others resources with a Word of God article like Zondervan Dictionary of Bible Themes (2)
Most of these topical resources have a section that lists the analogies with the Word (3)

What is your favorite metaphor for the Word of God? Leave a comment and let us know!

Weekly Roundup: October 8

Jayson Bradley | Sat, October 8, 2011 | Misc 2

The Weekly Roundup is a regular feature alerting you to significant things happening at Logos this week. Take a few moments to check out these newsworthy items for the week of October 8, 2011.