"How" and "Why" I use Logos Bible Software 5

If you haven't given Logos 5 a look, you really need to. LogosBible Software Version 5 is one of the best bible software programs on the market and for me it's the only one worth using. I've used other top shelf Bible programs but nothing compares to Logos.

               As a church planter and a fulltime minister it's important for me to have tools that are not only high quality but also tools that make my study time more productive. That's exactly what Logos 5 does. Not only does Logos 5 have quality resources like BDAG and Halot (Greek and Hebrew Lexicons) as well as the "Word Biblical Commentary" and the "New International Commentaryon the New and Old Testaments" but it also has speed and connectivity. In the amount of time it would take me to go to my physical book shelf  and get a book I can have hundreds of books open and waiting in Logos.

 

               The interconnectivity or linking between these Logos books is also what makes it an invaluable resource. Let's say I'm studying Revelation and Apocalyptic literature. It's easy to open up a search that will search my entire library for resources related to Apocalyptic literature.

             

In my library when I do this it gives me 26 results in 26 resources. One of those resources is the "Journal of Biblical Literature" volume 105. When I open that resource I find links to other material such as the biblical text of Daniel as well as the Dead Sea Scrolls. A quick click on the link and I have the Dead Sea Scrolls opened up and I'm read the source material.

 

               Along with my role as a preacher of God's word I am also a student at Knox Theological Seminary perusing a Masters in Christian and Classic Studies. Logos5 has also been an invaluable tool for my class work as well. Below you will find a few videos I created to share with my fellow Knox students showing how Logos can be used to help study the classics.

 

               It's my opinion that every Christian, researcher, preacher, teacher, and student should have Logos Bible Software 5 running on their computer. And what's great is that Logos has different base Packages ranging from the basic to the advanced.

               Give my friend at Logos, Dave Kaplan, a call  1-360-685-2304 (or one of the other fantastic sales agents 1-800-875-6467) or drop him an email:  kaplan@logos.com and see what package is right for you.

Understanding the World of Jesus; Book Review

            When reading the New Testament it can be difficult to understand everything that you read because we are some 2,000 years removed from the culture of the first century. Even passages we think we understand might not actually be saying what we imagine them to be saying. That's where background materials come in. Background materials help to explain the culture and historical setting like events and people so we better understand the New Testament.

            Usually doing background study involves looking in bible dictionaries and encyclopedias as well as commentaries and even technical journal articles. But all of that is time consuming and not everyone has access to all those resources. Enter "The World Of Jesus: Making Sense of the People and Places of Jesus' Day" By Dr. William H. Marty. This book is 185 pages full of information to help someone better understand the New Testament. Now let me say that this is not a exhaustive book, as if you couldn't tell from the amount of pages, but it is very well written and organized and it will help orient a person so that their reading and studying of the New Testament is much more fruitful.

            The book is made up of eight chapter with and Introduction and a Conclusion. There's also nice little glossary in the back for a quick definition on words and people you might not know (Always helpful).

            The introduction lays out the format of the book as well as a brief retelling of the events from Abraham to the end of the Old Testament. This was a great little summary to, again, orient us as we prepare to look at the periods surrounding the first century. Chapter 1 deals with the Persian Period and discusses the reason for the exile. It also discusses the Temple as well as the city of Jerusalem. Chapter 2 introduces us to Alexander the Great and the Hellenization (which was the historical spread of ancient Greek culture, including the language) of the Jewish people and others who were conquered by Alexander the Great. Chapter 3 covers the Maccabean revolt. Chapter 4 discusses the Hasmonean period. Chapters 5 and 6 deal with the Roman Period and Herod the Great. Chapter 7 deals with the early church period and finally chapter 8 details some of the different religious groups around in the first century like the Pharisees and Sadducees. And the conclusion is a wonderful recap of what was discussed in detail throughout the book.

            This book was a pleasure to read and I highly recommend it to everyone. Whether you have access to all those background materials like dictionaries and such or weather you don't this book would make a wonderful addition to your library.

            I should say that the only thing that I didn't like about this book were the shaded pages that were scattered throughout the book. While they gave a lot of great information they interrupted the flow of the main text and I would have rather seen them at the end of the chapters or the information incorporated better into the body of the main text. But that's being nitpicky.

            You can buy it Here or Here

 

Disclosure of Material: I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR Title 16, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

 

Primer To Church History

"Timeless Witness" Written and compiled by Tony Lane is a 413 page survey of prominent people and/or writings from church history staring with Ignatius of Antioch (c. 115) and ending with Therese of Lisieux (1897). There are a total of 100 entries bring the reader up to 1897.

The author states the reason and scope of his writing on page 11.

In this collection I have only included works that I consider useful and profitable to read, rather than selecting works based on their importance. But That does not mean that I have narrowly restricted myself to those with whom I am in full agreement. The selection is 'catholic' in that it includes Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Lutheran, Reformed, Anabaptist and other authors. The inclusion of a work does not imply an endorsement of its entire contents but only the judgment that it is an important Christian classic that can be read with profit, even though it may need to be read with discernment.

               This was an absolute pleasure to read. Each person or writing is given a short introduction and then a short piece of their text is given. This is a great way to start understanding church history and those people who were major and minor influences throughout that history. If you're interested in learning about church history (and we all should be) then do yourself a favor by picking this book up and reading it. The entries are short only around 3 pages long but the information and the appreciation you'll  gain for church history is immeasurable.

 

You can buy a copy here

Poor Preaching and Its Cure

Book review of Why Johnny Can’t Preach

Why Johnny Can’t Preach is a wonderful little book discussing why ministers in our day and age “Can’t Preach” or at least can’t preach well.

The author discusses such things as the fact that we no longer write letters to each other where we take time to compose our thoughts and discuss the important and significant things. He also touches on the fact the people who talk on the telephone regularly tend to discuss the insignificant because silence on the phone is extremely awkward and so we tend to fill it up with things that don’t really matter.

The author also discusses how we no longer read texts carefully but instead scan them for information. Unlike years ago when people read poetry and read Shakespeare and read them slowly and carefully. These and other cultural shifts have affected the preaching of many ministers but the author doesn’t simply tell us the bad news he does off help and hope for the preacher. If we will choose to cultivate habits like reading good literature slowly and carful as well as writing letters and journal articles or even journaling then the preacher can grow and get better at preaching.

This really was an interesting and worthwhile read.

You can buy it here and here

Review of “What Every Christian Needs To Know About The Qur’an”

Review of “What Every Christian Needs To Know About The Qur’an” by James R. White.

            It’s been 10 days since the terrorist bombing in Boston Massachusetts and as many people know, the two men who perpetrated this crime are Muslims and for a lot of people just simply being a Muslim means you’re a terrorist.

We have flashbacks to 911 and other terrorist attacks preformed by Islamic fundamentalists but most Christians know little to nothing about Islam or the Qur’an. Many of us get our information on this subject from the news media which isn’t a very reliable source of accurate information.

So what are Christians to do? Well, there have been a few good books and resources for Christians but they’ve been few and far between, at least that’s been my experience, but James White has recently written a book that will certainly help in our understanding Islam.

            His new book is called “What Every Christian Needs To Know About The Qur’an” and is a scholarly, well balanced and truthful look at Muhammad, the Qur’an, and some of the important issues related to the Christian. The book is well organized and well written. There are tones of end notes which make it a treasure chest for deeper study. It even has a small glossary in the back along with a wonderful bibliography.

It should be noted this book isn’t intended to discuss everything you could ever want to know about the Qur’an as Mr. White clearly states “It is not my intention to write an exhaustive compendium of Qur’anic knowledge. Almost no one could, and certainly I could not, even if I wished to do so. My aims are far more focused and modest.” His aim is to deal with the major issues that relate to the Christian.

            Let me say plainly, the title is “What Every Christian Needs To Know About The Qur’an” not “An Idiots Guide To The Qur’an”. I read one review of the book that complained that it was “…so academic that it would be difficult for “every Christian” to follow.” Please understand this is information we NEED to know not some simplistic book on how to talk to a Muslim friend over a cup of coffee. We need to be called to a higher level as Christians not to a dumbing down. You can read this book! It’s not necessarily an easy read but you can read it.

             Let me mention two things that I learned from this book (there were many).

. 1) That the Qur’an is not the only authoritative source for the Muslim and that the Qur’an is not really a parallel to the Bible.

“…in the Christian mind it would be a mistake to make a direct connection to the role of the Bible, for the true parallel between the Qur’an and Christianity is to be found in Jesus Himself, the Word of God. As we will see, Muslims view the mechanism of ‘inspiration’ very differently and have another source of authority (hadith) that, at least in function, more closely parallels the Bible than does the Qur’an.” (Page 13)

2) The importance of and understanding of Tawhid. What is Tawhid and how does that idea govern the Muslim and why is that important to the Christian?

“Ask any sincere follower what defines Islam, and they will answer quickly. Tawhid, the glorious monotheistic truth, the heart of Islamic faith, is to the Muslim what the Trinity is to the Christian: the touchstone, the nonnegotiable, the definitional.” (Page 59)

In light of the times we live in I think this is a must read for every Christian. Again it’s not simplistic and it might take some time to read through it but you will be much better equipped to talk with Muslims and understand more accurately what the key issues that separate us are.

I highly recommend this book to all Christians and especially those who are preachers and teachers.

You can buy it Here

About the author: James White is the director of Alpha and Omega Ministries, a Christian apologetics organization based in Phoenix, Arizona. He is the author of more than twenty books, a professor, an accomplished debater, and an elder of the Phoenix Reformed Baptist Church.

 

A Great little book on a big topic; Grief.

I just finished reading Grieving: Our Path Back to Peace by James White. What a great little book on a subject that is really hard to deal with. Most of us walk around never giving much thought to death and then one day our parents die or our sister or brother or our spouse and then we’re forced to deal with it.

            James White does a great job of giving us some help in times of grief. The book is only 87 pages long and while it doesn’t answer every question one might have on the subject of grief it does do a great job of providing some great insights and suggestions for going through the grieving process in a positive way.

            Well worth reading in fact even if you’re not going through the grieving possess right now I highly recommend you pick it up and read it.

 

You can buy it here or here

"Left Behind" Style Bible Study

 

A Rabbi looks at the last days by Jonathan Bernis is a 233page book that discusses eschatology or as the title simply and clearly says “the last days”.

The first half of the book deals with 6 reasons “we can know the last days are upon us”. The second half deals with “your role in ushering in God’s kingdom”.

Chapter 1 is mainly the authors account of his upbringing and his conversion story and at the end of this chapter he tells of a time when he heard someone speak about “the end times” and what that person said was false. He then goes on to show numerous false predictions by people throughout history who tried to predict “the end time” and the “rapture”. He says that “erroneous predictions have caused many to become disillusioned… In other words they have stopped looking for any signs of the Messiah’s return. And yet, He is coming, and I believe it will be very soon. In the pages ahead, I will tell you how I know.” Pg26

It seems that the author is about to do the very thing he just got done showing was wrong, that is saying the end is coming “very soon”. He may not set a date but this is still the same thing that Harold Camping and others have done. They say the end is near and then try to use the bible and modern events to prove this.

Chapter two starts the first of the six reasons “the last days are near”. The first reason is that “Satan is increasing his attacks on Jews”. The author discusses the Jewish people throughout history and says that the promise given to Abraham that whoever blesses Abraham will be blessed and whoever curses Abraham will be cursed applies today to the Jewish people. Page 35 he says “History shows that God has blessed those who have blessed the Jewish people, and he has cursed those who have cursed the Jewish people”.

The author even makes a starting claim that he even knows the thoughts of Satan on Page 36. Satan, the author tells us, thinks that by destroying the descendants of the seed promise (the Jewish people); the descendants of Abraham, he can keep Genesis 3:15 from coming true. The problem I have with that is Genesis 3:15 is already been fulfilled, Satan was crushed defeated when Christ was crucified and on the third day rose again. So, why would Satan, who is already defeated, be thinking that destroying the Jews today would stop Genesis 3:15 from being fulfilled? The author eventually goes on to tell us that Genesis 3:15 has a second part to it or a dual fulfillment.

The author goes on to say that “it is not possible therefore, to understand that last days without understanding Israel’s role in all this. Israel is central to the return of the Messiah, through both their promised return to their land and their recognition of Him as their promised Messiah. Yeshua will not return until his Jewish brothers cry out, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord’ (Matthew23:39).”

On page 75 the author asks a question. He says “I agree, we are no longer under law. But what does this mean? Does it mean the law has been eradicated? Has the law been done away with, simply erased? Not at all. God has removed the law from our shoulders, from the external, and placed it in our hearts, we now have the power to keep God’s laws through the indwelling of His Holy Spirit.”

It seems as if he wants to say that the Old Covenant laws are still binding on us today but we are empowered to fulfill them by the Spirit. It doesn’t appear that he see a different Covenant with a different law. That fact is that the Old Laws and covenant are fulfilled in Christ and now a new covenant and a new law with a new high priest is in affect today.

He does make a point, which I have never denied, on page 79. He says “Jews do not have to leave there ethnic heritage when they accept Yeshua.” That’s true just like an Irishman doesn’t have to leave their ethnic heritage when they become Christians or any other ethnic background.

It’s not about being Jewish or Greek, or Hispanic, or Irish it’s about following Jesus who transcends all of that, yes he was Jewish and born under the law but in Christ we found the reversal of the tower of Babel where the human family was first split into what we now see and know as ethnic and language groups. We see this reversal in the book of ACTS at Pentecost where the Spirit was poured out on the disciples and everyone heard them in their own language.

At the end of the day, this is nothing more than Left Behind style bible study. Nothing really worth reading.

Do yourself a favor and just skip this book.

If you must read it you can buy it here and here

 

Disclosure of Material: I received this book free from Bethany House Publishers/Chosen books book review program, which requires an honest, though not necessarily positive, review. The opinions I have expressed are my own. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s CFR Title 16, Part 255: “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”