Should Black SDAs have a Separate Governance Structure?

March 3, 2015 by martinweber Leave a Comment

A hot topic among SDAs in North America is whether to continue a separate governing structure for African Americans. It would help to understand how “regional conferences” got started in the first place. Specific historical information is lacking—until now. Through the Logos SDA library, the entire transcript of the dramatic debate among church leaders 80 years ago will be available for the first time in readable, searchable format.

Pre-order now to experience the drama as Black leader G. E. Peters argues powerfully at the General Conference for regional conferences, declaring: “I am not a radical. I am not an agitator . . . I am standing for progress today!”

Many older Black SDAs still discern a need for separate conferences, whereas young Blacks crave racial unity. Why the difference in perspective? Exploring the historic document “Regional Conference Origins” will help explain why.

Among memorable statements transcribed is E.S. Dillett’s pithy declaration: “I am not a race man, even though I am in the race.” You can get the entire transcript of how African Americans leaders boldly claimed their God-given right to be self-governed, at a pre-order discount for a limited time from Logos SDA. regional-conference-origins

To navigate the present into the future, the church must understand its past. Pastors, conference leaders, lay members and students can now explore the formation of regional conferences—an important yet neglected chapter of Adventist history. To secure your pre-publication discounted price of $19.95, click here.

Interacting with an Atheist

February 24, 2015 by martinweber Leave a Comment

“Would you mind if we had a little fun at your expense?” Paul, a Christian, teased his atheist brother, Ron.

“As long as you know I’ll counterattack,” Ron replied, relishing one of their frequent friendly arguments. “What is it this time?”

“Okay, you asked for it. Would you believe I can show that your origin as a human being is rooted in the life of Jesus Christ? And I’ll use your own words to prove it — your answer to one simple question.”

“That’s ridiculous,” Ron scoffed.

“We’ll see,” Paul smiled. “Now, if I do use your own testimony to establish your origins and identity in Jesus, would you promise to read through the New Testament?”

“You’ll never prove anything like that, so sure; you have a deal. Now, what’s your stupid question?”

(To read the rest of this blog post, click here to be taken to Gleaner Online, digital magazine for Northwest Adventists, where Faithlife SDA product manager Martin Weber has a monthly column.)

C. S. Lewis on the Resurrection

February 17, 2015 by martinweber Leave a Comment

Dying on the cross, Jesus was more than a very good man having a very bad day. How do we know? Because He rose from the dead. So says C. S. Lewis, whose beloved classics are finally available in the Logos Bible Software library.

Lewis did much to rescue orthodox Christianity from the moralistic skepticism of Bultmann et al, who viewed Christ’s resurrection as a non-physical myth of the kerygma (rather like Santa in Christmas lore is resurrected through your chimney after descending with annual blessings).

Lewis is adamant that a physical, historic resurrection event is as real as Christ Himself. He sees it as defining and foundational to the Christian narrative: “Death and Resurrection are what the story is about.” [1]

He notes how the annual cycle of death and resurrection in the natural world has influenced pantheistic theology with crop-themed worship. Lewis confesses having himself been thus persuaded before coming to faith in Christ: “I myself, who first seriously read the New Testament when I was, imaginatively and poetically, all agog for the Death and Rebirth pattern and anxious to meet a corn-king, was chilled and puzzled by the almost total absence of such ideas in the Christian documents.”[2]

Once born-again himself, Lewis came to see Christ’s physical resurrection as a once-for-all-time pivotal event in history, as reflected in Scripture:

The New Testament writers speak as if Christ’s achievement in rising from the dead was the first event of its kind in the whole history of the universe. He is the ‘first fruits’, the ‘pioneer of life’. He has forced open a door that has been locked since the death of the first man. He has met, fought, and beaten the King of Death. Everything is different because He has done so. This is the beginning of the New Creation: a new chapter in cosmic history has opened.[3]

More than a miracle moment

So to Lewis, the resurrection of Christus Victor reverses the old order of sin and death and inaugurates a new order for His redeemed humanity and the entire universe. This is more than a miracle moment 2,000 years ago. Lewis laments when defenders of Christianity hover over the resurrection scene itself while neglecting its enduring aftermath:

The story of that moment is what Christian apologists now chiefly try to support and skeptics chiefly try to impugn. But this almost exclusive concentration on the first five minutes or so of the Resurrection would have astonished the earliest Christian teachers. In claiming to have seen the Resurrection they were not necessarily claiming to have seen that. . . . What they were claiming was that they had all, at one time or another, met Jesus during the six or seven weeks that followed His death. . . . The ‘Resurrection’ to which they bore witness was, in fact, not the action of rising from the dead but the state of having risen.[4]

The ultimate outcome of Christ’s resurrection is the bodily resurrection of His people—not to a waif-like cloudy eternity but to a physical paradise with their resurrected Lord. In recent decades, N.T. Wright and other apologists have argued compellingly for the physical resurrection of Jesus—many of them standing on the shoulders of C.S. Lewis. Logos enthusiasts may rejoice that his classics now join their other favorites in the Logos library. You can order the C.S. Lewis Collection now—30 volumes at a 30% pre-publication discount—for $279.95.

[1] Lewis, C. S. Miracles (Collected Letters of C.S. Lewis), p. 15. HarperCollins. Kindle Edition.

[2] Ibid., 183.

[3] Ibid., 236-37.

[4] Ibid., 235-36.

Free training videos with L6 base packages

February 3, 2015 by martinweber 1 Comment

When you purchase any Logos 6 base package, included in your library is a set of 28 instructional videos by Morris Proctor, official trainer for Logos Bible Software. These videos bring you much of the same fabulous instruction Morris presents at his popular Camp Logos traveling seminars.

I recommend you attend Camp Logos when it comes to a city anywhere near you. But meanwhile, his instructional videos in your Logos 6 library will get you off to a great start in learning how to optimize your use of Logos Bible Software.

Watching one video a day for the next four weeks gets you off to a great start with the study and reference tools that synergize with the Logos legendary library to bring you the world’s best Bible software package—with dazzling new features in Logos version 6.

Visit www.logos.com/sda to see which of the Logos 6 SDA base packages is best for you. After downloading your software, type “Quickstart” in the Library search box to access your new videos. Enjoy as you learn!

Logos 6 Introductory Discount Expires Today!

February 2, 2015 by martinweber Leave a Comment

It’s true! Today (Monday, Feb. 2) is your last day to get an introductory discount on your Logos 6 base package. You can also get up to $900 in bonus gifts if you buy today. Our call center is open till midnight: 800-875-6467. Remember, your custom introductory discount and your gift expire at 11:59 Pacific Time (U.S.)

The 12th Man and the Church

January 31, 2015 by martinweber Leave a Comment

Faithlife is headquartered in Seahawks country, so Super Bowl fever pervades Bellingham. Flags flutter on cars and homes sporting #12—unifying symbol of the Seahawk nation. Fans consider themselves part of the team, together as the 12th Man.

What God’s church fails to do Sabbath and Sunday mornings, the Seahawks accomplish Sunday afternoons. They bring together worshipers from all backgrounds to form a united humanity. The 12th Man embodies black and white, male and female, old and young, wealthy and poor—indivisibly one humanity in quest of Super Bowl glory.

The Seahawks’ 12th Man illustrates Christ’s purpose for His people: “that they may become perfectly one” (John 17:12, ESV). Jesus came to earth to establish a new humanity: the church. After Adam’s old humanity deceased in sin, Christ’s victorious death created a new human race of those He redeemed: “He Himself is our peace, who has made us both one and has broken down in his flesh the dividing wall of hostility” (Eph. 2:14). “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free, there is no male and female, for you are all one in Christ Jesus” (Gal. 3:29).

The Seahawks’ 12th Man unites Northwest fans on Sunday afternoons during the football season, but the church incorporates all believers everywhere, now and forever. The Seahawks must pursue their championship year after year, so their 12th Man is always at risk of dethronement. But Christ’s victory is guaranteed for eternity, and His kingdom of priests (that’s us—the new humanity) “will reign forever with Him” (Rev. 22:5).

For the past 2,000 years, the church has been distracted by many things. Football, for instance (sorry, but let’s admit it!). The fervency of the Seahawk’s 12th Man puts the church to shame. It’s earthshaking—literally. Fans at CenturyLink Field have cheered so loud that they registered as seismic activity on the Pacific Northwest Seismic Network. Wouldn’t it be great if the earth would shake for the sake of God’s kingdom?

It can, and it will. God says, “Once again I will shake not only the earth but the heavens also” (Heb. 12:26).

So where will you be on that Day when God shakes apart your world and Jesus’ claims His people as His championship trophy? Will you be at His big celebration?

Last year (for some undetermined reason) I wasn’t invited to the Seahawks’ Super Bowl victory party, and chances are they won’t invite me this year (assuming they win). But Christians are guaranteed a ticket to championship festivities in the kingdom of heaven (Matt. 8:11).

So, then, where is your primary identity? With a football team? In your career, ethnicity, gender, or socio-economic status? Or do you cherish your membership in the body of Christ above all earthly distinctions?

Logos Bible Software can help you with that. Day by day through your study of God’s Word, you will be inspired to identify more fervently with your new humanity in Christ. That will equip your ministry to more effectively invite others to join that triumphant team.

Last Chance to Get 15% on Logos 6 SDA plus a Free Gift !

January 28, 2015 by martinweber Leave a Comment

There’s no better time to get a Logos 6 SDA base package than right now! You can save 15% on any base package AND earn free rewards. Whether you’re a scholar, pastor, small group leader, or a lay student of the Word, a Logos 6 SDA base package will give you the perfect combination of resources and smart study tools. But hurry, the free reward and the discounts disappear Monday, February 2, at midnight.

To begin with, Logos 6 brings you the most amazing digital library in the history of Bible study. More than 100 Seventh-day Adventist-specific resources are included in the basic SDA Starter package. Bronze and Silver levels each have more than 500 SDA resources, including the complete Lifeworks of Ellen G. White—now being interlinked with the latest Logos technology, making cross-referencing easy.

I wish I had Logos 6 when I was a pastor. Several new features can turn your sermon this Sabbath into a message your members will remember for the rest of their lives. The new Cultural Concepts tool, for example, lets you to click on a text or topic to uncover its fascinating cultural background in biblical times. This can turn an otherwise mundane sermon into a colorful and understandable exposition of the Bible and its people.

Other Logos 6 tools—each of them worth the price of your entire base package—include Timeline, Factbook for Bible people, places and things, plus beautiful media collections to illustrate your sermons.

Logos 6 can infuse fresh excitement into your own devotional study of God’s Word. Just like it was in your favorite seminary class, where every day you relished discoveries that became formative to your faith and ministry. And if you never had a chance to go to seminary, Logos 6 unlocks the meaning of the original languages. Just click on any word or scripture and the godly wisdom of the finest professors and scholars comes to your laptop, tablet or mobile device.

Here’s a sampling of top products in one or more of the SDA base packages:

1919 Bible Conference Collection (24 vols.)
Daniel & Revelation Committee Series (DARCOM) (7 vols.)
Questions on Doctrine (annotated ed.)
Andrews Study Bible
Monte Sahlin Lifeworks (church ministry research and resources) (51 docs.)
IVP New Testament Commentary Series (20 vols.)
AdventSource Youth and Young Adult Ministry Collection
The New American Commentary Series (41 vols.)
Systematic Theology by Norman Gulley (3 vols.)
A History of the Jewish People in the Time of Jesus Christ (5 vols.)
Exegetical Dictionary of the New Testament (3 vols.)

Visit Logos.com/SDA for a complete list of what’s in each of the new base packages. Or call 1-800-875-6467—a Logos 6 specialist is ready to help you decide which of the new SDA base packages is best suited for you.

Logos 6 is amazing—and it’s yours now at a 15% introductory discount. Existing owners of previous base packages receive “dynamic pricing” credit for what you already own! Download your favorite based package today!

But don’t delay—this exclusive sale ends February 2 at 11:59 p.m.

Logos helps fulfill God’s purpose for your life

January 22, 2015 by martinweber Leave a Comment

Have you heard about Richard, the apostle? Perhaps also the apostles Jennifer or Robert? Not in the Bible, of course, but in your workplace or classroom? The word “apostle” includes more than Peter, James, John and the others who wrote the New Testament—in one sense it applies to all of us who believe in Jesus.

You see, an apostle is “one who fulfills the role of being a special messenger.” Jesus prayed, “As you have sent me into the world, so I have sent them into the world” (John 17:18). That word “send” is apostello, the Greek word from which we get “apostle.”

It means “to cause someone to depart for a particular purpose.” Christ Himself clarified this sending forth as including not only the first apostles but “those who will believe in me through their word” (verse 20).

So all of us are apostles in that Christ sends us out for the particular purpose of revealing Him to people God has placed in our lives.

We often misunderstand “church” as the building where we get together to sing, pray and get preached to. But the church is people who together comprise the body of Christ. We are “called out” of the world every Sabbath in corporate worship, but then Jesus sends us back into the world as His ambassadors.

Our human bodies illustrate this. The heart gathers the blood from throughout the body and then scatters it. First blood is drawn in to be cleansed and oxygenated, then it gets sent out to energize and combat pathogens. So it is with the body of Christ. The heart of Jesus brings us together for worship and fellowship, and then He disperses us into a sinful world as His healing representatives.

Consider another metaphor of the church: salt. It congregates in the salt shaker for the purpose of being “sent out,” not to be stored in a cupboard. Jesus declared: “You are the salt of the earth” (Matt. 5:13). Salt in Christ’s day was sufficiently valuable that ancient Romans often paid soldiers with it; hence the term “salary.”So, in a sense, Jesus wants to provide a salary to the world’s workplaces, classrooms and neighborhoods through His church—His end-time apostles, all of us.

Are you fascinated by God’s purpose for the church? That’s not good enough! We need to be inspired–motivated to get out of our own little closets and serve in whatever way He commissions us individually. This takes training. In calling us to serve Him, Jesus says “learn from me” (Matthew 11:29). The early apostles heeded Christ’s instruction and recorded it in the Bible. Therein we gain our own information about Jesus—how to love Him and how to represent Him to the people God sends us out to serve in our homes, workplaces and classrooms.

Equipping us to serve Jesus is a primary purpose of Logos Bible Software. If you preach or teach on Sabbath, you can accomplish 40 hours of preparation in just one hour with Logos. (If you are curious about the new and enhanced features in Logos version 6, click here.)

Then to be inspired and equipped to serve Jesus the rest of the week, “out there” in your world, consider beginning each day with His Word.

With Logos on your laptop or smartphone, you optimize what little time that is squeezed into our busy lives for Bible study. Actually, you may find yourself inspired to cut back on wasted hours spent “surfing on the Web” and invest more of your evenings exploring the incredible Biblical resources that are yours in the Logos software library.

To see what’s waiting for you in Logos, visit www.logos.com/sda and sample scores of new biblical resources that can inspire and equip you to serve as a modern day apostle of Jesus Christ.

Pastor Gary Venden likes Logos 6 SDA

January 16, 2015 by martinweber Leave a Comment

Longtime Logos user Gary Venden is senior pastor of Glendale SDA Church in Phoenix. He is also a conference speaker, writer, musician and theologian. Here’s what he says about version 6 of Logos SDA software:

“I have been using Logos software for Bible study for over 10 years. It is not cheap, but it is worth it. I mostly use it for language study. My original purchase was the language package. I have added several other modules and many books since.

Having the Greek New Testament, Hebrew Old Testament and LXX all available in parallel columns on the screen for search and cross referencing is marvelous. I use language study to stir up my thinking during sermon study/prep. I am fairly proficient at Greek, but my Hebrew knowledge is minimal. My current sermon series is working through the book of Isaiah. So having a Hebrew interlinear with original words parsed, along with grammars and other language helps available in the library, is incredibly helpful and rewarding. Then with the LXX interlinear, I can see much more clearly what the New Testament writers had in mind when they quoted from the Old Testament.

I do not use a lot of commentaries, but having the SDA Commentary available for any given passage with just a click, is quick and helpful.

When it comes to Ellen White quotations found compilations or used by other writers, I always like to find and read the whole context. I really like being able to search the original manuscripts until I find the exact extracted passage, and read the whole article or letter. This facilitates a much more balanced view of what White actually has to say. I remember the frustration as a young pastor (35 years ago) at the difficulty of finding the full context for proof-quotes people were slinging around. Now it is easy, and has been useful in solving several squabbles.

Finally, the access to SDA historical documents is great. I highly recommend Logos.”

—Pastor Gary Venden

Right now you can save 15% on any Logos 6 SDA base package AND earn free rewards. Don’t delay, the L6 introductory sale ends Monday February 2 (11:59 p.m. PST). Click here to see which SDA base package is best for you.

Save 26% on the SDA Top Product

January 9, 2015 by Taylor Blomquist Leave a Comment

During January get The Lost Meaning of the Seventh Day, by Sigve K. Tonstad who recovers the profound and foundational understanding of God that can be experienced in the seventh day. Download this title between now and February 1st to save 26% on this essential resource.

Tonstad shows that Scripture has consistently asserted that the Sabbath of Creation is the Sabbath of the whole story of how God makes right what has gone wrong in the world.

Tonstad argues that the seventh day is the symbol of God’s faithfulness precisely when God’s presence seems to be in doubt. He demonstrates how God, through the seventh day, seeks the benefit of all creation. Inevitably, this leads to an investigation of how this universal symbol became obscured.

This sweeping work of biblical theology and historical analysis traces the seventh day as it is woven throughout Scripture and the history of Christianity. Its 27 chapters consider, among other things, the relationship of the seventh day to freedom, to social conscience, to the “greatest commandment,” and to the enigmatic “rest that remains.”

Tonstad engages the move away from the seventh day in early Christian history, the mindset in medieval Christianity, and the sobering long-term implications leading all the way to the Holocaust and the ecological crises in our time.

Discover the lost meaning of the sabbath day. Download January’s SDA Top Product today!

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