A while back, Dan King shot me a brief e-mail asking if I’d be interested in reviewing some books for the Logos Bible Software folks. As a long-time user of Logos, I jumped at the opportunity!
Here’s the lowdown on Logos:
- I haven’t found better Bible study tools. As a kid growing up in rural West Virginia, my exposure to commentaries, theological resources, etc. was somewhat limited. I remember in my first class at seminary thinking, “I just hope the prof points us in the right direction for the best resources to study Scripture.” She did. And it was Logos.
- My heart beats for leadership development. Right now I’m pursuing a PhD. in Organizational Leadership and I am continually pressing into conversations about biblical principles of leadership and how it relates to everyday organizations. When approached about this software review one of the options for review was the Baker Leadership Collection, a collection of 9 volumes centering on leadership and the development of healthy leaders. Of course I jumped on this opportunity!
Now, for the review.
The Baker Leadership Collection within Logos is a tremendous resource.
I was familiar with a few of the 9 titles (specifically, Samuel Rima’s Leading from the Inside Out, and Overcoming the Dark Side of Leadership). These two works, specifically, are worth their weight. Rima deals poignantly with the self-issues facing today’s spiritual leaders. In Leading from the Inside Out he zeroes in on what it means to lead sustainably and offers practical assessments for leaders to grow in their own health. Overcoming the Dark Side continues this work, but confronts leaders with their own brokenness and calls them to honestly face the dark side and emerge with more freedom.
Another gem in this package is Neil Cole’s Leading Naturally Right Where You Are. Cole, of the Organic Church movement, approaches leadership in that same natural sense. He speaks of the nature of the Kingdom and its agricultural ethos, growing among us and raising up leaders in ways that our institutionalized and consumerized minds don’t always recognize.
As for usability, the software is simple and friendly. As with most of Logos’ material, the cut and paste features, search abilities, and interface all tie in with my teaching and research preparation in very easy ways. Basically, I’m saying Logos doesn’t waste my time by forcing me to figure out how to correlate the info with my working projects.
If you’re considering upgrading a biblical research library and you’re leading people, don’t hesitate to grab Logos’ Baker Leadership Collection. The wealth of information and the resources included make a great addition to any biblical library.
Thanks for the great review, Justin! We’re glad you love the tool, and this *is* a great collection. 🙂
Rich
Logos Bible Software