Do you want to understand God's Word better? Spotlight on Logos Bible Software - Podcast Episode 91

Spotlight on Faithlife and Logos Bible Software

The Got Questions podcast. Today's episode, we're going to be spotlighting a Christian organization or company that I'm a huge fan of. If you spent any time on gotquestions .org, you've surely seen some of the links we have to Faithlife or Logos Bible Software, where they're most known by.

To me, Logos is a tremendous tool for helping people study the Bible better, have more access to resources that really anyone in the history of the planet has ever had before. So on today's episode, I have Scott Lindsey.

He is the executive director of Faithlife. So Scott, welcome to the show. Good to be here. So tell me just briefly, what is your role at Faithlife?

Well, I'm the frequent flyer mile king of Logos. Travel quite a bit, obviously. The last couple years with COVID, it's not been as bad, but it's definitely starting to pick up again. I would say my primary role is building key relationships with key ministries, not only equipping key ministries for the work of the ministry, helping them study, helping them prepare messages, but I also speak at conferences.

So actually tomorrow morning, I head to Kansas city to hopefully get a bunch of married couples excited about studying the.

Bible together. Wow. So a marriage conference, I'm guessing that sounds like a lot of fun. So for our listeners who may not be familiar, so what is Faithlife and what is Logos Bible Software?

What Faithlife Is and Why Logos Was Rebranded

Yeah. So the company initially started 30 years ago as Logos Research Systems, our fearless leader and chairman founder, Bob Pritchett was one of those very smart, young people at Microsoft and actually used the labs at Microsoft back in the 90s to create Logos Bible Software.

And that kind of launched the company, obviously left Microsoft and started again, Logos Research Systems. And then a few years later, we changed the company name to Logos Bible Software. And then about 10 years ago, changed the name of the company again to Faithlife because we're doing a lot more than just Logos.

Now Logos is what we're best known for, but we've got a lot of other technology. We've got technology to help churches put song lyrics up on the big screen during the worship service. We've got giving technology, we've got in-house publishing.

So Faithlife was just a better name to encompass all that we do. But again, Logos is what we're.

Best known for. Yeah. So it got questions that our goal is to help people to find answers to their questions. Obviously a big part of that is we want people to be studying the Bible. So I've been using Logos Bible Software for probably approaching 20 years and it's been a huge benefit to me in studying the Bible.

So how, and you can describe it, don't get super technical, but how does Logos help people understand and study the Bible better? Yeah. So actually I'll borrow.

Factbook and the Value of a Curated Bible Study Library

From a great experience last week. So I was off the coast of Miami on one of those little keys, one of the little islands there. I was actually working with about 200 NFL players, hopefully getting them into the Bible, studying the Bible.

And there's a feature in Logos that of everything that I showed, I did a workshop, I did a morning devotional about the Bible. And we obviously were getting Logos into the hands of these players, but it was the feature in Logos called Factbook that really resonated with so many.

And kind of the mantra of the event, when it got done was goodbye Google, hello Factbook. And that's been, that was really, it was kind of an epiphany to me. I've been with Logos now 25 years. I've used it personally, I used it in seminary.

I think it is absolutely one of the best tools out there to study the Bible. But what I forgot about Logos was it's also very practical, meaning people have questions that need answers. And sadly, most are going to Google for those answers about the Bible, about theology.

During one of my sessions, most of the guys were married and had their wives with them. And I was like, if we just went to Google right now and type the word marriage, you can imagine the nonsense and heretical information you'd get, right?

About marriage. And so Logos is kind of that safe place. It's a curated library of trusted sources and publishers and theologians and so on. And so it was just awesome to see these 300 pound, six foot guys with Logos in their hand, going to Factbook, going, this is exactly what I've been needing because I've been going to Google and I've been getting all kinds of craziness.

And so, you know, thank you for providing this tool for us.

So what are some of the key features to Logos and beyond Factbook? When I look at the sheer number of resources that are available, sometimes it can be overwhelming due to our long time relationship between GotQuestions and Faithlife.

We are gifted, whatever the biggest package is, I don't know if it's, I'm a Marvel Comics fan, so I like to call it Logos Vibranium edition, but so many resources that way more than I could ever possibly use.

And for some people that can sometimes be a little overwhelming. So what are just some of the ways in addition to Factbook where people can use it and not get lost in the sheer volume of amazing resources?

Workflows for Guided Bible Study

Yeah, so there's really two things there. There's the tools in Logos, and then there's exactly what you said, the resources. I think we're over 200 ,000 books now in Logos. And the good news there is whatever your interest is, whether it be apologetics, whether it be Christian counseling, whether you might be a pastor preparing a message, or you might be absolutely brand new to the Bible.

And let's be honest, it can be a daunting and intimidating task to jump into all of those 66 books. So on the feature side, we already mentioned Factbook, but there's another pretty amazing, relatively new feature in Logos called Workflows.

This was another feature last week that really resonated. And what a workflow is, is a process. So we have a basic Bible study workflow. So let's say someone's new to Christianity, they're new to faith, they're new to the Bible.

All they have to do is open this feature called the Basic Bible Study Workflow, type in the verse they want to study, Romans 8, Psalm 23, Genesis 1. And it just walks you through the seven steps on how to study that particular passage.

But the beauty of it is not only do we give you the step, and we tell you how important, like number one step is read that passage from your Bible, right? When the step is there, we put the Bible right there as well.

So you don't have to know, where do I go in Logos to accomplish this step? Logos gives you the step, and then gives you the information with the step. And then it asks questions. One of the things I love about the workflows is we should be asking questions of the text, like who wrote this?

Why did this person write this letter? What were the cultural issues going on? All these things that a savvy, veteran Bible study student, they know these questions. But again, someone new doesn't. And so we walk them through these steps.

We have a workflow for how to study a biblical person, how to study a doctrine. We even have workflows for devotional reasons or praying the scripture. Maybe someone listening, what they really need help with is their time with Jesus in the morning, right?

How can that get better using scripture and so on? So we have a workflow for that. So that's one of the most innovative new features in Logos is this feature called workflows.

I think it's very interesting. In my experience with Logos, starting from when I was a baby Christian, I found it hugely helpful then, and then all through Bible college and seminary studies. So just talk a little bit briefly how the different resources Logos has for a new believer, for a baby Christian, but also for a more advanced Bible studier.

Resources for New Believers and Advanced Bible Students

Yeah. So you can actually go to Logos, and we're going to have a special promotion for the listener. So we'll give everybody that special website, but you can go in and actually pick a denominational lane, if you will.

Maybe you're more in the Baptist lane, or maybe you're more in the Anglican lane, or we have our just kind of in the middle lane. So you can start kind of where your team is, if you will. But then again, with 200 ,000 books, you can add your interest, whether it be again, apologetics, or I want to master Greek and Hebrew, right?

Well, you probably want to be at the silver level or higher because silver includes those types of resources, right? Your inner linears, your major Greek and Hebrew lexicons and dictionaries, or as you said, you could be, I'm brand new.

That Greek stuff, that's going to be a few years down the road. So you just start at like the starter level or the bronze level. So we have something for just about anybody listening and where they are in their studies.

But the good news is the 200 ,000 plus additional resources down the road that you can add as you start developing your.

Ministry and your interests and things like that. Sure. Like Scott mentioned it earlier, logos .com forward slash GotQuestionsPodcast. So for a week after this podcast airs, Logos is offering a 15 discount to anyone who enters, who starts at that URL.

So again, we'll include that in the show notes at podcast .gotquestions .org and also the description on YouTube when this episode goes live. So thank you, Scott and Logos for offering that to our listeners because that segues really easy into the next question I want to ask.

And I want to ask you actually two questions because over the years, there's two main issues that people have asked us about. I got questions about why do you guys promote Logos Bible software so much?

And the first one is why is Logos so expensive? And I always allow you to answer that question. I know we answer it, but how do you answer that if someone asks you that question?

Why Logos Costs What It Does

Yeah. Well, solid theological resources cost money. I mean, if you go to your Christian bookstore, the few that have survived, most people are buying resources via the internet now through their ministry or some of the large book sellers.

Theological books are expensive. A commentary set can cost you a thousand dollars. But if you think about how long it took to write a 64 volume commentary set and all the scholarship that, I mean, it could take 30, 40 years.

A single volume of a good, solid biblical commentary can be easily 75 to a hundred dollars. Right? And so I actually think Logos is the steel of the century, meaning let's just say our bronze level. That's kind of our entry level to Bible study.

So it includes the major translations, some good commentaries, good dictionaries. It's a couple hundred books. If you do the math on the bronze, even at the discount we're offering, I think you're paying $1 .35 per resource in bronze.

I mean, where in the world can you get a solid Bible dictionary for a buck 35? Right? So when you realize what you're getting for, for the price you're paying, it really is an amazing deal. But I get it.

I was on radio years ago and we had a caller in and he got, he was really upset that Logos had something for a hundred dollars or $200. And thankfully, the host asked the person that called in, sir, do you have a Bible?

And he says, yes, I have a Bible. What Bible do you have? And he said, the blah, blah, blah study Bible. How much did you pay for that, sir? And he said, I think it was $70. And the guy's like, wow, that actually is the expensive deal right there.

I mean, you paid 70 bucks for a single book. So I get that. But again, if you know the value of books and if you've ever purchased three, four, five, again, solid theological resources, oh, you're easily at a couple hundred dollars at that point.

So Logos is an amazing deal considering what you get.

I entirely agree with that. And even there are levels below bronze, so you can get a very low entry level package that will have all the basic resources you need at a very affordable price. But for me, the temptation is, oh, wow, I need, like I joked earlier, the Vibranium package.

I need the package that has absolutely everything. It's like, no, the vast majority of people really don't need that many resources because as you mentioned, what, 200 ,000 books in there? I'm sorry, I'm never going to get around to reading that much, as much as I love to read.

So that's just an encouragement. Don't allow yourself to become in a sense materialistic about it. Don't think, oh, I've got to have a bigger package than my pastor, or if you're a my friend who's another pastor, he's got the platinum edition.

It's like, come on, get the package that you think has the resources that will be beneficial to you. And don't get into the, I want to have all the bells and whistles and absolutely everything. So the second question, and you mentioned earlier about the packages for different like denominational lanes, and we've received criticism just recently.

Why Logos Offers Denominationally Targeted Packages

Why do you promote Logos Bible Software when they have a package for Catholics or a package for Seventh-day Adventists, which I fully believe that there are Catholics in Seventh-day Adventists who truly know and love the Lord, but there's a significant number of theological differences between what generally speaking is Faith's Life's target audience, which is like evangelical Christian churches.

So how do you respond to that?

Yeah, well, I respond to it that, you know, I want everybody to grow in their love and their knowledge of the word. And so do I have my theological team? Yes, I do. But what's crazy is where I'm at right now is not where I was 10 years ago.

You know, it's not where I came into the faith 20 years ago, right? And so we're all on a journey, but what I appreciate about the fact that from, as you mentioned, other denominational viewpoints, is a lot of times I want to understand the other viewpoint.

I might want to even critique the other viewpoint. I know when I was in seminary, I loved the fact that I had access to the Anglican view, to the Seventh-day Adventist view, you know, the Lutheran view.

It made me actually even more firm in where I stand on some issues. But, you know, we can't just stay only in our camp. You know, one of the great things that the Lord, it was a test at the time, but I served in the military for eight years.

And I was in, back in the early 90s, Desert Storm, Desert Shield, got deployed. And, you know, when you're in America, you can go to the church you want, hang out with the Christians that think about things just the way you do.

And, hey, that's great. But when I was over there deployed, if a Catholic told me he loved Jesus, I hung on to that brother for dear life. If I met a Methodist that loved, you know, it was amazing to me how much the differences didn't matter as much because we needed each other to get through that.

I mean, the temptations, just being away from your family for a couple of years. So it was a really good thing for me to learn in a real world situation. And I think it's one of the things I love most about my job at Logos is I teach all over.

You know, I think I might've been able to see the body of Christ and all of its flavors and all of its colors and all of its, you know, pet peeves and, you know, and I've come to appreciate how awesome the body of Christ is.

So I get it. We get those same phone calls and emails. But again, if someone is thinking that listening right now, don't you think that the best thing someone should have that you feel has a heretical view or thinks really wrong about wouldn't it be the best thing for them to have is tools to study the Bible, the text itself, to dig into the original languages and original meanings.

You know, I think that's what everybody needs, especially those that I disagree with. Yeah. And that's exactly how we've responded.

When we received the occasional complaint about that. And usually I think it's almost always come with the Catholic suite. I mean, look, there's a lot of stuff in the Catholic package that I have absolutely no interest in reading, but if our usual complaint or disagreement with Catholics is about their view of the Bible or their placing tradition over the Bible, wouldn't we want Catholics to be studying the Bible?

And if offering them a package of Bible software with some Catholic resources in it will eventually lead to them restudying the Bible, I think that's a total win. So I get the concerns, but I also get the strategy of just wanting people to study the Bible no matter what denomination of branch of Christianity that they're in.

Other Faithlife Tools: Proclaim and Giving

So briefly with the time we have left, what are some other projects that Faithlife has going on? I know you said that Logos Bible software is by far the biggest division of Faithlife, but what are some of the other.

Options or programs that are out there? Yeah, I would say the two major other, I hate even use the word products, technologies that are really healthy and are really serving the church is one, Proclaim.

So Proclaim is our multimedia software. So it allows the church to put the lyrics up on the big screen. You can send questionnaires through Proclaim to mobile devices. I mean, literally one of the features of Proclaim is pastor gets up in the pulpit and says, Hey, open your Bibles to Romans 8 .1.

And as soon as he says that everybody's mobile device vibrates, and it says, push here for Romans 8 .1. So this amazing connection to ministry and preaching and worship right to mobile devices is incredible because as you and I both know, if you look around a church service now and pastor does say, open your Bibles, what is everybody pulling out?

Their mobile devices, right? Now I'm still old school. I still open and I've got my paper Bible in my hand, but I do have my Logos on my iPad right next to it. So Proclaim is amazing. And then our giving platform, it's called Faithlife Giving.

When COVID hit, so many churches never thought we would need a giving platform. Everybody just puts their check in the box or offering plate. And yeah, they had to change that real quickly because so much of it obviously is virtual.

And so those would probably be the really two big, big technologies that are serving the.

Church outside of Logos Bible Software. Yeah. Now our church uses Proclaim and it's amazing how extensive it is, how many different things you can do with it. And even we just started with just using it for a presentation platform, but then seeing some of the extra features are digging a little deeper into it more and more.

So I highly recommend a church who's looking for solutions like this to at least take a look at both Proclaim and Faithlife Giving because they're both well-designed and at this point pretty fine-tuned programs.

Who Logos Bible Software Is For and Why Daily Bible Engagement Matters

So Scott, anything else you'd like to share about Logos? Who is ultimately Logos Bible Software for?

I think it'd be a great thing to close with. There was a recent study, 400 ,000 Christians were actually part of the study. They wanted to see what Bible engagement looked like for the average Jew, right?

And they discovered something that became the highlight of this entire study. When we're in the Bible, only one time a week, it has negligible effect on some very key areas of our life, okay? Two times a week, negligible effect.

Three times a week, negligible effect. But when we're in the scripture, at least four times a week, radical things happen in the life of a believer. And that's not what you think, right? You think it'd be a gradual incline, right?

One time a week, two times. No, it was literally one, two, three flat line, but at four times a week, this is what happens. Feeling lonely drops 30%. Anger issues drop 32%. Bitterness in relationships, especially marriage, drops 40%.

Sexual sin, such as pornography, drops 60%. And then the big stat was feeling distant from God. When I travel and I get to talk to people, I hear from so many people, I feel really distant from the Lord.

It's the first thing I ask, what does your week look like in the Bible? And I know what the answer is going to be. I know what the answer is going to be. That dropped 62 when we're in the word of God, at least four times a week.

So there's this massive study with a lot of smart people looking at the data that is saying what we already know. We have to be in the word of God on a regular basis. And on the flip side, sharing your faith jumps 200 and discipling others, your coworkers, your family, those that you're in leadership over, that jumps 230%.

So that's why we get up in the morning at Logos. That's what we're excited about. I mean, 500 employees now dedicated to creating tools to make the Bible come to life on your screen. I mean, one of the things you and I love about Logos is how we visualize things, like the Psalms Explorer.

I mean, it's just like your eyeballs are like, wow, I've never seen the Bible like this before. But wouldn't it be the greatest thing for somebody that gets Logos and then a couple days down the road, they look up at the clock and it's three o 'clock in the morning and they're still studying the Bible.

Like, what is this? This is incredible. That's what excites me about Logos.

Yeah. So again, at GotQuestions .org, our goal is to help people find answers to their Bible questions, whether that's at GotQuestions .org or through other means that we want people in the Word. We want people studying the Bible.

And Logos is a tremendous resource. I mean, it's amazing how many different resources are available to help you understand the Bible better, to help you study topically, to help you dig really deep into a specific passage.

There's so many great tools. So Scott, thank you for coming on the show today and sharing a little bit about what Logos is and what FaithLive is all about. I appreciate your time today.

I remember we got the website up for about a week after this airing and also we have a monthly option. So we'll help you kind of budget it out. And free training. So I know a lot of people are like, oh, this sounds interesting, but you don't know me and my computer.

We don't get along too well. We will train you. So we have a free training website that'll teach you how to use any aspect or tool inside of Logos. So we want you doing more and better Bible study.

And so we will support you in those ends. Awesome. And again, that link is Logos .com forward slash GotQuestionsPodcast. And of course, we'll include the links when this episode goes live. So Scott, thank you again.

This is the GotQuestions Podcast. Got questions? The Bible has answers. World defining.