I preached my first sermon when I was sixteen years old. I didn’t use any software. Such a thing did not exist. I used an outline I found in my father’s library from a book on sermon outlines.
After that first experience, my dad asked, “Son, where did you get that sermon?”
“There’s a book of sermon outlines in your library,” I answered. “That’s where I got it.”
It was clear he was not impressed. “Don’t get your sermons out of books,” Dad said. “Get them out of the Bible.”
I’ve been working on that ever since.
Now I’m seventy-four years old. I have served as a pastor, Bible college instructor, seminary professor, writer of curriculum, articles, and twenty-one books. In addition to my first graduation from Bible college in 1967, I have earned five degrees, two of which are doctorates. This has involved a lot of research and writing.
I mention these things not to boast, but to point out that the work to which God called me has required many years and untold hours of research. The first seminary degree I earned, the M. A. in Exegetical Theology, required me to read thousands of pages and resulted in about 700 pages of written assignments, in addition to completing the requirements for the Greek and Hebrew languages. The second seminary degree, the Master of Theology, took five years to finish and required the writing of a second thesis. Finally, the Ph.D. took eight years to complete, and I have no idea how much reading I did, in addition to taking an additional course in Theological German. My dissertation alone reached nearly 500 pages.
When I began to work on the M.A., I took all my notes by hand. I had no laptop computer. It would have been a wonderful thing to have such a tool at the beginning . . . and to have a resource like Logos Bible Software.
Now, people have asked what Bible software I recommend. Hands down, it is Logos. I can’t begin to describe it in full, so I am attaching a link to give you access to information. The latest iteration, Logos 9, was released one week ago today. I encourage you to look into it. If you decide to invest in this awesome tool, you can take advantage of a 15% discount by following the link to do so.
https://partners.faithlife.com/click.track?CID=431490&AFID=472111
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