Editor’s Note: Most Saturdays we will feature this “Editor’s Notebook” column. MinistryWatch President Warren Smith will offer his opinion on stories in the week’s news or, sometimes, offer a behind-the-scenes look at how and why we do what we do.
However, once a quarter (or so), we use the ‘Notebook” for Warren Smith’s list of books either released in the past quarter, or those he just got around to reading this quarter. To read last quarter’s list, click here.
Make My Church Safe: A Guide to the Best Practices to Protect Children and Secure Your Congregation from Harm by Sam Rainer. We’ve seen a lot of books on this topic in the past few years. Many of them (or their authors) have been featured here at MinistryWatch. But this book is different in that it is short and practical, with list and checklists. This book should be required reading for pastors, deacons, elders, vestries, or anyone who has a position of leadership in a church or ministry.
The Crisis of Dependency: How Our Efforts to Solve Poverty Are Trapping People in It and What we Can Do to Foster Freedom Instead by James Whitford. This book deserves a place on the same shelf as classics such as Marvin Olasky’s The Tragedy of American Compassion and Fikkert and Corbett’s When Helping Hurts. (Not to mention Bob Lupton’s Toxic Charity.) James Whitford has decades of experience working with the poor, and he now leads the True Charity Network, a network of more than 200 ministries that follow the principles in this book. If you care about helping the poor, the addicted, the “least and the lost,” either as a donor or a doer, this book is essential.
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Crisis of Conscience: Whistleblowing in an Age of Fraud by Tom Mueller. We get emails and phone calls from whistleblowers almost every week. They are vital to our work, and I would argue that they are vital to our freedom. But what turns someone who is just minding his or her own business into a whistleblower? What finally pushes them to break the “conspiracy of silence” and speak out? And what keeps them going when they turn against the system that nurtured them, and then the system then turns with a vengeance against them? This book is a fascinating series of case studies into the lives and trials of whistleblowers, written by a first-rate journalist with an eye for detail and heart for the courageous men and women who speak out when they see injustice.
Buy Back Your Time: Get Unstuck, Reclaim Your Freedom, and Build Your Empire by Dan Martell. Early in my career, I worked for two companies that did leadership training. Those experiences allowed me (forced me) to read hundreds of books on management, leadership, time management, and related fields. I came to believe there’s very little new under the sun in this area. But I read this book on the recommendation of an entrepreneur friend, and I’m glad I did. The book is especially helpful with its advice regarding how to get stuff off your plate that shouldn’t be there. Recommended for leaders who feel harried or overwhelmed.