EDITOR’S NOTEBOOK: Warren Smith’s Quarterly List of Books Worth Noting
Books about theology, philanthropy, and ministry leadership
Editor’s Note: Most Saturdays we 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, published in November, click here.
The Reason for Church by Brad Edwards. The evangelical church is a mess. If you believe the surveys, more than forty million Americans have “de-churched” in the past 25 years. That is why it is a good thing Brad Edwards reminds us why the Body of Christ still matters. Trevin Wax, whose opinion I value in such matters, has called The Reason for Church “one of the most important books of the year.” I agree. It is a clear-eyed apologetic for the church, and it is also a love letter to the church, especially the local church, where the real “churching” takes place.
What Is a Christian, Anyway? by Glenn Packiam. The title of this book poses a simple and obvious question that the modern (post-modern? Post-postmodern?) church sometimes forgets. Packiam reminds us that this question is an old one, and that it has a clear and beautiful answer: The Nicene Creed. This book gently walks the reader through the Nicene Creed, explaining it line by line. (By the way, I will be interviewing Packiam next week. Look for that interview in our podcast feed soon. To read or listen to my 2019 interview with Packiam, click here.)
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Connected for Good: A Gameplan for a Generous Life by John Stanley. This book was published in 2013, but I am just discovering it. It is a solid, carefully organized primer for those who wish to create what the book calls a “gameplan for a generous life.” A key (and helpful) concept of the book is its treatment of “transactional” giving (giving out of a sense of obligation or for social status) vs. “transformational” giving (giving to change lives – both the giver’s and the recipient’s lives). Fundraisers should get this book, too. It devotes a chapter to what is broken about fundraising these days and offers advice for how to fix it.
Founding To Finishing: A 40-Year Journey of Starting and Leading a Nonprofit by Edwin J. Staub. Lots of ministry leaders start out young and strong, only to surrender themselves and their organizations to bureaucracy, inertia, and – sometimes – scandal. But successful ministry leaders understand the value of finishing well. This book offers an inspiring story and practical advice for ministry leaders who understand that they are not truly a success until they have a successor, and they have left a healthy organization that can not just survive, but thrive, without them.
When the Church Harms God’s People by Diane Langberg. This book, though only a year old, has already become something of a classic in the #ChurchToo movement. Langberg has a prophetic tone, with a bracing prose style that gets and keeps your attention. It also offers practical advice for pastors, for victims of spiritual and sexual abuse, and for all churchgoers who want to see the church become places that care for the wounded. (I will also be interviewing Langberg next week, and we are offering this book as our “donor premium” for the month of April. To learn more about that, click here.)
High Conflict: Why We Get Trapped and How We Get Out by Amanda Ripley. I have written about this book recently. (You can find that article here.) So I won’t spill a lot of pixels here. I will just add that this book has shaped my thinking about how both I and MinistryWatch should behave in the public square. It is our goal to be “reconcilers” (2 Cor. 5:18) and not “conflict entrepreneurs,” to use the famous phrase from Ripley’s book.
