An Essential Resource for Associate Pastors and Ministers at all Levels

In an egotistical world, we are deemed successful only when we are number one. This idea is so embedded in our psyches we spend our entire lives trying to reach the top - sometimes at all costs. But is full accomplishment only experienced when you are at the top? Can you succeed in ministry without occupying the chief seat of leadership and power?

In this theological and personal reflection, the author gives voice to many unspoken experiences and ambitions of associate ministers who faithfully serve their more prominent and popular leaders - unnoticed. Having served successfully in the shadow of one of the most outstanding pastors and congressmen in the USA, the author writes from a wealth of knowledge and experience. Drawing from his personal and vocational journey, he boldly redefines success in ministry and demonstrates that fulfillment and success are possible, even in a subsidiary capacity.

This insightful book will engage, empower, and encourage you to:

• Optimize your skills and gifts right where you are
• Relinquish the idea that to be or feel successful you must hold the top spot
• Have meaningful reflection on your own experiences
• Better appreciate your role as an associate minister/lay leader
• Achieve excellence in your service to God and His people
• Apply the principles therein to find success in your vocation at any level
• Avoid frustration, impatience, and apathy in your ministry

This is a vivid account of the corrupt and improbable political machine that ran Japanese politics for twenty years, from the early 1970s to the early 1990s, the period during which Japan became the world's second-largest economy. Reviews "Washington lobbyists, Moscow mafiosi, and Beijing party bosses stand back! . . . Here is one of the longest running big-time political sleaze serials of the past quarter-century. . . . This was a book waiting to be written, and not only has Schlesinger done it, but he has also produced a fine job of political reporting." --New York Times Book Review "In a rollicking style, Schlesinger . . . demolishes the popular misconception that politicians are boring. His is a tale of monstrous personalities. . . . This is the most entertaining short history of Japanese politics this reviewer has encountered." --The Economist "A story which is told vividly in this well researched and reliable account. . . . A superb analysis of Japan's politics and economic affairs." --Washington Post Book World "Shadow Shoguns is a lively and anecdote-rich account of the eerie parallels between Tokyo's now-battered political machine and New York's Tammany Hall. . . . Schlesinger masterfully demonstrates why Prime Minister Tanaka personified the collusive ties between Japanese politicians and Big Business." --Business Week "A fascinating and penetrating tale about the Tanaka machine that dominated Japan's politics for several decades and whose demise in the early 1990s has created a political vacuum that accounts for many of Japan's current problems." --Foreign Affairs

First published in 1969 The Shadow Cabinet in British Politics attempts to trace and examine the history, growth, and development of the body popularly known as the ‘Shadow Cabinet’ in Britain. This body is concerned with power and aspirations of power. The personnel of Shadow Cabinets are, or at least should be, constantly prepared to assume the mantle of government. The book discusses important themes like the origins of the idea of the Shadow Cabinet; Sir William Harcourt and the Shadow Cabinet; Balfour and the Conservative Party; from MacDonald to Churchill; the difference between formally and informally elected Opposition Front Benches; and the relationship between Opposition responsibilities and ministerial appointments. This comprehensive short book is a must read for students of British politics and political science.

Every year the British government spends £80 billion outsourcing public services. Today, private companies are responsible for fulfilling some of the most sensitive and important roles of the state – running prisons and providing healthcare, transport, legal aid, even child protection. These organizations have been handed enormous amounts of power and yet for the most part they operate with no transparency or accountability. From deportations to NHS cutbacks, Alan White exposes what goes wrong when the invisible hand of the market is introduced into public services. Informed by exclusive interviews with senior managers, campaigners and whistle-blowers, Shadow State is the first book to examine the controversial phenomenon of government outsourcing. Not only does White provide the full story behind scandals involving G4S, Serco and ATOS, but he also reveals previously unknown cases of system failure in areas such as social care, welfare and justice. The picture that develops is deeply troubling.

A 2019 National Jewish Book Award Finalist "At the top of my reading list." —Alan Dershowitz, professor emeritus at Harvard Law School "Reads like an international thriller, but it is actually a compelling factual day-by-day (and sometimes hour-by-hour) account of an incident of acute threat and decisive action by the Jewish state...". —Jonathan Kirsch, Jewish Journal Review The never-before-told inside story of how Israel stopped Syria from becoming a global nuclear nightmare—and its far-reaching implications On September 6, 2007, shortly after midnight, Israeli fighters advanced on Deir ez-Zour in Syria. Israel often flew into Syria as a warning to President Bashar al-Assad. But this time, there was no warning and no explanation. This was a covert operation, with one goal: to destroy a nuclear reactor being built by North Korea under a tight veil of secrecy in the Syrian desert. Shadow Strike tells, for the first time, the story of the espionage, political courage, military might and psychological warfare behind Israel’s daring operation to stop one of the greatest known acts of nuclear proliferation. It also brings Israel’s powerful military and diplomatic alliance with the United States to life, revealing the debates President Bush had with Vice President Cheney and Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert as well as the diplomatic and military planning that took place in the Oval Office, the Prime Minister’s Office in Jerusalem, and inside the IDF’s underground war room beneath Tel Aviv. These two countries remain united in a battle to prevent nuclear proliferation, to defeat Islamic terror, and to curtail Iran’s attempts to spread its hegemony throughout the Middle East. Yaakov Katz's Shadow Strike explores how this operation continues to impact the world we live in today and if what happened in 2007 is a sign of what Israel will need to do one day to stop Iran's nuclear program. It also asks: had Israel not carried out this mission, what would the Middle East look like today?