Graduation season is upon us.
This is also what I call the season for lying to young adults while giving them teddy bears and trite phrases. This is why a couple years ago I wrote Six Lies Grads Will Be Told. But this year I want to go a different route. I’d like to offer six books, in no particular order, which I believe would be helpful for a graduate.
1. Mind Your Faith by David Horner. This is one of the best books on helping college students learn how to think. It won’t necessarily equip them with all of the answers. Nor will it give shallow zingers to trap your professor. Rather this book will assist students in learning how to actually think for themselves and use their God-given minds. This is absolutely vital for keeping the faith in college.
2. Truth Matters by Andreas Kostenberger. Mind You Faith is a bit more academic than Truth Matters. Kostenberger’s book is written a bit more popular level but it accomplishes much of what Horner’s book does. He tackles some of the big objections to the faith and gives a student a few helpful answers to chew on as his/her faith is challenged.
3. Knowing God by JI Packer. If you want to spot a counterfeit you can either spend all your time trying to study the different variations of truth or you can dig in deep and study the real thing. Packer’s book will help students know the real God. It’s weighty theology but it’s also written on a popular level. Great for kids who have grown up in church and I’d even recommend it to those who haven’t been given much theological education.
4. Pleasures Evermore by Sam Storms. If you’ve tasted and seen that the Lord is good then the philosophy of the world is seen for the emptiness it truly is. Storms’ book will help the grad to feast upon the riches of Christ. His main point in this book is that they key to holiness is falling in love. Loving Jesus is a great deterrent to biting into the apple of deceit.
5. Sensing Jesus by Zack Eswine. This book is technically for those who are in ministry but I believe it speaks to everyone. And lets face it, if your grad is a follower of Jesus going into a secular school he is going into the school of hard knocks when it comes to ministry. This book will help your grad to remain grounded. I’d actually consider giving this to your grad and suggesting they not read it until at least their sophomore year after they’ve been pummeled a bit.
6. The Call by Os Guinness. This book is great for students trying to figure out what they want to do in life. It’d also be a helpful book to give to someone who is foregoing college and immediately going into the work force. Guinness is heavy on proclaiming the gospel but also grounds it in the real world. If students really process what Guinness is saying they’ll be equipped for doing ministry everywhere they go.
