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05/07/2012
It used to be the right of passage for June--graduations and weddings. Now High School and College graduations are happening in May but the tide still seems to be in favor of weddings in June. I wanted to give you a head start on good ideas of the best books to give May graduates--from High School, College and Seminary.
BOOKS FOR HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES:
I realize that every student is different and that personalities, gender and social background play a role in gift selection. Also the person's spiritual status factors in. But I shall try to give you approximate book suggestions that may hit the spot for your graduates.
FOR PROFESSING CHRISTIANS
Peter Jeffery, BITE-SIZED THEOLOGY; Evangelical
Press--a great gift to young men and women in
Christ to help them understand what they believe.
J. C. Ryle, THOUGHTS FOR YOUNG MEN; Charles
Nolan Publishers--one of the best books ever for
young men.
Hughes and Hughes, DISCIPLINES OF A GODLY
YOUNG MAN; Crossway--a great book to give a
young man starting out in life. And must reading
for all young men today.
FOR THOSE YOUNG MEN NOT PROFESSING CHRIST
Laura Hillenbrand, UNBROKEN; Viking--a powerful
biography of a young man from a tough area of
Los Angeles who is a great runner and a hoodlum,
who is known by coaches and policemen equally.
He avoids prison and manages to live to enlist in
World War II where his plane crashes and he and
four others are adrift for weeks in a tiny lifeboat--
and their misery and hardships and their being
rescued by the Japanese WHEN THINGS GET
REALLY UGLY. And how he survived POW camps
and became a drunk and became a Christian and
returned to Japan after the war. Whew! What a
great biography for men!
FOR YOUNG WOMEN, CHRISTIAN OR NOT:
Elizabeth Prentiss, STEPPING HEAVENWARD; Solid
Ground Christian Books--follows a young woman's
life from sixteen to middle age and her struggles.
SHows the Reformed doctrine of salvation and
especially sanctification through the means of a
young woman's diary. Be sure to get the Solid
Ground hardback and not the inexpensive
paperback edition from Barbour.
BOOKS FOR COLLEGE GRADUATES:
FOR THOSE PROFESSING CHRIST
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, THE NEW MAN (Studies in
Romans 6); Banner of Truth--a mind-boggling
treatment of what is true of the believer when they
become a 'new man' in Christ.
FOR THOSE NOT PROFESSING CHRIST
Tim Keller, THE REASON FOR GOD--tries to do for
today's generation what C. S. Lewis' MERE
CHRISTIANITY did for my generation (1970 college
graduate). Both Keller and Lewis are good guides.
Since it is to be a gift, buy the hardback copy. It
looks nicer, carries more gravitas and makes you
to be a bit more generous.
BOOKS FOR SEMINARY GRADUATES:
Iain H. Murray, D. MARTYN LLOYD-JONES (The First
Forty Years; Banner of Truth)--follows the greatest
preacher in English in the 20th century from
childhood, college and medical school; conversion;
struggle over whether to enter the Christian
ministry; his first pastorate, being a leader without
a party; preaching unlike those around him, revival;
the pastor and his men, etc. Most pastors I know say
that this was one of the greatest "reads" of their
whole life!
D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones, GREAT CHRISTIAN
DOCTRINES; Crossway--before he preached his
famous series on Romans for thirteen years on
Friday nights in London, he preached for a couple of
years on basic doctrines. Not in a dry and dusty way
but with passion and power. Many seminary
graduates find that all of their courses left them a
bit vague about what to preach and especially how
to preach doctrine. Edifying, challenging and
pointing the way.
These should give you some good leads on some good books to build up those graduates in your life.
Your Book Servant,
Pastor Steve Martin
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