Book Favorites for High School and Beyond

Betrayed! -- by Stan Telchin. This is the true story of Stan Telchin, a Jewish father who gets a message out of the blue from his college-aged daughter that she is now  a Christian. The news sends the whole family reeling, and Stan feels betrayed. The book chronicles the varying responses of the family as well as what it means to the Jewish community of which they are an active part. Stan attempts to research and prove his daughter's new beliefs are false, in the end coming to faith himself in the messiah. The story is well-told. It gives the reader a much fuller understanding of the history behind the early church and how the great division of Jew and Christian came about, of the Old Testament texts concerning the messiah and what they mean to modern Jews, and so much more. But most of all, it is a deeply personal, highly readable, incredibly interesting journey toward faith!

Blue Like Jazz: Nonreligious Thoughts on Christian Spirituality, Donald Miller. Random, funny and quirky book about Don’s journey as a Christian through college and beyond. Not like any other book. Written especially for students.  

Boundaries - by Dr. Henry Cloud and Dr. John Townsend. These guys are the best of the best. They appear on James Dobson’s Focus on the Family occasionally. This particular one of their books is the best relationship book I’ve ever read… no, it’s the best life book I’ve ever read because life is relationships, isn’t it? I wish I’d had this book 20 years ago! There are several other titles by these same authors. To me Boundaries is the best of those I have read, and running a close second is The Way People Grow.  I also recommend the teaching website of these two authors: http://www.cloudtownsend.com.  Go there for articles, and many brief video seminars on everything from dating in a Christian context, to how and when to set "boundaries" with friends, family, bosses...and why that's the only loving thing to do.

Bruchko, Bruce Olsen. Bruce’s unbelievable story of how he, as a 19 year old in the late 1960’s, took off for South America on his own and ended up being the first white person to make contact with a reclusive stone-age tribe who lived in the mountains of Venezuela. Practically the entire tribe converted to Christianity. This is how it happened.

Dinner with a Perfect Stranger: An Invitation Worth Considering, by David Gregory. A man receives a note in the mail inviting him to dinner with Jesus. He thinks it's all a joke, of course, but decides to show up for the dinner in order to find out who set him up. He winds up dining with Jesus at an Italian restaurant. This book is cleverly written, funny, and is a wonderful apologetic for our faith. A wide range of topics is covered and you just can't help thoroughly liking this creative depiction of Jesus! Short, funny, pungent and persuasive.

Epic: The Story God Is Telling, John Eldredge. Another very short but amazing book. When you were born, you were plopped down right into the middle of an ongoing story, a story of epic proportions. You need to know what that story is because you have an essential role to play. John uses lots of movie scenes as illustrations for his points. If you’re a film buff, you’ll really like this book.

God's Smuggler by Brother Andrew. Brother Andrew’s story from his youth up (including time in the Dutch army), his journey to conversion, and then smuggling Bibles into communist countries. Considered a classic among Christian biographies, this book is engaging from beginning to end.

Mere Christianity, C.S. Lewis. No one thinks like Lewis. He is still able to cut through to the truth, revealing our misconceptions, and pointing out what’s really going on like no other writer. If you’ve got him connected only to the Narnia series, you should realize he is regarded by Christians everywhere as one of the 20th century’s most important Christian authors. He wrote lots of other things! Mere Christianity is probably his most famous piece, but you might also like some of his other books such as The Screwtape Letters, or Miracles: A Preliminary Study (C.S. Lewis Classics).      

Waking the Dead: The Glory of a Heart Fully Alive, John Eldredge. Eldredge helped me understand spiritual warfare better and how that explains so much of the destruction of relationships that we see going on around us (perhaps in your own life). This book is about redemption and hearing God’s voice in your life.

 Another note: 

As you hit your college or career years, you’ll be running into more and more non-Christians who are searching for various answers. You also will be searching for answers to new questions of your own. Besides the above books, here are two excellent Internet sites (from among many) to answer your questions or to help you answer the questions of your friends. Questioning is a good thing – God wants us to be curious about the “why” and “how” of everything— including Him! Just remember: the answers are out there, but you have to seek for them and give God time to bring you the understanding you desire. You can’t just be lazy and say, “I wish I understood this” and not actively pursue some answers, and then be frustrated at what you still don’t “get.” Remember, it says “Seek and ye shall find” not “Hey, just moan about not having answers and you’ll find.”  

www.everystudent.com

www.christiananswers.net  

www.reasonablefaith.org 

One last thing:

When you find a book worth reading that shifts your thinking and makes an imprint on your life, re-read it later on. Sometimes it is far better to read 3 or 4 books that are great over and over until you have really absorbed the ideas and principles in them, than to read a hundred books that you never truly incorporate into the pattern of your thought-life.  

“If you keep thinking the way you’ve been thinking, you’ll keep getting the results you’ve been getting.”   

"And don't be conformed to the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind... " (Rom.12:2)