A few weeks ago one of the pastors of a Sovereign Grace church sent around an email volley to other Sovereign Grace pastors asking what books they might recommend specifically for 18-30 somethings. I’m sure there are much better answers but here are a few that would come to mind.
Just Do Something (Kevin DeYoung)
Best book on the topic of discovering God’s will – which is the most popular Pivot-aged (18-30) question by far!
Stop Dating the Church, (Joshua Harris), Why We Love the Church (Kevin DeYoung)
Many of our young adults have read Josh’s book. Those who haven’t, should. DeYoung’s book on the church was just released. It looks like a great book for the generation most influenced by postmodernism. A good antidote to the mass exodus of millennials from the church.
What is a Healthy Church Member (Thabiti Anyabwile)
A solid encouragement to the college-age roamer who comes to the college/career meetings but never reads his bulletin or shows up on a sign up list to serve.
Gospel-Centered Books
Hold the center! Any of our excellent Sovereign Grace or otherwise published works that press on the centrality of the gospel and its relevance for our lives would be vital reading. Close your eyes and pick anything by Mahaney, Bridges, or Ferguson.
Worldliness (edited Mahaney) or Set Apart (Hughes)
Addressing matters of godliness, love of the world, wisdom and vigilance. Perennially important for 20 somethings.
Tactics (Gregory Koukl)
A short, engaging, funny, yet substantive book on how to strengthen one’s conversational apologetics and get armed and ready for all the opinionated 20 somethings that we call university students.
The Reason For God (Timothy Keller)
A longer, more in-depth study through some of the major objections to Christian faith. Keller’s approach is so winsome and his style of writing so fresh, it’s hard to come away from this book without a greater appreciation for the beauty and compelling nature of God’s truth.
What Is a Christian Worldview (Philip Ryken), pamphlet
Beautifully written and might make a good short study through Creation/Fall/Redemption/Restoration motifs. I would guess that if you wanted to get people’s feet wet in the Calvinism/election issues, that the companion pamphlets in the Basics of Reformed Faith series would likely be very well-written and concise. Another good study of the ‘bible storyline’/biblical theology would be Edmund Clowney’s The Unfolding Mystery.
What’s the Difference (Piper), 50 Crucial Questions (Piper/Grudem)
Or anything that clearly presents biblical complimentarianism. Campus Ministries in many places have given up this position and become card-carrying egalitarians. So even Christian college-aged people who come to our meetings often have NO category for the phrase “men are called to lead.”
Boys Meets Girl (Harris), Holding Hands Holding Hearts (Phillips), Doing Things Right In Matters of the Heart (Ensor)
The books dovetail at many points but compliment each other nicely by moving off the mains into different directions. Ensor’s book fits into the complimentarian study category as well.
A Call To Spiritual Reformation (Donald Carson)
Teaching young people to pray the way the NT writers prayed. Excellent. Also Carson’s Difficult Doctrine of the Love of God. Brief, helpful resource on a much distorted doctrine.
Dead Guy Books/Studies
John Piper’s biographical works in The Swans are Not Silent Series are very good. Thomas Watson’s The Godly Man’s Picture would be a great study for young men.
