There Are No Ordinary People

by Jeff Lucas

Two thousand years ago lived a seemingly ordinary man called Barnabas. His name, meaning 'son of encouragement', is repeated no less than twenty-five times in the book of Acts and five times in the epistles. He played an absolutely vital role in the beginnings of the Early Church, but finding a book about Barnabas can be rather difficult, until now...Following on from the success of his last book, There Are No Strong People, enjoy Jeff Lucas' trademark humour and down-to-earth realism as he turns his unique observations to Barnabas, discovering that in the midst of the ordinary, we can in fact all live extraordinary lives with God by our side.

216 pages, Paperback

First published May 22, 2015

About the author

Jeff Lucas is a Christian author, speaker, life coach, and broadcaster. He holds a pastoral teaching position at Timberline Church in Fort Collins, Colorado. He provides life coaching through Paterson Center. He is a columnist for Premier Christian magazine and for Sorted Magazine he has published 32 books, and he broadcasts a weekly radio show, Lucas on Life. He writes a column of daily bible reading notes, "Lucas on Life Every Day".

Reviews

[Debs Daniels · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this book. Barnabas has always been a favorite of mine so when I heard that he was the star of this book, I was in. Jeff brings up lots of great points that I never caught on to myself. 16 chapters and each begins with a quote and/or scripture that ties into the chapter and he ends it with talk of applying it to our own life. I not only learned a lot about Barnabas but I feel I have a broader picture of the new church and its timeline and how to walk out my own faith through life.

Quotes:
Let's take risks for love. Bet on the losers, knowing that sometimes they might just win and prove everyone wrong.

Sometimes we need to allow God to show us the limitations of our spheres and gifts, as Barnabas had to acknowledge in seeking help. We must know that often God leads us to a situation that is just a bridge to our wider calling. And we also need to allow God to shatter our perceived limits, as Saul would eventually discover - with Barnabas' help.

Some people have distinct, repeatedly confirmed callings, like Saul. Others discover their destiny as they obediently put one foot in front of another each day, and then, as they continue, God grants confirmation of their calling, like Barnabas.

[Calum Mackenzie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent book, using the example of Barnabas. The title possibly gives the wrong impression- this isn’t a book about ‘you’re special and extraordinary’; it’s a book about how we can serve God and others in ordinary circumstances, that God can use.

Encouraging, challenging, funny and endearingly honest.

Definitely recommend.

[Dirk · Rating 3 out of 5]

Easy to read dissection of Barnabas's life, an unsung hero who worked behind the scenes and took the initiative when necessary. Lucas tackles some tricky subjects with his usual humour, honesty and directness. Annoying changes of font, typeface and indentations distract from the subject matter.

[Adrian]

Classic Lucas, i.e. Funny, Great common Sense, good exposition and a very needy basic subject that we need to think about look at and act on. What is that well it begins with G and its not good, great, or genuine, but in my opinion we need to have more of this value. Jeff uses Barnabas to egg us on to become on of those G people. Buy the book, read it.