Book Review: The Barnabas Factor (Originally published October 25)

Brother Aubrey Johnson has written a great book on encouragement entitled The Barnabas Factor. The book was released in early 2004 by The Gospel Advocate Company and has had great success since. I highly recommend the book.

The book is divided into three sections and is meant to be a progressive study. The three sections are: (1) The Attitude of an Encourager, (2) The Anatomy of an Encourager and (3) The Activity of an Encourager. In my opinion, the best section is the third. In the final section, the writer focuses on four Bible characters–Nehemiah, Barnabas, Jesus and God the Father–and uses their example as a starting point for his discussions on what encouragers should be doing.

Written in 13 chapters, the book would make excellent Bible class or home study material. Each chapter ends with a self-test on how the reader did the previous week in encouraging other people. Brother Johnson is a great writer, and his word usage is hard to beat. You will find yourself wanting to quote him often because of how he is able to “turn a phrase.” He is a master of alliteration.

If you want more information on this book, there is a review written in the February 2004 issue of The Gospel Advocate by Dennis Loyd, associate editor of that publication. The book retails for $8.99. I highly recommend this book to any adult, but I especially think that those who work with young people could use the information found in this volume to aid in their work.