Richard Lischer

I read excerpts of this book in seminary and took it off my shelf to read it straight through. The subtitle is Wisdom on Preaching, to which I would say that some of the pieces in this book were very good, particularly by people of days long past, such as Augustine, Luther, Calvin, Edwards, Spurgeon and others, while other pieces were exceedingly tedious (and these appearing primarily to be directed at scholarly audiences and lacking apparent practical value) and seemed not in the least to show more be connected with Paul's objective of preaching Christ, and Him crucified. A so-so book, as least from my perspective of being one who preaches weekly. show less

This was a helpful scholarly review of parables and perspectives from which to approach them. Writing was even and voice did not waiver.

Fantastic collection. I read it slowly over 1.5 years or so, and it must have added a couple dozen authors to my to-read list. You could have qualms with omissions, but that's true of any anthology.

- What an excellent book about ministry in a rural setting. Dr Lischer allows his experiences in small town Illinois to serve as a reflection on what it means to be a community's pastor, even if for a short while. I thoroughly enjoyed his stories about how his congregation changed and how it changed him and humbled him. I would recommend it to anyone interested in ministry as an example of some of the challenges and problems one may face, and also some of the joys.