Barbara Brown Taylor is one of my favorite preachers. Not that I’ve ever heard her preach; but I have read a couple of books that are compilations of her sermons. Right now, I’m reading The Preaching Life is which really is more about “The Christian Life” than just the life of the professional preacher.
Barbara is an Episcopal priest. I love her sermons because they come alive — even when read! Her theology is completely orthodox, and the base of each message is a classical exposition of scripture. The shape of each message is a real-life story. Often, it’s an incident from her life; sometimes it’s drawn from her observations. The power of each message lies her ability to take the classic message of the text and turn it back on the listener so that we forced to look Jesus straight in the face (and know that he is looking us straight in the face).