How can you not love Tim Keller? As founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, cultural analyst and uber-effective evangelist to Manhattan's "up and outers," and author of The Reason for God, Generous Justice, and Center Church, Keller has inspired legions of us pastors and teachers. Now, after 40 years in the pulpit, he's written Preaching: Communicating Faith in an Age of Skepticism (Viking, 2015).

The book is laid out in three sections, beginning with the biblical foundation, "Serving the Word." Keller covers the ins and outs of Spirit-empowered and contextualized expository preaching. The 309-page book also includes an appendix on "Writing an Expository Message" and 69 pages of endnotes, some of which are mini-chapters on various aspects of preaching.

What is good preaching? In a prologue, Keller suggests the difference between good preaching and bad preaching most often lies in the pastor's work ethic. Good preachers ...