Comparison of Books on Bible Teachers

I've now read the books on Harold St. John and H.A. Ironside. A couple of thoughts:

- both were untrained men (limited secular education and no formal theological training) who worked very hard to train themselves
- both were highly intelligent. From what I read, it would seem that Ironside had a photographic memory.
- both had a command of the Scripture that exceeded what can be obtained from simple memorization.
- both were primarily men of the Book, though both were extremely well read
- both were articulate but plain spoken
- both travelled extensively. In both cases the wife was left to do most of the work of raising the children

And now for some of my thoughts:

- it would seem that full time itinerant ministry can impose a terrible burden on a preacher's family. I'm not talking about a father who is away many Sundays, but rather a father who is away weeks or months at a time.
- I wonder why it is necessary to ask a preacher to cross a continent to come for a week or two of special meetings. My thought is that God has not been miserly in dispensing gifts, but that potential preachers have lacked care in preparing themselves with the Word and in developing their gift. If more men did these two things, less men would need to travel extensively.
- are the churches doing a good enough job developing gifts? I've tried to read a number of books on homiletics, and tried to listen to how others preach (rather than just what they preach). I've learned from these sources, and made a lot of mistakes along the way. My Bible teaching is much better than it was 5 years ago, but I can't say that my gift is well developed yet. However, I can only remember a handful of times when anyone in a local church gave me any constructive feedback. I think a lot of young men are asked to preach, do their best and only receive a word of encouragement ("You did fine") rather than something that would help them to develop their gift.