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In a recent report based on a national survey of Protestant pastors, George Barna indicates that "only half of the country's Protestant pastors-51 percent-have a biblical worldview. Defining such a worldview as believing that absolute moral truth exists, that it is based upon the Bible and having a biblical view on six core beliefs (the accuracy of biblical teaching, the sinless nature of Jesus, the literal existence of Satan, the omnipotence and omniscience of God, salvation by grace alone, and the personal responsibility to evangelize), the researcher produced data showing there are significant variations by denominational affiliation and other demographics.

Michael Quicke is author of 360-Degree Preaching, the Preaching magazine Book of the Year for 2003. Quicke now teaches at Northern Baptist Seminary; but prior to that, he was Principal (President) at Spurgeon's College following a number of years as a pastor in Cambridge. In an interview several years ago, while still serving in his native Britain, Quicke talked about the challenge of biblical preaching in an overwhelmingly secular culture.

At his well-read blog, Ed Stetzer shares news of a new LifeWay study on the expanding use of the web by churches. He quotes from a Christian Post article based on the research: "Though most churches have a website, there is a divide between congregations that use their sites only for one-way communication and those that maximize their online presence with interactive technology. That is the finding of a new LifeWay Research study sponsored by Axletree Media, one of LifeWay's partners in the Digital Church initiative.

In an article for ChurchLeaders.com, Greg Stiers writes about three trends for youth ministry in 2011. One of those: Prayer will become a bigger priority.

From a Christian Post article: "The majority of Protestants and evangelicals believe good people and people of other religions can go to heaven, according to author David Campbell. Campbell, who co-wrote American Grace: How Religion Divides and Unites Us, contends that surveys of 3,000 Americans, used to write the book, show that American people of faith, though devout, are very tolerant -- so much so that most believers also believe good people, despite their religious affiliation, can go to heaven.

Adverbs are supposed to modify verbs, adjectives or other adverbs. Generally they do not so much modify as nullify, mystify, stultify and nearly always dissatisfy.

News reports in recent weeks have been filled with stories about more than 250,000 classified U.S. diplomatic cables and documents that are suddenly public record due to the work of WikiLeaks, a website produced by a rather strange Australian/Swedish character who believes nothing should be secret except his own location.