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Religion News Service reports that a new Gallup Poll found that Americans' self-reported church attendance has increased slightly since 2008. When asked, "How often do you attend church, synagogue or mosque?" 43.1 percent of Americans in 2010 said they attended church "at least once a week" or "almost every week." That's up from 42.8 percent in 2009 and 42.1 percent in 2008.

In an interview in the May 8, 2010, issue of World, Tim Keller (Pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City) explains how his pastoral service in a small Virginia town helped shape his preaching: "In a small town your pastoring sets up your preaching. In a big town your preaching sets up your pastoring.

"Time overseas has opened my eyes to the global nature of God and His desire for His glory among all nations," pastor David Platt says. How is your life going to be a part of the global mission of God?

Pastor David Platt talks about the Biblical gospel versus the American gospel.

Israeli guides take Christian tourists to sites in Bethlehem.

"There is no one activity that a pastor does that can have a greater influence on the vitality of the congregation than preaching," Adam Hamilton wrote in his book Leading Beyond the Walls: Developing Congregations with a Heart for the Unchurched. Hamilton is profiled in the July-August 2003 issue of Good News magazine.

In his excellent blog, preaching prof John Koessler recently shared this: "Christ's words serve as fair warning to all who preach that divine authority does not guarantee a smooth path. We would like to think that God given authority also gives us leverage with our hearers. 'Listen to us,' we want to say. 'We speak for God.' But the same Bible that gives us our authority also offers ample proof of the congregation's capacity for discounting that authority."

Minister and author John Maxwell tells Preaching things he wishes he'd known when he started preaching and offers encouragement for pastors.

Maxwell talks about balancing two different worlds. "In the Christian world, the key word is relationship," he says. "In the corporate community, the key word isn't relationship. The key word is respect."

Ben Awbrey points out that "D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones defined unction as an access of power. To amplify his perception of unction, Lloyd-Jones said it is "God giving power and enabling through the Spirit to the preacher in order that he may do this work in a manner that lifts it up beyond the efforts and endeavors of man to a position in which the preacher is being used by the Spirit and becomes the channel through whom the Spirit works.