Happy New Year!

Let me be among the first to welcome you to 2014. This year, God has plans and purposes for you, works he has long planned for you to do (Ephesians 2:10). I trust you will dedicate this new year to God and resolve to do life and ministry in his name, through the expected and the unexpected.

As I look ahead to a fresh year, I pause as usual to tell you which of ...

She was leaving. I stood in my kitchen, away from the laughter ringing in the living room, and listened as a woman from our small group explained her decision. Six months earlier, she and her husband had jumped into our group, eager to connect and serve. But now they'd decided to go a different direction.

I could embrace her decision and encourage her onward. Or I could withhold ...

Formerly on staff at Willow Creek, leadership consultant Nancy Ortberg—also a speaker and author—is currently leading on staff at Menlo Park Presbyterian Church. She talked with GFL about being in churches that don't recognize women in leadership, the intersection of passion and humility, and gracefully shifting the reigns of leadership to the next generation.

Have you noticed ...

Image:

Since its inception, World Relief has been a convening organization of the Justice Conference, which seeks to impact a generation for justice. It was my pleasure to sit down with World Relief's CEO, Stephan Bauman, to discuss justice, the way we perceive people, and our contributions to the world.

I had the pleasure of hearing you speak at the 2013 conference. One of the ...

Joèl Adrienne Amzil is an associate pastor at Trinity Baptist Church in Vancouver, a congregation known for its rich multicultural ministry. We wanted to hear more from Joel about Trinity, her role there, and how this multicultural congregation worships together.

Joèl, tell us a little about TBC.

Trinity Baptist Church has been serving the west side of Vancouver for 99 years. ...

Immigration was one of the hot-button issues of the last presidential election, and it continues to be a divisive issue in the halls of Washington DC today. Unfortunately, far too many Christians and evangelical churches are uneducated on this important issue or taking their "facts" from opinionated and unresearched political and media sources that do not have a holistic Christian ...

Losing our parents is an inevitability. If it hasn't happened to you already, it will. It's how life works.

Perhaps I should reframe that. We don't "lose" them; they pass away, depart this life, go on ahead, are called home, are promoted to Glory, are no longer with us. Oh, so many ways of not saying it. They die.

At least, their physical bodies cease functioning and life ...

The White Ribbon Campaign (WRC) posters hanging all over Ryerson University's campus caught 17-year-old Miranda Hassell's eye. "Make up…or concealer for bruises?" read the text on one poster, images of a compact and a brush.

Started by men for men in the 1980s, WRC works to engage men in ending men's violence against women, while inspiring them to be the best versions of themselves. ...

In the last few years, we have seen a remarkable shift in church culture's attitude regarding the LGBT community. Churches are wanting to be open and welcoming to these folks. In my opinion, the struggle churches and Christians have is not with "loving the sinner," as it's been said, but with how far that love goes without compromising Scripture.

The greatest tension in the ...

It all started my freshman year of college. It was my first time away from home, and I was excited. I was eager to meet new people and explore the world. I came from a small town, so with great excitement also came naïveté.

I volunteered that fall during campaign season to make some extra money; that's when I met Pastor Brown.* He seemed to be such a godly man. He invited ...