Many followers of Jesus like to reference Jeremiah 29:7 and the Biblical example of “seeking the peace of the city,” but this concept can often be abstract. This often leads people to ask, “How can I seek the peace of my city? I’m just a normal person without much influence.”One way that you can have an impact on local and international peace is by focusing on the arrival city in your area.

Mediation refers to third-party-peacemaking. The ideal of Scripture is that the two parties in conflict work it out between themselves -- cooperative resolution. But often, people in conflict need help. So they turn to a trusted third party to aid them in resolving their dispute.

With tears in his eyes, my friend and colleague Thomas Davis said to a group of Muslims, “Peacemaking is about friendship.” I think Thomas is right. 

What does it mean to be an evangelical peacemaker? For many this is an oxymoron. How can you be a true peacemaker and at the same time be a faithful evangelical? I get criticisms from both Muslims and Christians about this. Some Muslims accuse us of doing peacemaking only as a means to evangelize. Some Christians believe that peacemaking without evangelizing is meaningless. 

Here are the top ten books I’ve read in 2011. It was painful whittling the list down to only ten books, but hopefully this will give you some books to read as part of your New Year’s resolution if you haven’t read them yet. 

In my series on Biblical Holism I have defined the gospel as Old Testament promises of good news fulfilled in Jesus. This good news was fulfilled in Jesus and demonstrated by Jesus when he healed the sick, fed the hungry, or forgave sinners.

Carl Medearis is an expert on Muslim-Christian Relations and the Middle East. John Piper is a famous evangelical pastor and author. What do Carl and John have in common?

Virtually everyone – atheist, animist, secularist, or believer – agrees on one theological doctrine: the world is in a mess. Theologians call this the doctrine of sin or “the fall.” Newspapers call it headlines. Why are we in this holistic mess?

I have the privilege of serving in a denomination that believes in a holistic gospel.  I believe in the spiritual part of life, and I value evangelism as long as we understand it as bearing witness to Jesus and not converting people to Christianity.