Common grace shows us that we have common ground, and this leads us to seek the common good. These are indispensable keys for peacemakers, as they help us build bridges for peace, partner for human flourishing, and bear witness with wisdom and grace.

Like most Americans, I am frustrated by the government. Polarization and gridlock of congress; attack ads and uncivil discourse; inability to stop the economic meltdown. What a mess! I feel like Nathanael did when he heard about Jesus for the first time: “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?” I have to ask, “Can anything good come out of Washington, DC?” 

As Muslims and Christians, we won’t agree on some central tenets of our respective revelations, but we certainly can celebrate – and hopefully put into practice – a God consciousness that empowers us as God’s trustees to shape our world in a way that brings honor to His name.

I lectured at the Bethlehem Bible College for several years, and for my youth ministry courses, I required students to make several visits to the YMCA Rehabilitation Center in Beit Sahour, where they spent time with Muslim young men who had been shot or tortured by the Israeli military.

We highly recommend this TED talk by Norwegian Foreign Minister Jonas Gahr Store. In it, he talks about the importance and positive impact of dialogue, even when the beliefs and values of both parties differ. Fantastic for peacemakers, and applicable to all kinds of relationships.

Jesus Christ Himself made it abundantly clear that it is futile to speculate on when the end times might occur. So what role does Dispensationalism play in the aforementioned evangelical tendency to resist religious plurality in American society, if any?

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.