If you're reading this blog, there's a good chance you want to embody the peaceable ways of Jesus. Yet good intentions and loving aspirations frequently fail in the face of conflict (I can testify to that!). In reality, we are often peacebreakers. Some of us are even by nature peacefakers, and yet we long to be peacemakers. So let’s talk about the difference between these.

Dialog between various religious partners is not about melting differences into one tepid spiritual brew. Yet as we retain the distinctives at the core of our faith, we should enter the conversation with open hearts, attentive ears, and minds eager to learn.

Sam Richards, a sociology professor at Penn State, expounds upon the process of empathy. By leading the audience through a re-narration of history and their own identity, he invites the audience to step into the shoes of someone else’s life. After exploring new hopes, fears, and perceptions as “the other,” connections and relationships are more easily visible.

Working with Muslim refugees in Phoenix is a powerful opportunity for peacemaking and for promoting the peace of our city. Today we'd like to share the video story of Sally Harr, one of our faithful volunteer partners with the Somali Bantu.

What should we make of the Arab Spring? How should we view these revolutions as Americans, as followers of Jesus, or as people who want peace? Todd Deatherage, co-founder of the Telos Group and former staff member for the Bush Administration, provides some insight and understanding to these events.

Peace Catalyst's Jim Mullins has just finished putting together this ebook study on what the Bible has to say about culture. highly recommend it for all of our Jesus-following friends who want to know more about how to respond to diversity, how to obey Jesus's command to love our neighbor in a globalized world, and how to respectfully communicate what we believe.

Can you be peacemaker without being a politician, religious leader, or wealthy philanthropist? Can average people have any real impact for peace? Jim Mullins, co-founder of Peace Catalyst, promotes the idea of “carrot cake peacemaking” and encourages people to be creative with the resources around them and their own strengths in order to build peace.

Mustafa Akyol, a well-known Turkish journalist, discusses the difference between the Islamic faith and local traditional practices. In this compelling TED talk, Akyol asserts that traditions change and vary between regions, countries, communities, and are often shaped by globalization and other global activity.

“There are too many angry peacemakers!” bemoaned a friend of mine during an Evangelical Peacemaking Summit. Everyone laughed, because we all realized the irony of it. Sometimes those who wrestle with injustice and seek peace don’t embody the very message they bring. To spread peace, we need to be in peace. Let me share two practices that get to the heart of peacemaking and that help me keep the peace.