How can I be a peacemaker when I wake up so anxious each morning? Does this happen to you? I can go right to sleep at night, but about 4:30 something wakes me up. These are stressful times, when anxieties can run high, but here are 4 practices that can help.

Jon Huckin and Jer Swigart wrote, Mending the Divides: Creative Love in a Conflicted World to help   followers of Jesus become “everyday peacemakers.” I think they have succeeded in their peace mission. Mending the Divides is now one of my top ten books on peacemaking.

Mark Galli, Editor and Chief of Christianity Today, has done the world a great favor by writing Beautiful Orthodoxy: The Goodness, Truth, and Beauty of Life in Christ. This book is a breath of fresh air in a polluted, polarized world.

One of the best ways to acquire wisdom is through reading. The five books below describe Peace Catalyst International’s multifaceted approach to Jesus-centered peacemaking. Read them carefully and apply them practically to become a peace catalyst this year!  

In peacemaking, we often talk about this kind of thing on a large scale, but it actually applies to everyday relationships and conversations, and that’s what makes this book such a gem. The principles in Crucial Conversations empower us to both talk about the hard things AND maintain relationship. They give us the tools to “talk openly about high-stakes, emotional, and controversial topics.”

One of the best ways to acquire wisdom is through reading. So I have put together the top ten books on peacemaking for 2015. It was painful whittling the list down to only ten books, but hopefully this will give you some guidance as you seek to acquire wisdom.

When God turned my life toward peacemaking, I had a difficult time finding a mature evangelical leader who was both an authentic peacemaker and a faithful witness to Jesus. But I finally found one in David Shenk.

In an increasingly polarized and uncivil world, Both-And: Living the Christ-Centered Life in an Either-Or World by Rich Nathan and Insoo Kim is a breath of fresh air. No, actually it's a hurricane of robust theology, pastoral wisdom, and prophetic insight.

Here are the top ten books I’ve read in 2012. These books provide a rock-solid biblical and practical foundation for followers of Jesus who want to live out their faith in a glocalized world. The first two books articulate a profound summary of the Gospel. The next three books describe how to practically love our neighbors. The remainder of the list includes books on leadership, social media, business, politics, conflict resolution, and coaching. Enjoy!