I went to Washington DC the week after the Presidential election. I, along with 50 others, were there for the Evangelicals for Peace consultation, “Christians Engaging Global Conflict: ISIS and Syria.” So what kind of peace did this evangelical consultation bring to DC?

Will you wage peace with us? Let’s pray in the new year by praying for Syria, South Sudan, Somalia, Central African Republic, and Afghanistan! 

Conversations about peacemaking can tend to communicate the notion that all force is always wrong. However, peacemaker Eric Patterson believes that we can work for peace while also supporting the use of force by legitimate authorities under the right circumstances.

The goal and focus of the meeting? To deepen relationships between evangelical scholars and activists who are committed to the pursuit of a biblical, comprehensive, and proactive peace and to work together to bring that form of peace to the nation and world.

Today we want to share with you the release of a new book by Lisa Gibson, award-winning and bestselling author and conflict coach, who spoke at our Evangelicals for Peace conference at Georgetown. Her book is called Releasing The Chains: Timeless Wisdom On How To Forgive Anyone For Anything, and in it she gives a step-by-step process of how to forgive and life-changing examples of others who have applied these principles to their lives.

It was a great start … but where do we go from here? Here’s my read on the summit and where I think we are headed.

All the hard work and planning has paid off, and the Evangelicals for Peace summit was a tremendous success! We had a phenomenal lineup of speakers and a packed room full of attendees. Peacemaking is a movement that is beginning to take hold, but what was specifically unique about this group is the focus on Jesus-centered peacemaking. Here's what participant Peter Sensenig had to say about the gathering and how Jesus is at the center of this kind of peacemaking.

Both advocates of Pacifism and the Just War theory agree on the priority of reducing violence. Both wish to hold war accountable to moral values before, during, and after the conflict. So there is significant and practical common ground to work for peace.

In 2008 I led a conference in Kenya of fifty evangelical leaders from around the world. One of the issues on the table was how to counter the increasing alienation between Muslims and Christians. Conference participants agreed that evangelicals have to address this vital issue but disagreed on the best way to relate to Muslims.In response to this we decided to write a consensus document for evangelicals.