The Trump-Kim summit: 2 biblical imperatives

The much-anticipated summit between President Trump and Kim Jong Un is dominating global headlines this morning. The summit will be the first meeting between a sitting US president and a head of North Korea.

Their meeting is scheduled to begin at 9 p.m. ET, which is 9 a.m. Tuesday in Singapore. It will take place at the Capella Hotel on the resort island of Sentosa, off Singapore’s southern coast. More than a thousand journalists from around the world have converged on Singapore.

What will happen at the summit?

BBC News reports this morning that Mr. Kim wants to focus on rebuilding the North Korean economy and thus seeks sanctions relief and international investment. The Trump administration has made clear its focus on denuclearizing the Korean Peninsula, with a timeline and technical details for dismantling weapons and weapons-making capabilities.

The two leaders could announce an agreement to work toward the “common goal” of removing nuclear weapons, mirroring the announcement that followed Mr. Kim’s meeting with South Korea’s president in April. It is also possible that they will sign documents officially ending the Korean War, which ceased in 1953 with an armistice but no peace treaty.

Presidential counselor Kellyanne Conway told reporters last week that “there could be more than one meeting, more than one conversation” between the two. Today’s Washington Post quotes South Korea’s president, who states that negotiations “could take one year, two years or even longer.” However, Mr. Trump is also reportedly willing to end the meeting quickly if it does not go well.

(For more on the Korean conflict, see my North Korea: What Christians Need to Know.)

How can we be on God’s side?

In The Words Lincoln Lived By, Gene Griessman tells of a time during the Civil War when a group of clergymen met with President Lincoln. One of them commented, “I hope the Lord is on our side.”

Lincoln replied, “I am not at all concerned about…