We live in a multifaith society: an ever-growing, diverse cultural climate, where no religion is viewed as having a monopoly on truth. It is important when that Christ-followers not only share the Word of God but also listen and learn how to interact meaningfully with those of diverse perspectives as we engage in life's most important conversations.
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Connecting Christ" encourages believers to be not only better communicators and witnesses but also listeners to people of other worldviews and traditions--skills that are crucial in defending against today's negative connotations and ineffective approaches associated with Christian evangelism.
With extensive commentary from leaders of various walks of faith and life -- from Judaism to Islam and Buddhism to atheism --theologian and author Dr. Paul Louis Metzger offers a spiritual compass to help navigate the intimidating yet critical dialogue of conveying our faith in Christ. Filled with practical guidance and insight into controversial topics, such as hell, fascism, and homosexuality, ""Connecting Christ"" reveals that there is a way of evangelizing that is neither disengaging monologue nor silent, lifestyle ministry but is, instead, an approach for evangelism and dialogue to go hand-in-hand.
We must remove ourselves as the stumbling block to salvation for others and embrace a way to proclaim the uncommon, compassionate God revealed in Jesus Christ--the Savior this world is dying to know.

In this introduction to ecclesiology, respected scholars Brad Harper and Paul Louis Metzger offer a solidly evangelical yet ecumenical survey of the church in mission and doctrine. Combining biblical, historical, and cultural analysis, this comprehensive text explores the church as a Trinitarian, eschatological, worshiping, sacramental, serving, ordered, cultural, and missional community. It also offers practical application, addressing contemporary church life issues such as women in ministry, evangelism, social action, consumerism in church growth trends, ecumenism, and the church in postmodern culture. The book will appeal to all who are interested in church doctrine, particularly undergraduates and seminarians.

Synopsis: "I pray . . . that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. . . . May they be brought to complete unity to let the world know that you sent me." -Jesus Christ What if? What if believers of multiple ethnicities manifested the diversity in unity for which Jesus prayed? What if largely separate, homogeneous congregations-which account for nearly 92.5 percent of all churches in the United States-increasingly became connected, multiethnic congregations? What if, at eleven o'clock on Sunday mornings-or whenever believers gather to worship-local congregations were comprised of believing whites, African Americans, Koreans, Hispanics, Romanians, Native Americans, as well as the diverse mosaic of other ethnicities represented in our increasingly multicultural society? Would this not say something about the supernatural character of the gospel of reconciliation we proclaim? Jesus believed it would. That is why after praying for such diversity in unity among his followers, Jesus Christ-the Man for all nations-extended his arms and laid down his life to make it happen. This book, God's New Humanity, examines the biblical-theological vision and motivation for living in response to Jesus' prayer. Endorsements: "God's New Humanity is a welcome, significant addition to the growing body of literature boldly proclaiming the biblical mandate for the multiethnic church. With the mind of a theologian, the heart of a pastor, and the insight of a practitioner, David Stevens effectively challenges systemic segregation and points the way to the coming integration of the local church for the sake of the Gospel." -Mark DeYmaz Author of Building a Healthy Multi-ethnic Church, and coauthor of Ethnic Blends: Mixing Diversity into Your Local Church "Stevens offers a fresh and much-needed theological approach to multiethnic ministry . . . This book encourages the reader to think theologically through the key issues in reaching across all barriers within the church, not just the most visible ones. If you are seeking a strong biblical and theological understanding of multiethnic ministry, God's New Humanity is a must-read." -Rodney Woo Author of The Color of Church "The greatest picture of the church is found on the pages of Revelation. There we see all of God's people gathered from around the world and down through the ages. There we can't help worshipping the One who paid the price to bring us together as one . . . If you're a Christian leader, this is must reading. Highly recommended " -David Sanford Executive editor of the acclaimed Holy Bible: Mosaic Author Biography: David Stevens is Senior Pastor of Central Bible Church in Portland, Oregon. He is a graduate of Dallas Theological Seminary (ThM, 1982) and of the Faculte Libre de Theologie Evangelique (ThD, 1999) near Paris, France.

Description: This collection of essays provides samplings of a theological engagement of culture that Paul Louis Metzger has been developing over the years in his work as founder and director of The Institute for the Theology of Culture: New Wine, New Wineskins at Multnomah Biblical Seminary of Multnomah University. Metzger espouses an incarnational over against a predominantly worldview-oriented or market-driven theological approach to engaging culture, and situates his work in Trinitarian communal and co-missional thought forms. This volume of biblically and theologically framed and compassion-driven essays addresses such themes as postmodernity, structural evil, cultural genocide, sexuality, HIV/AIDS, the prison system, the global slave trade, and the arts. It will be welcomed by those analyzing and developing theological-cultural paradigms and engaging key issues in the contemporary setting. Endorsements: ""No single specimen--or vintage--of evangelical cultural engagement more ably and deliciously demonstrates itself than the profoundly theological cultural criticism of Paul Louis Metzger. His work occasions a hearty toast, and is worth the repeated tastings this volume so richly invites."" --Rodney Clapp author Johnny Cash and the Great American Contradiction ""New Wine Tasting enables us to lift our heads and, with eyes wide open, learn how to engage our culture as we are called to do. Cutting-edge theology for our times. We need this volume."" --Michael O. Emerson author of Divided by Faith, United by Faith, People of the Dream ""The Institute for the Theology of Culture: New Wine, New Wineskins, from which this volume of essays emerges, is at the cutting edge of today's wholistic ministry movement. And because it's connected to a university and seminary, it's in a great position to challenge future leaders. I am highly impressed."" --John M. Perkins author of Let Justice Roll Down: ""This bottling collects a decade's worth of Metzger's distinctive engagement with the Bible, the Church, and our culture. You won't find the dreary arcanum of the academy in New Wine Tastings; these essays bristle with biblical and practical perspective on the most pressing issues of our times. They reveal the heart and mind of a passionate, insightful and often humorous theologian who shows us all how to live into our calling as witnesses to the Gospel. The perfect compliment to your favorite beverage "" --Robb Redman author of The Great Worship Awakening: Singing a New Song in the Postmodern Church ""Paul Metzger's robust Trinitarian theology, shaped through Barth and the Church Fathers, is the engine that drives his insightful and provocative cultural criticism, allowing him to explore with equal confidence Native American missions and Johnny Cash. Metzger's confident yet winsome approach to culture charts a new path for a Christian witness in and for culture in the twenty-first century. His is a voice to which I will listen closely."" --Daniel Siedell author of God in the Gallery: A Christian Embrace of Modern Art ""Paul Metzger, and his New Wine, New Wineskins project in theology and culture, have gathered together here a collection of occasional essays that are indeed 'tastings'-suggestive samples of what a Trinitarian and incarnational theology of cultural engagement might look like. Some brief and anecdotal, and others longer and more theoretically developed, they all bear witness to a form of cultural engagement deeply rooted in the theological tradition of the Church and attuned to the currents of contemporary culture. Though I prefer fermented grain to grapes, this is good drink "" --Eric G. Flett author of Persons, Powers, and Pluralities: Toward a Trinitarian Theology of Culture About the Contributor(s): Paul Louis Metzger is Professor of Christian Theology and Theology of Culture at Multnomah Biblical Seminary and Multnomah University. He is the author of Consuming Jesus (2007) and coauthor of Exploring Eccle

Many Americans think that race problems are a thing of the past because we no longer live under the Jim Crow laws that once sustained overt structures of segregation. Unfortunately, says Paul Louis Metzger, today we live under an updated version of segregation, through the subtle power of unchallenged norms of consumer preference.

Consumerism affects and infects the church, reinforcing race and class divisions in society. Intentionally or unintentionally, many churches have set up structures of church growth that foster segregation, such as appealing to consumer appetites. Metzger here argues that the evangelical Christian church needs to admit this fault and intentionally move away from race, class, and consumer segregation.

Challenging the consumerism that fosters ethnic and economic divisions and distorts evangelical Christianity, Consuming Jesus puts forth a theologically grounded call to restructure the church's passions and practices, transforming the evangelical imagination around a nobler, all-consuming vision of the Christian faith.

We live in a culture of commodification. People are too often defined by what they do or own; they're treated as means to an end or cogs in a machine. What goes missing is a deep sense of personhood-the belief that all humans are unique subjects with inherent worth and the right to self-determination in authentic communion with others. In a world dominated by things, Paul Louis Metzger argues, we must work hard to account for one another's personhood. We need to cultivate relational structures that honor every human's dignity in vital interpersonal community. The theological and philosophical framework known as personalism can help guide us toward such a culture. Drawing from a wide range of thought leaders, including Martin Luther King Jr. and Pope John Paul II, Metzger presents a personalist moral vision founded on the Christian ideals of faith, hope, and love. He demonstrates how this moral compass can help us navigate a pluralistic world by applying it to a variety of pressing ethical issues, including abortion, genetic engineering, immigration, drone warfare, and more. Ultimately human personhood begins with the personal, triune God, who invites us to live more fully as human beings. When we refuse to reduce our fellow humans-and ourselves-to mere abstractions or objects, we follow the example of Jesus in honoring the value of every person and of creaturely life as a whole.

Explores ways in which Trinitarian theology interfaces with major themes of systematic theology. The driving force of Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology is that all of theology is to be shaped in view of the doctrine of the Trinity. To borrow a statement from Robert Jenson, the Trinity "is not a separate puzzle to be solved but the framework within which all theology's puzzles are to be solved". This book explores ways in which Trinitarian theology interfaces with major themes of systematic theology. Given that there are few systematic theologies done 'trinitarianly', the collective project will serve as a road map that suggests a path to follow in the formulation of each particular doctrine. Trinitarian Soundings in Systematic Theology is unique as it presents the major themes of systematic theology from a Trinitarian perspective through the contributions of leading and emerging scholars in the field. The study promises to become an important work for those interested in theology, as its contributors include veteran theologians like Colin Gunton, Robert Jenson, James Houston, Georg Pfleiderer and Stanley Grenz. Additionally, this volume includes contributions from a few younger theologians who are employing this Trinitarian focus with renewed zeal. In all, this collection represents an exciting exploration in systematics, showing how profitable it is to approach all aspects of the faith from a self-consciously Trinitarian perspective.