by Dave Sarafolean | Jan 27, 2023 | Church History, Protestant Reformation, Reformed Theology
Shane Rosenthal, former producer and host of the White Horse Inn podcast, has published a thoughtful article about megachurches. He observes that the first megachurch was started 100 years ago in Los Angeles by Sister Aimee Semple McPherson. Consider that the marks...
by Dave Sarafolean | Dec 16, 2022 | Encouragement, Shepherding
The holiday season is fast approaching. For many it will be a glorious occasion but for those who have experienced loss, it will be difficult. Author and speaker Nancy Guthrie, a person who has suffered quite a bit of loss, has written a helpful article about grief...
by Dave Sarafolean | Oct 28, 2022 | Calvin, Calvinism, Doctrine, Protestant Reformation, Reformed Theology
The Protestant Reformation is traced to October 31, 1517, Martin Luther nailed his 95 Theses to the church door of Wittenberg, Germany. He intended to enter into a scholarly debate with his fellow monks about church practice as compared to the teaching of Scripture. ...
by Dave Sarafolean | Oct 21, 2022 | Calvin, Church History, Doctrine, Reformed Theology
As a young Christian I was starved for a historical grounding of our faith. After college I read J.I. Packer’s book, Knowing God, with a group of singles from my church. Somewhere in there the Westminster Confession of Faith was mentioned and a seed was...
by Dave Sarafolean | Oct 6, 2022 | Uncategorized
One of my ministerial colleagues, Jonathan Landry Cruse, of Community Presbyterian Church (OPC) in Kalamazoo, Michigan has written a nice article on worship. It was published in the latest edition of Tabletalk, the monthly devotional guide published by Ligonier...
by Dave Sarafolean | Feb 18, 2020 | Reformed Theology
Perhaps you, like many, consider regular church attendance to be optional, if not all that important. After all, we have the internet and we can get all we need when we need it only with a few clicks. If that describes you, please read the following article by Adriel...
by Dave Sarafolean | Oct 18, 2019 | Doctrine, Reformed Theology
One of the trends in the evangelical church during the last decade or so has been the elastic use of the word “reformed.” What I mean is that the word identified a particular stream of the Protestant Reformation that produced creeds and confessions to...
by Dave Sarafolean | Jul 16, 2019 | Uncategorized
In the last few days I came across two additional articles describing worship in the evangelical church. The first was published way back in 1995 by my friend, Darryl Hart. Talk about being ahead of the times! It was published by another friend,...
by Dave Sarafolean | Jul 15, 2019 | Doctrine, Reformed Theology
This summer I have been preaching a series of sermons on the Canons of Dort, in recognition of the 400th anniversary of their publication. Yesterday I preached a sermon entitled Corruption and Conversion, I. I spent quite a bit of time exploring the nature of the...
by Dave Sarafolean | Jul 11, 2019 | Reformed Theology, Worship
Some argue that worship is not authentic unless it springs from the heart, is spontaneous, and energetic. If you know anything about Pietism, then you know the source of that teaching. In contrast, the Reformed tradition is clear that worship is to be organized...
by Dave Sarafolean | Jun 24, 2019 | Reformed Theology, Worship
Over at The Federalist, this article appeared the other day. The author makes many good points about what is valuable about a hymnal and what is deficient about singing music projected upon a screen. For me, this is not a new position. Twenty years ago I recall...
by Dave Sarafolean | Jun 14, 2019 | Doctrine, Reformed Theology, Worship
Each Sunday I observe what does on around me. On my way to the church I notice how few cars are on the road. While at church I see people out for a walk and cars on the road heading to the grocery store or to a restaurant for breakfast. In church I see those who...
