CJ Mahaney is a wellspring of powerful messages

I've heard a lot about CJ Mahaney, and have listened to brief excerpts by him. But recently I decided to get a couple of his sermons and listen to them, and I really appreciate all that I've heard him say. He says things in a way that you know he's convicted about them, but at the same time, in a huge way, he says everything in love. Everything he says you feel like he's telling you because he loves you and wants to see you grow.

A couple things he said that really stuck out to me were actually quotes from Spurgeon, so perhaps this should be more about Spurgeon than Mahaney, but they were merely illustrations that proved his point. None-the-less, these quotes were what stuck out to me most in his messages. The first message I listened to was on how to "Preserve Pastors." And mentioned how Spurgeon said at one point "Whitefield and Wesley might preach the gospel better than I can, but they cannot preach a better gospel!" This is so humbling and so comforting. That while yes there are people more gifted at preaching, speaking, persuading, and talking, the power of the gospel does not depend on their talent. It is powerful enough as is. So that no matter how bumbling my speech may be, no matter how boring I may present the gospel to someone, if I am faithful in proclaiming the truth, the Holy Spirit will work! This gives me hope as I seek to use my words to help others see Christ.

In another sermon I heard on not conforming to worldliness, Mahaney was saying how this generation of Christians in America doesn't face persecution from the world, but seduction. And he quoted Spurgeon again. Now remember that Spurgeon was writing in the 19th century, in a time that can not be compared in it's scope the amount of pressure worldliness has on our lives today. But Spurgeon, even at that time said something along the lines of "the church is so ineffective at influencing the world because it is being too influenced by the world." Piper has said similar things about being "IN" the world, but not "OF" the world. Piper makes it clear that this lifestyle is walking a razor's edge. That to cut yourself off from the world, you fall off one side, and to embrace the sin of the world, you fall off the other. And he says, most Christians struggle to walk that edge. He said a good way to test yourself is exactly what Spurgeon said. Are the people you are seeking to influence being more influenced by you, or are you being more influenced by them. Sadly in my life, I fear that I have been too easily seduced by the world. By things that are contrary to God. Piper says in another place that he feels that the next generation (my generation) of Christians is amazingly well-studied and theologically sound. There is a zeal for doctrine that has been absent in previous generations. But along with that, there is a lack of discernment when it comes to the open-handed embracing that our generation has had with the world. We just love soaking in it's sin. Piper calls it "dangling wires" that this generation has. That we love the Word and theology, but alongside of that, we love the world. For me, I see historically this being an all too accurate assessment in my life, and something that has taken years of reflection and distance from God to realize how dangerous the effects of bedding down with the world really are.

Mahaney went on to talk about another man who wrote a book about an experience this man had with an Amish person. With many interesting and at times humorous moments, he sought to show how completely out of place this Amish man was with the culture. And Mahaney was saying that this is exactly how the world should see Christians. Now not saying that we should adopt the Amish lifestyle or theology, but in the sense that we are so counter-cultural and so firm in our beliefs and so concerned about holiness, that we just walk to the beat of a different drum, and we look different. This also doesn't mean that we should be ignorant of culture either. But in our lives, we need to ask ourselves, how different do we look from our neighbors, apart from Sunday morning? Or have we been seduced by the same sinful temptations that capture the hearts of every other man? This is my battle. This is my burden.

Lastly, Mahaney gave an amazing sermon on the "Cup of Christ." This is something I have come back to thinking about countless times over the past years, and it becomes more and more staggering and real to me each time I revisit the scene, particularly at Gethsemene. Mahaney in this clip, which has had music and visual images added to it, gives a powerful depiction of what Christ went through in preparation for going to the cross. I also heard an amazing sermon on prayer by Driscoll, where he dives into the prayer of Jesus before the cross. This is, the garden that is in the context of what follows it on the cross, for me perhaps, the most gripping, heart-wrenching display of Jesus' love for us in the Bible.