Preaching Notes: C.J. Mahaney

Today we're continuing the Preaching Notes Series. I want to thank everyone for their encouragement about this series. I also want to thank illustrator Drew Blom again for doing the caricatures of each man. Today I'm excited to feature my good friend and mentor, C.J. Mahaney. C.J. has been preaching for over 30 years, 27 of which he spent as senior pastor of Covenant Life Church.

I've asked Tony Reinke to write a little bit by way of introduction. Tony has been serving as an editorial and research assistant to CJ since the start of this year and also helps him with the Sovereign Grace Blog. Tony writes:

C.J.'s sermon notes start with a printed manuscript from his computer. The text—in default 12-point Arial font—is absent of any formatting like bold, italics, or underlining, and the page numbers are all manually written in pen on the top of the pages. These notes offer a peek into C.J.'s often humorously tumultuous relationship with technology.

The next stage of editing features C.J.'s handwritten additions and deletions. C.J. crafts and recrafts every sentence for better flow, and chooses and replaces every word for better clarity. Each character of the sermon manuscript passes careful scrutiny and review up to the moment of delivery.

As you can see, the handwritten edits very quickly overrun the printed manuscript. C.J.'s collection of pens—ballpoint and fountain—are put to work, as he transforms his manuscript into an edited collage of black, blue, and red inks.

Noteworthy in the document itself is an absence of lengthy quotes. Along with his manuscript, C.J. carries to the pulpit photocopies of his original sources. While it may be more convenient to paste the quote text into the manuscript, C.J.'s method increases his flexibility to expand, shorten, or rework quotes to fit the audience and time restraints when traveling.

Most surprising to me are the checkmarks littered throughout this manuscript that have no oratorical importance whatsoever in C.J.'s sermons, but are most commonly found in his books as his unique way of highlighting valuable statements. To find these checkmarks handwritten in the text tells us that in rereading his sermon notes, C.J. is more focused on the content of what he is about to say than merely style and oratory. Even after hours of preparation, these sentences strike an affectionate chord for the preacher.

I could go on with the process of writing and editing these notes, or with the illuminating qualities of this manuscript, but the development of these notes is not what I find most important. What I do find most important can be summarized in an illustration from last spring, as C.J. sat in his hotel room in Louisville, Kentucky. The Louisville Convention Center was clearly visible outside the window, reminding him that his scheduled New Attitude conference teaching slot was fast approaching. These few moments provided some peace before the conference storm. The manuscript was now done, whether by choice or by timing. For several moments C.J. sat at his desk, facedown, with his forehead on his manuscript. It seemed to me in that moment, that a simple man of God, in love with the cross, was pleading mercy for his insufficiency before the Father. He was laying down his manuscript as a sacrifice unto the Lord.