Once again Jollyblogger and I are in sync without even realising it! Here was I begining a series on Understanding the mind and preaching whilst jollyblogger was on Redeeming Some More Culture but buried away in his post he writes:

"In the current so-called 'culture wars' the culture warriors are engaged in a battle against what they believe to be evil. What Jesus is saying here is that 'evil' originates in the heart, therefore it must be dealt with on a 'heart' level, not an external level. The way to stop murder, adultery, immorality, etc. is to change the hearts of men."

Thats it. Preaching is about changing the heart. Thats what makes it so impossible without God's divine assistance, but there is a way of preaching that doesnt just speak to our mind, or more particularly our logical so-called "left-brain"

He goes onto quote Whitefield as follows

Conversion is not changing from one set of principles to another. You who have been raised with Christianity are in the greatest danger of being zealous for orthodox principles without being transformed by them into the image of God. Others think that they are converted because they have reformed their lifestyle. However, reformation is not renovation. The outside of the platter may be washed while the inside remains filthy. A person may turn from profaneness to morality and therefore believe that he is converted, yet his heart is still unrenewed.

You have not heard me, I hope, speak a word against reformation. You have not heard me speak a word against being good. No, both are right in their place. However, you may have this kind of conversion and yet never be truly converted at all.

These words are terrifying- a man can be apparently a Christian but never really saved. All this might leave us tempted to give up preaching at all, and leave it all to God since conversion is a sovreign act. And yet, God has also ordained the means. The mystery is that he has determined that the spoken word of God would have the primary place in being the tool by which genuine transformation can occur. What is it about preaching that does this, how can we do it more? What sort of preaching works to transform the mind and make possible the transformation of the heart itself?