"Mythbusters" is a television show which has become immensely popular over the last few years. The premise of the show is an attempt to prove or disprove various urban legends, old-wives-tales or commonly held "factual" beliefs using scientific methods. Conditions of the purported myth are scientifically reproduced as accurately as possible in an attempt to replicate the results of the myth.

After test results are in, the myth is then classified as either "Busted" (found to be untrue), "Plausible" (able to be replicated only under exaggerated circumstances), or "Confirmed" ( proven true by replicated results under reproduced conditions).

Why am I mentioning this arguably silly, always fascinating TV show? Because I believe the premise and idea behind it which attracts millions of viewers is profound, powerful and applicable to our faith, and attempted faithfulness, as Christians. The underlying premise is this... we want to know and live by what is true.

As humans created in God's image, we have a built-in desire to live with integrity, authenticity and truth. We desire to shape and live our lives by what we learn to be truths about life and human existence. I have observed that anyone living with integrity who becomes convinced by some person, argument, experience or circumstance that something they have believed to be true is actually untrue, they will change their lives to line up with the newfound truth.

I have also observed that "truth" is not always so easy to discern, and by means of a carefully constructed argument, a person can be dissuaded from something that is actually true to something that is untrue. Another observation I've made is that sometimes the dissuasion or persuasion from or towards a truth is very subtle, even unrecognized until at some point we suddenly realize that our beliefs have changed, without an awareness that it was happening at all.

There are many myths residing in the cultural fabric with which we are clothed. We are shaped and affected by this mythical clothing as subconsciously as we learn a language as young children. We hear and see myths lived out by many in our society in a way that begins to shape our thinking and beliefs without our awareness. I think it is important, for those of us seeking to follow Jesus in life, to step back to an objective distance from time to time in order to test whether or not the beliefs we acquire by osmosis are in fact true or not.

I'm planning in the next weeks to address some of these myths in a series of sermons. We'll do our own "Myth-busting".  And to do what no good speaker or storyteller should do, I'll spoil the punch-line by telling you up front that all the myths we look at will likely be busted, shown to be actually myth, no matter how plausible we have come to believe they are. At least that is my intention... we'll see where the in-depth, scientific, (actually biblical) investigation leads us and shows to be true.

Join me in the fun. Let's reflect together on how some of the subtle and not-so-subtle myths in our culture have come to shape our beliefs and lives. Let us together seek God's wisdom in de-bunking these myths in our own lives so we can better reflect to the world around us what God's truth really is, and let's start changing the world one life and one myth at a time.

Pastor Carl