Aug 21 2008
gospel of lies
HE preached to thousands about his terminal illness and tugged at hearts with a hit song. The problem is the pastor wasn’t dying at all. Michael Guglielmucci, who inspired hundreds of thousands of young Christians with his terminal cancer “battle”, has been exposed as a fraud.
Guglielmucci, whose parents established Edge Church International, an Assemblies of God church at O’Halloran Hill in Adelaide’s southern suburbs, now is seeking professional help. Earlier this year, Mr Guglielmucci released a hit song, Healer , which was featured on Sydney church Hillsong’s latest album.
It since has become an anthem of faith for believers, many of whom are suffering their own illness and were praying for a miracle for Mr Guglielmucci, who has claimed for two years to be terminally ill.
In one church performance that has attracted 300,000 hits on YouTube, he performs his hit song with an oxygen tube in his nose.
It appears Mr Guglielmucci, who was a pastor with one of Australia’s biggest youth churches, Planetshakers, may even have deceived his own family.
“This news has come as a great shock to everyone including, it seems, his own wife and family,” Hillsong general manager George Aghajanian said in an email to his congregation yesterday.
“Michael has confirmed that he is not suffering with a terminal illness and is seeking professional help in Adelaide with the support of his family. We are asking our church to pray for the Guglielmucci family during this difficult time.”
The Australian Christian Church said Mr Guglielmucci’s credentials immediately were suspended once he told the national executive that his cancer claims were “untrue”.
Read more here.
[From me]
Last week I posted the video and his “testimony” here. It was sent to me by our worship leader and was on CCLI’s website. Hillsong is one of my favorite worship groups and they were promoting Mr. Guglielmucci’s song. But now it is found to be a lie.
At first I felt like a dupe. I wanted to believe it because the story tugged at my heart. But then I was angry. Why would someone feel the need to invent such a lie? How this destroys his testimony and those of others. Damian Peterson is an atheist who brought this to my attention. I wouldn’t blame him for doubting all believers because of this lie. I wouldn’t blame Ask an Atheist for doubting my own stories of God’s work after reading this kind of lie.
There are consequences for our actions. I’m beyond anger for falling for Mr. Guglielmucci’s lie. Now I’m praying for him and the damage this will do to Hillsong and Christian testimonies everywhere.
To Damian, Ask an Atheist and other non-believers who read this, I apologize for the lies and deceit that have occurred by this fellow believer. I don’t make any excuses and I don’t blame you for any doubts of any of my stories of God’s work in my life. I just pray I don’t prove to be a liar to you.
What do you think?
26 responses so far
Thanks Kevin but you don’t need to apologise for the actions of others. Although it’s often difficult to do I try my best to separate ideas (and ideologies) from the people who hold them. A person who does bad things can hold good ideas and a person who does good things can hold bad ideas.
When one Christian does something dishonest I try not to see this as a reflection on the whole Christian ideology.
I have my own reasons for rejecting many aspects of what some Christians hold as core to Christian belief (such as miracles, a personal God, and so on) and I accept many other aspects that Christians hold dear (such as charity and forgiveness). But I try to base my acceptance or rejection of these ideas on the merits of the ideas themselves rather than the people who hold them.
I feel for people like not ur daddy who identified strongly with Guglielmucci’s story and am saddened at the additional emotional stress a revelation like this will cause them.
Guglielmucci has made a mistake. It’s a pretty stupid mistake at that but he’s played with people’s emotions. He needs to talk publicly about it and explain what drove him to do it.
I would suggest that he might have been motivated by public adoration or perhaps he genuinely deceived himself into thinking he had cancer. I would also suggest that the general atmosphere of magical thinking within the Christian church doesn’t help and creates a breeding ground for claims like this. But that is another topic and it’s up to Guglielmucci to find what caused him to lie to so many people.
I would encourage all people to try to learn to discern the difference between people and the ideas they hold. You will be less likely to be fooled by people who you find inspiring and you’ll be more open to truth when it’s held by people you don’t normally identify with.
Damien: i do not know you and visa versa but I am impressed by your spirit. I too feel like Kevin. Like many others I was touched by his testimony and song. I am somewhat skeptical with some things and I tend to want to know if things are true or not. My problem is not necessarily what I think or even what you think (although I most certainly do care) it is the damage to the Name of God. With the recent revelations about Todd Bentley in Florida and now this, I cringe at the damage done to the “fame of His Name” to quote a Scripture. Will this add to the mockery of God’s Name? To me it sort of adds fuel to the fire. So to you (even though you say you don’t want it) and to A3 and any others, I too apologize for the misrepresentation of what God is all about. As Kevin stated…I pray that I will never be a disappointment to God and then to you and others who fall in your “camp.” I pray daily that I will live a life of integrity and never bring shame to God’s Name or the church I pastor.
Bill(cycleguy)’s last blog post..Motivation
Kevin and Bill…just by your very words of apology, you reflect a true humbleness and genuineness in your spirits. Damien and A3 also reflect a genuineness in their spirit. And, while I have no doubt that they would disagree with much that you and I believe, just as we would disagree with what they believe, we can have civil conversations about those differences and also about the things we have in common. For me, that’s where true growth happens–in honest discussions, yes very frank at times, but honest.
I can only hope that Michael can get the help he obviously needs and will seek the wisdom of men and women with the talents to help him turn his life around. I will pray for him, his family, and his ministry. I will also be praying for the thousands, if not millions, of people who will be turned away from the name of Jesus because of his deception!
I think of what the Scripture teaches (a little out of context)…”What was meant for harm, He can use for His good.” While Michael is a lying failure (then again, so am I), may God’s name still find glory through it all.
M. Steve Heartsill’s last blog post..Our Time in the Wilderness
What he did is disgusting. It betrays his greed, selfishness and lack of faith. If we have real faith then we won’t need to add tricks or lies to share the Gospel. Skim through the book of Acts and see how the early church shared it.
Neil’s last blog post..Problems with pro-gay theology
Damian leaves little for me to add - I agree with what he said. I don’t blame other Christians for the behavior of this one man so an apology from other Christians on his behalf isn’t warranted (nor does it excuse him).
I felt the same emotional tugs that I imagine you and most other Christians felt when I read about him. An important difference may be that while you (and I imagine most Christians) believed him without doubt because of how he made you feel, I recall thinking to myself: “let’s see how this unfolds, let’s see if he gets healed - and if he gets healed, let’s see what his medical records say.” I suspended judgment until I had enough evidence to corroborate my emotional response. By the way, used car salesmen hate me
An episode like this does not in the least makes me doubt that you or other Christians are being truthful for the most part, even if I do find that you and others sometimes over dramatize or exaggerate what you believe to be spiritual experiences. But though this episode doesn’t make me doubt your truthfulness, it does reinforce my sense that Christians tend to believe without enough skepticism; not only in charlatans like this guy, but about spiritual claims in general.
A3…a good rule of thumb for all of us might be: “Trust but verify!”
M. Steve Heartsill’s last blog post..Our Time in the Wilderness
I share the sentiments of every comment made here. However, as I read the article, this statement caught my attention: “It since has become an anthem of faith for believers, many of whom are suffering their own illness.”
Perhaps what man meant for evil, God has used for good. This does not excuse the deception at all. I do think it shows how God can be glorified even in the midst of eveil intentions of men.
ugh.
(speechless)
Rick Boyne’s last blog post..Retired Antagonists
Steve,
I couldn’t agree more. I hope others feel this way too, and I hope that this sentiment will persist when approaching religious topics such as biblical inerrancy and the efficacy of prayer, to name just a few. I think it would surprise all of us how much we might agree if we let reason guide us.
A3…thanks for agreeing! See, something good did come out of this…we are in agreement!
Anyway, I grew up in the 1960s, so I am as old as dirt! (Sunday is my birthday, so be nice to me!) Anyway, I rarely trust anything just on blind faith. I don’t simply accept the government’s word on anything! I don’t trust big business. I don’t trust friends. Heck, I don’t even trust church, Christians, or even God without questioning and digging deep to find the truth for myself. Just because someone famous or imporatant said something–so what?
Some people say I am a trouble maker. To me, I was wired this way, I assume by God, to question and dig. It’s surprising what you will discover the deeper you go. Hopefully, I will let reason guide me…however, sometimes, the story just feels so good that it must be right! Once again, it proves to me that my mind needs to win out a lot more than my heart.
M. Steve Heartsill’s last blog post..Our Time in the Wilderness
A3 & Steve: I agree with the “trust but verify” statement also. I think what happens is we have trouble with objective truth vs subjective experience. We like to feel good so we tend to jump on a bandwagon and get into the hype of a good experience. Christ-followers are especially guilty of this. Personally i am an emotional creature so I have to reign in this emotions so as not to go off 1/2cocked. I have tried to always take any experience and stand it next to the Bible and see if measures up to the objective truth. For example, some may say an affair “feels” good or makes them feel good but does it meet the standard set by the Bible? (I know A3 you may not agree with me using the Bible as a standard but that is what I work by
) The recent fiasco in Lakeland is another example of discernment needed. It proved false. To end: there is nothing wrong with emotion but it must be held in check until verified.
To Neil: the words may be true but sound harsh. I am not sure lack of faith enters into the discussion. It is time to pray for him not to shoot him. My opinion.
Bill(cycleguy)’s last blog post..Motivation
But still…Christ was preached. Those worshippers were not worshiping the song writer, they were worshiping the One True God who was glorified by the song, no matter what the writer’s intent may have been. Not to excuse G’mucci’s sin, but to remember that God uses what and who He will - a mystery too deep for me to understand, so I don’t try.
I’ve got to stop reading you guys or I’ll never be able to resist commenting. So, THIS guy deserves to go to hell, right? Oh come on! He hurt you! He hurt you bad!(grin)
A3, yer funny. Trust but verify, that’s just too perfect. Say, can I use that where salvation is concerned? “Sure H.S….uhm, lemme just verify that whole going to hell if I don’t first, OK?” What? It isn’t either trolling! I’m just accepting, but with reservations…(grin)
jimmy paravane’s last blog post..the end.
Jimmy…other than you, who said this man deserved to go to hell?
“Trust but verify” as it relates to salvation? SURE! I hope you do. Measure whatever questions you have against what God has said in His Word! I tend to trust what God and His Word says, but I have done my best to verify everything I read in there…I don’t verify against Kevin or A3 or Bill or even myself. Verify against God’s Word.
That procedure doesn’t fail.
M. Steve Heartsill’s last blog post..Our Time in the Wilderness
Steve,
No need to thank me for agreeing - it’s genuine and, as you might have noticed if you’ve been reading this blog for a while, or as Kevin might attest, I try and make a point of saying where I agree. And likewise when I disagree, that’s genuine too and not meant to simply insight arguments.
For the record, I think the most good comes from discussions where we disagree - in those discussions, we are each exposed to points of view that we may never have considered. If we change our own point of view as a result of the discussion (presumably because we adopt a better point of view), then we have gained.
Bill,
Good comment and good introspection. And yes, I disagree that the Bible is a good litmus test for validating or re-interpreting our experiences, at least when it is taken as the final word. However I do think that the Bible contains valuable insights and wisdom which can be used a standard.
jimmy
For me, “trust but verify” is a shorthand for saying that we don’t have to affront people on a personal level by calling them liars until we are satisfied with the evidence. For one thing, people may be honest but still be wrong. On a social level, we give people the benefit of the doubt that they are trustworthy people (we “trust”), whether we agree with what they say or not. Rather than blindly accepting claims or arguments, we evaluate the evidence for ourselves (we “verify”) and make our own decisions.
Steve,
What have you done to verify that the Bible is indeed God’s Word?
Good question A3…well, I’ve spent way too long studying the Bible in school settings. I have learned the original Greek and Hebrew languages so that I could better understand not only what the written word says when translated into English, Spanish, or French, but what the original language stated. I have studied archeology for so long that the dirt from the books’ jacket covers is under my fingernails. I have spent an enormous amount of time, reading the Word, listening to what I believe God is saying in the book through His prophets, speakers. I’ve also discussed the Word with countless people–Christians and non-Christians to learn what value they see or don’t see in the book. Finally, for me, I’ve come to understand from history, study, and debate, that I believe I’ve verified the Bible is God’s Word.
Now, may I turn the table and ask, what have you done to verify that the Bible isn’t God’s Word? Is that a fair question?
M. Steve Heartsill’s last blog post..Our Time in the Wilderness
hmm…OK, the results of my comment begin to look like what trolling describes. So nevermind. (grin)
jimmy paravane’s last blog post..the end.
Steve,
In your studies of archeology, what have you made of the find that Jericho was not inhabited in the time Joshua would have lived? What do you make of the lack of evidence for a world-wide flood? Or if you believe that man is not the product of evolution, what do you make of the fossil record and DNA evidence that traces his evolution from earlier species? Also, what do you think of the evidence for mimesis of classical Greek styles in the Gospels?
I’m still not sure from your answer what you found to be compelling evidence that the Bible is the Word of God, only that you have studied it in great detail (in which case I’m very anxious to hear your insights) and you have listened to others who believe that the Bible is the Word of God. What is the evidence that you’ve found?
Of course it’s a fair question. I haven’t done anything with the intent of verifying that the Bible isn’t the God’s Word. Instead of starting with a claim that the Bible is the Word of God or that the Bible is a work of man, I’ve simply asked the question: “what is the Bible and what is its origin. And I’ve tried to answer that question by looking at any available evidence. Unlike you, I haven’t had the privilege of devoting myself full time to the endeavor, but I have spent considerable amount of time with it nonetheless.
I’ve considered theories that the Bible is the Word of God (fulfilled prophesy, eye witnesses accounts, etc.) but they don’t seem to hold up under scrutiny. Given the lack of good evidence (I’ll let you supply that), and given the internal contradictions and certain passages that seem nonsensical (I’ll supply a few if you’re interested), and given the incompatibility of parts of the Bible with external evidence (I’ll supply some of those too), the most sensible response is to reject the theory. On the other hand, the theories I find most satisfying are those that take into consideration the evidence from various independent disciplines and show how the various disciplines arrive at similar conclusions. Like you, the disciplines I’ve considered are archeology, textual criticism, ancient history, the physical sciences, and so forth.
It will be interesting to discover what unfamiliar evidence you can offer me about the Bible for consideration, and what unfamiliar evidence I might offer you to consider. As I said earlier, some of the best discussions are ones where we disagree!
jimmy,
Not a problem! I appreciate people keeping me honest
this is why our faith must be in Jesus and not in miracles.
It looks like all his videos are pulled off of YouTube. I never even heard of the guy until now though.
Joe Miller’s last blog post..Rediscovering Lost Community
Kevin:
I understand your feelings of disappointment for being deceived. It happens to a lot of us in the ministry.
On a personal level, I oversee and supervise one of the largest benevolence ministries in our area through the generosity of our church family. Therefore, I am obligated to verify and check out everything.
For example, last month we had a middle-aged man come into our church office saying that he needed gas for his car to travel back and forth to Montgomery where his daughter had passed away. He needed gas to get to the visitation and the funeral. Our church is in Auburn, 56 miles from Montgomery. It appeared to be a ligitimate request. I told my secretary to tell the man that we would be glad to minister to him in Jesus’ name IF he would tell me the name of his daughter and what funeral home was handling the arrangements. He told my secretary that he would need to get back with us on that. We haven’t heard from him since.
In this day and time, I really don’t believe a lot of things I hear until I can verify it. Such was the case of the so-called “revival” that occured in central Florida recently.
I checked this man out and he was a quack.
All of this just shows we need to keep proclaiming the pure gospel of Jesus Christ and not a bunch of “lovey-dovey” heart rendering stories that may or may not be true. The Gospel of Jesus Christ will forever be true!
Let me say to everyone. I haven’t been hurt. This isn’t anything about me. The man hurt his own testimony. If anyone should be angry it is Hillsong. When I got the link last week it wasn’t on You Tube, I looked it up on there. It was on CCLI’s website. CCLI for those who aren’t in church work is the licensing group for churches to put words on powerpoints and in bulletins. They got duped too.
I feel for the man mostly. This reminded me to pray for him again right now.
Kevin Bussey’s last blog post..gospel of lies
This is truly disappointing. As I think about this, I don’t feel bad about believing what Mr. Guglielmucci said. I believe that it is important for us to trust (and truly be able to trust) Christian leaders. They stand for truth, and are called to live a life consistent with the gospel that they proclaim. I always want to believe our Christian leaders and give them the benefit of the doubt, just as I hope that others will give me.
When a leader falls, fails, slips up, and the truth of their life comes to light it’s always disappointing and hurtful. Whatever good might have come from his ministry, his music, and this “testimony” is tarnished because the testimony is a lie. I pray for his friends, family, and those impacted by his ministry and now his exposed lie. I pray that they will be able to be gracious and forgiving, and that they will be able to see past this flawed person to the God who loves them and offers forgiveness for all our failings.
Matt Knight’s last blog post..How Separate?
I am saddened by this story. It does damage the credibility of Christian leaders.
Quinn Hooks’s last blog post..Breaking News from the Baptist Courier
I think that Michael wrote an awesome song that will continue to encourage and inspire people around the world. I had been to the site several times and had missed the backline of his testimony, I just heard a great song. We started singing this one last week and will sing it again this week. Because he didn’t live up to his own testimony doesn’t make the lyrics any less true. Now, hopefully, God will be his Healer in a different kind of way.
Mylon LeFevre wrote a gospel song called “Without Him” in 1963 that was recorded by Elvis and made Mylon extremely wealthy as a 17 year-old. He blew all his profit on drugs and partying. That song is still sung in churches around the world and many people have given their lives to Jesus as the chorus is sung: “Jesus, oh Jesus. Without Him, how lost I would be.”