Worship Community Hoax
Posted by: Janet on: August 20, 2008
The worship community is buzzing today about this apparent hoax concerning the writer of The Healer.
A FORMER Adelaide pastor who inspired hundreds of thousands of young Christians with his with his terminal cancer “battle” has been exposed as a fraud.
Michael Guglielmucci, whose parents established Edge Church International, an Assemblies of God church at O’Halloran Hill, is now seeking professional help.
Earlier this year, Mr Guglielmucci released a hit song The Healer which was featured on Sydney church Hillsong’s latest album. It debuted at No. 2 on the ARIA charts. (Read more here AdelaideNews)
YouTube has taken down the video that received over 300,000 hits where Michael Guglielmucci sings the song with oxygen tubes in his nose. The video is still available on CCLITV.
There is some discussion concerning whether or not songs are anointed or is it only people? The Psalms were written to be sung, so they are essentially lyrics. What if it is a prophetic word – spoken or sung? Certainly not all songs are inspired at that level, although many worship lyrics are taken straight from the Word.
Rich says that songs can contain truths, but he doesn’t think they can be anointed. Perhaps it is a question of semantics. Written under divine inspiration is a better way to put it.
Additionally, almost anything – even something secular – can become a rhema word.
An interesting discussion sparked by a very sad story.
Stumble It!20 Responses to "Worship Community Hoax"
August 20, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Well I personally think that he’s a frausdter and he hurted so many ppl that believe what he said and praying for him. I don’t want to put words on God’s mouth by saying or pretending knowing what God will do to Mike regarding this. God is my Lord not my puppet that I can put words on HIS mouth. I still have my faith in God. Thing like this won’t change my faith in GOD. It’s just a false prophet case
August 20, 2008 at 9:01 pm
Fraud or not, the faith of those worshiping is real, and the expectation of the Holy Spirit’s presanse is real, therefore the Holy Spirit is faithful to the expectations of His people…
Anyone remember Gene Scott? OMG! The cigar smoken, playboy bunnies under each arm, and cussing like a drunken sailor, with the king James Bible in his hand preaching God’s Word! As bizzarre and as unGodly as he was, God will remain faithful to His Word, His Anointing, and His truth!
David recognized the Anointing on King Saul even though he had lost his mind! Balaam was out of his mind, yet still God’s prophet.
All this proves is God is Holy, men are not! We cannot put our trust in men as they will disappoint us… The gifts and calling of God are without repentance though… How difficult it is for us to understand that God can anoint men with His power, yet not endorse their actions.
August 20, 2008 at 11:36 pm
Thanks so much for referring to my post…
I am with Marvin as far as the sincerity and passion of the worshippers. Really, the message is not good or bad because of the messenger in this case. Truth is truth.
August 21, 2008 at 3:35 am
Amazing , he even conned his own wife!
it just goes to prove we idolize these people
when we should looking at god.
So many people will feel betrayed, but its only
because they put their trust in man and not god
May God have mercy on his soul….
August 21, 2008 at 11:19 am
People will let you down no matter how great they are or how well they sing. It’s unfortunate that we exalt people and give them so much adulation and praise. One of the sad things is all those nonbelievers that will say that this story just gives them one more reason to attack Christianity and refuse Christ.
August 21, 2008 at 12:21 pm
It’s interesting to think…the story BEHIND the song is the hoax but the truth OF the song remains intact. God is our Healer, He is our Portion, He is All we need….
August 21, 2008 at 12:43 pm
cindy, that’s it in a nutshell. Thanks.
Thanks elle, Marvin, Rich, Willow, Clifford and Cindy for your comments.
August 21, 2008 at 1:45 pm
As I continued to ponder, it occurred to me that it’s easy to see a story like this and say, “well, I know I’m not perfect, but I would never do “THAT!”"
…as I drop the stone in my hand and slowly walk away….
August 21, 2008 at 3:27 pm
The truth of the song stands – this person does need healing. Not from cancer but maybe from a mental health issue.
August 21, 2008 at 4:46 pm
Perhaps, but more fundamentally there’s a self esteem issue going on here… Troubled souls doubt God’s love for them and feel they must do something outrageous to get attention. Often it’s a pathetic cry for help, like a failed suicide attempt.
I prefer to default to forgiveness and prayer for this individual. There are some who I’ve been ready to turn over to Satan as the Bible speaks of though!
August 23, 2008 at 4:20 am
Interestingly enough, It was actually Hillsong thatg requested that Youtube remove the vdeos for healer. They are erasing all memory of this fraud from their history. Their new CD/DVD, “This is Our God” is now being released with the song ‘Healer’ Removed. I think this is a bit dsappointing, I understand that there was a problem wth mike, but the song is still solid. I think people should stand by their decision. Darlene even said on the original DVD she couldn’t think about the worship night without remembering the song Healer, claiming it was the most amazing worship moment she had ever seen at Hillsong Church. Did the moment change? no, but now peopel are angry because they were duped, so they are going extreme measures to forget.
August 23, 2008 at 6:53 pm
I find it hard to put what I’m thinkin/feelin into words, but I’ve read all your comments and it’s helped me to see where everyone else is coming from.
I particularly like the reference to when Jesus says
“Let him who is without sin cast the first stone”
I just heard of this news today when some adult members of my church family were discussing it. One said, “Well we can’t sing it in church anymore”, and my initial reaction was, “Why not?” it is an excellent song and it’s very biblically sound. It’s the truth of who God is and we should proclaim that truth.
I think the reason this statement was made was because if we were to continue singing it, we would be reminded of the story behind it and this might distract us, but as has been said above by many of you, this is probably because we hold up the men and women behind the songs instead of the God who we are singing about/to!
If we are unfaithful, he remains faithful, for he cannot deny who he is
2 Tim 2:13
Make allowance for each other’s faults, and forgive anyone who offends you. Remember, the Lord forgave you, so you must forgive others.
Col 3:13
August 23, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Right On Mark!
Romans 3:3
What if some of them were unfaithful? Can their unfaithfulness cancel God’s faithfulness?
August 23, 2008 at 9:10 pm
Numbers 23:19
“God is not like people. He tells no lies. He is not like humans. He doesn’t change his mind. When he says something, he does it. When he makes a promise, he keeps it.”
[...] John Finkelde, a pastor in Australia, sums up his thoughts on the recent revelation that Michael Guglielmucci who wrote the Healer, does not, nor did he ever have terminal [...]
August 26, 2008 at 10:44 pm
It just sucks that we continue to give what fuels our unbelieving culture. People being fake. People having real problems, addictions, or what ever you want to call them, but unable to tell or confide in anyone about them. So we hide them until they are blow up in our faces or in this case the face of millions.
August 27, 2008 at 7:01 am
Well said!
Christianity has become a culture of polite “liars”! We hide our sins from each other and pretend we hide them from God until “WHAM”, the inevitable happens! How predictable!
We need some good old fashioned honesty! It’s good for the soul!
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August 20, 2008 at 4:45 pm
people will let us down… God wont