Read this.
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.
The song debuted at No. 2 on the ARIA charts.
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 Advertiser was told last night Mr Guglielmucci may release a statement on the situation.
The Australian Christian Church said Mr Guglielmucci's credentials immediately were suspended once he told the national executive that his cancer claims were "untrue".
"The national executive is taking this matter very seriously and is awaiting the results of medical tests before determining the full extent of the discipline that will be imposed upon him," vice president Alun Davies said.
"We are very concerned for the many people who have been or will be hurt by Michael's actions.
"We encourage all of our churches to pray for all those affected."
It is not my intention to pass judgement on anyone nor make fun of the mistakes that people make.
What makes me sad is that I was one of the people who were at a conference where his father, Danny, was telling us about Michael’s sickness and how God is going to heal him. We were all touched and yeah there were a number of teary eyes in the audience. What touched me most was the young man’s courage; he refused to go gently into the night. We prayed for Michael and stood in solidarity with the whole Guglielmucci family.
With this in mind what are your thoughts
The questions are: How do we humble ourselves so that we can be open to others?
How do we guard our hearts against deception?
How do we “really” look out for our friends?
So that they are not just people we hang out with or play Wii/PS3 with?
Let me hear from you.
