I been away for a couple of days so I just found out about Michael Guglielmucci’s deception surrounding his terminal illness.  This, to me, is a devastating situation.  This not only affects Micheal, his family, his church, but also the entire Body of Christ at large.  While Ted Haggard’s fall significantly impacted Christians around the world, there is something about this that cuts deeper.  His actions were incredibly intentional, planned, methodically deceptive, and predatory.  Having lost a brother and a father to terminal cancer, I can sympathize with the thousands of people who found hope in Michael’s circumstances and now feel incredibly betrayed.  I must confess, I am angry.  Not in a way that wishes vengeance or is void of compassion for Michael and his family.  Rather, it is a righteous anger that is appropriate for this degree of violation.  Forgiveness is given.  However, the Body of Christ must handle this with integrity and consistency.  I’m encouraged by what I’ve read so far regarding how his church is holding him accountable for his actions and exercising compassionate discipline.  

Now it has just come out that Michael has been addicted to porn since the age of 12.  His family and church are left ravaged by the revelation of so many years of a double-life.  I can only imagine how much of a tortured soul Michael must have been over these years.  I do not look at this situation with contempt but rather I see it as a wake-up call for all leaders in the Body of Christ.  All of us can put ourselves in a position to become vulnerable through compromise, isolation, and placing our trust in anything or anyone other than God.  This certainly is making me take inventory of my life to see if there is anything that could potentially undermine my integrity, values, and commitment to Christ.  However, I need to remind myself that it shouldn’t take a tragic situation such as this to motivate such scrutiny. 

I had someone stop by my office to ask me if I thought the song “Healer” really was authentic and God inspired in light of the circumstances.  My response was “truth is truth”.  The message of that song is, without question, inspired by the truth of scripture.  We must make the distinction between the veracity of the message and veracity of the messenger.  Unfortunately, we can so taint the message through our sinful actions that people may never be able to break free of associating the compromise with the truth.  The truth has not changed but the lens through which people view it has been dramatically altered.  This is how souls are lost and lives are destroyed.  

Michael is part of the Body of Christ and therefore, we must choose to respond with righteousness, compassion, and authenticity.  My prayer at this time is this:

1.  Complete revelation of the truth and everything brought into the light.

2.  Wisdom, discernment, and grace for the church leaders directly involved.

3.  Wisdom, discernment, and grace for the legal authorities involved.

4.  Peace, compassion, and strength for Michael’s wife, family, parents and friends and that they would grieve with a Godly sorrow and be protected from hopelessness and depression.

5.  Provision for Michael’s family in the coming weeks and months.

5.  Hope, peace, and protection for Edge Church International during this vulnerable season.  

6.  A new revelation of hope for all who were inspired to believe for healing through the message of Michael’s song and ministry.  

7.  Finally, that Michael may truly discover the Healer and find healing and restoration in mind, body, and spirit.

AdelaideNow… Fake illness preacher Michael Guglielmucci told to go to police.

Disgraced pastor Michael Guglielmucci a porn addict | The Australian.

Worship – “to attribute worth to”

        Too often, we attempt to assimilate various attributes of God into all-inclusive concepts that we actually believe we understand.  We, as humans, like to have things defined, identified, labeled, classified, and compartmentalized into comfortable clichés and catch phrases that give us a sense of security and definition.  And so, we have defined worship. 

        But what if one of the many features of worship was that it would define rather than be defined?  Psalm 115:4-8 says this:

        Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men’s hands.

They have mouths, but they do not speak; eyes they have but they do not see;

They have ears, but they do not hear; noses they have, but they do not smell;

They have hands, but they do not handle; feet they have, but they do not walk; nor do they mutter through their throat.

Those who make them are like them; so is everyone who trusts in them.

The psalmist basically says you will become what you worship.  Why?  What is so ingrained in our nature that instinctively drives us to worship; whether it be God, people, material possessions, culture, or ourselves?  Simply put, we were never intended to be separated from God.  He created us to be eternally connected through relationship with Him.  Worship requires relationship.  It defines us. 

Genesis 1:26-27 tells us that we are created in His image and likeness.  This relationship is mirrored in our earthly families beginning when Adam had a son, Seth, in his own likeness.  We are the reflection of our mother and fathers and our relationship with them often defines our character, behavior, values, personality, etc.  God frequently tells us in His word to seek His face and David repeatedly cried out for God not to hide or turn His face away from him.  What is the significance of being able to see God’s face and why did David seem so alarmed at the very prospect of not seeing God’s face?  Because David knew he would be lost without it! Because it is the reflection of who we are!  When we worship and seek the face of God, we are seeing what God always intended for us.  We become defined!  Worship allows us to see and possess our true identity and our image is restored!  No wonder God hates idolatry!  It keeps us from discovering our destiny and who we are in Christ.  When we put aside the cracked mirror of idols that keeps us bowed and broken and instead assume a posture of true worship, we are standing, looking up, and being revealed in His light.   We are examined and transformed into His likeness! 

We are told to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth.  When we do not embrace the call of worship, we become the man that James says observes his natural face in a mirror, goes away, and immediately forgets what kind of man he is.  As we worship, may we embrace and seize the revelation of our intended image and not constrain worship by our narrow definition, but rather become defined through worship by the One who defines us.