Mike Guglielmucci is a fake and a fraud – but what about you?
Okay. So Twitter and blog-world are exploding today with news that the latest church worship celebrity, Mike Guglielmucci of “Healer” fame, has been a total liar, fake and fraud when it comes to his claim of beating life-threatening cancer. His story and the song which is supposedly inspired have been the talk of the worship world for the last month or so – especially with the news that Hillsong had recorded it and were including the song (along with the powerful live video) in their latest release, “This Is Our God.”
Here’s a quick recap of Mike’s story -
- Diagnosed with cancer
- Comes home, sits at the piano and begins singing
- The melody and words of “Healer” pour out in this incredible time of worship
The song was then recorded by Planetshakers on their latest album and apparently caught the ear of the Hillsong folks who decided it would be great for their album. Once the promotion for that record started, Mike’s story was front and centre – including a promotional video that was released with Mike telling the world his story interspersed with shots of him singing the song at the live recording, oxygen tank, nose tubes and all.
So word breaks this morning that none of Mike’s story can be verified. Here are some links -
- Adelaide Now
“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
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.
Crazy. Idiotic. Foolish. How can someone even DREAM of something like this?? What kind of sick, deranged person lies in their bed at night trying to think of ways to gain fame, notoriety and recognition while perhaps lining their pockets with some extra coin based on sales of a song that might be inspired by such a tragedy?? This is a total disgrace and another black eye on the modern evangelical church.
So. How do we respond? Some say stone him! Some say blacklist him! Some say he just needs a swift kick in the ass! How about you? What do you say?
What do I say?
I don’t know.
Part of me is so tired of this. I’m so tired of trusting people and their stories of God doing amazing things only to be once again disappointed. I’m so tired of having to defend a church that wants to hold these people up based on their lies and deceit. I’m so tired of having to explain to friends why I would even associate myself with an institution that allows people like this to get famous. Nevermind the fact that I’m so tired of an institution that is making these people famous in the first place!
Part of me wants to stand on the rooftops and shout “I AM NOT ONE OF THEM!! I AM NOT ONE OF THOSE LYING, CHEATING JERKS WHO IS SELLING YOU A FALSE GOSPEL!!” I want so bad to distance myself from these idiots and their garbage lies and their cheating ways. I would scratch their name from history and have them never heard from again if it was up to me.
And then I wonder.. What does God say?? What does He think of all of this?
..
Ugh.
Why wouldn’t He turn His back on the whole lot of us and just let us all go down in flames? Why wouldn’t He just give this world a little nudge and send it spinning off in to the darkness of the universe? Why wouldn’t He just hit the cosmic reset button and start this whole damned thing over again?
And all I’m left with as an answer is “grace.” Because of grace. The only reason we are still living and breathing and spending a single moment on this planet is because of grace. God has every right to squash every last one of us and laugh at our stupidity – thinking that we have anything more to offer than Mike or Todd or whoever the next one will be. God has every right to stand on the rooftop and yell “Don’t listen to them!! I am not like them!! I don’t do things the way he says I do them!!” while pointing directly at.. me.
Cause that’s the truth, right?? We’re all Mike. We’re all Todd. We’re all messed up, screwed up, broken, deceitful, lying, sinful people. Now we may not be as devious or as scheming as those who are exposed and exploited but does that make us any better or any worse? Not at all. At the end of the day we are broken, sinful people in need of grace. Only God’s grace. And I need just as much of it as Mike does.
Could you imagine if all of your crap was exposed for the world to see? What if your Twitter account really detailed everything you were doing? everything you were thinking? Uh oh. We wave the “authentic” flag as though people are getting to know the real us if we post a little of our family struggles or about our issues with this sin or that, imagining that if people are given a littel glimpse in to a bit of the hard side of my life they might give me a little pat on the back for being so honest. And really it’s just misdirection – let’s give them a bit of what’s behind Door #2 so they don’t want to look behind Door #3, cause if that door was opened it’s game over.
Right?
I don’t know. I’m not suggesting that we all have stories like Mike’s. I’m not suggesting that we’ve all cooked up schemes like his. But if it was YOUR song that Hillsong was releasing and YOUR name being used to promote it and someone uncovered ALL of YOUR baggage and garbage, don’t you think it would be the talk of the town? Yeah. Sure it would.
I have nothing to say about whether or not you should play the song. Some will say that the song is born in the heart of the writer and there is no way to use the song to lead people in worship. Some will say that the song – not the writer – is anointed and if God can speak through a donkey he can certainly speak through a deceiving, lying songwriter. Some will say that the song is worthless and not very good and shouldn’t be used in congregational worship anyways. So take your pick :)
So there you go. You’ve heard my thoughts. I’ve read lots of yours. I’m sure this will be talked about for a while. What’s next? Where do we go from here? What do we do with the famous ones in our church culture? Let’s hear you.
Check out these posts talking about this -
One news channel i read said that they had exposed Mike: but that isnt the case at all. Mike freely confessed himself:
I see here a broken man. The guy has a serious problem: he’s addicted to chemicals his brain produces, and they can be as strong as herione: The man is a porn addict.
When i heard that, i immediatly went from a “that man is a Jerk and needs a kick up the ass” to a “woah, that man really has a bad desease”. The shame of such a sin in todays church is enough to scare anyone into silence, and when the addiction started to have an effect on his body he made the cover of cancer……one lie that snowballed out of control. These are not excuses, no man can excuse what he has done (indeed we can not excuse away any sin), but these reasons should help us get in his shoes.
I like what you said about every one of us needing grace, the verse that comes to mind is “Let he who is without sin cast the first stone”. are we “Better sinners” than Mike? Can you get a “Better sinner”? no its oxymoronical in fact the bible teaches “he who breaks one law is guilty of them all”.
What Mike needed was accountability and i love what you said about the Rooms, and it reminds me of some Casting Crowns lyrics.
“But would it set me free
If I dared to let you see
The truth behind the person
That you imagine me to be
Would your arms be open
Or would you walk away
Would the love of Jesus
Be enough to make you stay”
Whats amazed and challenged me is the sheer amount of people from Hillsong Church and elsewhere that are willing to forgive Mike, and these verses from 2 corinthians 2;5-11 come to mind
5 I am not overstating it when I say that the man who caused all the trouble hurt all of you more than he hurt me. 6 Most of you opposed him, and that was punishment enough. 7 Now, however, it is time to forgive and comfort him. Otherwise he may be overcome by discouragement. 8 So I urge you now to reaffirm your love for him.
9 I wrote to you as I did to test you and see if you would fully comply with my instructions. 10 When you forgive this man, I forgive him, too. And when I forgive whatever needs to be forgiven, I do so with Christ’s authority for your benefit, 11 so that Satan will not outsmart us. For we are familiar with his evil schemes.
I guess i can relate to Mike because i have struggled with Lust too, and i know the shame of it.
Let not be naive here, but if mike has freely confessed his sin, and he IS giving all the money he stole back, shouldnt we find a place to forgive and embrace him too?
Now that song is still amazing, it is difficult to listen to him singing it, but God works DESPITE out sin and since it was from the spirit and not from him, why shouldnt we use it?
It was William Booth founder of the Salvation army that said “If popular music is of the Devil then we should plunder him of it entirely”
Now if Healer is of the devil then surely Christians we should plunder him off it!! It still speaks of the truth that Nothing is impossible for him and that the lord is your portion.
Thousands, maybe millions of people were praying for Mikes healing. And maybe, just maybe his healing has begun, we just didnt know in what he needed healing.
How awesome is our God that even Mike Guglielmucci is not to far away from Gods love.
Every Blessing from across the Atlantic
Tom
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Brighouse, West Yorks, England
I am thoroughly impressed with this response. You, sir, are a man that walks by the Spirit.
GREAT post.
I enjoyed it thoroughly.
Can I use it?
thanks for this blog, you wrote exactly how i was feeling.
I was so angry that someone who i have heard speak and admired, and seen as such a man of God could do something this heart breaking for me and so many people. It hurt, and the fact that it was going to (again) make the world discredit the church frustrated me.
But i guess God holds each of us accountable, and all we can do is to keep to what we believe despite the accusations and the people who are undermining the church.
I guess that the only thing to do is to pray that whoever responded to his teaching and got to know God, won’t turn away because they feel they have been cheated and lied to. That God would show them that despite other circumstances, He is still real for them.
I’m totally with you Chris.
Really enjoyed what you wrote there :)
We’re all the same, all screwed and hopeless beings without God’s grace. I wonder who’s worse than who in God’s eye.
It is just really easy for us to judge people who do things that are just beyond our territories of what we think Christians should be like.
Good job by the way.
God bless you all:)
Mike,
Arise according to Luke 22:31-32…Satan has desired to have you that he may sift you like wheat. But I (Jesus) have prayed fro you that your faith faileth note, and after you are converted (Have repented), strengthened thy brethren. I was so encouraged.. I believe God brought that song to you, and through you in order to bring mental, physical, spiritual, psychological deliverance. “Come Forth unashamed and return to your first love”
A. Terrance-your brother in Christ
So what are the lessons that we can all learn from this tragic episode?
1. Sin is a seductive evil that can beguile and arrest anyone at anytime. Watch out it could be you next……!
2. No believer, no matter how “holy” they think they are, is immune from temptation. Watch your back… Be alert there is a prowling lion out there called the devil.
3. The only person who is qualified to “cast the first stone” is the one who is “without sin”.
4. The church must learn how to instruct believers about the nature of spiritual discipline. Many of the blogs range from blind condemnation to naive acceptence. The church needs to get it’s head out of the sand.
5. Have we built a culture of “Christian Celebrity” that is based more upon gifting rather than character?.
6. There is a great need for more of the presence of God to bring conviction in the context of the body of Christ – meetings. We need holiness not hype!
Just like to point out here that Mike is still sick. He still needs healing. Just like the song says, nothing is impossible to God. He will still heal Mike whether it’s cancer or anything else. Mike needs our prayers, guys. He was most likely writing about his addiction, not cancer when he wrote Healer. I believe he is a great guy and as I said before, he needs our prayers.
God Bless :)
I am a worship leader at my church in Southern California and we just had a summer retreat with the theme “free.” we kicked off the retreat with this worship song and it absolutely blew everyone away with the HOly Spirit’s power. first song and wow, God just touched everyone’s heart, no-one except a few were singing.. everyone else was broken, on the ground, on their knees, praying. The power and the anointing of the Holy Spirit we experienced through this song was so amazing … we totally went off our schedule for worship; we just worshipped for like 2 hours and prayed for another 2 hours or so. We couldnt even get to the sermon!
Now, did we know that the song was a “fake”, nope.. we all found out a week after retreat.
Was a mad? frustrated? confused? tested even??
at first… but as i was thinking … the same thought came to mind as this blog.
who am i to judge?
i’m the same as Mike!
okay.. maybe not to this severity?…
but once again.. who am i to judge that even??
cause in God’s eyes… arent all sins the same?? in the end.. we all messed up and our place should be hell.
but as the blogger mentioned.. Grace
after my short moment of anger and feeling of betrayal.
i gained a new respect for Pastor Mike.
can you IMAGINE the amount courage it must’ve taken for him to go on television and confess?? it’s not like he DIDNT know the WORLD was going to be shocked.. i’m sure he KNEW the world was gonna spite him and who knows what. but he put his faith in the Lord, and gave himself up. That’s faith, that’s courage.. now where and how did he finally gather the courage and strength confess..?
…well… i guess you can say that he was healed
hi.
please read this.
http://www.news.com.au/adelaidenow/story/0,22606,24230912-2682,00.html
it clears some stuff of why he did what he did.
:]
hope it helps.
First, nobody is innocent. Like has been said before let he who is without sin cast the first stone. I am not condoning what Mike did but if Jesus refused to convict an adultress who am I to convict Mike? The Bible says that if you confess your sins God is faithful and jut to forgive and cleanse from all unrighteousness…..it din’t specify any sins. There is no big or little sin…..I agree that what he did was sick and that he needs serious help. The most important thing is that he confessed to God and THAT to God is the most important thing……..it is not your sin that matters it is your heart, your decision to confess and not look back. If not then David would certainly have been the worst of them!
Second…To the Symptoms Mike claims he has…..Mike forgot that God says that “Death and Life are in the power of the tongue…..” He used his tongue to speak sickness into his life and it is manifesting because the Kingdom of heaven operates on principles…Be not deceived, God is not mocked, whatsoever a man sows that he will surely reap. SO Mike has confessed and come clean and God has forgiven him but he still has to face the consequences of his actions because he, with his own lips sowed the seed of cancer into his life and I won’t be surprised to hear that the results of his tests show some kind of cancer because he sowed it into his life.
MIKE GOD HAS FORGIVEN YOU but HE CANNOT CONTRADICT HIMSELF, GOD VALUES HIS WORD ABOVE HIMSELF…….YOU HAVE TO DEAL WITH THE CONSEQUENCES OF YOUR WORDS AND ACTIONS. LIVE A CLEAN LIFE AND BECOME A LEADER AND NOT A SIGNPOST. I APPLAUD FOR HEEDING THE CONVICTION OF THE HOLY SPIRIT AND CONFESSING but THE BATTLE HAS ONLY JUST BEGUN. ASK GOD FOR GRACE…..HIS GRACE IS SUFFICIENT FOR YOU FOR HIS STRENGTH IS MADE MANIFEST IN YOUR WEAKNESS.
yes ,God is a just God…he can’t contradict himself..But even if mike sowed with his own lips the seed of cancer , he can rebuke it and prayed for it to God… there will be consequences of what he did but we can’t say what will be the consequences…
By the way, the song was not fake…..GOD WILL USE ANYONE AND ANYTHING TO PASS HIS MESSAGE ACROSS. God is not in the business of creating saints he is in the business of restoration. Check the Bible you don’t hear God saying we are all perfect you see tons of scripturethat says All things are new IN CHRIST! I.e all have sinned ain’t no-one is perfect….but through Christ we are made whole. God says come I will wash your sins that are scarlet till they be white as snow. Cos he knows we will sin…i dint say become a perpetual sinner but because you or Mike has sinned does not make it the end of the road for him or anyone. The song is about Jesus, it’s not who sang it that matters but what it means to YOU! Salvation is personal. In the end God will rather use a Michael Guglielmucci who has been there and knows what it feels like to reach out to his people than anyone else who has had a clean life with no skeleton in his cupboard. WHY? you may ask. Simple, because he will understand better how to reach out to people who are going through this same thing………look at people like Joyce Meyer and Juanita Bynum (not exactly the same context but I hope you get the point). BUt of course like them he first of all needs most of all not psychological or medical but SPIRITUAL HELP because quote me anywhere: if GOD does not help him….. NOBODY CAN. Like it or not.
God told prophet Samuel that man looks at the outward appearance but Him (God) looks at the heart so with all the grammar we are speaking God has looked at Mike’s heart and if he has decided to forgive him there is nothing on earth and even in Heaven that any of us can do to change it. It is not what has happened that matters but Mike’s heart. Our Past belongs to us but HISTORY is His (God’s) Story concerning us.
John 8:32 “Ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free…..” read on to v34 whosoever commits sin is the servant of sin…..we are all servants of sin what differentiates is our knowledge of the truth that Jesus sets us free If Mike has come to this saving knowledge then he is in a better place than a lot of people cos he has confessed. HE STILL NEEDS HELP at least he knows that. v35 if he really confesses and changes he becomes a son, u who haven’t confessed who in your closet sin but point fingers in open are a servant….I’d much rather be a son than a servant. V36 like I said before if GOD forgives him he is free indeed and to God that is what matters.
John 8v11, Jesus asked the adultress where are your accusers? has no-one condemned thee? She said NO, and our Lord Jesus who has the biggest right of all to d so said “NEITHER DO I. Go and sin no more” What we should be saying to Mike is not “it’s a shock, I am ashamed…….”that’s all pointless at this stage, what should be said is “Ask God for forgiveness and Go and Sin no more.” In JOHN 8v15, Jesus said “Ye judge after the flesh; I judge no man.” So I ask you what gives you the right to pass Judgement on Mike Guglielmucci? I know him not in fact I stmbled upon this story while trying to find out about Hillsong and that was the first time I ever heard the name MG. But let him who thinks he stands TAKE HEED LEST HE FALL.
And I can write on and on but for now I will stop here and say this short prayer….GOD TEACH YOUR PEOPLE THAT THEY MAY KNOW THE TRUTH AND BE STRENGTHENED IN YOU! AND KEEP YOUR PEOPLE FIRMLY ROOTED IN YOU AND UNSHAKEABLE, ABOUNDING IN STEADFAST LOVE, IN JESUS NAME, AMEN. (Please Read the whole of John 8) my final word: JUDGE NOT LEST YE BE JUDGED
Sorry, meant to say read the whole of JOHN 8.
HEAVEN AND EARTH (including MG) WILL PASS AWAY BUT NOTA DROP NOR AN IOTA OF GOD’S WORD WILL PASS AWAY……that is the underlying truth. In all of this remember that man may disappoint or fail but God never fails……..have this fav song that says
Jesus Never Fails(2x)
The man of the world may let you down
But Jesus never fails
You said, “So. How do we respond? Some say stone him! Some say blacklist him! Some say he just needs a swift kick in the ass! How about you? What do you say?”
Then you proclaim that you want to shout out you are not like these other people who keep messing up.
If im correct so far …continue to read.
The bible tells us not to swear, but you curse when saying he needs a swift kick. Why not just in the rear or butt?
Why do you proclaim to be different, but walk around no better than any one else?
I won’t tell you I am any better, but please why the swearing then stating you aren’t like the ones who messed up.
If I remember right we ALL fall short of the glory for God. Mike’s mistake may have effected more people, but he is no better or worse than you or I.
judging by your response, i guess you didn’t read the whole blog post. i think you should read the rest of the blog before posting your replies.
If I may add some insight as a practising GP in the UK- I don’t think we should be too quick to accuse this man of being either a ‘fake’ or a ‘fraud’. In my mind, having read some details in the australian press from late august, he is suffering from a mental illness called munchausen’s syndrome. He (and his family) needs our prayer for his healing just as much as if he did have cancer.
Heres my thoughts on this. Ye who have no sin, cast the first stone. Instead of going on and on about what wrong hes done, how about getting down on your knees and praying for him. We all sin and in the bible it says one sin is no greater that another. Sin is sin. Maybe you havnt got caught with your sin??? . We are human and if I remember right, God sent his son Jesus Christ to die on the cross so that we could be forgiven. Maybe he needs someone to embrace him and love him. Yes he did wrong, but who are we to judge. Judge not that you be not judged. Thats the problem with Christians and Church, were really quick to notice everyone elses sin but not our own, and we pass judgement so quickley. Step back and take a look at your life, and if you have no sin, throw all you want. Ill be praying for him, because I know Ive sinned.
i was for the first time reading your post… and it was a while ago i see, but i just found out about it all and u know what…
even king david and other man in the bible did stupid things and they all have their own consequences of their acts, and in the bible there is a part that says, there is nothing hide that cant be revealed, everyone find out about it, do u think God would let help him hide the lie??? no, the devil is behind it, he is probably a good man, who made a bad choice and once u are lying it just get bigger cause u have to tell lots of lies to hide the first one… if we were all perfect we wouldnt need God, and even like that we still dont really always choose God do we??
the song is amazing and u can feel the presence of God onn the video, just because, there were people there comited with God and his word, why wouldnt God bless them and their worship??
i dotn care about what people may say, i was even afraid about go into this story, that i couldnt believe on the begining that he was really faking, but u know what, i do bad things everyday and God is not telling me i am better or worse than him, i am just the same…
i feel bad cause i have been neglective with God, i may be the same as this pastor, but who isnt?! this is just something else to make people feel they dotn need God…
i do need God… i need the Savior Jesus Christ in my life!!! and i want Him in my life… that is what i think that is how i feel!
I belong to Jesus and i just need to find my way back
God bless u all
Just wanted to say, if God can forgive him we can. You are right about grace being the answer. And at the end of the day, God loves the sinner, hates the sin, so we should just show love for Mike and his family, and pray for him. Because he needs it now more than ever. And if God can show him His grace, so should we if we are trying to live our lives the way He wants us to. Who are we to judge, again as you state. God bless you for your page.
I am so glad for those times when I’m out of the loop! I had never heard about all this until just now.There’s nothing like being able to look at a big pile of ?? after it’s cooled off and without any of it having affected me, to allow clear vision into a situation. :) — So…today at church, during worship, they’re singing this song as we’re coming in…late. The first words I hear as we get settled in our seats are these “You hold my every moment, You calm my raging seas, You walk with me through fire…” — And Immediately I went into full out worship of our Father because earlier this year we lost our 2nd Baby. For real…no fake…have documents to prove it. One day I saw that precious one on the ultra sound…2 days later…in the arms of Jesus. So…having walked through the deepest darkest valley of my life, and just now coming out of it and finally seeing light again, this song rang inside me so loudly today that if they hadn’t been playing it so loudly in church you could have heard it ringing from my heart! :) — There’s no way the Holy Spirit could’ve used that song in my heart at that moment the way He did if He wasn’t pleased with it. — If not for Grace…
Great article! Just happened to find it googling after I saw ‘fake cancer’ on YouTube about it all.
you know..I don’t know anything about this song or anything happened last 2008, just this day, this afternoon, april 19, 2010..
just wanna share I ,too, am a Pastor’s kid… and like mike, I think I’m having the same problem, but i don’t have any sickness or anything… I even am a member in the praise and worship team… Please PRAY for ME… I’m only 16 and I’ve known porn sites since 10… 6years I’ve been struggling with this.. I don’t want it.. I just can’t get away from it that easily… please pray for me… thank you guys… Godbless…
likemike
checkout a great resource, http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com – the Pure Freedom course. Took it years ago myself, and found incredible victory over my own struggles.
I will definitely second the resource http://www.settingcaptivesfree.com. I took the pure freedom course as well.
I am a huge fan of xxxchurch and what they are doing to help people who struggle with this. There is a program called X3watch. Find someone you trust and who wants to help you. This program is basically an accountability program.
I am praying for you!
Tim Challies wrote an e-book a little while back that offers some encouragement and hope for men struggling with this issue: http://www.challies.com/christian-living/sexual-detox-the-e-book
Yes its sad what has happened letting it become a problem to the Church but what we and everyone have to understand is that we are no one to be judging him for we are all sinners.We cant be depending on us humans we depend on GOD we have to have our eyes set on Him and not on men, for he is the way to Salvation not us men. We all must see that its not time to judge but to forgive him and many other men of God who have fallen down because of dark sins but its not time to be paying attention to gossip and on criticizing people but on speaking the word of God and letting people know that well all committee mistakes but that God is perfect and He is Love for He will forgive us and Love us no matter what. We should be worrying about bringing the gospel to the ones who have not heard it or bringing the ones who have but haven taken the step into hes Kingdom, we should be worrying about bringing revival, into this generation to bring Salvation to all for this aren’t the times to be seeing the mistakes of others.
we have all sinned and fallen short of God’s glory. Judge en u’ll be first to be judged……
I thought I was going to have to make a very long reply to the post, but the first comment sums up most of my points.
Now, Michael is in very good company the way I see it. I mean, worse things have happened in the Old Testament. These ring bells?
1. Incest(and fictional prostitution!): Tamar and Judah
2. Bigamy and then some: Jacob, Lea, Rachel and their female servants
3. Stealing the wife of your best employee and then murdering him: David, Bathsheba and Uriah.
The only bad thing I have to say about Michael is that I am bleeding with jealousy with the support he gets. Would the rest of us be so lucky to get it if we get caught up in such circumstances or if the really horrific parts get exposed?
Lastly; suppose Michael’s story was recorded in the Bible, how would God continue it from his lowest point of disgrace?
Judge not that you may not be judge.For with the judgment ye judge ye shall be judged(Mat7:1-2).
I just want to say one thing. We need to recognize and know which time we are living in. And i personally thank God that He is exposing those who are using His name in vain (Ex 20:7).
To me there is no doubt that hearing at the amazing songs that he’s written God must have used him. It’s just that at some point even in our lives we do not realize when the Anointing and God’s presence depart from us(Like with Samson Judges 16:20) and what is left is the gift.That’s why The Apostle Paul in 2 Corinthians emphasized that we need examine ourselves whether we be in the Faith, we need to prove ourselves.
And to those who might find it an excuse to backslide, i would say be careful. On that day when we’ll be in front of the Lord you will never say i gave up because so and so called himself a Christian but wasn’t. No. Cause the example to follow is not the people around us but Christ. He is the reason why we are called Christian. So please my friend don’t be sick and tired of telling those who ask you that the norm is Jesus and those who are caught up are not Christian cause Jesus said you will know them by their fruits and told us to beware of false prophets who come to us clothed as sheep. If Jesus warned us of them, well it’s because we will see them. So let’s not be surprised when they are found out cause it should not be a new thing to us.
And let see it this way. Jesus is one of the most famous man on earth. Come on who wouldn’t want to use His name to gain money or whatever?
To me it just shows He is real and there is Power in His name and He rewards those who use His name in vain.(There is an old saying in my country that says 9 days for the thief the 10th is for the owner. Meaning you might be stealing me but I’ll catch you one day.)
I am encourage when people are caught up. It means to me that we serve a Living God and it makes me pray even more cause i might be caught up. Just when you think you’re Righteous you might find yourself living in any kind of sin and be exposed.
Let us pray even more brethen that the Lord will have Mercy on us everyday.We need His Grace more than ever. That’s why God sent His Son. Because He knew that the blood of goats or calves would not do it anymore.
Let’s examine ourselves whether we are in the Faith, let us prove ourselves. And let us know that Jesus Christ is in us unless we are reprobates (2 Cor 13:5)
God bless you all.