Away From Home - Thomson

hey guys! okie, this is Thomson here...haha. This must be like my first post here. To be honest, I am never a fan of blogs in the net, and probably never will. Nonetheless, this is something I wanna share with you guys, that you guys might benefit from this.

As you all know, Pastor Mike Gugielmucci is a pastor of the Planetshakers church, he is among the pastors of the Australian Christian Churches (formerly called Assemblies of God, (AOG)), in Australia, which is really big there. He is also part of the planetshakers band, which is popular among young people. In the band, he usually plays the bass guitar, but also plays the acoustic guitar occasionally, and also leads worship sometimes. He composed alot of songs for Planetshakers. Songs like "Running After You", "Big", "Follow", "Always and Forever", "Jump Around", "Evermore", "Never Stop", "Majesty, "Arise", "Healer"....this are juz some of the mand songs he wrote and composed throughout his lifetime. I am sure some of you know that 2 years ago, he was diagnosed wif cancer. His story was that after the doctor told him he had cancer, he went home, sat on the piano, and just started singing a song. There was no composing of verse and chorus or whatever, but it was juz a spontaneous worship, a "gift" given to him by God, as he said. That song is called "Healer", a really meaningful song with powerful lyrics and strong verses. Here is the lyrics of the song:

Verse: You hold my every moment, You calm my raging seas, You walk with me through fire, and heal all my disease

Pre-chorus: I trust in You, I trust in You

Chorus: I believe You're my Healer, I believe You are all I need, I believe You're my portion, I believe You're more than enough for me, Jesus You're all I need

Bridge: Nothing is impossible for You, nothing is impossible, nothing is impossible for You, You hold my world in your hands..

This song really touched people all over the word, because it tells of our Lord as our Healer, He is all that we need, He heals all our disease,Nothing is impossible for Him, and all we have to is to trust Him. He was dying. Doctors told him he did not have long to live. Yet he went on praising the Lord, singing songs of praises to Him. At the recent Hillsong live concert "This is Our God (2008)" in March 2008, he walked up the stage, oxygen tube connected and all, and sang the song "Healer", touching the hearts of many. Many people has been touched and moved by his faith in the Lord, and many gave donations and contribution to him for his cancer, and they were really touched and moved by the Spirit. However, a few days ago, (around 20th and 21st August 2008), news came out that Pastor Mike Guglielmucci was never really ill. He confessed to his parents that he never had cancer, that he has been faking his terminal illness. It was all a lie and a fraud. He is now seeing a psychiatrist, and accordiing to reports from the internet from the Australian news, even his family and his parents never knew that he had no cancer. He has now been stripped of his credentials as pastor by the Australian Christian Churches. Church officials are urging him to go the police, who will investigate that has happened to all the money raised during his cancer deception. Reports also said that he hung around in doctors' waiting room as part of a web of lies to convince friends and followers that he was dying of cancer.

If all this news and reports are true, it is a big blow to the churches in Australia as well as christians throughout the world. I dare not confirm that all the news I have read so far are 100% true, until time passes and more information surfaces. But let's assume that all this is true. What impact does it have on us christians? and even on unsaved souls! Will this make it even harder for us to share the gospel wif our unsaved frens, that a pastor and planetshakers worship leader this big, can fall flat on his face, deceive people of their money, and dealt a cruel blow to those who were so touched by his "fight" against cancer through his faith in God. As devoted christians, we know that God's grace is sufficient for us. His grace is in abundance, and God has already forgiven Pastor Guglielmucci for everything he did. Whether he confessed after being convicted of the HOly Spirit, we do not know. We can only pray for him and his family. Personally, i wanna pray that all this news are not true, that none of this is true.

I wanna hope that all of this are juz someone makin it up, Nonetheless, I urge you all to pray for him and his family, they need prayer the most now. If the reports are true, do we have the right to judge Pastor Guglielmucci? Absolutely not! We are all sinners and unworthy men, and we fall in life everyday, they may not always be portrayed in public, but we fall nearly every day of our lives. So for all those who has already heard about him, please keep him and his family in prayer. Our God is a gracious God, and He is our Healer, both physically, emotionally, and spiritually. There is no such things as "I did something too terrible that God can never forgive me...I am too sinful to be accepted by Him". No! He is a gracious and wonderful God, and no matter how many times we fall and fail Him, He will always hold out His hand, ready to pull us up. All we need to do it reach out and grab His hand. All we need to do is to repent, and His grace is more than enough for us.

About the song, some people say that anything that is brought out of a fraud or lie cannot be used a tool to spread His word, to reach out. Personally, I am not sure myself, I do not know whether Pastor Guglielmucci has different motives when he composed the song "Healer". And i dare not judge him. Perhaps, when we want to use a song that has been composed by someone who said that God inspired Him to write that song, yet in the end it was a lie, as in he wasn't ill and all that, we must pray and consult the Lord before deciding whether to use that song to minister to others. But I have a verse to share with you guys. In Philippians 1: 15-18 : "It is true that some preach Christ out of envy and rivalry, but others out of goodwill. The latter do so in love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former preach Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely, supposing that they can stir up trouble for me while I am in chains. But what does it matter? The important thing is that in every way, whether from false motives or true, Christ is preached. And because of this I rejoice. So brothers and sisters in Christ, no matter what, what matters is that Jesus Christ is preached. The song "Healer" is a powerful song, and if you are thinking of using it in your p&w session, do pray about it first, and let God lead you to decide. The important thing is we can continue lifitng up His name, living up to His good name, and use every opportunity to preach His word!

As for me, I am nothing without God. I won't be where I am without Him. And till now, He has truly been a light unto my path, He has shown time and time again how wonderful He is, that the best thing to do is to trust in Him, for His wil for us is the best. So put Him first in your life, do not let any other thing distract you, and you see the wonderful things He can do in your life.

Last but not least, please pray for me. Studying medicine 3rd year is really tough, and i really need constant prayer. Also, pray for me, as the cf president of the CF here made up of AIMST University students. As our cf is not an official one (we are not allowed by the university to have any religious activity or gathering), the Lord has provided us all we need to touch students of the campus and to use CF as a tool of campus ministry. We are having an upcoming christian concert (Levites concert) either in September or October in Kampar, Perak, please keep me in prayer, that many more lives will be touched and souls saved through this event.Thanks guys!! Keep serving Him whole-heartedly! God bless!

your super senior youth (hahaha),
Thom