Until “It’s Football time in Tennessee!” For all you South Carolina fans out there… watch Tennessee on Monday night and you will see some real football! Go Vols.
About a week ago news broke that Mike Guglielmucci, a pastor who has written a lot of great worship songs, including Healer, had been been faking having cancer for the last two years. According to an article about the story, Guglielmucci had a history of illness caused by grief over an addiction to pornography. He basically covered it up and it led him to make up a story of having cancer to explain his symptoms.
There has been a lot of backlash by a lot of people to this story, so I wanted to give my two cents about it. First of all, there is no doubt that what Mike did was wrong. I can’t imagine lying about something of that magnitude to my family. However, I am moved by compassion when I read the news about his story because I see Christ moving in his life. He has taken a step that most of us aren’t willing to take about the sin in our lives: true confession. With so many people quick to condemn Mike for his actions, I can’t help but think about when Jesus said “Let he who is without sin, cast the first stone.” We all try to hide sin in our lives, and most of us even make up things to cover it. The best thing that could ever happen to you is to tell someone about your sin. Christ will forgive.
Honestly, I think that the words of the song Healer has even more power now. God is more than enough for Mike Guglielmucci’s sin, and He is more than enough for any sin in your life. What is it that you haven’t confessed? What is it that you are not repenting from?
We could all learn a lesson from Mike. He’ll probably never read these words, but Mike…if you ever do read this…God has forgiven you and you have a lot of courage to come forward. He is your healer and you will soon discover a depth of knowing God that you have never experienced before. I’m praying for you and I know that God is going to use your story to impact others. He already has.
To see video video of Mike leading the song Healer, click here.
Wow! This is classic! A couple of these pictures actually looked like me at a couple of points in my life. You can see what you would look like in different years by uploading a picture at yearbookyourself.com
Hey…actually…save your favorite one that you make and upload it as a comment on here. It should be fun.
Have you ever read a book that has totally messed you up and challenged you? I just finished reading Wild Goose Chase by Mark Batterson and it has definitely rocked my world. It deals with pursuing the Holy Spirit, or as Celtic Christians called Him, the Wild Goose. Batterson laid out six “cages” that keep us from pursuing God without inhibition and with a sense of adventure (I won’t go into them…you’ll have to read it!).
The main point is this. God has called us to chase him with no restrictions. We should live a life that is full of twists and turns. It definitely shouldn’t be the safe life that Christians have made it out to be! Batterson really challenged me to take action on the things that are on my heart. To chase the Wild Goose like there is no tomorrow!
If you want to know more about the book (and you’re ready to get our world shaken up), you can go to www.chasethegoose.com or you can buy it here. I’m sure I’ll be posting some more thoughts about it this week!
Most of you know, I used to lead worship a lot at various places around the country. I still love leading every now and then and I try to keep up with new worship tunes. Anyways, here are ten songs (in no particular order) getting heavy play on my iPod right now. Some new, some a little older. You can click on the title to buy it at iTunes.
1) How He Loves- John Mark McMillan (Kim Walker and Eddie Kirkland also have good versions)
2) Healer- Planetshakers (or Hillsong)
3) God of this City- Bluetree (The Original version. Much better than Tomlin).
4) Lift High- Eddie Kirkland (Fee has an incredible version, too)
5) Sweetest Mystery- Eddie Kirkland
6) The Highest and Greatest- Tim Hughes
7) This City- Elevation Worship
We Are Alive- Elevation Worship
9) To Know Your Name- Hillsong
10) Solution- Hillsong United
What worship songs are you hooked on right now?
I ate at the Chinese buffet yesterday. I think they should hand out medals instead of fortune cookies when you finish your meal.
I have recently been reading through the book of Romans and something hit me really hard the other day. I came to a passage that was all too familiar…so much so that I think the power of it has been lost. I was reading Romans 6:4 and it said that we are made to “walk in newness in life.”
Growing up in church I heard these words every time there was a baptism. I heard the pastor say as he baptized a person “Buried with Christ in baptism, raised to walk in newness in life.” I really didn’t think about the words. I definitely didn’t think about the power behind them.
Here’s what really hit me the other day. I long for newness in life…and I think that all of us do. We long for do-overs, second chances, and simply for change to take place in our lives. Why don’t we embrace newess in life? Could it be that a lot of Christians only accept God’s salvation in our eternal destination? There’s so much more to it than that. Christ died to give us newness in all of LIFE. Not just newness after death.
So what is it that you need “newness” in? Christ died to give you newness in your finances. Christ died to give you newness in your relationships. Christ died to give you newness in your mistakes. Walk in newness in life.
