IS there no depth to which some Christians will sink?

An Australian pastor-cum-singer who rose to fame with the claim that he was suffering terminal cancer, which inspired him to write a hit evangelical pop song, has just been exposed as a fraud – and a man with “a severe porn addiction”.

Lying pastor Michael Guglielmucci

According to this report, Michael Guglielmucci, of Planetshakers Church in Melbourne, told worshippers, friends and his own family that he was likely to die from the disease.

He claimed his hit song Healer, which was included on mega-church Hillsong’s latest album, came to him as a “gift from God” on the day the diagnosis was revealed.

It propelled Mr Guglielmucci, formerly a pastor with Melbourne-based church Planetshakers, to the forefront of Australia’s Christian youth movement.

His “suffering” even led one blogger to tell his story thus:

[His cancer] struck him pretty bad till at one point there were about 30 bones fractured in his body due to the disease. He was in pain all over his joints and bones. At that time, the doctor told him that he could live another 3 months plus.

One thing for sure, Mike didn’t give up on God. His faith was taken to a higher level and he never ceased to praise God undoubtedly. Even on a wheelchair, he has written even more beautiful songs to worship God and one of it is Healer. Mike has so much faith in God and even if he has to be called home early, he accepts it as God’s will.

Today, I see a whole new Mike. He could even preach and sing in the most recent Hillsong Conference. This has proved to many of us that God is alive and He can do ALL things POSSIBLE!

But the story was an out-and-out lie

A statement from Australian Christian Churches Vice President Alun Davies said Mr Guglielmucci, now living in Adelaide, had admitted to fabricating his cancer story.

Representatives of the National Executive for the Australian Christian Churches recently met with Michael Guglielmucci. At this meeting, he read a statement indicating that his claim to have cancer was untrue. His credential with the Australian Christian Churches was immediately suspended.

In one Hillsong video, subtitled in Spanish and posted to YouTube, the pastor described his made-up cancer diagnosis in meticulous detail.

I went to the hospital expecting to have some tests and got the news that I had cancer, and quite an aggressive form of cancer. I walked into my studio at home and for some reason pressed record, which was a good thing … I just sat at a piano and began to worship.

In an e-mail sent to Hillsong members yesterday, the church’s general manager George Aghajanian said the news was even a shock to Mr Guglielmucci’s own family.

The suspended pastor was seeking professional help, the e-mail said.

Planetshakers spokesman Darryn Keneally said his church was “devastated by the elaborate hoax”.

He said Mr Guglielmucci would make reparations to anyone who gave him money because of his made-up sickness.

Despite being exposed as a despicable fraud who preyed on the emotions of his followers, there are still dupes out there who support the lying son-of-a-bitch.

One barely-literate message posted on YouTube, under his puke-inducing rendition of Healer, said:

Praise God! Mike is not dieing of cancer. We should rejoice with Mike and his loved ones that he is well in the physical. Then … we should extend GRACE. Jesus said in John 8:7 “‘The sinless one among you, go first: Throw the stone.’ The Message. We all have the potential of committing the vilest offense. Jeremiah 17:9 says ‘The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?’ NKJV. Let’s continue to pray for Mike Guglielmucci and his family. Love will see us through.

Oh yuck!

Update: August 22, 2008 – Guglielmucci is now in the care of a trick cyclist.

HAT TIP: Albert Ross