As you may have already heard from Gospel Soundcheck blogger Joanne Brokaw, pastor and Planetshakers band member Michael Guglielmucci, recently confessed to lying about battling terminal leukemia, duping his congregation, fans, and most shockingly, his wife and family.
According to Australia’s Herald Sun, “The deception included conducting performances with an oxygen tube in his nose and telling audiences he had broken bones and other unexplained symptoms.”
Guglielmucci claims guilt stemming from his addiction to pornography actually created physical symptoms that included loss of hair and vomiting, which made it easy to keep his lie going.
Unfortunately, Guglielmucci isn’t the first Christian music star to confess to a porn addiction. Gospel superstar Kirk Franklin confessed a few years ago to stuggling with an addiction to porn since he was 8-years-old.

In an interview with the 700 Club’s Scott Ross, Franklin spoke about how his addiction started:

There’s always the boy who has the big brother who has the magazine under his bed. That’s how it starts. So the first time I ever saw one, I was around 8 or 9. I saw my first magazine, and from there I was addicted.

Franklin also appeared on Oprah in 2006 to bring the story of his struggle to a more mainstream audience, speaking about how as a teen he went to his pastor for help, to no avail.

“He sat back in his chair, and he took a puff out of his cigar,” Kirk remembers. “He said, ‘Oh, you’re young–you’ll grow out of it.’ He had no idea that he spoke death into my life. That shut me down because [I thought], ‘Well, someday I’ll grow out.’ [Instead], I grew in–and I grew in deep.”

Kirk eventually married, and managed to hide his addiction from his wife, Tammy. After he eventually confessed, she stayed by his side and prayed for him.
But that wasn’t enough to help him kick his porn habit. He once threw out all of his pornographic material, but went right back to it.

“I tried to go to sleep that night, and it was literally like a drug calling me,” he remembers. “About 3 or 4 in the morning, in my flip-flops and boxers, I got in my car and drove back to that Dumpster and dug [looking for my porn].”

It was only until Franklin met Pastor Tony Evans did someone finally acknowledge the severity of his problem and actively work to help him overcome it through counseling.
Today, Franklin has been clean for about 9 years. In he recent interview with Beliefnet, he spoke about his struggle with his faith and what keeps him fighting for it.
I think it would be great if Franklin reached out to Guglielmucci to provide advice on overcoming porn addiction. XXXChurch.com is another great resource Guglielmucci–or another else with a porn problem– could utilize for help.