Steve Hassan interviewed on Anderson Cooper’s 360 segment of the Jesus Miranda Growing in Grace Cult

This show airs Tues. July 17th at 10pm ET and 7pm PT on CNN.

More info on José Luis De Jesus Miranda and the Creciendo en Gracia at FreedomOfMind.com

Here is Wikipedias page on this growing and bizarre cult and the man who claims to be Jesus Christ, the Anti-Christ and Satan all rolled into one…

José Luis de Jesús Miranda

Miranda (b. 1946) is the founder and leader of Creciendo en Gracia (Growing In Grace International Ministry, Inc.) a ministry that teaches the doctrine of Grace and is based in Miami, Florida USA. De Jesus’ followers believe that he is the reincarnation of God on Earth, Jesus, the apostle Paul, an angel and an archangel. [1] He refers to himself as the Antichrist and exhibits a “666″ tattoo on his forearm.[1] He has also previously referred to himself as “Jesus Christ in the flesh”.[2][3]

Current movement

In 2007, the Dallas Morning News reported that De Jesús “preaches to followers in some 35 nations, mostly in Latin America, and has 287 radio programs and a 24-hour Spanish-language TV network.”[4] Creciendo en Gracia has been described as a cult by cult expert Rick Ross, and others.[5]

In early 2007, he acknowledged others’ claims that he was the Antichrist and explained that the term is true. He says it applies because people are no longer to follow the Jewish teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, and start acknowledging his (De Jesus’) mission on the cross. According to De Jesús, “Antichrist” means “no longer following Jesus of Nazareth as he lived in the days of his flesh”. Naturally, controversy has surrounded these declarations.[1][6]

Most recently, followers have shown their support by getting “666″ tattoos on their bodies.”666″, Miranda explains, is not a sign of the devil (he preaches that the devil was destroyed), but the number of the Antichrist.[citation needed] The Antichrist, he says, is a term he accepts because “we are no longer supposed to follow Jesus of Nazareth, therefore we are antichrists.”

Early life

De Jesus grew up in poverty in Puerto Rico. De Jesus has said that during this period he served stints in prison for petty theft[7]. He was forced to enter a long term residential drug treatment program in New York City. A former heroin addict who claims to have been delivered by the power of God, De Jesús declares to have converted to Christianity while in prison. Immediately following his conversion he became a self-taught student of the Bible. He became a Pentecostal minister and then a member of the Southern Baptist Church.[2] In a recent program on ABC, he told of the experience that led him to become this controversial “messiah”: Allegedly, praying one day, two angels appeared to him and endowed him with the calling of being the second coming of Christ.

Originally he declared himself simply as a pastor spreading a new doctrine, but always understanding the growth of the ministry (hence the name) and of its members, but in 1999, he declared himself as “the Other” who would pave the way for the second coming of Christ. In 2004, he started to refer to himself as God, returned in human.He explained that, in 1973, the resurrected Christ “integrated” himself within him.

De Jesus started the International Ministry Growing in Grace, Inc. in the mid-1980s and the ministry currently has a physical presence in thirty countries, however statistics show that more than 103 countries tune in every time he talks to the world through his live conferences on Wednesdays.[citation needed] The Ministry CEG reports to have centers in 12 States within the United States, including locations in Hartford, Connecticut, and Miami, Florida.[citation needed]

Notes on De Jesus TV segment

De Jesus has gained attention in Puerto Rico in particular, where his denomination has opened centers in Guaynabo, Arecibo, Yabucoa, Ponce and Hormigueros. He has drawn some public comments from television personalities and has been featured on Puerto Rican media. On November 17, 2006, Puerto Rican newspaper El Vocero announced that Miranda planned a visit to Puerto Rico on December 17th of that year. Univision’s Que Suerte show allowed thirty minutes without commercial interruptions to “the Man Christ Jesus” (as de Jesus Miranda is called by his followers), causing even more controversy because such uninterrupted airtime has never been allowed to anyone in the history of Puerto Rican television.[citation needed] Much to critics’ surprise the show generated the highest ratings of any TV show in the month of December, even surpassing the ratings of the live broadcast of the Latin Grammys in November by a substantial amount of viewers.

References

^ a b He Calls Himself God. MSNBC (February 5, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
^ ‘Scarborough Country’ for August 25. MSNBC (August 28, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
^ The Man Who Claims To Be Jesus. CBS 4 (September 12, 2006). Retrieved on 2007-02-22.
^ Miami-based ‘Antichrist’ banned from Guatemala. DMN (22 April 2007). Retrieved on 2007-04-25.
^ “Creciendo en Gracia”. “Rick A. Ross Institute” (2005). Retrieved on 2007-04-25.
^ Miami Church Brands Members With ‘666′ Tattoos. FOX News (February 24, 2007). Retrieved on 2007-03-04.
^ Crowd Packs Amphitheater For Man Claiming He’s Jesus Christ Reincarnated. local6.com (6 May 2007). Retrieved on 2007-05-07.

IMHO
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Posted by David Pike on July 15, 2007.
Filed under: News