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If God made himself flesh and bone and walked the streets of this world beside us, would we recognize him or her? Would he wear denim or cords, boots or tennis shoes? Would he listen to an iPod gently streaming Joan Osbourne into his ears? Seeing him in our own form would we recognize a supreme creator or would we assume insanity and marginalize his words and actions? What would it take to believe, to convince yourself to heed his unlikely words and cryptic scriptures of end times and judgment days? How would we know — how could we know?
As it stands, the world's population of Christians is growing at a rate of 1.3 percent annually and has a fellowship of over 2.1 billion followers. That means, nearly one-third of the world's entire human population is of a Christian faith. Whether they are Catholic, High Anglican or Protestant, though they sometimes may lock horns on certain subjects, they believe and wait for a singular historical event that will change the world forever. They wait for a day when Jesus Christ will revisit the earth, God in human form.
Many believers sense that this event is nearing and will occur sometime within their own lifetime. War in the Middle East, the persecution of Jews and Christians the world over, the secularization of society and reliance on science versus faith, and the establishment of a nation state of Israel (which is the historical setting for Armageddon): all evidence end times scripture in the minds of many Christians, as they wait for God to appear.
Little known to most persons, in a small warehouse in Doral, Florida, and in dozens of churches in dozens of countries worldwide, congregations are rallying behind an unlikely pastor by the name of Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda.
In 1973, after years of battling a heroin addiction, spending time in and out of prison for petty theft and bouncing between Christian denominations, 61 year old Jose had a vision. He was awakened from sleep one night by two large dark figures standing by his bedside proclaiming the presence of God. It was then, says de Jesus, that God "integrated" himself into the body and spirit of the Puerto Rican minister. 13 years later the unlikely pastor founded his first church called Creciendo in Gracia or "Growing In Faith" and began preaching an unorthodox gospel, one that included the premise that all sin had been destroyed by the crucifixion and that no wrong could be done before the eyes of the Lord.
As his ministry spread his divine claims grew. In 1998, de Jesus announced that he was the reincarnation of the apostle, Paul, who persecuted Christians in the name of God 2000 years ago. Then, just two years ago he proclaimed that, not only had God integrated himself into his person, but that he was now, actually the "Christ God" himself in human form. Now, as of a few weeks ago Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda claims that he is the Antichrist and divulged the fact that he has a very real tattoo of the cryptic number 666 permanently etched into his forearm. Jose explains that the Antichrist is not the devil or Satan but rather that it is just a name for the successor of Christ on earth. In so much, he has dictated that he no longer condones the worship of Christ because he is now the focal point of the Christian faith. In a gesture to support their pastor, a portion of his congregation is also adorning themselves with the mark of 666.
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