The Man Who Claims To Be Jesus

(CBS4) DORAL Even as she is in the process of filing for divorce, the estranged wife of a South Florida preacher who claims to be the second coming of Christ still says he's divine...

...Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, a man who preaches a unique brand of religion. He leads his Miami-based Creciendo en Gracia (Growing in Grace) Movement...

...Though he has not been charged with any crime, the Miami Herald reports the US Attorney's office and the IRS are now investigating where exactly the church money is going.

...Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda preaches a unique brand of religion. He leads his Miami-based Creciendo en Gracia (Growing in Grace) Movement...

...Miami Herald reporter Jack Dolan uncovered court documents showing Miranda admits taking care of himself with more than $1 million in church money, including paying his first wife's $144,000 a year alimony and buying several personal properties. Because the church is a registered non-profit and receives tax breaks, Miranda can't legally do that...

...Though he has not been charged with any crime, the Miami Herald reports the U.S. Attorney's office and the IRS are now investigating where exactly the church money is going.

...The revelations from the witness stand, which experts say suggest violations of federal law, prompted a Miami-Dade circuit judge to send a transcript to federal prosecutors this month with a letter saying he was "ethically compelled" to bring it to their attention. The U.S. attorney in Miami has confirmed opening an investigation...

...De Jesus, 61, declined to be interviewed for this article. Instead, JoAnn and two of the ministry's board members answered questions. All three said the ministry has done nothing wrong....

...Corona Avenue in central Queens...Growing in Grace...

...Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda, the 61-year-old founder of this ministry, and he is known to his followers by the majestic title the Man Christ Jesus...and he and some of his followers have tattooed themselves with the number 666...

...its membership in New York is only about 150...

...known to its largely Spanish-speaking members as Creciendo en Gracia...

To whom do you compare Jesus Christ? Or at least someone who says he is Jesus Christ, and claims thousands of adherents who agree?

After all, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, 61, who preached before several hundred followers and a clutch of more conventional Christian protesters at an Orlando-area amphitheater last weekend, would seem to be a true original....Miami-based Creciendo en Gracia (Growing in Grace)...

...any Christian church, would regard de Jesus's claim to be THE Jesus as heretical...

...Jose de Jesus claims to be the second coming of Jesus Christ. He has a growing ministry in many different countries, and many children are being raised as his followers...

...a 60-year-old Puerto Rican whose legal name, to his pleasure, is Jose de Jesus, or "Jose of Jesus."...

...When asked to explain who he is, de Jesus responds: "Jesus Christ, man, the second manifestation, the Second Coming of Christ." He acknowledges that "it bothers a lot of people" that he calls himself Jesus...

(CBS) DORAL, Fla. More than 12 members of a Doral, Fla.-based church showed up at a tattoo parlor to get the number 666 tattooed on themselves as a show of faith to preacher Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda who is now sporting a '666' tattoo of his own.

"I am Jesus Christ, man," Miranda said in front of Miami CBS station WFOR-TV's news cameras. "The Second Coming of Christ."...

MIAMI, Florida (CNN) -- The minister has the number 666 tattooed on his arm.

But Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda is not your typical minister. De Jesus, or "Daddy" as his thousands of followers call him, does not merely pray to God: He says he is God...

The Second Coming?

Meet the man who says he is Jesus Christ...

...In the rapturous eyes of his flock, Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda is, in fact, the second coming of Christ. As the head of the Growing in Grace International Ministry, he presides over a sprawling organization that includes more than 300 congregations in two dozen countries, from Argentina to Australia. He counts more than 100,000 followers and claims to reach millions more through a 24-hour TV channel, a radio show and several Web sites...

An former convict in Miami is convinced that he's the second coming of Christ... and so do many others...

Self-proclaimed Messiah has four churches in state

Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda calls himself "God" -- as well as "millions of followers, growing in numbers everyday," according to the self-proclaimed prophet's website. That includes those in Massachusetts, where there are four churches across the state in his honor...

...While most Growing in Grace followers are Hispanic...

...According to the CBS4 report, members who have left the ministry call it a cult, saying it takes over and ruins lives...

(CBS4) BOSTON Is he a religious savior or a cult leader? A self-proclaimed messiah from Florida says it's his job to save humanity. His church is called "Creciendo en Gracia" -- or Growing in Grace Ministry -- and there are four congregations here in Massachusetts.

The church's leader is Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda and when asked who he is, he replies "I am Jesus Christ Man. . . the second coming of Christ."

There are now 300 congregations across the world...

...Cult expert Steven Hassan says this is a step by step seduction. Considered one of the nation's top authorities on cults, the Newton based author wrote "Releasing the Bonds." When asked what it is about this group that makes it destructive, he says, "it seems to have the top figure who claims to be God, who is perfect and is quoted as saying he has nothing to learn from anyone else. He wants to takeover the world."...

He makes a remarkable claim: that he is the second coming of Jesus Christ...

... "I am the second coming of Christ, that messiah that they’ve been waiting for," said Dr. Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda...

..."They don’t understand it. They call it a cult. If I'm a cult, I'm the best one. I love to direct this beautiful cult," said Dr. Miranda.

And he will be directing Creciendo in Gracia from Houston...

He makes a remarkable claim: that he is the second coming of Jesus Christ...

... Now this man could be your neighbor and who says he’s Christ, has moved to Houston...

... "They don't understand it. They call it a cult. If I'm a cult, I'm the best one. I love to direct this beautiful cult," said Dr. Miranda.

And he will be directing Creciendo in Gracia from Houston...

...ANNOUNCER: Tonight, why some call it a cult. And the church denies it....

...CNN's John Zarrella reports.

JOHN ZARRELLA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Nine bodyguards surround 60-year-old Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda. Dressed in a finely tailored suit, he greets his followers as he walks a red carpet into a 500 seat auditorium packed with members of his congregation...

...De Jesus is founder and leader of Creciendo en Gracia, or Growing in Grace. A religious sect that claims ... members around the world, but there's no way to know for sure...

...DE JESUS MIRANDA: Oh, I won't die. No, I won't die.

ZARRELLA: You're not dying?

DE JESUS MIRANDA: No, no, I won't die. Even if you tried to kill me...

...DE JESUS MIRANDA: He said I will appear for the second time without relationship to sin and that's what I'm doing. I do greater things than Jesus of Nazareth. Much greater...

...ZARRELLA: Does that make you greater than Jesus?

DE JESUS MIRANDA: I am greater than him...

...STEVE HASSAN, CULT EXPERT: Destructive religious cults are about fear, about control, about deception and manipulation and about making the leader wealthy and not about serving the downtrodden and the poor.

ZARRELLA: De Jesus' followers insist they are nothing like that...

...John Zarrella, CNN, Miami

PHILADELPHIA A man claiming to be the second coming of Jesus Christ is becoming a rich man, thanks to followers and their donations. But as CBS 3 Anchor Susan Barnett reports many people question if he is growing a church or a cult.

His name is Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda, but his followers call him Apostle, Dad or simply Jesus Christ Man...

...His website claims followers in many places, including in Allentown, Pennsylvania...

MIAMI, FLORIDA His name is Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda; his followers call him everything from apostle, to Dad, or simply Jesus Christ Man. De Jesus Miranda himself believes he's the living incarnation of 'Jesus Christ Man', "the second coming of Christ."...

...now lives in South Florida with his second wife...

...he presides over the "Creciendo en Gracia" or 'Growing in Grace Ministry' which he also calls 'God's Government on Earth'.

The modern Messiah's message is a worldwide one celebrated at more than 300 centers in Central and South America, Cuba and the United States...

...They also believe all other faiths are false and must be destroyed...

...Daniel Alvarez, Florida International University Religion professor.

Alvarez has a Masters Degree in Theology from Harvard Divinity School, and is among those who fear "Creciendo en Gracia" has the makings of a destructive cult...

Followers Claim Doral Man is God On Earth

Jose Luis de Jesus Claims There Is No Heaven, No Hell...

...(CBS4 News) DORAL His name is Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda; his followers call him everything from apostle to Dad, or simply Jesus Christ Man. De Jesus Miranda himself believes he's the living incarnation of "Jesus Christ Man," "the second coming of Christ."...

..."What disturbs me is that he fits into the typical mold of a cult leader, total complete submission to his authority," FIU Religion professor, Daniel Alvarez said.

Alvarez has a Masters Degree in Theology from Harvard Divinity School, and is among those who fear "Creciendo en Gracia" has the makings of a destructive cult...

..."I know were going to be running the whole world," de Jesus said...

Video - Transcript

...SCARBOROUGH: He calls himself the second coming of Jesus, and almost a million people around the world believe him. Meet the man and decide for yourself whether he's a Christian or a cult leader...

...SCARBOROUGH: This just in: Jesus is alive and well and living in south Florida, that according to a preacher who's convinced himself and nearly one million followers that he's the son of God living in the flesh among us. Now the "Today" show's Natalie Morales went down to Florida and sat down with this guy, who's accused of being a fanatical cult leader by many but is called Jesus by many others.

NATALIE MORALES, NBC CORRESPONDENT (voice-over):...He is 60-year-old Jose Luis de Jesus Miranda (ph) from Puerto Rico, a preacher and evangelist to be sure, but to his followers and in his own eyes, he's more than a man of God. Just ask him.

JOSE LUIS DE JESUS MIRANDA: I'm Jesus Christ (INAUDIBLE) in front of you....

They're waging a war on organized religion, they bring in millions of dollars, and defectors say they're a cult...

...Creciendo en Gracia, or Growing in Grace. It is headquartered in a drab Doral warehouse but has outposts throughout Latin America, as well as in Spain, Italy, Canada, and Australia. All told, the group claims 300 congregations with more than 100,000 members, plus a 24-hour cable channel that reaches two million homes. And it's growing. In the last year alone, Creciendo en Gracia has added nearly 100 churches to its roster.

The group is organized around José Luis De Jesus Miranda, a 59-year-old Puerto Rican man...

..."We're the government of God on Earth," explains De Jesus. "We will spread all over and rule the world. We will control the church, the economy, society, education, politics, technology. There will be no war, no corruption. I mean, if a lie can change the world, why can't the truth do it?"