Miami Church brands its followers with 666 tattoos

strange and frightening things are happening in our world today and the best i can say is "we better get set for the worst" 

i picked up this story from another blog but brace yourselves coz its not an easy thing to read.

from will edia

members of Growing in Grace Church, located in Miami USA are said to have emulated their pastor Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda by branding themselves with *666* tattoos, as seen above.

Members of of the controversial religious sect headquartered in Doral, said they were following the example of their leader, Jose Luis De Jesus Miranda, who has claimed to be Jesus and recently declared himself the Antichrist.


Critics have called De Jesus a cult leader who manipulates followers. Church members say he has brought them happiness and spiritual fulfillment.

It’s a sign most Christians would shun, because for centuries the numbers have been associated with Satan. But for the 30 or so church members who branded themselves with 666 and SSS -- the initials of De Jesus’ motto, “salvo siempre salvo,” or “saved always saved” -- it’s a mark of their absolute faith in De Jesus.

Church members say the symbol doesn’t connect them to Satan but rather to De Jesus’ claim that he has replaced Christ’s teachings with a new gospel.

Scholars and critics of the movement say the tattoos offer frightening evidence of the influence De Jesus commands over his followers.

De Jesus --who preaches that sin and the devil were destroyed when Jesus died on the cross and that God’s chosen already have been saved -- has built a massive movement around his claim to divinity. Followers call him “Daddy” and “God” and lavish him with $5,000 Rolexes and sometimes 40 percent or more of their salaries.

Christian leaders have denounced De Jesus, saying he distorts the Bible.

De Jesus had just a few hundred followers when he launched his church in a Hialeah warehouse about 20 years ago. Today, he commands a global movement from his Doral headquarters that boasts 335 education centers, 200 pastors, 287 radio programs and a 24-hour Spanish-language TV network that’s available to 2 million homes — including by special request from some U.S. cable companies. Only De Jesus and his right hand man, Carlos Cestero, are authorized to preach.

In his sermons, De Jesus emphasizes wealth and success as a sign of God’s favor. Many of his members are business owners who give a percentage of their corporate profits to De Jesus, said Alvaro Albarracin, who runs the film production company MiamiLa Entertainment, said he gave 20 percent of his profit to the movement when he sold his Web-hosting company, Dialtone, for more than $16 million in 2001.
“For all of those people who pray for us to come out of this movement, this shows that this is it, there’s no going back,”one of the members Roca said of her tattoos. “This is to make sure that everyone relates me to that vision.”

“Antichrist” is the latest in a string of titles De Jesus has bestowed on himself.

In 1988, De Jesus announced he was the reincarnation of the Apostle Paul. In 1999, he dubbed himself “the Other,” a spiritual super being who would pave the way for Christ’s second coming. In 2004, he proclaimed himself to be Jesus Christ. That claim caused some prominent members to defect from the movement — including De Jesus’ first wife, Nydia, and his son Jose Luis Jr., who started his own church in Puerto Rico.

In January, during a packed worship service at the church, De Jesus took off his coat and revealed the numbers 666 on his forearm.

“This is a congregation of Antichrists,” De Jesus said, drawing whistles and cheers.

The number 666 appears in the Book of Revelation, a portion of the New Testament that details the prophet John’s apocalyptic vision of the rise of the Antichrist, the tribulation and Christ’s return. In Revelation, a horned beast appears on earth and requires everyone to get his mark — 666 — on the right hand or forehead.

Experts on new religious movements say De Jesus’ opposition to other religions, and his claim to be the only legitimate spiritual authority, resemble the teachings of some cults.

De Jesus’ followers have lashed out against organized Christianity because they believe their prophet holds the true gospel, they say. His adherents have disrupted Catholic processions on Good Friday and protested outside an evangelical church gathering in Miami’s Tropical Park. Last July, they tore up literature published by the Jehovah’s Witnesses and other Christian movements during a march in downtown Miami.

If this is not a sign of end time, how then can you describe this?

uwillcgossip.com