Followers swear by Christ,'anti-Christ'*

 From correspondents in Guatemala City

April 23, 2007 11:40am
Article from: Agence France-Presse

HUNDREDS of followers of a controversial preacher who calls himself
Jesus, the anti-Christ and the Apostle have gathered in Guatemala City
to listen to Puerto Rican evangelist Jose Luis Miranda.

"I would give my life for the apostle'' - another name Mr Miranda uses -
said Sergio Ruben Brola, bishop in Argentina of Miranda's Growing in
Grace church, a spreading movement in Latin America and the US.

"In Argentina, people give their lives to a football team, so how could
I not give my life to my 'Father'?'' as he calls Mr Miranda.

The occasion was a weekend seminar in Antigua Guatemala with Mr Miranda,
61, once a teenage heroin addict but who today heads a church that does
not recognise sin or the devil, but sees his followers as perfect in spirit.

The church says it has 300 schools in 30 countries and its internet
broadcasts claim an audience of millions.

Mr Miranda even worships the anti-Christ, and reportedly has tattooed on
his body the number 666, a symbol of the anti-Christ.

Several countries in Central America have banned the preacher, citing
the disruptions caused by his followers, after pressure from local
churches, Catholic and Protestant.

Indeed, his church meetings, while peaceful, have led to shouting and
pushing matches, when his followers have broken up Good Friday
processions and torn down religious imagery.

"When I left the religious system, I was a marked man,'' Mr Brola said.

He said the Catholic Church "is corrupt, has committed genocide. That is
why they do not want to accept the Man, Jesus Christ".

Mr Miranda "freed me. He rescued me", said Mr Brola, who recounted his
life as an evangelical preacher for 23 years and was also a drug addict.

A Honduran man at the retreat, Miguel Molina, said he would give his
life for "Daddy'':

"He is life, love - everything I have is thanks to him.''

Mr Molina owns three taxis, with the number 666 painted on the side,
which has cost him some customers, he admitted.

"That is part of life,'' he said. "It is written that we will be
persecuted for our belief in our father.''

Another recent convert to Growing in Grace, Abner Murillo from Mexico,
said he left his job of 25 years as pastor of an evangelical Assembly of
God.

"I was not manipulated. I left my reputation and my position because I
was an international pastor. I was going to preach in Central and South
America. I was well known, but these seven months have been the happiest
of my life,'' he said.

However, not all has been pleasant. He said he was shot while driving
his car, and a bullet smashed his femur. Doctors told him he would have
difficulty walking, and so prescribed use of a wheelchair for five months.

"A week ago I was still in the wheelchair, but Father told me to get up
and I did. Now I do not need the wheelchair. The doctors were amazed,''
he said.

"What do you call that? A miracle,'' he said.