"The same spirit that was in Jesus of Nazareth, and the same spirit is in me. He came to me. He [integrated] with my person in 1973." de Jesus says this happened when two angels came to him in a vision, and while he admits there's no real way for him to prove that he's Christ, he says his followers aren't asking for proof.
"So you tell the millions of followers I have that … this guy is a liar. You know what are they going to say? Is that I prefer his lies than what religion gave me. I prefer, see because when they believe in what I teach, they activate angels in their life."
His followers do seem happy. They greet him with mariachi bands at airports and often collapse in tears when they see him preach. But when he speaks to them, it is without theatrics. No holy rolling, no healing -- it's a pretty straightforward lesson in the fundamentals of what he believes. And it's an upbeat, no-fault, sin-free message. This self-proclaimed Jesus does not believe in sin, hell, the devil or damnation of any kind.
"Before the presence of God, there's no more sin," he says. And with no sin, de Jesus teaches his followers, there's no devil and no need for prayer, because after Jesus of Nazareth died and was resurrected, one can literally do no wrong in God's eyes.
De Jesus says things like murder and theft are crimes, but not sins, and that people are punished for these crimes on earth. "Heaven doesn't have anything to do with your behavior," he says.
And de Jesus practices what he preaches: He loves women and has been married twice. He smokes cigarettes and while enjoying a glass of scotch, he says, "Jesus drank wine because he didn't have Dewar's."
De Jesus doesn't mind that his ministry often gathers in the corner tavern. "Like my former, Jesus of Nazareth, he used to go to places like this and the religious people, they used to criticize him. I'm just doing the same kind of thing."
But he does draw the line: no drugs, and he says no getting drunk.