He called himself Father Gabriel. He was a “self-proclaimed” modern-day prophet of God. He came to the town… where we were living… in the early 1980’s.

He set up shop in a store-front and announced pompously that he had special gifts from God… which no other living person in the world possessed. With TV and radio spots, with Billboards and newspaper ads, he proclaimed boldly that all who followed him and put their faith in him and joined this church would be blessed with great wealth and perfect health. The great wealth, he said, would come quickly to all those who joined his Father Gabriel Prosperity Plan.

To assure your place in the Prosperity Plan, all you had to do was pay 100 dollars down and then send in 20 dollars per week to keep you in one prosperity plan. When you paid your mon…