A former Aum Shinrikyo doomsday cult member awaiting trial after 17 years on the run is still brainwashed.
Also: Destiny Church’s controversial, self-appointed ‘bishop’ Brian Tamaki told his devoted followers that God wanted them to give high-denomination bills to his church.
Brian Tamaki is exhorting his followers at Destiny Church to leave behind houses, jobs — even family members — to join him at a “City of God” he is building in New Zealand.
There are concerns about the church’s cult-like elements, both theologically and sociologically.
Destiny Church’s plans for its own ‘town’ in South Auckland, New Zealand, could be in line for millions of dollars of Government funding.
Meanwhile the church refutes speculation it will use public money to fund a school it plans to open in South Auckland later this year.
New Zealand’s Destiny Church — considered a cult of Christianity — has received $860,000 in Government funding for its social services projects.
The church has attracted criticism in the past over its controversial stance on homosexuality and claims from former churchgoers that it is a money-making venture.
Destiny Church’s self-styled bishop Brian Tamaki has appalled the Christian community by denying the bodily resurrection of Jesus Christ, an essential fundamental tenet of Christian faith.
A comprehensive dossier compiled by Mark Vrankovich, founding director of the Auckland-based international organisation Cultwatch, reveals that Mr Tamaki dropped this inexplicable heresy on his congregation in sermons beginning in May last year.
Destiny Church leader Brian Tamaki says his $1 million-plus home and $75,000 car are “not much” of a reward for decades of clean and righteous living and taking his message to the masses.
But a former high-ranking Destiny member told the New Zealand Herald he and others left because people were hearing less about Jesus Christ and hearing more about the church’s leader.
Destiny Church‘s self-proclaimed Bishop, Brian Tamaki, said he feels uncomfortable with members of his parish giving him gifts but the rules were written by the church’s elders.
He said he had been ready to take a vow of poverty but that was not what God wanted.
New pastors have been appointed to run Brisbane’s Destiny Church after their predecessor and more than half the congregation walked out of last Sunday’s service.
Brian Tamaki dismissed reports of a split within Destiny as “grossly exaggerated” and accused the media of being “funny and weird”.
Destiny Church ministers and leaders are heading to its Brisbane branch after more than half the congregation – including its pastor – walked out.
“You might think I’m stupid for going into the church in the first place. But I found out it was a cult after I went in,” one former member says.
Cult-like groups are on the rise in New Zealand. Now the two-part Inside New Zealand: How To Spot A Cult documentary uncovers what really goes on inside these often controversial groups.
The two-part documentary consists of ex-believers’ stories, and investigates the similarities they say exist between groups including the Exclusive Brethren, Scientology, Centrepoint, Gloriavale, Avatar and the International Church of Christ.