New Zealand’s cult watch has placed Destiny Church at the danger level. The formerly apostolic, now independent prosperity gospel New Zealand mega church had 700 male church members swear an oath of allegiance to the self-proclaimed bishop of Destiny, Brian Tamaki this weekend.
Destiny Church falls under the cult of personality, and theologically and sociologically is authoritarian.
The New Zealand Herald has details of the ‘covenant oath’. 700 male members of the church were given a covenant ring after swearing allegiance. Among other things the male church members swore:
“Above all, we stand here today in the presence of God to enter into this sacred covenant with our man of God, Bishop Brian Tamaki”.
…”To you Bishop we pledge our allegiance, our faithfulness and loyalty. We pledge to serve the cause that is in your heart and to finish that work. Success to you and success to those who help you – for God is with you.”
It gets more Jonestown and Moonie from New Zealand’s bishop of bling.
The men see themselves as sons, with Tamaki as their father. The rules of Destiny’s covenant are laid out in Protocols and Requirements Between Spiritual Father & His Spiritual Sons.
They are to obey him, honour him, imitate him, follow his faith and give him their loyalty and strength.
The document is laid out in several sections such as Public Conduct, Conduct Toward’s Bishop, Discernment, Etiquette, Church Service  Protocols and Supporting Bishop’s Function & Ministry.
Under Public Conduct:
…the sons will in all conversation always speak of Mr Tamaki in a favourable and positive light; and in formal and/or public occasions, they will always address him and his wife, Hannah, first in acknowledgments and addresses at meetings “as a sign of respect to the father of the movement”.
If any “son” is honoured either by the church or secularly, he is to mention his “mentors and role models” – Mr and Mrs Tamaki – “because Bishop is one of God’s best-known representatives in our country”.If any “son” is honoured either by the church or secularly, he is to mention his “mentors and role models” – Mr and Mrs Tamaki – “because Bishop is one of God’s best-known representatives in our country”.
Conduct Towards Bishop;
…the “sons” are told that “Bishop is the tangible expression of God”, so they need to understand how to properly approach their man of God “to protect the anointing and not transgress this special relationship”.
They are always to be respectful and honourable in Mr Tamaki’s presence. “Even though he is very sociable and open – remember who he is!” They must never be “in his face” and must protect him from outsiders who attempt to do that.
And since “Bishop carries our vision and our anointing for the future and hope of our families and offspring, we ought to guard, protect and watch out for him and Ps [Pastor] Hannah”.
…They must ensure that Mr Tamaki and his wife are both honoured, cared for and given appropriate respect. “Bishop is a people person. Often it is better we offend others than him.”
Under discernment the men are told to ‘feel Bishop’s flow and be attentive to his thoughts:
“Whenever Bishop speaks all other talking stops: give him your full attention. Be careful not to cut in on him when he is speaking and ensure others don’t either.
“Don’t start talking or gesturing to somebody else while Bishop is speaking.”
The “sons” must never openly disagree with Mr Tamaki in front of others and must “be careful not to become familiar (which can lead to contempt)” with him “due to his friendliness and openness”
Under Etiquette, when Tamaki and his wife enter a room, the ‘sons’ are to stand and remain standing until the Tamaki’s are seated.
Under Church Service Protocols:
…the men are encouraged to sit as close as possible to the front of the church to be nearer to Mr Tamaki and to be vocal during his preaching, affirming what he has to say with “amen” and “that’s right”, clapping, shouting and laughing. This sort of participation is said to build “an atmosphere that is conducive to supernatural events”.
They are told to bring Bible, pen, paper or laptop to note down Mr Tamaki’s sermons which “shows how highly you value the Word of God from Bishop’s mouth”.
Sons can buy notebooks along with other church paraphernalia at the church store. Sons are to attend services believing God speaks through Tamaki, they are to dress like him, smile, look happy and be friendly toward visitors.
Under Supporting Bishop’s Function and Ministry, they are to make sure Tamaki and his wife are honoured and receive gifts on special occasions.
…the “sons” are encouraged to find out Mr Tamaki’s speaking itinerary and travel to other churches and engagements to support him, because a team of men around their bishop “reflects his importance to them”.
…They must never tolerate anyone (regardless of who they are) speaking or talking critically of Mr Tamaki and his wife/family or the church. “You are not only to stop them in their tracks but warn them that they criticise you when they criticise Bishop.”
They are to protect him and his family because Tamaki:
…will be more criticised, scrutinised and demonised than most others because of who he is and what he carries.
…You will hear all sorts of statements and opinions but you must be prepared to ignore them and consistently hold him in the same high regard no matter what you hear.The document says Bishop Tamaki is human and will make mistakes but the ‘sons’ must be prepared to defend him from the problems that arise from his mistakes.
A loyal man is supposed to ‘cushion’ the effect of a mistake on Bishop and to protect him. NEVER intentionally expose his weakness.
This elevates the messenger over the message and puts glory in the wrong place. There is nothing biblical about this covenant, respect and honour is earned, not ordered in a document of rules.
It’s one thing to have a code of conduct, quite another to swear oaths and hand out rings.
I haven’t found the document online. Yet. The church website isn’t loading. No surprise there.
“But above all things, my brethren, swear not…but let your yes be your yes; and your no, no; lest you fall into condemnation†James 5:12
Jesus:
But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.Matthew 5:34-37
Brian Tamaki – wiki
Eleanor Black: All grown up now: our very own evangelical cult
Kiwiblog: The cult of Destiny
Big News blog: God is not happy with Brian Tamaki
The Dunedin School: Is Destiny Church Becoming a Cult. Nope
Brian Edwards: ‘Bishop’ Brian Tamaki, Mad, Bad, Niether or Both?
Good catch. The closest analog I can think of is the Shepherding movement that went through a lot of charismatic circles a couple of decades ago, where there was way too much control exerted by church leaders.
Jonestown and the Moonies are stretching it a bit, since they haven’t done mass suicide (yet) nor have made Brian the second messiah.
They do have a “cult of personality” going; recall that Khrushchev coined the phrase to describe Stalin. That’s a fair shot.
Cult of personality, yes. Cult…. on the preponderance of the evidence…. yes. It’s a slick slope from authoritarian conservative to such a hard-core top-down critter.
Density Church Has Arisen From The Dead!
Hallelujah at the power of res-erection!
Our spanking brand new site is here at http://DensityChurch.net/
Yours in the Spaghetti Monster, Lord High Bishop Brian Tamariki
Mark. I think the Sheparding/Covering movement is a better choice than what I said, thanks.
I checked up on comments in NZ before heading to bed last night, and people who left Destiny are concerned for family, there is shunning going on.
Closed movement behavior is progressive, predictably this is just a next step.
Moonies had to swear allegiance, Jones followers eventually did, it might have been worthwhile to outline the steps Destiny has taken.
Watched an interview with Tamaki and his political right hander Lewis this morning.
Their reasoning falls flat, the interviewer gave them lots of room.
I’d like to see this document.
Hey BD…
Does commenter 2 appear to be the grand poobah himself? ISP from New Zealand?
Lots of icky stuff here…good catch.
(Spaghetti Monster?)
Well, I’m truly dismayed to see this going on in the land of my birth – I guess it shouldn’t be such a shock considering the church in N.Z. has been going the same way as the North American church, but somehow that doesn’t temper the utter grievousness of it all. It’s very sobering to think this is a glimpse of the future, of where the apostolic movement may be heading??
Tamaki looks more like a mafia hit man than a humble disciple of Jesus (though of course looks are often deceiving, it seems not in this case). Maybe a few more years hence and the people will have to genuflect and kiss his ring. May the Lord have mercy and rescue his sheep from wolves like this!
“But above all things, my brethren, swear not…but let your yes be your yes; and your no, no; lest you fall into condemnation†James 5:12
Jesus:
But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one.Matthew 5:34-37″
Amen – so very apropos, and thus we are seeing the resulting evil and condemnation right before our eyes. (thanks for sharing that – bet you could preach/write a great sermon BeneD)…If the church is in such a condition, it scares me to think of what’s brewing in the hearts of the world at large….All I can say is, come quickly Lord Jesus…
Hang on now…
Commenter 2 writes a blog site spoofing the original. Thus his *Density* Church.
oh, so that’s it – I thought His Royal High and Mightiness just had a problem with spelling… hee-hee-hoo-hoo-ha! Oy….
New Zealand Herald today says it was 30 bucks for a church member to get into this oath service, plus:
“But costs didn’t stop at the door. Oath takers paid $295 – plus a $5 administration fee – for the ring symbolising their loyalty to Bishop Tamaki. Some were given the option of paying the ring off over time.
Members were also asked for $10 to fund the Destiny School building extension, and a gold-coin donation to Destiny Television Ministries.”
http://tiny.cc/KzIM7
The document does contain this:
““Honour the king (Bishop Brian Tamaki).â€
While Tamaki denied his authoritarianism and grandiousity in his TV, he started off his oath service comparing himself to King David. Tamaki can’t understand the ruckus about cult structure.
Meantime Destiny Church fired off a press release to TV3 saying their report was inaccurate, but does not address any of the supposed inaccuracies. Destiny claims the media did not approach them, then say Tamaki had refused to participate.
http://www.scoop.co.nz/stories/PO0910/S00427.htm
Absolutely horrendous – the thing is, which came first, the chicken or the egg – I really think this fellow has been just as corrupted and deceived by the people’s idolatry of him, as he has corrupted and led the people astray. The fact that this is hitting the news may be a sign the Lord is beginning to deal with this horror show conducted in His name – I sure hope so!
Therese:
As a born Kiwi you probably know and understand the criticism of Destiny and Tamaki goes way beyond tall poppy thinking and the racism card Destiny leaders keep trying to use.
Tamaki has what- two companies?
I know he has his production company and product company, all the proceeds go to him.
This meeting was the yearly conference for all the Destiny Churches, and all are accountable to him.
Destiny Church has taken some serious turns into deception, increasing isolating exclusivism, (especially since the failure of the Destiny Party) information control, relationship and personal identity control.
Wow – I thought oaths of fealty died out with the Middle Ages – apparently not.
…this is almost too awful to comprehend, wow, it’s worse than what we’ve seen here so far in the church that I know of, or maybe just more overt…absolutely the almighty dollar at the centre of it all – and that’s the problem with people wanting “kings” as opposed to shepherds – kings are dedicated to their own glory and the building of their own kingdoms, and use the people like serfs and slaves to fulfill their megalomaniac dreams cloaked in spirituality. I’m just very grieved about this on more than one level, and pray for mercy for these people who seem to be caught in an ever-tightening snare. I wish Tamaki would heed the warning in the parable about Lazarus the beggar and the rich man, when the Lord told the rich man after he died that he had already received his comfort in this life…And the Lord has been very busy toppling idols in His house lately, I don’t see why He would stop now, in fact I have a feeling what we have seen so far is only His warm-up!!
TV3 Closeup:
Tamaki and Lewis defending ‘their’ covenant etc.
http://tiny.cc/3r8zN
Excellent blog post on Destiny:
http://tinyurl.com/yl9x9n5
“The fact that Destiny is seen by some of its members as the redeeming influence in their lives is, I suspect, partly what enables Destiny to have the kind of influence on them that it has. Destiny – Brian Tamaki – has reached into their lives like some sort of superstar and turned them around. Now he is their man and they will follow him to the ends of the earth.
I don’t know how much good it would do to someone in that position to offer any sort of plea, but for what it is worth, if by some chance you’re a part of this movement, leave. Leave without delay, and don’t look back. For those Christians outside of the movement, it’s never easy to know just what approach to take, but I think it should be something along these lines: These people are our fellow Christians. They are family. They also believe very much in doing what they are convinced God wants from them, and they are not doing anything that they believe is at odds with following Christ. In other words, they aren’t against us, they are (in principle) for us. However we approach them, we’ve got to show patience and grace, realising that they genuinely want to do the Christian thing in all this. By all means pray for them. We want to see them out of controlling and harmful situations like this as soon as possible. It’s not something we can be passive about, because those in control of their movement are anything but passive, and we certainly haven’t seen the last of what they are doing.
Lastly, the Christian churches in general need to capture something of why people are getting caught up in Destiny Church in the first place. We need to think hard about why some people are drawn there, and what they see lacking in our own churches.”
They are entertainers in and of ministry and thats about all.
Looks a ‘real cool dude in his miami sunglasses now don’t he’ ! and slick’d back hair, speaks volumes to me. He likes himself thats the problem. Jesus’s agony and anguish paid for this dude LORD HAVE MERCY
Some of these churches give people a ‘good night out’ and the worship to go with it. You can be any age, (unlike in a disco) don’t need to pay as much at the door or for the refreshments, and can get a high and even a blessing to ‘send you home with. Many times I have heard it said that both men and women go looking for partners in a church, because ! A christian is supoposed to be ‘above the rest of us and ‘very morally sound’. Thats why churches like Hillsong have such a large youth following. Its legalised disco, I mean its all done in the name of Jesus so that makes it ok right !.
Its just one big party man.
JESUS WHO’S HE
Maybe thats why we are losing sight of the real thing and being given the counterfeit lord in these last days.
Everybody just wants a jesus who pays lip service to them. not one that actually shows us the wheat from the chaff, the hope of his things to come, the embalming of his embrace, the truth, because hey man does he really exist who can tell ! we can get away with just about anything using his name. WHOOPS
Isn’t he suppoed to convict them in their unbelief ! Can’t wait to see that one.
Some may be interested in the Parallels and similarities between Destiny Church and a TV Programme screening in New Zealand called The Cult.
This Destiny thing has been big news in New Zealand in the main newspapers and on all TV news channels, each have covered this multiple times for a week so far.
Mind if I say one more thing:
A cult draws in then sustains that which it has drawn in. When you have an atmosphere of all for one and one for all you have power and in the above its male power. The rings are obviously about fraternity. a mark of a covenant with, I leave you to determin who their ‘master is’. Generally speaking that power and covenant has to grow in order to sustain its beliefs and positions and power so in order to justify the direction they ‘grow in they twist the bible to justify both that direction and themselves. Power does things to people it makes them ‘attractive’ shall we say and look no further than Bill Clinton, and so many others in positions of so called power that have fallen to its ‘temptations’ ( I am being polite here!) Look at Hitlers ‘pulling power for example and ask yourselves what the heck did they see in him that had them ‘follow him’ in all of his directions. We are told that David fought against the spirit not the flesh so then spirit leads the flesh and that just about says it all. Most cults can be called ‘odd’ for example the snake cults in America, the Texas cults, the Davidians etc., and so odd is where they go and operate from and so they are open to odd and more odd as they walk. Odd in there hands can very quickly become normal if we are not careful, again look at Hitler. There is a spirit Jesus whooped called Legions. Which master then is ‘pulling the strings’ here.
Oh My Goodness…it just gets worse & worst doesnt it? Yes Im one of the three ex-destiny men whose chose to expose this when it first came up. I left destiny after six years of active duty within its ranks. This is truely a dangerous cult if ever Ive seen one. Maybe someone should organise an ‘Enough Is Enough’ march outside destiny church? My wife is still indoctrinated enough in destinys B/S that she upholds them above her husband…so much for their own marriage doctrine. How the hell did this get so far out of hand?
P.S. in New Plymouth, we were paying $330 for our rings…Hmmmm wonder where the difference went?
hi, Ive been part of destiny church for 3yrs and beleive it is a cult. he is an anti christ and very controlling.
I can only pray that God intervenes and shows him the real truth and that he will repent.
my heart goes out to people in destiny church, that God will open the spiritual eyes and ears of people in destiny for them to uphold and seek God not brian
pastor of destiny australia has left, fed up with their doctrinal error re: convenant and control
People who have remained are brainwashed and believe those people who have left desitny australia are the problem! we are set free, and rather obey God than follow a man whom they highly esteem than God!
Pingback: Destiny Church revolt – Destiny disaster? at Bene Diction Blogs On
Well I have the answer!!! Drumroll Please…Believe it or not, as you always have a choice.
The One True Church…The Church of Jesus Christ Of Latter Day Saints..
Enough Said.
Wow! Im from Australia and i heard a fair bit about the destiny church pastor in Aussie leaving.. Its amazing whats happening in NZ. I agree with you, Brian Tamaki looks more like a Mafia hitman than a Bishop.
That man needs prayer..not criticism.. who are we to judge?
Pray God has his way.
I am a Salvation Army member and committed Christian.
There is only one king and that is Jesus Christ our Lord.
It’s quite clear that this man is evil and rising as another Hitler or Mussolini with Blackshirts of men and boys.
He had his own political party like Hitler and Mussolini, attempting a sought of ‘Putsch’ or march on parliament as Hitler did in 1923 at the beginnings of the Nazi party.
An attempt which failed.
The difference was that the Beerhall Putsch was an armed attempt to seize power by Hitler and his Brownshirts.
Whereas Tamaki’s Destiny Church’s Blackshirted ‘Enough is Enough’ march on parliament was an unarmed protest rather than an attempted coup.
However, it’s possible that Destiny Church or ‘Destiny Cult’ as it should otherwise be called, could arm itself and become New Zealand’s Wako if not stopped as soon as possible here.
peddlle the word of God for profit
It’s amazing how far this is gone. And it’s amazing how one man thinks that he is better than the rest. I mean seriously, this man sounds like he is just living his own fantasy. But i don’t want to be too critical here because who knows, he might be right, i mean didn’t a lot of people ridicule the first apostles? Although i do believe that this charismatic man has gone too far and has cared too much about himself rather than his own people.
It truly is sad how our world comes to this. If God truly is up there i can imagine that he is crying. I would really like to meet this guy and he would really need some strong reasoning to convince me that what he is doing is the right thing.