New Zealand Cults, Sects, Religions, Christian Organisations, and other groups.

Groups List: O

Hot picks: Occult, Oneness Pentecostal, Open Brethren

O

O' My Heart, Jessa. Jessa O' My Heart is the present name of Gerald Hart Attrill, formerly of Tasmania, Australia. He is the founder and leader of the scam/cult Hermes Far Eastern Shining. He also calls himself the Alchemist.

Occult. Defined by Webster's dictionary as "Of, relating to, or dealing in matters regarded as involving the unction or influence of supernatural agencies or some secret knowledge of them." For a Christian this amounts to any supernatural power outside of God, which basically covers anything dealing with crystal healing, divination and fortune telling (including horoscopes), possibly hypnotism, magic (not the sleight-of-hand stuff), ouija boards, psychics, satanism, wicca, witchcraft, etc. The Harry Potter books and movies promote the occult as being OK, which it is not. The word "occult" literally means hidden, and is not the same thing as a "cult" (most cults are not occult). For more information see the Occult Closeup.

One World Volunteers Institute. A "school" based in Norway, a front group for Tvind. Has run advertisements and held meetings in Auckland and Wellington.

Oneness Pentecostal. Heretical Christian movement followed by denominations such as United Pentecostal Church International. Also called Jesus Only-ism. Beliefs include denial of the Trinity - from United Pentecostal Church literature:

In distinction to the doctrine of the Trinity, the UPCI [United Pentecostal Church International] holds to a oneness view of God. It views the Trinitarian concept of God, that of God eternally existing as three distinctive persons, as inadequate and a departure from the consistent and emphatic biblical revelation of God being one.

The Trinity is an essential of the Christian faith, as Dr Normal Geisler stated clearly when he testified in a case involving the Local Church in a submission to the Supreme Court of Texas:

In over fifty years of research on doctrinal matters, it is my professional opinion that: 1) It is doctrinally appropriate to label some groups by the terms unorthodox, heretical, or a cult.

...

... in every list of essential orthodox Christian Doctrine of which I am aware, ... the doctrine of the Trinity is an essential Christian Doctrine, and deviations from it are considered unorthodox, heretical, or cultic.

Oneness Pentecostals also believe that salvation requires repentance, baptism (in Jesus' name, only, not in the name of the Father, Son and Holy Spirit), and baptism in the Holy Spirit, as evidenced by speaking in tongues. In other words, baptism is essential and speaking in tongues shows someone is saved. Waterworks (PDF) is a pamphlet which shows why baptism is not essential. Oneness Pentecostals also teach only Oneness believers will get to heaven. Main followers include T D Jakes and the singing trio Phillips, Craig & Dean. In New Zealand, UPCI licensee Peter Heaslip has come to the attention of the New Zealand Cult List because of his claim to have an earned doctorate degree but repeated refusal to give details of where it was earned unless the NZ Cult List pays him $100,000. Watchman Fellowship also calls Oneness Pentecostalism a heresy. For more information see Watchman Fellowship's Oneness Pentecostalism profile or CARM's Oneness Pentecostal pages.

Open Brethren. Conservative Christian denomination, not to be confused with Exclusive Brethren. Open Brethren churches are self-governing and have no ordained leadership.

Origin. The name of Jack and Gaye Stradwick's new church (as of the middle of 2013), based in Onehunga. An emerging religious cult questioning and denying foundational Christian doctrines, including but not limited to the authority of the Bible, eternal punishment, and the nature of sin. Mind control evident includes exclusivism and secrecy. When talking about the name change from Fusion, Gaye states it "was necessary to get rid of that because it had so much history and stuff attached to it that we wanted to leave behind." Jack refers to Origin's mission statement as "rediscovering the divine design" and goes on to say "recapturing innocence back to the garden, further than the garden." Unfortunately this is language which already has "history and stuff" in the New Age and occult that they probably don't want to be associated with.

With the continually changing doctrine and practical emphasis of the Stradwicks, Ephesians 4:11-15 is very relevant, with emphasis added.

¹¹ So Christ himself gave the apostles, the prophets, the evangelists, the pastors and teachers, ¹² to equip his people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³ until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ.

¹⁴ Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of people in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵ Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will grow to become in every respect the mature body of him who is the head, that is, Christ.

– Ephesians 4:11-15 (NIV).

Gaye has this to say regarding their church focus, emphasis added.

We won't be held to what is found in the epistles as if they are laws. We're not under laws or law of any kind. We're creating something fresh here with God's help. We're not first century people as the people in Acts.

Romans 13:1-10 directly addresses the topic of Christians obeying the law.

¹ Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. ² Consequently, whoever rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. ³ For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and you will be commended. ⁴ For the one in authority is God’s servant for your good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for rulers do not bear the sword for no reason. They are God’s servants, agents of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. ⁵ Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also as a matter of conscience.

⁶ This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God’s servants, who give their full time to governing. ⁷ Give to everyone what you owe them: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

⁸ Let no debt remain outstanding, except the continuing debt to love one another, for whoever loves others has fulfilled the law. ⁹ The commandments, “You shall not commit adultery,” “You shall not murder,” “You shall not steal,” “You shall not covet,” and whatever other command there may be, are summed up in this one command: “Love your neighbor as yourself.” ¹⁰ Love does no harm to a neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.

– Romans 13:1-10 (NIV).

This raises the question, do they hope to show God's love without fulfilling God's law? Also, how can anarchy lead to love? Gaye's statement is very typical of the Emergent Church movement, with a strong emphasis toward hypergrace (an over-emphasis on grace and doing away with the law totally) while claiming to have new revelation. Similarities have also been noted with the hippy movement's love philosophies.

Osmosis Skincare. Scam. Sells small bottles of water (for $59 each) for various things like acne, asthma, arthritis, depression, eczema, irritable bowel syndrome, mosquito protection, and many others. Founded by Ben Johnson in the USA, led in New Zealand by Kay Roby, who holds the title of general manager. The snake-oil sales pitch is not unlike the nonsensical babble which was used to sell Gentle Wind Project healing instruments.

Harmonized water is a combination of waters that contain different vibrational frequencies. Unlike structured water, which addresses the tendency of water molecules to cluster together, harmonized water describes the frequencies that water carries in its proton/electron outer shell. Water has the ability to carry “frequency messages” for extended periods of time and we have found that some of these messages harmonize internal imbalances in our body.

They were taken to task in mid 2014 by the Advertising Standards Authority for claiming a drinkable sunscreen, and thus they (apparently) no longer list the product. See also Hermes Far Eastern Shining. The scam is rated Danger for selling products which may cause physical harm, particularly the drinkable sunscreen which would easily have led to serious sunburn.

Osteopathy. Consumer magazine took a look at various "complementary medicine" back treatments including Osteopathy in August 2004. They pointed out in their overview that "Scientific evidence in support of any form of treatment for back pain is, at best, patchy." However, they also found:

A recent review of 38 clinical trials found that spinal manipulation - carried out by chiropractors, osteopaths and manipulative physiotherapists - helped relieve acute lower back pain in the first four to six weeks, just as effectively as pain relief medication. But the review couldn't say who will benefit most from spinal manipulation or what the best spinal manipulative therapies are. ...

The most serious risks associated with any of them [osteopathy and the other techniques investigated] are stroke and spinal cord injury following manipulation. However, these are extremely rare.

There are small risks associated with unnecessary x-rays and CT scans. ACC claims that in the absence of "red flag" symptoms ... there is no clinical benefit of radiology in the first four to six weeks of treatment.

They finished with some advice, including "If your GP is sceptical about the value of treatment from your preferred discipline, quiz him or her about why." And "If you don't feel comfortable with a suggested treatment, refuse it. You should receive a service only when you have made an informed choice." The New Zealand Cult List also believes in informed choice. Please see the Contact page.

Owen, Kevin. Kevin Owen is a member of the Scientology cult. He is given a Danger rating here because of the evangelism he does for Scientology, and his involvement with Association For Better Living And Education and RehabNZ.