Is there really such a concept in Christianity? There are certainly good churches and some pretty bad churches. The idea of a good or bad church has nothing to do with the building, whether it is a tin hut or a cathedral. A good church is one where the Christian Gospel is preached, the Bible is seen as the Word of God and the people are faithful to God. A bad church is one that does other than this.

The above is a fairly crude measure. But note that the definition does not include whether it is a church claiming miracles and healings etc.

One cannot use the fact that God is active in a Christian church as evidence that it is a good church or that God favours that particular church. It only takes a moment of thought to realise why. God is omnipresent. By definition he is present everywhere. God works anywhere in the world that He wants to! And He works in some of the most unpleasant places that the nature of humanity has the habit of creating. He works in concentration camps, drug dens, prisons.

To claim that God favours a church because there are miracles in the church is a self delusion, a product of pride I suspect. After all a church with miracles is really no different than a drug den with miracles! And who would say that God favours drug dens!

So what is a 'special' church then? Pride at the very least. But the idea of a church being a special place is often used by the ministry to control the congregation. If a person could be convinced that their church was a special Christian church and that it was specially favoured by God, then that person is hardly likely to choose to leave and go elsewhere. That person would also be careful not to upset the ministry or not do what they are told.

By preaching that their church ia a special church, and by also rubbishing all the other local churches, the ministry can control the people through fear that disobedience, or even questioning the ministry, would lead to them being thrown out of the church with no other church to go to!

Add to that the shunning that was enforced on people not to have anything to do with those who left, even family members, then you have a very powerful method of practically enslaving people to your will and, to cap it, they are programmed to want to be enslaved!

I can say categorically that any church that practices 'shunning' is a cult! There may be times when people behave badly and are asked to leave. The Bible gives such an example. But this example is about the person who was asked to leave because of their behaviour. It was not to give the church control over people through the fear of being thrown out and shunned by family and friends! The Bible gives a reason for the person to be told to leave the church. The Bible also says that this person was later restored to the church when they changed their behaviour.

There is no such thing as a 'special' Christian church, there is only a 'special' and loving God who wants to look after His children wherever they are in the world and regardless of how much money or wealth that they have!