Seen this and it's close to me I will never forget about 15 year ago I pulled over a van that had several large boxes and gave this guy directions. Several hours later we get a call to respond to a large goup of people possiblly drunk causing a disturbance. Well upon our arrival found not a group of drunk people but a group of snake handler church and was invited to watch the service. Me and another Deputy stayed to watch the others left they were scared of snakes. One thing I will say about these guys they put all into their faith and never question. After it was over they filled us up with some good food and tea and interesting coversation. Not my type of religon but good people and I had the pleasure of learning about a different look on peoples life. 'Serpent-Handling' West Virginia Pastor Dies From Snake Bite <CITE id=yui_3_4_0_22_1338429724003_298 class="byline vcard">By ARLETTE SAENZ | ABC News – <ABBR title=2012-05-30T17:34:06Z>8 hrs ago</ABBR></CITE> 'Serpent-Handling' West Virginia … <!-- yog-5u --> <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?><ROOT></ROOT>A "serpent-handling" West Virginia pastor died after his rattlesnake bit him during a church ritual, just as the man had apparently watched a snake kill his father years before. Pentecostal pastor Mark Wolford, 44, hosted an outdoor service at the Panther Wildlife Management Area in West Virginia Sunday, which he touted on his Facebook page prior to the event. "I am looking for a great time this Sunday," Wolford wrote May 22, according to the Washington Post. "It is going to be a homecoming like the old days. Good 'ole raised in the holler or mountain ridge running, Holy Ghost-filled speaking-in-tongues sign believers." Robin Vanover, Wolford's sister, told the Washington Post that 30 minutes into the outdoor service, Wolford passed around a poisonous timber rattlesnake, which eventually bit him. "He laid it on the ground," Vanover said in the interview, "and he sat down next to the snake, and it bit him on the thigh." Vanover said Wolford was then transported to a family member's home in Bluefield about 80 miles away to recover. But as the situation worsened, he was taken to a hospital where he later died. Jim Shires, owner of the Cravens-Shires Funeral Home in Bluefield, told ABC News that Wolford died Monday. Wolford's church, the Apostolic House of the Lord Jesus in Matoaka, will host a viewing Friday and a funeral service Saturday morning. Wolford will be buried at the Hicks Family Plot in Phelps, Ky. Officials at the Panther Wildlife Management Area had been unaware of Sunday's event until they were notified by callers after the service. "We did not know that this event was happening, and if we had known about it or if we had been asked for permission, permission would not have been granted," Hoy Murphy, public information officer for the West Virginia Division of Natural Resources, told ABC News. Hoy said West Virginia state park rules prohibit animals other than dogs and cats on the property. While snake-handling is legal in West Virginia, other Appalachian states, including Kentucky and Tennessee, have banned the practice in public spaces. Snake-handlers point to scripture as evidence that God calls them to engage in such a practice to show their faith in him. Mark 16: 17-18 reads, "And these signs shall follow them that believe: In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues. They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." Wolford told the Washington Post magazine in 2011 that he is carrying on the tradition of his ancestors by engaging in snake handling. "Anybody can do it that believes it," Wolford said. "Jesus said, 'These signs shall follow them which believe.' This is a sign to show people that God has the power." Wolford said watched his own father die at the age of 39 after a rattlesnake bit him during a similar service. "He lived 101/2 hours," Wolford told the Washington Post Magazine. "When he got bit, he said he wanted to die in the church. Three hours after he was bitten, his kidneys shut down. After a while, your heart stops. I hated to see him go, but he died for what he believed in. "I know it's real; it is the power of God," Wolford told the Washington Post Magazine last year. "If I didn't do it, if I'd never gotten back involved, it'd be the same as denying the power and saying it was not real."
I never met anybody around here who would challenge their faith that way . But each to their own taste said the old lady that kissed the cow !! How many of them snakes did you catch !!! LOL
When Paul was bitten by the viper it was accidental. He did not know it was there or that it was going to bite him. Jesus told satan when on the pinnacle of the temple that He was "not to tempt the Lord". Seems good enough of a warning to me not to try playing with deadly serpents. For those who do--you are tempting the Lord---and playing with things you should be bashing. There is enmity set between "your seed and it's seed". It will strike your heel and you will "smash it's head". Seems appropriate to me. Play with fire if you like but don't whine when it burns. Some things do not change. Jesus never challenged anyone to play with snakes to show their faith in Him. IMO it is bordering on witchcraft.
I didn't catch a one(lol) it was kind of one of those things where you are watching someone do something and you are like hey watch this it's going to hurt
And from what I've read on the construction of the New Testament, the verse normally quoted by Snake-Handling Christians to justify their hobby - Mark 16:18 "They shall take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them; they shall lay hands on the sick, and they shall recover." - may not have been included in the original manuscript for the Book of Mark. The oldest existing copies of the Book of Mark supposedly end at Mark 16:8 "And they went out quickly, and fled from the sepulcher;..." It's thought that the remaining verses of Mark were added much later, by another author. It seems this later author managed to create considerable mischief with his added verses. (I can see him shaking his head now and saying, "I never thought they'd take me literally. It's a SNAKE, for God's sake!")
Stinking snakes give me the creeps. Don't get between me and the door if I happen upon one as you will be badly trampled. jim
Every time these taking up the serpent stories come along I can still hear Wendy Bagwell and the rattlesnake song. Pretty much summed up opinion of being in a room of poisonous snakes.
