[Infellgedq]

• 'Serpent-Handling' West Virginia …

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."
http://news.yahoo.com/serpent-handli...opstories.html

[Starichok]

"Open tha gates....I'ma comin paa"

By the power of almightly G--....ahhhhhh shiiiit....it burns!!!!

Good shit. Snake preacher is epic.

[abubycera]

Reminds me of this guy:

Epic Snake Expert Guy

Very sad.

[usaguedriedax]

what a surprise...who would've ever thought

[Dumpishchaism]

Seriously. Who would be stupid enough to handle snakes and NOT actually have an anti-venom emergency kit in their glove box?

Retards.

[KellyLynchIV]

Awoke,

These people don't profess to have faith that the snake will not bite. They profess to have faith that even if bit they will not be poisoned.

An anti-venom kit would be a direct contradiction to the professed faith.

I assume you can wrap your head around the notion of faith.

[Dumpishchaism]

Awoke,

These people don't profess to have faith that the snake will not bite. They profess to have faith that even if bit they will not be poisoned.

An anti-venom kit would be a direct contradiction to the professed faith.

Thanks for clarifying that.

I assume you can wrap your head around the notion of faith.

Why do you have to be a prick?

[KellyLynchIV]

Why do you have to be a prick?

I'm not trying to be a prick. I was hoping you might see that faith doesn't equate to stupidity seeing as you are a man who professes faith.

[Corryikilelet]

One thing about testing your faith... there can be a failure without a do-over.

So, either the man did not have faith or he was misreading the scriptures about taking up serpents.

[qd0vhq4f]

he was a retard. no need to make this more complicated than it really is.

[aquadayAquaks]

Thanks for clarifying that.



Why do you have to be a prick?

Every now & then you say something that makes me think you might be a Christian...

[cymnPrayerm]

The guy was trying to pull a St. Paul:

Acts 28 (KJV)

And when they were escaped, then they knew that the island was called Melita.

2 And the barbarous people shewed us no little kindness: for they kindled a fire, and received us every one, because of the present rain, and because of the cold.

3 And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.

4 And when the barbarians saw the venomous beast hang on his hand, they said among themselves, No doubt this man is a murderer, whom, though he hath escaped the sea, yet vengeance suffereth not to live.

5 And he shook off the beast into the fire, and felt no harm.

6 Howbeit they looked when he should have swollen, or fallen down dead suddenly: but after they had looked a great while, and saw no harm come to him, they changed their minds, and said that he was a god.

[effebrala]

I think this guy was a doubter.... I handle a big snake daily, and I've never been bit.

[Corryikilelet]

I think this guy was a doubter.... I handle a big snake daily, and I've never been bit.

Not to cause any doubts, but I think 3 inches is not really considered that big around here.... anyway, it's nice to know you got that little fella trained properly.


So far I have seen only 3 snakes in the yard. 2 ribbon/garter, and one decay. They are little guys about 6 inches long.

[qd0vhq4f]

Not to cause any doubts, but I think 3 inches is not really considered that big around here.... anyway, it's nice to know you got that little fella trained properly.


So far I have seen only 3 snakes in the yard. 2 ribbon/garter, and one decay. They are little guys about 6 inches long.

ha!

[effebrala]

Hahaha!

[Dumpishchaism]

Every now & then you say something that makes me think you might be a Christian...

My own white-trashiness gets the better of me too often. I never said I don't have room for improvement.

[casefexas]

he should have stuck to Turtles !

[aquadayAquaks]

he should have stuck to Turtles !

[Starichok]

I think this guy was a doubter.... I handle a big snake daily, and I've never been bit.

I know eh? Me too. The worst I get is a sore arm every once in a while.

Then again I don't normally dance around with it on a stage in front of a room full of people at churches.

meh...dunno...I could be doing it wrong.