Snake-handling preacher dies from rattlesnake bite in W.V.

Snake-handling preacher dies from rattlesnake bite in West Virginia

West Virginia preacher Mark Randall "Mack" Wolford, who believed Christians should handle snakes to test their faith, died after a rattlesnake bit him over the weekend.

Wolford was bitten on the thigh about 2 p.m. Sunday afternoon, but he didn't come to the hospital until 10:30 p.m., a nursing supervisor at Bluefield Regional Medical Center told the Charleston Daily Mail. The incident occurred during an outdoor service at Panther State Forest, about 80 miles west of Bluefield in southern West Virginia, the paper said.

Wolford had turned 44 on Saturday. He had seen his father die of a snakebite when he was teenager, the Daily Mail reported.

The Washington Post Magazine had profiled Wolford in a story in November about the snake-handling faith. The Post said adherents cite Mark 16:17-18: “And these signs will follow those who believe: in My name they will cast out demons; they will speak with new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink anything deadly, it will by no means hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”

http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/ ... ginia?lite

Well, dang. Another true-believer hoisted on his own petard...(or rattler-fangs, if you like)...

I guess that shows what happens you take one verse out of a book and make it the central tenet of your belief-system...

God has called him to heaven to sit alongside his throne? :Whistle

natural law still works ---- death penalty for false prophets (profits?).

bailey bud wrote: natural law still works ---- death penalty for false prophets (profits?).

Too bad they procreated before the Darwin rule could take effect.
Like father like son?

jmc wrote:

bailey bud wrote: natural law still works ---- death penalty for false prophets (profits?).

Too bad they procreated before the Darwin rule could take effect.
Like father like son?

On the purely theological side of things, this sort of action is the ultimate test of faith, and people like this preacher are displaying more faith in g-d than most Sunday christians. How can you deny his faith and belief? If you are a believer, I suspect your flavor of christianity (or what ever you spiritual brand is), has certain beliefs based on your faith, and you try to act on those beliefs on a daily basic. You believe in promises that you have read in scripture, you practice certain rituals because you have faith that they are meaningful and good and you look forward to many rewards.

If you don't have a faith, I hope that you at least believe in yourself. Well, so did this preacher, in a much more intense way than most religionist or atheists I know. Yet you damn him for his faith. I don't understand?

The Liberals GOP Twin wrote:

jmc wrote:

bailey bud wrote: natural law still works ---- death penalty for false prophets (profits?).

Too bad they procreated before the Darwin rule could take effect.
Like father like son?

On the purely theological side of things, this sort of action is the ultimate test of faith, and people like this preacher are displaying more faith in g-d than most Sunday christians. How can you deny his faith and belief? If you are a believer, I suspect your flavor of christianity (or what ever you spiritual brand is), has certain beliefs based on your faith, and you try to act on those beliefs on a daily basic. You believe in promises that you have read in scripture, you practice certain rituals because you have faith that they are meaningful and good and you look forward to many rewards.

If you don't have a faith, I hope that you at least believe in yourself. Well, so did this preacher, in a much more intense way than most religionist or atheists I know. Yet you damn him for his faith. I don't understand?

Stupid is stupid, You're over thinking this, If his faith made him do it, he deserves his fate.
I pity the nitwits of all persuasions.

jmc wrote:

The Liberals GOP Twin wrote:

jmc wrote:

bailey bud wrote: natural law still works ---- death penalty for false prophets (profits?).

Too bad they procreated before the Darwin rule could take effect.
Like father like son?

On the purely theological side of things, this sort of action is the ultimate test of faith, and people like this preacher are displaying more faith in g-d than most Sunday christians. How can you deny his faith and belief? If you are a believer, I suspect your flavor of christianity (or what ever you spiritual brand is), has certain beliefs based on your faith, and you try to act on those beliefs on a daily basic. You believe in promises that you have read in scripture, you practice certain rituals because you have faith that they are meaningful and good and you look forward to many rewards.

If you don't have a faith, I hope that you at least believe in yourself. Well, so did this preacher, in a much more intense way than most religionist or atheists I know. Yet you damn him for his faith. I don't understand?

Stupid is stupid, You're over thinking this, If his faith made him do it, he deserves his fate.
I pity the nitwits of all persuasions.

I didn't over think anything. It's one of my stock replies. I've been using it for years. Sort of generic enough for the weak minded. They always respond.

The Liberals GOP Twin wrote:

jmc wrote:

The Liberals GOP Twin wrote:

jmc wrote:

bailey bud wrote: natural law still works ---- death penalty for false prophets (profits?).

Too bad they procreated before the Darwin rule could take effect.
Like father like son?

On the purely theological side of things, this sort of action is the ultimate test of faith, and people like this preacher are displaying more faith in g-d than most Sunday christians. How can you deny his faith and belief? If you are a believer, I suspect your flavor of christianity (or what ever you spiritual brand is), has certain beliefs based on your faith, and you try to act on those beliefs on a daily basic. You believe in promises that you have read in scripture, you practice certain rituals because you have faith that they are meaningful and good and you look forward to many rewards.

If you don't have a faith, I hope that you at least believe in yourself. Well, so did this preacher, in a much more intense way than most religionist or atheists I know. Yet you damn him for his faith. I don't understand?

Stupid is stupid, You're over thinking this, If his faith made him do it, he deserves his fate.
I pity the nitwits of all persuasions.

I didn't over think anything. It's one of my stock replies. I've been using it for years. Sort of generic enough for the weak minded. They always respond.

Wow!, I guess you are too smart for the rest of us.

jmc wrote: Wow!, I guess you are too smart for the rest of us.

Now my stupid cat is running around my office with a vole. Well... part of the time. The idiot can't managed to keep it in his mouth, or eat it. He keeps dropping it, it runs around, he plays with it, drops it again... drives me crazy... wasting supper like that.

Maybe my Christianity is a little different than this bite victim's but I was always told not to trust God to save you in cases like this.