Religion
Related: About this forumI guess he didn't have enough faith... Snake-handling preacher dead of rattlesnake bite.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/style/serpent-handling-pastor-profiled-earlier-in-washington-post-dies-from-rattlesnake-bite/2012/05/29/gJQAJef5zU_story.html?tid=pm_lifestyle_popMack Wolford, a flamboyant Pentecostal pastor from West Virginia whose serpent-handling talents were profiled last November in The Washington Post Magazine , hoped the outdoor service he had planned for Sunday at an isolated state park would be a homecoming like the old days, full of folks speaking in tongues, handling snakes and having a great time. But it was not the sort of homecoming he foresaw.
Instead, Wolford, who turned 44 the previous day, was bitten by a rattlesnake he owned for years. He died late Sunday.
Mark Randall Mack Wolford was known all over Appalachia as a daring man of conviction. He believed that the Bible mandates that Christians handle serpents to test their faith in God and that, if they are bitten, they trust in God alone to heal them.
He and other adherents cited Mark 16:17-18 as the reason for their practice: 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.
I'll just say he renewed my faith... in natural selection.
SoutherDem
(2,307 posts)it was in god's master plan.
pa28
(6,145 posts)For years it must have been 'look at the forbearance the lord is showing in allowing him to handle this deadly snake! Praise god!'.
Today it's something like 'he's done such good work and now he's sitting at the hand of the lord. Praise god!'
Sounds like he had a good run as a con man though. RIP.
ladjf
(17,320 posts)struggle4progress
(118,379 posts)If you be the Son of G-d, cast yourself down, for it is written, He will charge his angels concerning you and also They shall lift you up, lest your foot strike against the stones. To which Jesus answered, And further it is written, You shall not test the Lord your G-d.
Matthew 4
Timber rattler bites, kills snake-handling preacher
Tuesday May 29, 2012
The nursing supervisor said the hospital sees "quite a few" snake handlers ...
As a teen he watched his father die from a bite during a service, Fowler said ...
Fowler said her photographer friend, not Wolford, eventually called paramedics ...
http://www.dailymail.com/News/201205290190
Sad story
Zorra
(27,670 posts)Every kid where I grew up knew this for sure by the time they were 7 years old.
It's pretty much just common sense.
Manifestor_of_Light
(21,046 posts)dimbear
(6,271 posts)Moe handles some pretty poisonous beverages, too!
Botany
(70,635 posts)"Wolford was 15 when he saw his father die at age 39 of a rattlesnake bite in
almost exactly the same circumstances."