Serpent-handling pastor dies hours after he's bitten by a RATTLESNAKE..

UK Daily Mail ^ | May 30, 2012 | Thomas Durante

[C19fan]

A Pentecostal reverend known for preaching with the help of a rattlesnake coiled around his arm lost his life when one of the creatures suddenly bit him. Mack Randall Wolford, pastor at the Full Gospel Apostolic House of the Lord Jesus in Matoaka, West Virginia, died hours after receiving the deadly bite on Sunday - the day after his 44th birthday. Wolford’s father, who was also a serpent-handling pastor, died in the same way nearly 30 years ago.

[C19fan]

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.

Mark 16:18 KJV

They had Gospel recently at church and I was thinking about those snake handlers in Appalachia.

[E. Pluribus Unum]

I'd bet dollars to doughnut holes that The Wild and Wonderful Whites belong to that church.

[golf lover]

Definite Darwin Award candidate!

[alexander_busek]

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.

Sloppy translation by an overworked medieval monk?

Regards,

[txrefugee]

Perhaps the third generation should find a less lethal way to demonstrate their faith.

[C19fan]

Actually it is the King James version so no monks involved, hee hee.

[Uncle Slayton]

“Wolford had been bitten three times before, but never sought medical attention, saying that a bite was a test of his faith.”

He failed the test.

[ArrogantBustard]

Deuteronomy 6:16 ...

[evets]

He's not dead. He's resting.

[apillar]

As I read this story, my thought where going something like, “Please don’t let it be West Virginia...Please Don’t let it be West Virginia...Please don’t let...Ahh Damn!”

[entropy12]

Poisonous snakes have been perfecting their venom for over 100 million years. Do not fool with them. Even if you receive anti-venom in time, severe damage to the tissue around bite will occur.

Rattlers are not hard to avoid...they rattle!
Cobra’s will stand up a foot high to warn up with expanded neck line.
Coral snakes can be confused with the non-poisonous breed. If yellow meets the red, it is poisonous snake. Just like the yellow traffic light is warning red is next.

[mgstarr]

He chose unwisely.

[HerrBlucher]

He was definitely not a phony, that is for sure. He could have easily been handling defanged snakes and nobody would have known. Apprently he didn’t even have any anti venom near by.....I guess that would have shown lack of faith.

[ArrogantBustard]

They had Gospel recently at church

What does that mean?

[DarthVader]

You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

[Mr. Lucky]

More likely the late Pastor's understanding of Mark 16:18 was formed without the help of first understanding Matthew 5:7.

[cripplecreek]

I’ve got faith that God won’t let the snake bite me if I don’t pick it up.

So far he hasn’t let me down.

[mnehring]

I firmly believe that sometime thousands of years ago, some scribe left out the most important verse of the Bible: ‘...verly I say unto you, DON’T BE STUPID.’

[liberalh8ter]

Must have been a democrat.

[ErnBatavia]

Rattlers are not hard to avoid...they rattle!

Not entirely true, unfortunately. We live in rattlesnake country, and wifey asks why I always walk around like a hunchback - it's the "Eyes down" thing goin' on.

[21twelve]

Substitute “foolish” for “stupid” and there is a whole lot written about it.

[MaxMax]

Live by the snake, die by the snake. RIP.

[yefragetuwrabrumuy]

A few pointers about handling rattlesnakes.

1) Milk the snake first. Snakes can build up a lot of venom in their venom sacs, but once they have been milked it takes a while for them to work up another dose. Full venom sacs will about knock anyone for a loop.

2) On about an equal part with the venom is that snake bites are prone to gangrene. This is why there is a medical device that looks like a thick pencil lead, whose tip has a scraper. It digs down through each bite hole and tears it up inside so you get fresh blood to wash out the bacteria.

3) Luck is involved. If the snake hits meat there is less danger than if it hits a capillary. It also matters if the capillary is arterial or venous.

4) A snake bite can, in some people, also cause a severe allergic reaction, which is just icing on the cake. Such reactions to bee stings are so common and so deadly that bees kill far more people every year than rattlesnakes.

[WKUHilltopper]

“As I read this story, my thought where going something like, “Please don’t let it be West Virginia...Please Don’t let it be West Virginia...Please don’t let...Ahh Damn!”

Could have easily been eastern KY. Supposed to be illegal here, but they still do it. Their prerogative in my opinion.

[Brent in TN]

Apillar - sorry. TN was let off the hook this time.

[ZX12R]

Not entirely true, unfortunately. We live in rattlesnake country, and wifey asks why I always walk around like a hunchback - it's the "Eyes down" thing goin' on.

I live in north Florida and I've lived on my property for 25 years and never saw one till last year. I shot three last summer. The first one was over six feet, dogs found it. Fortunately, I was able to call them off immediately when I saw them circling and heard it it start to rattle. Saw the next one the very next day, about ten feet from where I killed the first one. Figured it was a mating pair. Then a week later, one of my dogs found a small two footer, grabbed it, and got bit on the lip.

I hope I don't see anymore for 25 more years. I never got the urge to pick any of them up and talk to God.

[Snickering Hound]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YIMigVo1pyA

Amateur. Meanwhile, this guy cleans the cobra pit in India for 25 cents a day.

[Carpe Cerevisi]

[Buckeye Battle Cry]

What a dipshit these fools can be.

[SpinnerWebb]

Genesis 3:

14 And the LORD God said unto the serpent, Because thou hast done this, thou art cursed above all cattle, and above every beast of the field; upon thy belly shalt thou go, and dust shalt thou eat all the days of thy life:

15 And I will put enmity between thee and the woman, and between thy seed and her seed; it shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.

.. you knew he was a snake when you picked him up!

[esquirette]

That’s what I was thinking.

[varmintman]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KXp5_2Xfrg

[the_daug]

Mat 4:7?

[Hegewisch Dupa]

The difference of course being John 11:11

[Vendome]

Dumbass. That is a big snake and while only 5-8 people die a year from snake bites it’s a really good idea to avail yourself of the gifts God gave us, like the medical profession, to get it checked out and if necessary receive anti-venom.

Darwin Award winner.

[albionin]

Moron!

[TXLady]

I agree with your theology. Sounds like Godly wisdom to me.

[Ken H]

Then a week later, one of my dogs found a small two footer, grabbed it, and got bit on the lip.

Yikes! Is he OK?

[fortheDeclaration]

Prove he wasn’t an Apostle.

[BerryDingle]

St. Augustine several years ago.

[HamiltonJay]

Actually this quote is more appropos...

Matthe 4:7

Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God.

Snake Handling and other acts to “prove” God are the behaviors of fools and the ignorant. Tempt God to protect you, by willfully doing dangerous things to prove your faith in him, is idiotic and blasphemous.

[fortheDeclaration]

correction-that should have read ‘proof’, not ‘prove’.

[HamiltonJay]

“Jesus said unto him, It is written again, Thou shalt not tempt the Lord thy God”

Tempting God to protect you, as proof of your faith is not only idiotic, its Blasphemous and directly ignorant of the word of God.

[Joe 6-pack]

"If yellow meets the red, it is poisonous snake."

The mnemonic device used down here in coral snake country is:

"Red next to black is a friend of Jack. Red next to yellow can kill a fellow."

[Shimmer1]

Son 3 got bit by a mtn rattler when he was 14 (he's 21 now) 3 days in Vanderbilt Children's Hosp and 16 vials of anti venin. I didn't know this until yesterday (and thanks to an article here) but there's a difference between poisonous and venomous.

Both venomous and poisonous animals produce a toxin that is injurious or even lethal to another organism. The real difference between the two terms involves how that toxin is delivered.

Venomous organisms deliver or inject venom into other organisms, using a specialized apparatus of some kind (usually fangs or a stinger). The venom is produced in a gland attached to this apparatus. Venomous insects occur in three groups: the true bugs (order Hemiptera), the butterflies and moths (order Lepidoptera), and the ants, bees, and wasps (order Hymenoptera). Spiders, centipedes, and scorpions may also be venomous. Venomous arthropods may inject their venom into prey to immobilize it, or use it defensively against potential predators - like people!

Poisonous organisms, on the other hand, do not deliver their toxins directly. The entire body, or large parts of it, may contain the poisonous substance. These organisms may be harmful when eaten or touched. Poisonous insects include members of quite a few groups: butterflies and moths (order Lepidoptera), true bugs (order Hemiptera), beetles (order Coleoptera), and grasshoppers (order Orthoptera), and possibly others. The defensive chemicals produced by these poisonous insects may cause vomiting or blistering, or have cardiac impacts on predators that try to eat or handle them.

[ZX12R]

Yikes! Is he OK?

Yes, he's fine. Took him to the vet immediately, only to find out that most vets don't even keep snake bite venom. I was told that it doesn't really help dogs much anyway. He was damn miserable that night though, his face was very swollen and hurting. He moaned quite a bit. I stayed up with him all night to make sure his throat didn't swell shut. The vet told me that was really the only thing to worry about. The very next night, you couldn't even tell he was bit. It was amazing how quickly all the symptoms disappeared.

[Psycho_Bunny]

Snake :1
Idiot :0

[ZX12R]

St. Augustine several years ago.

Jesus! (no pun intended) I never want to see one that big in the wild.

[bgill]

The only good snake is one dipped in cornmeal and fried.

[doorgunner69]

Stupid is as stupid does.............