Snake-handling preacher killed by snake, just like his dad
Mark Wolford (Photo for The Washington Post by Lauren Pond)
If you lie down with dogs, you get fleas. Lie down with timber rattlers, and you’ve got a good chance of not getting up again.
That’s what happened to West Virginia pastor Mark Wolford, reports The Washington Post.
Wolford died while hosting an outdoor service Sunday at Panther Wildlife Management Area in West Virginia. During the ceremony, the lively preacher sat a rattler on the ground and sat next to it. The snake did what snakes do — it bit him on the thigh.
Instead of going to a hospital, he went home and tried to recover. His kidneys shut down within three hours. Someone called paramedics when it was too late.
Wolford, who combed the woods for vipers, should have known better. In 1983, when he was 15, he saw his dad die while “taking up serpents.”
But faith, which has never actually moved a mountain, has a way of moving people away from reality.
“Praise the Lord and pass the rattlesnakes, brother,” wrote Wolford on his Facebook page as a way of advertising the Sunday service.
His funeral will be held Saturday, exactly one week after his 44th birthday.
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154 comments Add your comment
DawgNole
June 1st, 2012
12:22 am
I wish more people would post so I could respond some more. It’s a slow night for me and, as a non-believer, this is all I’ve got going in my life.
Edwin
June 1st, 2012
5:07 am
Thus spoke Russ (3rd page or so into the comments)
“But I also believe as a born-again Christian that miracles, signs, and wonders did happen just as the Bible described. How do you know the walls of Jericho didn’t tumble down because of a people’s faith and obedience?”
I don’t say they did. You said it, you prove it. How do you know it wasn’t the prayers of a small band of chaos cultists being bored and decided it was fun to make those walls tumble?
Edwin
June 1st, 2012
5:12 am
Why do people do stuff because it says so in a book? Suppose it says “kill your son to proof your faith in me”. No one in their right mind would do that. So whether it says you can handle snakes or not (depending on your interpretation), just don’t. It really is that simple.
In general, “I do or don’t do X because it says so in holy book Y or ideological manual Z” is the lamest, stupidest justification for any action or decision. It should get you submitted to psychiatric care instantly.
Stephen Livingston
June 1st, 2012
5:42 am
There is having faith in the Lord – which is why he gave us the knowledge to avoid poisonous vipers. What a Bozo.
baden-baden
June 1st, 2012
6:30 am
My Southern Literature professor told the class one time that the Pentecostals and Primitives embraced a literal interpretation of the Gospel because they weren’t bright enough to catch on to the bigger picture…don’t know if that’s true, but it killed this idiot preacher graveyard dead.
Braves #17 Fan
June 1st, 2012
6:58 am
I don’t understand those who get a kick out of this. No matter how stupid he was, it’s just not a natural reaction for me to scoff and laugh at this man’s death. This really happened and wasn’t just a scene in some Hollywood movie.
Reginald Wells
June 1st, 2012
7:31 am
This was just an act of pride, not an act of faith. He just wanted to show people his own power and trust in himself. What was the real purpose of doing this? That people will flock to you and not really God? This is once again the media being selective and pointing out the stupidity of people but not the true Body of Christ. The scripture was completely taken out of context! None of the disciple had to “prove themselves” in this manner! Let’s see how many stories show up of the church doing the right thing in a week nowadays……….Zero!!!!!!!!!
Call It Like It Is
June 1st, 2012
7:37 am
And his last words were “Hey Bubba watch this”
Chode McBlob
June 1st, 2012
8:36 am
That’s because hi non existant God can’t help him. I’ll bet he was counting on that fantasy God to save him.You can’t fix stupid!
NELSCO
June 1st, 2012
8:39 am
And his last words were “Hey Bubba watch this”.
Funny or not, this is FUNNY…!!!