anyone attend a church like this?

i think my uncle was a pastor at a baptist church where they had snakes. i'm intrigued -- what is the significance of the talk of snakes and speaking nonsensical words?



go to the 2:38 mark

 

Cause the snake tries to tell them to eat an apple and they resist.

 

so, they're just continuing the metaphor? why use live snakes?

 

Cause fake ones don't really tempt you. Have you ever looked at a fake snake and felt tempted to sin?


Seriously, I'm just joking. The snake handlers base their believes on one verse in the bible where Jesus tells his disciples that if they pick up snakes, they won't hurt them. Apparently, they do it to test their faith.

Mark 16:15 And then he told them, “Go into all the world and preach the Good News to everyone. 16 Anyone who believes and is baptized will be saved. But anyone who refuses to believe will be condemned. 17 These miraculous signs will accompany those who believe: They will cast out demons in my name, and they will speak in new languages.[e] 18 They will be able to handle snakes with safety, and if they drink anything poisonous, it won’t hurt them. They will be able to place their hands on the sick, and they will be healed.” New Living Translation.

Thus the danger of creating a belief out of one line of scripture. I wonder why they don't drink anything poisonous?

 

Parker is right about the snakes. Regarding the poisons, some of them have. And when people die, they get into trouble. Apparently that's one of those things that isn't protected under Freedom of Religion.

 

IMHO, it's a misinterpretation of Scripture. "Speaking in tongues" is a Spiritual gift listed in the Bible. But there is some debate as to what it actually is. In the book of Acts, the apostles were given the ability to "speak in tongues" when the Holy Spirit entered them at Pentecost. Some believe (and I'm one of them) that the "tongues" were foreign languages they would go on to use in their evangelistic efforts. Others contend that these Spirit-gifted tongues are actually some kind of unique, heavenly language. Of course, something like that is of little use to anyone without the ability to interpret it. Otherwise, it sounds like gibberish (just like most foreign languages we cannot understand).

 

I figured Jim Jones kinda cured us of people testing that little passage out.

 

People drink strychnine in those churches. It's not as common as handling the snakes, but a lot of people in those churches do drink it.

 

When they were referring to snakes they were talking about evil spirits.

Also, in Acts the Apostles were speaking in tongues....not unknown tongues. They were speaking in languages that everyone present could understand in their own dialect. There were no one present that had to interpret what was being said because the Holy Spirit was speaking languages to all present that understood what was being said in their own dialect

 

Attend? No. But there's at least one, maybe two, remaining in my home county.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Church_of_God_with_Signs_Following

http://www.videosift.com/video/Pentecostal-Signs-Followers-in-Appalachia

http://www.chuckconner.com/beyond/transistions.htm

Dad has seen Dewey a few days after a couple of his bites and Dewey's arms looked like Popeye's from the swelling.