Snake Handler Dies From Bite...

http://www.herald-dispatch.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20061108/NEWS01/61108002

Reckon those folks never read "You shall not test the Lord your God" in their Bibles.

 

There are a number of snake handlers at my place of employment. One of them was telling me what a hypocrite I was for not believing as they do, doubting the Bible. It so happened we were standing near where one of our furnaces was being tapped, 100 tons of molten steel being poured from furnace to ladle. I said, "Whyncha prove it to us & jump into that ladle?" He said, "That's different! Molten metal isn't mentioned by Jesus as something He'd protect us from!" I said, "If He's strong enuff to protect you from a rattlesnake, He's strone enuff to protect you from the steel, same as He protected Shadrach, Meshach, & Abednego from a furnace which was almost that hot!" He said again, "That's different!" I replied, "No, it's not! If you have faith that he will protect you from a rattler's bite, you should have faith that He will protect you from ANYTHING, including molten metal. So I reckon YOU'RE the hypocrite because you think God is wishy-washy, protecting you from something dangerous but not likely to happen (Rattlesnakes will not bite unless they feel threatened...they have a limited supply of venom, which they try to conserve for their prey. A warm human hand usually SOOTHES them) while NOT protecting you from something that will ALWAYS happen unless He intervenes. The three jews didn't ask God to protect them from the heat of the furnace, but they had FAITH that He would care for them whether or not they were to die right then. "

I have faith that God will care for me on this world long as He wants, and that He will care for me forever in the next world, but I WILL NOT "test" His care by DELIBERATELY doing something that could harm me just to "test" God's power to protect me. Have you not read Deut. 6:16 or Matt. 4:7? "

At that, he walked away.

I have read Mark 16...but lemme ask...Does every Christian have the Holy Spirit's gift to heal the sick? Does every Christian who accidentally ingests poison or accidentally ODs on medication escape harm? Are no Christians ever bitten by serpents, black-widow, or brown recluse spiders? I believe Jesus gave those miracles to certain disciples so they would have more than just speech to spread the Gospel to those who'd never heard of God at all. He gives certain hints to us so we know He exists, but otherwise, He wants us to believe by FAITH. Now, if WE were never harmed by the things listed above, then unbelievers would believe by EMPIRICAL PROOF rather than by FAITH. And faith(in Jesus) comes by HEARING(about Him), and hearing, from the word of God.

JESUS gave us the example to follow in dealing with potentially-harmful things. We all know He coulda jumped off the temple roof w/o harming Himself, whether He fell to the ground or hovered in the air. But he countered the devil with "it is written". He, being God, was NOT gonna "test" Himself for the devil's sake, although He woulda easily "passed" that "test". Now would He ever do a miracle just to impress the skeptics. And only once did He clearly use His power to prevent harm to Himself, in John 10:39.

I believe God CAN protect me from anything, but as HE chooses. Christians have the same mortal life expectance as any other demographic group, succumbing in like proportion to the same causes, except for suicide. We are NOT to deliberately "try God out" by doing that which is potentially harmful or fatal.

I doubt if my snake-handling acquaintance would play Russian Roulette, either.

 

Good idea! I could use a sample-taking spoon to hold a cuppa molten metal!

However, where the rubber meets the road, they'd rather stick to something not likely to happen rather than chance it on a sure thing.