“And these signs shall follow them that believe; In my name shall they cast out devils; they shall speak with new tongues; 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 16:17,18.

Sadly, people have twisted, misused and misunderstood the Word of God for centuries. This past week was no different.

“When you feel the anointing and God moves on you to take up serpents, even if one of ‘em lays fangs into you, you shall not be harmed…” Andrew Hamblin, co-star of Snake Salvation.

Jamie Coots, the star of reality TV’s “Snake Salvation” series, died on February 15 at his home after being bitten by a rattlesnake during a church service. He refused medical treatment because he had been bitten before and eventually recovered.

This time he was not so fortunate.

This particular group calls themselves “Pentecostal”, but Pentecostals are one of the fastest growing religious groups in the world (and encompass many different beliefs within this “name tag”) and they are NOT snake-handlers. Snake Salvation church is a very unusual and very isolated group of people that practice something that is illegal in most states! How they continue to operate is mind-boggling and then to idolize the practice on cable television is even more baffling.

In 1995 a 28 year old woman at the same church died from a rattlesnake bite. They tried to prosecute the church, but the judge eventually put forth this statement: “If the court thought that a trial would act to deter future snake handling in church, my decision would be different. But you and I both know that this practice is not going to stop until either rattlesnakes or snake handlers become extinct.” Judge James Bowling, Jr.

How tragic that the Word of God can be taken so out of context and people so easily “follow the leader”, many times to their deaths.

Remember Jim Jones? Some may be too young to go back to 36 years ago, when 912 “followers” of preacher Jim Jones lost their lives after he instructed them to drink grape Kool-Aid laden with poison. His followers were betrayed and misled by a man that was convinced he was Jesus.

It is shocking and sad that so many can be so easily deceived by one man.

Rasputin was such a man…and such a deceiver. You may have never heard of him but he was quite famous around the turn of the 20^th century.

Grigori Rasputin was born in either in 1869 or 1872, depending on which site you trust, in Russia during the era of czars and nobles who ruled, and owned, most of the land and its wealth. Mr. Average Russian was very poor.

At the end of the Russian Revolution in 1905, Nicholas II was in power. Nicholas had a bad habit of listening to his wife, Alexandra, instead of important dignitaries. Alexandra was not trusted by the Russian people because she was born in Germany, Russia’s World War I enemy.

Enter Rasputin, who some in Russia called “the Mad Monk”, although he was not a monk at all. He was simply a peasant, but he easily convinced people that he was a “holy man”. Nicholas and Alexandra fell for his influence when he supposedly “healed” their only son, Alexis, of hemophilia.

It was believed that Rasputin ran the country through Tsarina Alexandra…and the Russians were not happy. Nicholas was too weak to stand up to his wife since she strongly believed Rasputin had much to do with her son’s recovery. If he opposed her it would appear he did not love his son.

Rasputin never even spoke in public! But Alexandra was certain he was a true “Man of God”, even though it was quite commonly known he led an immoral lifestyle.

But popularity doesn’t mean that Truth is involved.

Many were convinced that Rasputin was a “holy man” when he definitely wasn’t what he appeared to be. He was eventually murdered in order to try to gain back control of the country.

Truly the death of Jamie Coots is a tragedy that should never have happened. God is surely grieved when people misinterpret the scripture! The one verse in the Bible that Coots and his followers “hang their hat on” never meant for people to go out and literally pick up snakes. The verse is simply referring to the POWER of Almighty God to protect His people.

Jesus did not “handle snakes”, nor did His disciples, and His Word never instructs US to do so.

Can God protect someone who is bitten by a rattlesnake and they recover? Of course He can! He is God! He did such a thing for Paul when he gathered a bundle of sticks and laid them on the fire and a venomous snake grabbed hold of him. “And when Paul had gathered a bundle of sticks, and laid them on the fire, there came a viper out of the heat, and fastened on his hand.” Acts 28:3.

But Paul didn’t follow that incident by boxing up a nest of snakes and taking them back to the church and tempting fate and death by letting them crawl all over him.

We should never tempt God! The children of Israel tried this time and time again when they were wandering in the wilderness. “They willfully put God to the test by demanding the food they craved.” Psalm 78:18.

Our emphasis and focus is not on tempting God! The Snake Salvation church, and the people involved, may be sincere in their efforts but are missing the point and the purpose of The Church.

Every word should be measured against the Word of God. If it cannot be backed up by scripture it is false doctrine. The Book of Acts is full of examples of what The Church is to look like, emulate and demonstrate.

[Tweet “Playing with death is not encouraged anywhere in the 66 books of the Bible, the inspired Word of God.”]

The true Church should be involved in Going, Preaching, making Disciples, and then sending those new disciples out to do the same.

The true Church should be all about SOULS and reaching as many as possible with The Gospel: The Good News that Jesus Christ came, lived, loved and gave His life for every single one of us. He then rose from the dead so that we might do the same and live eternally with Him.

God help us all to be aware of those that fall into false doctrine and and cause others to do the same.

Until He returns, we are to be about our Father’s business in loving, serving and sharing Truth.

Sharing with Titus 2sdays, Testimony Tuesday, Women Helping Women, Sharing His Beauty, The Gathering Spot, Modest Mondays, Walking Redeemed, Word Filled Wednesday, Wedded Wednesday, Little R & R, A Wise Woman Builds, Whole-hearted Wednesdays, Whimsical Wednesdays, Wake up Wednesday, Homemaking Party, Time Travel Thursday, Grace at Home, Thankful Thursday, Thought Provoking Thursday, Thriving Thursday, Proverbs 31 Thursday, Making Your Home Sing