Today's daily lesson comes from Mark chapter 16 verses 17 and 18:
17 And these signs will accompany those who believe: in my name they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; 18 they will pick up serpents with their hands; and if they drink any deadly poison, it will not hurt them; they will lay their hands on the sick, and they will recover.”
"Welcome to Kudzu." Those were the words the pastor greeted me with when I drove up into the parking lot of the first church I ever worked at. At the time I didn't know what he was talking about, but soon discovered Kudzu was the newspaper comic strip by Doug Marlette about the parson "Will B Dunn" in the little town of Kudzu -- a town so backwards, it was said, that even the Episcopalians handled snakes.
I never actually laid physical hands on a snake in that church. But I was ordained there. And that means I was there long enough to learn how to handle a few viperous individuals and to stomach their poison. And in fulfillment of the prophecy I also laid hands on them when they were sick, perhaps cast out a demon or two, and learned to speak in new tongues called NASCAR, and drag racing, and ACC football.
I thought Kudzu was a fictitious place; now I know better. It's really just church. And I thank God for it.
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