Thursday February 27, 2014
Jamie Coots holds a rattlesnake while preaching.
Photo by The Tennessean /Chattanooga Times Free Press.
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• Kentucky pastor Jamie Coots died Saturday, February 17th, after a poisonous snake he was handling at church bit his right hand. Coots, strange as it might seem, waved off any type of medical treatment, telling the Chattanooga Times Free Press earlier this month “I believe that your faith doesn’t come in until you actually get bit.'' http://is.gd/ob6i9T
Interestingly, Coots was featured in the Times Free Press’ in a Feb. 2 special report, “Even unto death,” http://is.gd/FtZjgF which documented in chilling detail, congregants handling fire, speaking in tongues, wrapping snakes around their bodies, and gulping poison. Services in this small sect of Pentecostalism, moreover, are filled with emotionally charged dancing with the sounds of tambourines, guitars and fitful worship echoing in the background.
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