Comments please...

[Russell]

Next week, the 31 I'm taking a number of snakes to an Awana program, aka kids church program they hold on Wed nights. Many of these kids that are regulars have seen my demos, so I'll have to come up with new twists if I can. But there should be plenty of newcomers to the program to hold the excitement.

She asked that I make sure I have her facts straight. And it looks like she's done a good job. I like how in the end she's saying she's going to touch a snake this year. That's funny cause the last several years she's said something to that effect, we'll see how she handles it this year! So if you can think of any added comments, go for it. I think it's great that someone who has this intense fear of snakes as she does, is going out of her way to help educate the children in a church program, using the bible to prove the positive side of snakes instead of twisting them to be evil things.



Hi, Christina....I talked to Russell about checking my homework for me. This is the general gist of my Council Time lessons for Awana on Wednesday night. I have a little more work to do on picking out supporting Bible verses toward the end, but these are the points that I want to make.

If any verses pop into your head as you read, by all means, let me know !!!

Thanks for the help.
Linda

###

Ophiophilia - a love of snakes



Next week, Russell Keys will bring snakes for us to look at and learn about. Russell will answer any questions about snakes that you have, because I am not an ophiologist, or a specialist in snakes. In fact, you could probably safely say that I have ophidiaphobia - a fear of snakes! But we’ll talk more about fears in a bit.



I was thinking about Russell, and his snakes, and I usually find that if I think about something for even a little bit, I can think of reasons that something will remind me of God and His love for us. That’s called an object lesson – using something handy and right around us (an OBJECT) to teach us something (a LESSON).



I worked on this some, mostly using the internet, then asked Russell to look it over to make certain I didn’t have any of the snake stuff wrong, and didn’t try to make something fit my lesson that wasn’t true. So here’s what a little, tiny bit I know about snakes, even with a bunch of research, and how even those little things can remind me about God.



First of all, the easy one. God created snakes. He created everything, and for a purpose. It’s says so, right in the Bible. The creation part is in Genesis – Day 6 – all the animals, and man, and all the plants. That’s in Genesis 1:24-31. And the purpose part? In Genesis, too – “and it was good.” And I always think about Ecclesiastes 3:1-2 “There is a time for everything, and a season for every activity under heaven: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot. Kinda covers it all, doesn’t it?



Then we get into details…and here’s where the internet came in handy…



Snakes are cold-blooded - their body temperature is determined by their surroundings. They must be very aware of the outside temperatures, or plan ahead to get to a warm enough place, or they will freeze.



Snakes get their warmth from the ground or rocks that they are next to. That’s like us…a lot of who we are close to rubs off on us, so we need to be careful that we surround ourselves with the right people.



Snakes also get their body heat from the sun. We gather our strength from the Son, too -- the Son of God.



We plan ahead, too: we need to believe that Jesus is the Son of God so we can spend eternity in heaven.



Hibernating: if snakes cannot always be in a warm environment, like Florida, they need go into hibernation. They need a safe place to hibernate, or another animal will eat them while they are in hibernation. Snakes often hibernate in snake dens, all together. That reminds me that we need to stick together for our safety and comfort, too. A good place to stick together is in church or Sunday School. Awana is a good place to gather together half-way through the week. The Bible, God’s Word, reminds us in Matthew 18:20 “For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."



Coloring. We can identify snakes by their colors, and the pattern of the color on their skin. While their bodies are covered in scales, the scales are transparent, or see-through. It’s their skin that has the color. We can tell, or an expert can tell, what type of snake he has by looking at it.



Other people will know that we are Christians by looking at us, too. Will they see our good works? Will they notice that we are kind to other people, and do what our teachers tell us to do? Jesus told us to “love one another.” Actually, He made it a commandment, right in the Bible, and He said it lots of times, like in John 13:34-35: "A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another. By this all men will know that you are my disciples, if you love one another."



And the part about transparent scales? God sees right through us, too, right into our hearts. And what God sees isn’t good. You’ve all memorized Jeremiah 17:9 – “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked. Who can know it?” GOD knows our heart. But…what’s the good news? “Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and you shall be saved.” That’s from Acts 16:31.



Snakes shed their skin every once in a while, like when they need to grow, or….this I learned off the internet: if they have a skin disease or parasites and need to get rid of that icky skin or those parasites.



A parasite is something that is mooching off you. Not part of the original body or animal or plant, but something that needs to take blood or sap (if you’re a plant) from you so that it can live. But parasites don’t give anything back in return. They only take.



That whole parasite thing made me think of friends, or people that I once thought were my friends, that really aren’t the kind of people that I should hang around with all the time. Here’s how Paul put it when he wrote to the Philippians. Philippians 4:8-9 “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you.” Sometimes we have to know when we need to leave some old, bad habits, and maybe some of our old friends, behind. And if they ask why we don’t call them all time anymore, here’s the fun part – you can tell them about the difference that Jesus has made in your life, and how much you’d like them to know about Jesus, too!



And a normal, healthy snake will grow, and need a new skin to fit into. That’s like God making us new when we believe in Jesus and that Jesus died for our sins and rose again to show God’s power to save us.



I was creeped out about this fact about snakes, and then I got to thinking more and more about it, and how it would remind me of how I think about God. Snakes eat things whole. And it takes them a while to digest it and put that mouse or bug or whatever into use as food. And snakes, apparently, according to what I read on the ‘net, don’t like to do anything else when they are digesting their food. Their body temperature even raises.



Sometimes it takes me a while to figure out what God is trying to tell me. Like when I listen to a sermon or read a devotion, and then, a couple of days later, I might hear something really close to the same thing, and then – ah-HA!!! I get it. You ever hear of “ah-ha moments”? That’s when the light bulb comes on and I finally understand. And sometimes I have to stop what I am doing and spend a little time praying and asking God what it IS that He is trying to tell me. I have to digest that message from God.



Did you know that Jesus told His disciples to be LIKE SNAKES?? Yep – Matthew 10:16. He was giving some walking orders to His 12 disciples, right after He’d chosen them all from what they used to do. Jesus was warning them about how they’d be treated. They’d be treated very badly sometimes (like they’d want to “shed” those folk pretty quickly!). And they would be treated very well by some people. Here’s what Jesus said: “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” A sheep wouldn’t last very long with wolves….so Christ was advising them to be careful, and not to take advantage of anyone. That must have been a very fine line for those new disciples to figure out. Bet that took a while to digest, too…



And….the big one….FEAR. Ok, that’s my hangup. Ophidiaphobia - a fear of snakes. That doesn’t make me feel much better, knowing there’s a fancy name for my irrational fear. What’s irrational? Without any good reason. I have no reason to be afraid of snakes, at least not the regular snakes that live around Carrington. All a couple of garter snakes have ever done to me is startle me. I probably scared them worse. I could have squished them if I’d accidentally stepped on them! They ALL tried to get away as fast as they could. Not once did any snake ever stick around to make certain I was really scared. They were scared, too. What does God say about our fears?



And I read that snakes aren’t slimy. They just have shiny, healthy scales that we think look slippery.



So…. here’s my final lesson on snakes….the one I wasn’t certain I wanted to bring up. But God has been preparing me for this one for several years. A lot of digesting on this one. So…as long as Russell holds the snake, I will be okay touching it. I need Russell in complete control of that snake, and in control of the room that we are in. Like we need God to be in control of our entire life. That’s what it means to be safe in God. It’s a bigger picture….God is in control of EVERYTHING. Russell will control his snake, and make certain that no one come rushing into the room and scares any of us, especially me. So when you see me touch a snake next week, you think about God’s awesome power and how He can control what happen in our lives.

[galenwbritt]

I think it's awesome..............well put together and it gets the message across for both the snakes and their belief. Thanks for sharing.

Galen

[Mike17L]

Great post, and info, I love it. Here is a blog I wrote and posted on myspace, It is titled "Are Snakes Evil?":

Are snakes evil?
Current mood: determined
Category: Religion and Philosophy
As most people whom are reading this know, I have a couple snakes. OK, more like 50 or so, and about 70 snake eggs that are incubating. Quite a collection by some standards, and yet quite small by others. Many times when I am discussing the importance of snakes in the ecosystem, one argument comes up. That argument is that snakes are by definition EVIL and should therefore be killed. So, are snakes evil? I say no. This argument is inevitably given by Christians or at least by people who have some religious background, so I will use the Bible to refute this argument.


Are all snakes evil?
Exodus 4
1 Moses answered, "What if they do not believe me or listen to me and say, 'The LORD did not appear to you'?"
2 Then the LORD said to him, "What is that in your hand?"
"A staff," he replied.
3 The LORD said, "Throw it on the ground."
Moses threw it on the ground and it became a snake, and he ran from it. 4 Then
the LORD said to him, "Reach out your hand and take it by the tail." So Moses reached out and took hold of the snake and it turned back into a staff in his hand. 5 "This," said the LORD, "is so that they may believe that the LORD, the God of their fathersthe God of Abraham, the God of Isaac and the God of Jacobhas appeared to you."

Exodus 7
10 So Moses and Aaron went to Pharaoh and did just as the LORD commanded. Aaron threw his staff down in front of Pharaoh and his officials, and it became a snake. 11 Pharaoh then summoned wise men and sorcerers, and the Egyptian magicians also did the same things by their secret arts: 12 Each one threw down his staff and it became a snake. But Aaron's staff swallowed up their staffs. 13 Yet Pharaoh's heart became hard and he would not listen to them, just as the LORD had said.

So I pose this question, if all snakes are in fact evil incarnate, what about these two snakes? What about the snake that became of Moses staff and the snake that became of Aarons staff that ate the staffs of Egypt? So if all snakes are indeed evil, then the snakes that formed from Moses and Aarons staffs would be evil too. This is in fact not the case. There is no possible way that these two individual snakes are evil. Thus, it is safe to assume that not all snakes are evil.


Are snakes cursed?
Genesis 3
1Now the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.

14 So the LORD God said to the serpent, "Because you have done this, "Cursed are you above all the livestock and all the wild animals! You will crawl on your belly and you will eat dust all the days of your life. 15 And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your offspring [a] and hers; he will crush [b] your head, and you will strike his heel."
16 To the woman he said, "I will greatly increase your pains in childbearing; with pain you will give birth to children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you."
17 To Adam he said, "Because you listened to your wife and ate from the tree about which I commanded you, 'You must not eat of it,' "Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat of it all the days of your life. 18 It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. 19 By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

Yes God cursed snakes, but he also cursed man to work the ground for food, and he cursed the woman with pain in childbearing. So in fact all parties involved in the original sin are cursed.


Can snakes benefit us?
Numbers 21
4 They traveled from Mount Hor along the route to the Red Sea, [c] to go around Edom. But the people grew impatient on the way; 5 they spoke against God and against Moses, and said, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the desert? There is no bread! There is no water! And we detest this miserable food!"
6 Then the LORD sent venomous snakes among them; they bit the people and many Israelites died. 7 The people came to Moses and said, "We sinned when we spoke against the LORD and against you. Pray that the LORD will take the snakes away from us." So Moses prayed for the people.
8 The LORD said to Moses, "Make a snake and put it up on a pole; anyone who is bitten can look at it and live." 9 So Moses made a bronze snake and put it up on a pole. Then when anyone was bitten by a snake and looked at the bronze snake, he lived.


During the wonderings in the wilderness, many Israelites began to grumble and sin against God; he then allowed venomous snakes to come into the Israelite camp killing many Israelites. Moses prayed for the people and God responded. In order for healing, Moses made a snake of bronze and placed it atop a poll. Then the bitten Israelites merely had to raise their heads and look up to the snake to be healed. In this case we can see where a snake was used to benefit many people. Aside from the religious view, snakes play a vital role in the ecosystem. They keep many prey species in check. Snake venoms are being used to develop new and improved drugs to better fight cancers and other illnesses.


Not necessarily about snakes, but about reptiles in general.
Acts 10
9About noon the following day as they were on their journey and approaching the city, Peter went up on the roof to pray. 10He became hungry and wanted something to eat, and while the meal was being prepared, he fell into a trance. 11He saw heaven opened and something like a large sheet being let down to earth by its four corners. 12It contained all kinds of four-footed animals, as well as reptiles of the earth and birds of the air. 13Then a voice told him, "Get up, Peter. Kill and eat."

Though this does not directly refer to snakes I fell that it is relevant. In a vision Peter sees many items that were formerly considered unclean, including reptiles, for consumption before him, while a voice tells him to get up, kill and eat. If reptiles have been elevated to a clean enough status for consumption, we can safely assume that they are clean enough for having as pets.


One of my favorite verses
Matthew 7
9"Which of you, if his son asks for bread, will give him a stone? 10Or if he asks for a fish, will give him a snake?

I would hope my dad would give me a snake before a fish.


Many people kill every snake they see on site. There is an old adage that says the only good snake is a dead snake. It is this mentality that I wish to overcome. Snakes were cursed by God, but he also created them and thus we should give them the respect they deserve.

Perhaps you can use it somewhere, I am sure I will use what you have provided.

[Russell]

thanks for the replies. One good point, I just gotta find that passage, where the prophet is talking about heaven, where the child shall reach into a vipers nest and not be harmed. Well people, if Vipers are in heaven, surely or sweet corns will be too? Whoo hoo! LOL!

[Russell]

Isaiah 11:8
In my bible, King James version, it states it a little differently, and uses the word asp, rather than viper. But still...principle still applies...

And the sucking child shall play on the hole of the asp, and the weaned child shall put his hand on the cockatrice' den.

In the NIV version it words it out a wee bit different with more modern English if you will. But that' was the verse I was thinking of. It's in a passage where Isaiah is talking of heaven.

[dwyn127]

Great thread. My kids go to Catholic grade school and I've got permission from the teachers to bring in a few in the Spring. These posts will definately help.

with your presentation!