He wanted to observe firsthand the phenomenon known as ``signs following.'' The practice is based on the literal interpretation of Jesus' prophecy: ``And these signs shall follow them that believe.they shall speak with new tongues they shall take up serpents and if they drink any deadly thing, it shall not hurt them.'' In order to fulfill the prophecy, believers worship with poisonous snakes, drink strychnine, and speak in tongues. Reporting for the New York Times on the case of Glenn Summerford, a snake-handling preacher who attempted to kill his wife with snakes, Covington (Lizard, 1991) attended a ``homecoming'' meeting at the Church of Jesus with Signs Following, Summerford's converted gas station church. A meandering journalistic testimony of the author's experience with a strange southern Christian sect.
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