Stone the Preacher

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Chris Henry was no stranger to trouble.

Indeed, his multiple arrests during a five-year NFL career were among the factors prompting the league to toughen its personal conduct policy.

But to hear his teammates tell it — even the team’s owner — the Cincinnati Bengals receiver was determined to leave behind his troubled past and move ahead toward a bright future.

Tragically, his efforts were cut short when he died from injuries in what police said was a domestic dispute with his fiancee.

Charlotte-Mecklenburg police said the 26-year-old Henry died early Thursday, less than 18 hours after he fell off of the back of a pickup truck on a curvy residential street about eight miles northwest of downtown Charlotte. Read the rest from NBCsports by clicking here: “Bengals’ Henry dies day after fall from truck.”

(Thanks to Edward Jacknitsky for this)

SANDUSKY, Ohio (Jan. 27) – Authorities say a woman who had been out celebrating her lottery winnings at a north-central Ohio bar was killed when she was struck by a car.

The Ohio Highway Patrol says the 47-year-old woman of Crystal Rock had just left the bar near Sandusky on Tuesday night and was hit as she was walking along a road.

An Ohio Lottery spokeswoman says she won $8,000 in the lottery’s TV game show “Cash Explosion Double Play.” Read the rest from AOL.com: “Ohio Woman Killed After Celebrating Lottery Win”

Forty people went out to share their faith at the 2010 Chinese New Year Parade in Chinatown over the weekend—but something amazing happened that I would call a miracle….

One member of our team, Shawndra Hartman, was walking down the parade route handing out Gospel tracts to parade-goers when she noticed a woman slumped over in her chair. Being a nurse, this roused her curiosity. She turned toward the woman and called out, “Hello! Hello!” trying to get her attention. When the woman wouldn’t respond, she bent down to shake her.

Still no response.

Immediately she had her husband Steve call 911 while she checked the woman’s pulse. There was none.

Shawndra laid the woman out on the street and performed CPR and gave mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. Time was running out. She continued to work until the woman regained consciousness. ”My name is Shawndra. Can you repeat it?”

“Shawndra,” the woman replied.

“God saved your life today,” Shawndra gently explained.

The paramedics arrived and took over from there.

As an evangelism team we are used to going out together with the intention of saving souls. This time however, due to Shawndra’s diligence, a life was saved.

And yes, she got a Gospel tract.

Three pedestrians were killed by drivers on Orange County roads, and a bicyclist was in critical condition, in a series of unrelated collisions in a 24-hour span.

Two of the fatal three incidents – which were all unrelated — occurred on Pacific Coast Highway, roughly three miles apart. Read the rest from the Orange County Register here.

(Thank to Jaylene Daugherty for this.)

Ordained as ministers last year, Stephen Ocean (23) and Tite Sufra (24) spent most of their time preaching to troubled youths in the streets before being gunned down Saturday night by an 18-year-old man named Jeriah Woody. According to police reports, the ministers had been preaching to Woody for about 15 minutes. Woody walked away, then inexplicably turned around and came running back to kill both men. Woody surrendered to Boynton Beach police this morning.

Ocean and Sufra are not the first men to be attacked while preaching in the streets. Several months ago, Justin Eiland was charged with battery after lashing out at street preachers in downtown DeLand, Florida. Eiland said they had made him feel guilty about going out for a drink. There are countless other examples of verbal and physical assaults against people preaching in the streets. Click here to read the rest from examiner.com, “Teenager kills two ministers preaching to him”

As the lid of his coffin was about to be sealed, Josef Guzy’s grieving widow made one last request for her late husband’s necklace.

The 76-year-old Polish beekeeper had collapsed earlier in the day and been pronounced dead at the scene by a doctor.

When the undertaker reached into the coffin for the last time, he thought that he detected a faint pulse. On closer inspection, Mr Guzy was still breathing.

The same ambulance that had been called to the pensioner’s home near the southern city of Katowice and found no sign of life now raced to the undertakers to discover that their patient was still alive. Read the rest from The Times of London here.

In a desperate attempt to conceal evidence, a man panics, then perishes…

The horrible video of the tragic event described below is a grim reminder that sudden death can overtake anyone at anytime. Are you ready?

From WJHG.com: Deputies attempted to handcuff Andrew Grande and were able to place a handcuff on one wrist. During the struggle, deputies observed Grande was attempting to place something in his mouth. Grande managed to free himself and stand and deputies deployed a taser in an attempt to gain control. Grande was able to pull the taser probes from his body. Shortly thereafter deputies observed that Grande seemed to be choking and attempted to use the Heimlich maneuver on Grande but were unsuccessful. Deputies continued to provide aid until EMS arrived at 2:26 am. EMS was unable to gain a clear airway on Grande until, using a pair of forcepts, they pulled a large bag of marijuana out of his airway. Grande was transported to Bay Medical Center where he was pronounced dead.— 12/12/09, “Suspect Attempts to Swallow Bag of Pot, Dies at Hospital”

(Thanks to Mark Phillippo for this.)

DENVER – Mike Hermanstorfer was clutching his pregnant wife’s hand when her life slipped away in a Colorado hospital on Christmas Eve, and then he cradled his newborn son’s limp body seconds after a medical team delivered the baby by Cesarean section.

Minutes later he saw his son come to life in his arms under the feverish attention of doctors, and soon he learned his wife had inexplicably come back to life. Read the rest from AP here.

(Thanks to Jaylene Daugherty for this.)

A tour bus driver died after suffering a medical problem and crashing into a light pole near the Rose Parade viewing area.

Passengers reported that the driver – a 66-year-old man – had a “medical incident” at about 9:30 a.m. today before he clipped the pole on Orange Grove Boulevard and backed into some bushes, said Pasadena police spokeswoman Janet Pope Givens. —From MSNBC, “Bus Driver Crashes Near Rose Parade Area,” 1/06/10

I want to start the New Year Sudden Death! series on the lighter side….

ASHTABULA — Charges could be filed next week against a driver who may have caused a chain-reaction accident that killed a spectator and injured others viewing a live nativity scene outside an Ashtabula church early Wednesday night.

A man succumbed to injuries he suffered when he was struck by a pickup truck that apparently was knocked into a group of people watching the nativity outside Trinity Presbyterian Church, 1342 W. Prospect Road, police said. —From The Star Beacon, 12/24/09, “Nativity Victim Dies” 

Okay. Even I think this Christmas display of Jesus gunning down Santa with a shotgun is a bit much. Am I overreacting here?

A fire ripped through a horse barn at a county fairground in southwest Ohio, killing two men and 43 horses, authorities said. The barn roof had collapsed by the time firefighters arrived at the Warren County Fairgrounds, about 25 miles northeast of Cincinatti. —L.A. Times, 12/06/09

WELD COUNTY – Colorado State Patrol investigators say an illegal u-turn forced a Brighton woman to crash into another car, skid off the road and roll down a hill killing her Saturday afternoon. Read the rest from 9News.com , “Illegal U-turn triggers crash, killing one woman”

(Thanks to David Hawkins for this.)

VICTORVILLE, Calif. (KABC) — A Charter company worker was inside a Victorville home on Monday when, according to witnesses, he was attacked and killed by a man with a hammer. —11/10/09, “Man kills cable installer/vet with hammer”

A gang in the Peruvian jungle has been killing people for their fat, police said, draining it from corpses and selling it for use in cosmetics.

Three suspects have confessed to killing five people for their fat, police said. Two suspects allegedly had bottles of liquid human fat and claimed it was worth $60,000 a gallon. —L.A. Times, 11/20/09, “Gang reportedly kills for body fat”

A contestant on Wipeout, died after attempting to complete an obstacle course on the reality show. The man suffered from knee pain and shortness of breath during the Wipeout course, and was eventually taken to  Cedars-Sinai Hospital, where, on November 5, he died after several brain surgeries. —11/13/09, Read the rest from the L.A. Times here.

Don’t be intimidated! Hand out your Gospel tracts to the lost rich and famous, too! Here are a few actors who have died while filming their movies. I’m not sure if they heard the Gospel….

John Candy passed on while filming  the comic western, “Wagons East!” in 1994. Candy died at age 43 after suffering a heart attack in his sleep in a motel in Mexico. Most of Candy’s scenes were already shot, so a body double was used for the remaining footage. The movie died also when it was released.

Vic Morrow died in 1983 during the shoot of Twilight Zone: The Movie. A helicopter crashed and one of the blades decapitated the 53-year-year-old Morrow.

Oliver Reed died while filming the 2000 film, Gladiator. He had a reputation for being a heavy drinker and partier. He died the way he lived. On Malta, where he was working, he went into a bar and reportedly drank three bottles of rum, eight bottles of beer, and several shots of whiskey. He died of a heart attack. —Source: The Bathroom Reader

Did you see this video of John Travolta and Holly Hunter
being handed a Million Dollar Bill Gospel tract?

I gave Stevie Wonder a Gospel tract a couple of years ago. See the photo here.

(If you should visit the Fail blog site, make sure you click on the “G” rated link. I don’t know what’s on the other, but better to be safe than sorry.)

The body of a 75-year-old man sat decomposing on his Marina Del Rey balcony for days because neighbors thought the lifeless figure was part of a Halloween display and didn’t call police.

The man had apparently been dead for four or five days with a single gunshot wound to one eye. He was slumped over a chair on the third-floor balcony of his apartment when authorities were alerted to the body. —From the L.A Times, 10/17/09, “Man’s body sat on balcony”