Knife, whip expert shows off skills at church

September 16, 2007 10:06 pm

The church is not an ordinary church, and members of its congregation know why.
After its services Sunday afternoon, a man threw knives, cracked whips and launched axes into a picture of the devil.
His wife often participated in the stunts by standing in front of his wooden target. She held still while her husband launched various sharp objects seemingly at her.
John and Monika Bailey tour the country in the name of God, performing and preaching,  while trying to get boys and young men interested in church.
The couple wore matching shirts that were red, yellow and black with flames.
Prior to the demonstration, John Bailey stood inside the church stood at the lectern in front of the congregation and said, “Haven’t you ever seen a person on fire for the Lord before?”
When services ended, John Bailey demonstrated his skills.
He had his wife hold a carnation with her hand while her arm was extended. Using a whip, that was 8 feet long, he cut the flower’s tip off in an instance and cut its stem until it was just inches from his wife’s knuckles.
John Bailey likes to take time to talk to people about church.
He said, “People join a church and say, ‘wow, I’ve never been to a church like this before. I can have fun in church.’”
He said the trick to the 42 foot whip is to launch it. After which he says…
“Man, I’m getting too old for this,” I’m 62 years old.  John now has a 45 foot whip.
In another demonstration, Monika Bailey stood in front of a board that was about 6 feet tall while her husband of 42 years threw knives into the board from a distance of about 10 feet.
He made the kids in the crowd pledge that they would not attempt any of the stunts at home.
Monika Bailey stood in front of the target in another stunt with a balloon near each of her ears. From 14 feet away, John Bailey flung the weapons through the balloons, popping them.
“Anytime we do anything like this the devil gets in our way,” he said. “I’ve got the devil out here, and I’m going to tear him up.”
He had a picture of the devil staring at him that was about 2 feet tall and 2 feet wide. He backed up until he was 40 feet away and hurled axes into the devils face.
“The devil wants to get you to do something bad. He’s the father of all lies. The best thing you can do with the devil is stay away from him,” he said. “Oh and by the way… he’s not red with horns and a pointed tail.”

John Bailey of Winter Springs, Fla., started throwing knives and working with whips when he was 8 years old. Since then, he has cracked his way into to Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest whip cracking with speed and accuracy.
He currently holds the world record for cutting 10 targets off  poles, 7 feet away, in a 20 foot line, separated by 5 feet apart in: (get this) 8.04 seconds!
He said he uses both his world records to attract people into churches.
“I won’t go to a church that waters down the bible. If you’re not going to preach it, don’t even ask me to come to your church. … It’s getting the gospel out to people who might not other- wise come to church,” he said.
Pastors, invite the Baileys to their churches in hopes of reaching new people. He wants people to hear about Jesus from a preacher in cowboy boots.
“We hope people are brought closer to God because they were here,” the pastors say.
A lady at this church could barely stand to look at John Bailey’s knife-throwing stunts.
“I’ve never seen anything like it before!”