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“Begin the music, strike the tambourine, play the melodious harp and lyre.” That’s how Asaph starts the 81st Psalm in the Old Testament. But for one woman in Oklahoma, striking the tambourine is a good way to get herself struck!
In the summer of 2012, 50-year-old Vickey Sue Beyersdorfer attended a Wednesday night gathering at Victory Church in Edmond, OK…and evidently brought along a tambourine.
You know, B.Y.O.T.
That’s not a big deal; after all, the Bible commands believers to “make a joyful noise unto the Lord,” a task even the lowly tambourine can accomplish. But Beyersdorfer went a little too far in her exuberance, and began to be a distraction. Congregants stated that they couldn’t hear the message, so an off-duty sheriff’s deputy in attendance calmly escorted her outside.
However, once outside, Beyersdorfer broke free from the deputy and tried to bet back inside. As she reached for the tambourine…he reached for his Taser.
After she was subdued, she was taken into custody. Mark Myers, a spokesman for the Oklahoma County Sheriff’s Department, stated that Beyersdorfer had prescription pain meds in her possession, was staggering around, and using slurred speech.
And that was before the Tasering!
Seriously, worship has to have an element of order to it, mainly because our God is a God of order. There is a time to make noise…and there is a time to listen. We have to know which is which.
Click here for the online report.
Topics Illustrated Include:
Church
Distraction
Music
Police
Praise
Violence
Worship
(Resource cataloged by David R Smith)
