My wife loves to collect cookbooks. She would spend hours on end just reading the recipes, looking for something interesting and new. And though she has cookbooks lining the shelves in our kitchen, I have yet to find a recipe for ‘boiled frog.’ Some have told me fried frog legs are delicious, and I understand they are a delicacy in the south. But how about boiling a 
frog?
If you know anything about our minister, Robert Oglesby, and the Waterview church of Christ, you know our Sunday morning sermon won’t be outlining a frog recipe. Instead, we’ll consider the similarities of being conformed to the world of sin (Romans 12:1, 2), much like a frog’s body is conformed to the temperature of the water. And yet slowly turning up the heat will boil that frog. As Christians we should ask ourselves if we’re feeling the heat or if we are just conforming to our surroundings. Perhaps the best way to ‘boil the frog’ is the same way the devil would boil a Christian.
“…I will sing with the spirit and I will sing with the mind also.” I Corinthians 14:15
Sunday morning, Aug 10, 2014
The following songs are found in the hymnal, Songs of Faith & Praise.
“We Shall Assemble” – 718
Time and again God’s people are called to assemble before Him. We come together each Sunday morning to fellowship with one another, study from His word and worship Him alone. The visualization of assembling on the mountain is the idea of coming up to God rather than having Him descend to us.
“I Love My Savior, Too” – 610
The final words of our previous song are, “…we’ll sing the song of the redeemed.” Then we’ll pick up with what I see as the ‘song of the redeemed,’ “Jesus, my heavenly King, loves me…” But the redeemed sing, “I love my Savior…” To keep from getting ‘boiled,’ and stay out of ‘hot water’ we need to constantly remind each other, and sing, of our Savior’s love.
“In Christ Alone” – no book
In this song of admonition we sing as we prepare our minds for the Lord’s supper. A memorial of His death, burial and resurrection. Verse one consist of recognizing our Cornerstone, solid ground and Comforter (‘In Christ alone’), verse two takes us from His birth (‘fullness of God in a helpless Babe’) to His crucifixion (’til on that cross as Jesus died’). Those who know this song cherish the third verse. We begin softly of His burial (‘There in the ground His body lay’), until our voices ‘burst forth’ as we sing of His resurrection (‘up from the grave He rose again.’) The final verse gives us assurance in Christ as we sing, ‘No power of hell, no scheme of man, can ever pluck me from His hand…’
“Purer, Yet and Purer” – 682
How can one be ‘purer?’ Since pure can be defined as absolute or innocent, how can I be ‘more absolute?’ Wouldn’t it stand to reason that I’m either innocent or guilty, but not more innocent than guilty? To call for our lives to be purer we need to consider another meaning for the word. To be pure can also mean to be clean. Certainly we can be ‘stained’ by the world, and therefore should desire to be cleaner than before we were in the world. Like a frog in lukewarm water, we might grow accustomed to our surroundings and fail to realize how much warmer (how impure) we’ve become.
“How Shall the Young Secure Their Hearts” – 432
What shall we do to keep our young people from ‘boiling in the world’ (faithful to God)? A question that has been asked from generation to generation. And this spiritual song (hymn) asked this same question almost 300 years ago. In verse one Isaac Watts penned, “How shall the young secure their hearts and guard their lives from sin?” And then in the final verse he provides the answer; “Thy Word is everlasting truth; how pure is every page! That holy book shall guide our youth and well support our age.”
“Out of My Bondage” – 918
An invitation song that will hopefully emphasize the message from today’s sermon. If we are in the world, and the world is ‘heating up,’ how will we respond? Are we prepared to jump out of the situations that slowly consume our walk with Christ? To get out of our bondage, sorrow and night, we have to recognize the darkness. Notice our words in the final verse, “Out of the fear and dread of the tomb, Jesus I come, Jesus I come; into the joy and light of Thy home, Jesus I come to Thee. Out of the depths of ruin untold, into the peace of Thy sheltering fold, Ever Thy glorious face to behold, Jesus, I come to Thee.” Will you come to Him, or are you content to stay in the pot world pretending to be a frog Christian?
“Restore My Soul” – no book
Getting our lives focused on Christ and out of the world, we sing of restoration…renew my spirit, revive the fire and renew my courage. When we determine restoration is important, we’ll jump out of the pot. It’s time we wake up and smell what’s cookin’.
