{"id":36153,"date":"2022-11-30T12:33:00","date_gmt":"2022-11-30T12:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/park-service-pleads-with-public-to-stop-licking-toads\/"},"modified":"2022-11-30T12:33:00","modified_gmt":"2022-11-30T12:33:00","slug":"park-service-pleads-with-public-to-stop-licking-toads","status":"publish","type":"sermon-illustrations","link":"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/park-service-pleads-with-public-to-stop-licking-toads\/","title":{"rendered":"Park Service Pleads with Public to Stop Licking Toads"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>In a move sure to frustrate any enchanted princes cursed by evil witches, the National Park Service issued a warning in October 2022 to warn people about kissing, licking, or making any kind of oral contact with toads.<\/p>\n\n<p>Apparently the Sonoran desert toad, also known as the Colorado river toad, secretes a white, milky substance called bufotenin, which scientists say can act as a hallucinogenic. This has prompted a series of celebrities who have talked about ingesting the substance as a way of inducing a psychedelic trip. Through exaggeration and repetition, the idea has morphed into the possibility that someone could get high simply by licking one of these toads.<\/p>\n\n<p>In an abundance of caution, the Park Service decided to put that myth to rest in a post on its Facebook account:<\/p>\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\">\n<p>These toads have prominent parotoid glands that secrete a potent toxin. It can make you sick if you handle the frog or get the poison in your mouth. As we say with most things you come across in a national park, whether it be a banana slug, unfamiliar mushroom, or a large toad with glowing eyes in the dead of night, please refrain from licking. Thank you.<\/p>\n<p>\n\n<\/p>\n\n<\/blockquote>\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading is-style-article-subhead2\"><em>Possible Preaching Angle: <\/em><\/h2>\n\n<p><strong><em>1) Animals &#8211; <\/em><\/strong><em>When people use animals in ways contrary to their purpose, they abuse them and also hurt themselves in the process <strong>. 2) Addiction; Bondage; Drugs &ndash; <\/strong>This is more evidence how people misuse nature because of their addiction to pleasure and which ultimately results in their own harm.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"author":30,"featured_media":0,"template":"","tax_ctp_audience":[],"tax_ctp_authors":[],"tax_ctp_categories":[165],"tax_ctp_format":[171],"tax_ctp_illustration_types":[411],"tax_ctp_multimedia":[],"tax_ctp_point_editor":[],"tax_publications":[140],"tax_ctp_tags":[3367,3380,3415,3513,3711,3731,3745,3767,3830,4526,4546,4849,4913,4977,5256],"tax_ctp_topics":[395,397],"class_list":["post-36153","sermon-illustrations","type-sermon-illustrations","status-publish","hentry","tax_publications-ct-pastors","tax_ctp_tags-abuse","tax_ctp_tags-addiction","tax_ctp_tags-animals","tax_ctp_tags-bondage","tax_ctp_tags-creation","tax_ctp_tags-danger","tax_ctp_tags-deception","tax_ctp_tags-desperation","tax_ctp_tags-drugs","tax_ctp_tags-nature","tax_ctp_tags-news-that-illustrates","tax_ctp_tags-risk","tax_ctp_tags-self-deception","tax_ctp_tags-sin","tax_ctp_tags-vulnerability"],"acf":{"scripture_references":[{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null},{"first_verse":null,"add_second_verse":false,"second_verse":null}]},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Park Service Pleads with Public to Stop Licking Toads - CT Pastors<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.christianitytoday.com\/pastors\/preaching\/sermon-illustrations\/park-service-pleads-with-public-to-stop-licking-toads\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Park Service Pleads with Public to Stop Licking Toads - CT Pastors\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"In a move sure to frustrate any enchanted princes cursed by evil witches, the National Park Service issued a warning in October 2022 to warn people about kissing, licking, or making any kind of oral contact with toads. 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