Over a Cup of Coffee
Coffee has had a long history of human consumption since the 9th century, and it only came to the press in the 15th century. In our belief in creation, coffee is included among the plants and vegetable kingdoms God created due to its health benefits for the human body. It could not be known then what kind, if it is a fruit or vegetable, but we may be sure that Adam named it. Its bitter taste made people suspicious or fear consuming it, and it got the title the bitter invention of the Devil.
In 1615 coffee became controversial due to its taste until the local clergy in Venice condemned it and brought it to the attention of Pope Clement VIII. Instead of taking sides with the clergy, the Pope decided to taste the beverage and found the drink satisfying, which led to Pope’s approval for people to consume. Many devotees in prayer meetings found that coffee keeps them alert through the long hours of evening prayers. Coffee was not only a delight for home consumption, especially at breakfast time, but also a pleasure at conferences, public town hall meetings, and most especially in coffee houses where people gathered for refreshing and educational conversation. A place where they can talk about politics, economics, and some business dealings over a cup of coffee.
Coffee’s popularity has its ups and down. There were times when a Mecca governor banned it in the 16th century for fear that the drinks could influence people to oppose his rule. That coffee can energize him to promote unhealthy discussion to his governorship that may lead to unrest and later be overthrown. The intervention of the Sultan of Cairo prevented this from happening and declared that coffee was sacred and had the governor executed. No one should underestimate the powerful influence that coffee can bring. People’s power, once energized, can topple a government.
In the 9th century, there was a goatherd named Kaldi who, while watching his goat in usual behavior, later observed that they were chewing red berries. Afterward, the goat became energized, making Kaldi happy, and he reached the chief monk to tell his miraculous discovery. Still, the monk was not interested, and he ignored his enthusiasm. Finally, the chief monk threw the beans into the fire, and the coffee started to roast the magic aroma of coffee released into the air and filled the monastery with joy and gladness.
Once, the coffee had to be smuggled from one country to the other, made its way to the destination, and cultivated the beans to their country. Baba Budan, an Asian Indian, was made to Sainthood because of the coffee he brought home after his pilgrimage to Mecca. With his wisdom and approval, Pope Clement VIII made coffee a Christian beverage. There were many times that coffee had been smuggled out of the Arab lands to cultivate in their soil where coffee was not adapted to the weather and withered. However, there were places where it became successful, and their country became coffee-producing.
Coffee popularity spread through schools, churches, homes, and coffee houses opened up left and right. London, Paris, Venice, Berlin, and Vienna, to name a few, have no exception to the popularity of the beans. During the mid-17th century to early 18th century, coffee houses were where students, business people, and the elite members of society met to discuss their social, civic, and political interests. Women at one time were not welcome to join men at these coffeehouses for some reason and later became an advocate against men drinking coffee, claiming that their husbands at one point turned impotent due to the drinking of coffee.
The influential Dutch military at that time conquered a small country -Sri Lanka, formerly Ceylon and overthrew the Portuguese control of the country and took over the sole control of cinnamon. As we know, the best cinnamon to control diabetes is Ceylon cinnamon. Coffee bean plantations had no escape from the invaders. They also took over the cultivation of the coffee plantations. This invasion was in conjunction with the backing of enormous corporations that used mercenaries, which were legal then. The corporation had more interest in the crops to make money and make their investors happy than the military expansionism focused on occupying more territorial sovereignty.
Coffee has become a favorite beverage for breakfast. There are many ways to drink coffee; drink it with bread and butter, and mix rice and coffee. It is better to drink hot coffee in summer than cold water. Coffee and cigarettes are very addictive when you use this together. As quoted by some coffee lovers, “A sip of coffee and a pup of cigarettes refresh your mind.” “Give me coffee or give me death,” and “I love my coffee better than my wife.” “I will protest all day and all night if I am denied my coffee.” “The good thing about being a coffee lover is that you do not need to go to other houses to have it.” “If you promised women, they would have coffee in purgatory; they would not ask for paradise.” (W. Schivelbusch, Das Paradies, p.80, 4 Z.). You will never get drunk drinking coffee; it will keep you alert to know where you are before or after you wake up, so you don’t lose consciousness.
Due to the popularity of coffee, even a famous German composer named Johann Sebastian Bach was enticed to compose “Coffee Cantata,” a story about a father who tried to get his daughter to stop drinking coffee and threatened not to permit her to get married. The daughter agrees, but in her mind, she will only take a man who will not deny her love for coffee. Many things happened in a coffee house. Meeting of the revolutionaries against taxation, buying and selling public stocks, and discussions of fruitful and profitable business deals, while others are forming business corporations. Theodore Roosevelt’s 1907 “Good to the Last Drop” comment promoted the nation’s first- blended coffee as a success.
It’s either morning, afternoon, or evening for coffee lovers. The time is not set. Many advise that drinking coffee before bedtime is not reasonable, but it doesn’t matter to others. It does not affect their sleeping mood; to others, it’s a big deal because they will be awake all night. Proverbs 20:13— “Do not love sleep or you will grow poor; stay awake, and you will have food to spare.” Jesus Prays at Gethsemane – “Abba, Father,” He said, “all things are possible for You. Take this cup from Me. Yet not what I will, but what You will.” Then Jesus returned and found them sleeping. “Simon, are you asleep?” “Were you not able to keep watch for one hour? “Watch and pray so that you will not enter into temptation. For the spirit is willing, but the body is weak.”… Berean Study Bible Mark 14:36-38
We might probably have in mind that if coffee is available at that time, Simon and the other Apostles would not be able to sleep. However, the cup uttered by Jesus is symbolic, not what you think; it more likely means suffering. The prayer warriors in many churches or ministries usually offer coffee to stay awake when they have vigil prayer. In many churches, coffee is served after worship and sometimes, if not most of the time, before worship for early birds while waiting for the time of worship. There was a warning by Isaiah written in chapter 5 “Woe to those who rise early in the morning that they may run after strong drink, who tarry late into the evening as wine inflames them!” The power and sweet aroma of coffee are already overthrowing this tradition of wine in the morning and wine in the evening.
Another lesson that we may be able to learn from Isaiah 28:7 “These also reel with wine and stagger with strong drink; the priest and the prophet reel with strong drink, they are swallowed by wine, they stagger with strong drink, they reel in vision, they stumble in giving judgment.” It is true that solid drinks can impair us from making the right decision, so it is wise to keep distance to stiff drinks and get coffee instead. The 20th century Science declares coffee “beneficial and more and more good news is being discovered to be great for our health. A time will come when more benefits come out from the beans, and doubt can no longer linger in our minds.
The health benefits of coffee will soon overpower the mountain of doubts. Why do we take prescription drugs even though we know there are side effects? Why do doctors keep on prescribing it? Do they have no choice? Why most of them are not willing to talk about alternative medicine? Why are we born healthy and end up living with prescribed medicines? And it seems we cannot keep away from living with side effects! Is it better than nothing?
We were born with affliction, to begin with, and this ordeal by humanity gives us no choice but to take medicine and deal with the side effects when it comes. However, no matter how much we take care of ourselves, we will be victims of their behavior if our neighbors do not. For example, observe the air pollution that the Chinese and other industrialized countries brought, tons and tons of human garbage into the ocean from the top down to the bottom. If we continue eating unhealthy foods, drinking unhealthy water, and air pollution, the results will be unhealthy bodies.
Suppose I offer my fellow believers beer while we are sharing the word. In that case, they may get drunk/intoxicated and lead to trembling or anxiety and start an unruly behavior that may cause others to stumble and stop what they are doing for the Lord. Nevertheless, it will be my accountability, so I prefer to give them a cup of coffee so that they may stay awake, alert, and fully energized. Either twisted or not, coffee is mentioned twice in The Message Bible (MSG).
I will compare one after the other; The Message Bible (MSG); New Living Translation (NLT), and the English Standard Version (ESV)
- • Job 7:10 (MSG) – “They don’t return to visit their families; never again will friends drop in for coffee.”
- Job 7:10 (NLT) – “They are gone forever from their home—never to be seen again.”
- Luke 17:8 (MSG) – “Would you take his coat, set the table, and say, ‘Sit down and eat’? Wouldn’t you be more likely to say, ‘Prepare dinner; change your clothes and wait for me until I’ve finished my coffee; then go to the kitchen and have your supper’?”
- Luke 17:8 (ESV) – “Will he not rather say to him, ‘Prepare supper for me, and dress properly, and serve me while I eat and drink, and afterward you will eat and drink’?”
Can coffee give you joy in the morning?
Can coffee make you sober-minded and watchful?
Why give wine when it causes ambiguity in giving judgment?
What will be wrong with a cup of coffee if it can engage in stimulating conversation?
Which is better to give wine or coffee when you plan to stay up during the night?
Which is better to drink, cold water or hot coffee, during the summer heat?
Does coffee have a very positive effect on the prayer life of believers?
Coffee as a means of grace has been rejected doctrinally by the evangelical church. Still, it has been practically accepted for prayer and devotion, and many develop an atmosphere of volunteerism, protestant sobriety, and unison. Consider what Paul said in 1 Corinthians 3:1-3 – “Brothers and sisters, I could not address you as people who live by the Spirit but as people who are still worldly—mere infants in Christ.’ ‘I gave you milk, not solid food, for you were not yet ready for it. Indeed, you are still not ready.’ ‘You are still worldly. Since you are jealous and quarreling, are you not worldly? Are you not acting like mere humans?”
“Therefore, since such a great cloud of witnesses surrounds us, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us” Hebrews 12:1 (NIV)
Whatever is on earth is God’s ownership, the earth is the LORD’s and all it contains, and whatever is under heaven is God’s and no one else. God gave us everything, or else we are nothing. Therefore, we have to take everything that goes into our body in moderation; it could be wine or coffee, and anything more than moderate consumption is an abuse of our body which is the temple of God. “Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do.”
Ecclesiastes 9:7 (ESV) is to be practical and not doctrinal; bread and coffee go together in harmony.
Leviticus 10:9 “Drink no wine or strong drink, you or your sons with you, when you go into the tent of meeting, lest you die. It shall be a statute forever throughout your generations.”
The book of Leviticus, as well as Ecclesiastes, was written long ago before coffee was discovered. So it could be one of the secrets of ancient years and now revealed.
New research concerning coffee and health is being conducted all the time. Check it out here: https://www.caffeineinformer.com/7-good-reasons-to-drink-coffee
Reasons to Drink Coffee
- Reduced Liver Cancer Risk
- Less Gout Risk:
- Longevity:
- Prevents Retinal Damage.
- Black coffee prevents cavities.
- Coffee may protect against periodontal disease.
- Coffee may protect against melanoma.
- The USDA’s new 2015 dietary guidelines recommend it for better health.
- Reduced heart attack mortality risk.
- It helps people get along with co-workers better.11. Coffee reduces colorectal cancer risk. (Source: Caffeineinformer.com)