Coffee use

[AliciaB]

I recently developed a coffee addiction. And was wondering if you guys knew if the church had any programs to help you get off coffee? Also, would I lose my temple recommend if I told the bishop?

[Rubicon]

It would depend on your bishop. If you are sincerely striving to break the habit, I think most (myself included --- I've been a bishop twice) would not. But it is within his authority to restrict you if he sees fit.

There is no church program. You're going to have to "white knuckle" it, and there will be withdrawal symptoms (headaches, irritability, etc.). But, it's worth it to break the habit, just as it would be if it were alcohol or cigarettes!

If you slip up in trying to stop, get back on the horse and keep trying. Don't give up! Look at it like the stock market --- there will be "lows" and "downs," but if they are outweighed by the "highs" and "ups," overall, then you are winning, and it will get better and better.

I think cold turkey is best. Rip the band-aid off and attack the habit. I don't think "gradual cutting back" works.

Good luck!

[FoxMammaWisdom]

Depends on the bishop 100%. I had a bishop who was extremely offended by coffee. So after I admitted I had lusted after and consumed a Starbuck's Frappaccino smoothie, he wouldn't even interview me for a minimum of six months after that - just held my recommend.
Now I just enjoy my coffee.

[Rubicon]

Also: have you tried Pero? It's a barley/chicory drink that (I'm told) smells and tastes like coffee. We drank it a lot in Germany (many church buildings have it in the kitchen).

[Serragon]

Your stake should have an addiction recovery program. It is supposedly open to anyone struggling with any addiction, though my experience is that most are there for tobacco, alcohol or pornography. In many places, they have a separate meeting for the pornography folks.

I think most bishops would take your recommend for a little while if you have an addiction.

[Mamabear]

If young adults can go on missions being gay, and if Bishops call kirton/McConkie and they tell them not to call authorities on sex abuse, I think you can drink coffee.
Cheers.

Edit: And if members can down energy drinks like water then…..

[PressingForward]

I’ve recently started drinking beer again, and I don’t care what anyone thinks, and the Lord employs no gatekeepers. Time to drop the bs man made commandments, and follow the God made commandments.

[IcedKoffee]

Just drink it iced!

[tribrac]

Depends on the bishop 100%. I had a bishop who was extremely offended by coffee. So after I admitted I had lusted after and consumed a Starbuck's Frappaccino smoothie, he wouldn't even interview me for a minimum of six months after that - just held my recommend.
Now I just enjoy my coffee.

What? For realsies?

[FoxMammaWisdom]

Depends on the bishop 100%. I had a bishop who was extremely offended by coffee. So after I admitted I had lusted after and consumed a Starbuck's Frappaccino smoothie, he wouldn't even interview me for a minimum of six months after that - just held my recommend.
Now I just enjoy my coffee.

What? For realsies?

For realsies.

[tribrac]

I'm sorry. Church is hard. And so many people can't handle a little authority, even with their good intentions.

[AkalAish]

I am so sorry to hear that you have to give it up. I think it would kill me.

[Senkyoshi]

Just drink it iced!

Actually, the temperature (or the caffeine content for that matter) of our drink, hasn’t determined if we’re keeping the Word of Wisdom for decades. If it was made with the Coffee bean, it’s against the WoW. It’s always good to speak to the Bishop and get his take though.

[Jashon]

How can you know that Doctrine and Covenants 89 has been properly interpreted, according to what the Lord meant?

Short answer is that you can't. Check this out:

Nevertheless, wheat for man, and corn for the ox, and oats for the horse, and rye for the fowls and for swine, and for all beasts of the field, and barley for all useful animals, and for mild drinks, as also other grain.

Sounds like beer might be just fine, according to the Lord.

So what does this mean?

And again, hot drinks are not for the body or belly.

We just can't be sure that this means coffee and tea. It could just be a reiteration of strong drinks, since "hot drink" once meant 'strong drink,' and the language of these revelations is old, older than 1833 English. It's more like 1600s English.

[OCDMOM]

My husband just got knee replacement therapy. They told him to cut caffeine before and after the surgery. Caffeine cause dehydration and blood clots. He hasn't had his diet Mountain Dew for 2 weeks and he is losing weight. He is grumpy though very grumpy.

[FoxMammaWisdom]

I'm sorry. Church is hard. And so many people can't handle a little authority, even with their good intentions.

No the hard thing was getting myself to realize I can start making my own choices like a grown woman without asking some guy in a suit across a desk reading a manual a multi-gajillion-dollar-corporation wrote, hoping the church authority being his authority, making his decisions for him, gives him a pat on the back - if I can have a smoothie. But once I took that leap I found that I had the freedom to use my agency all along without asking permission like someone's "sub" or something, if I can have a smoothie.

If I utilize the agency we all have and choose with my own grown-lady-mind to have a coffee smoothie today (I prefer decaff since I only show up for the taste not the caffeine) - then I get to suffer the buffetings of Satan and spend 15 extra minutes on the toilet. But OOOOOOOHHHHHHH that coffee was goooooodddd!! And wowsers guess what? I didn't have to ask some corporation permission at age one-half-a-century-old, to have a smoothie!

[creator]

I wouldn't say coffee is bad, but I don't recommend it for daily consumption. It can be useful occasionally to help clean you out. It's probably better than energy drinks.

It seems one of the keys in the Word of Wisdom related to abstaining from tea and coffee is this part: "..shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures.."

Coffee and tea are both things that affect your bodies natural rhythm, and when you mess with that it can affect your ability for spiritual connection. The things we do and consume can not only affect our physical condition but mental and spiritual as well.

A lot of things are not black and white - good and evil - but rather can be a hindrance by degrees in receiving the full blessings that come from adherence to a certain principle.

# # #

Hyrum Smith: “And again, ‘hot drinks are not for the body, or belly;’ there are many who wonder what this can mean; whether it refers to tea, or coffee, or not. I say it does refer to tea, and coffee.” (“The Word of Wisdom,” Times and Seasons, 1 June 1842, p. 800.)

The Prophet Joseph Smith said: “I understand that some of the people are excusing themselves in using tea and coffee, because the Lord only said ‘hot drinks’ in the revelation of the Word of Wisdom. … Tea and coffee … are what the Lord meant when He said ‘hot drinks.’” (In Joel H. Johnson, Voice from the Mountains [Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1881], p. 12.)

[AkalAish]

There is always herbal teas...

Recent scientific studies have shown that people who switch from coffee to herbal teas have an 86% greater likelihood of...

...loosing the will to live.

[IcedKoffee]

Just drink it iced!

Actually, the temperature (or the caffeine content for that matter) of our drink, hasn’t determined if we’re keeping the Word of Wisdom for decades. If it was made with the Coffee bean, it’s against the WoW. It’s always good to speak to the Bishop and get his take though.

It was actually my stake president who told me cold coffee wasn’t against the word of wisdom. He also told me that the WOW wasn’t a commandment.

[Luke]

Just drink it iced!

Actually, the temperature (or the caffeine content for that matter) of our drink, hasn’t determined if we’re keeping the Word of Wisdom for decades. If it was made with the Coffee bean, it’s against the WoW. It’s always good to speak to the Bishop and get his take though.

Not sure if you’re being sarcastic here.

If not, you’re talking total rubbish.

[4Joshua8]

Hot means hot. Plain. Simple.

[BigT]

From Webster Dictionary 1828:

HOT, adjective

1. Having sensible heat; opposed to cold; as a hot stove or fire; a hot cloth; hot liquors. hot expresses more than warm.

2. Ardent in temper; easily excited or exasperated; vehement.

Achilles is impatient, hot and revengeful.

3. Violent; furious; as a hot engagement or assault.

4. Eager; animated; ; brisk; keen; as a hot pursuit, or a person hot in a pursuit.

5. Lustful; lewd.

6. Acrid; biting; stimulating; pungent; as hot as mustard or pepper.

[silverado]

The WoW says 'hot drinks'. Some mixed evidence that hot (temperature) drinks are more likely to cause cancer in the esophagus. That, of course, could only happen to the person drinking it. With smoking, the people around you have to breath it too. With alcohol, the actions of a drunk person can endanger others.

[Mamabear]

Just drink it iced!

Actually, the temperature (or the caffeine content for that matter) of our drink, hasn’t determined if we’re keeping the Word of Wisdom for decades. If it was made with the Coffee bean, it’s against the WoW. It’s always good to speak to the Bishop and get his take though.

It was actually my stake president who told me cold coffee wasn’t against the word of wisdom. He also told me that the WOW wasn’t a commandment.

Wow what an apostate. Lol
The church leaders told millions to take an experimental jab which is not effective or safe. They no longer have the right to dictate what people drink or do to their bodies.

[CuriousThinker]

I will never understand when I hear leaders say things like "we take this to mean". I have heard that for the WoW and tithing. Why aren't they asking God what it means?