“For everything created by God is good, and nothing is to be rejected, if it is received with gratitude.” – I Timothy 4:4

Last year during one of our duck hunts on Hog Island, a professor from Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, a farmer from eastern Wake Co. and I were sitting around the pot belly stove in the great room of our lodge talking life. As we hit various topics like the Bible, politics, steel shot vs. lead, etc. we somehow started debating how one makes a good cup of coffee.

I thought I was fairly advanced in my percolating prowess in that I like a particular blend of beans that I grind myself. But as I listened to my professor friend, I found out I was a caveman compared to his prep for the perfect cup. This boy doesn’t just grind his coffee beans, he buys a special type of java that he roasts in micro-batches and then brews in a French Press.

As the professor waxed eloquent about the steps he goes through in making coffee, my farmer friend who had simply been listening to the exchange asked – “Now let me get this straight; you don’t buy Folgers from the store? And you buy green coffee beans from some specialty place that you roast yourself? And then you put them in something called a French Press? Man I don’t know about all of that, but I’ll tell you one thing – that French Press thing doesn’t sound like something a Christian man should get mixed up in.” (At this last statement, all three of us started howling with laughter. Man I love duck camp.)

Fast forward two months after that conversation. I received a phone call in my office from my farmer friend whose initial statement was, “I have been corrupted!” I was a little taken aback by the force of his statement and asked him what had happened. He replied, “I’m sitting in my shop office sipping a cup of coffee from my new French Press with beans that our professor friend roasted. Ya’ll have corrupted me!”

Here’s the point. My farming buddy was open to a new experience. I Timothy 4:4 tells the believer that all things (that are not expressly prohibited by the Word) can be enjoyed because they are given by God. So many times we rob ourselves of a blessing because we reject doing something differently or trying something new because we are (a) lazy or (b) afraid or (c) prideful.

So the next time you are tempted to think or say something like, “We’ve never done it that way before.” remember my farmer friend who is probably enjoying a freshly brewed cup of java out of his French Press. God gave us all things to enjoy so boys, go forth and enjoy.

Blessings to you boys,

Joel Mc