Hallelujah Acres "Firsts"

In this Health Tip we begin a series sharing how Hallelujah Acres has been FIRST in so many areas – first to promote God’s Genesis 1:29 diet; first Christian ministry to dedicate itself to the health of the Christian community; first to publish a Christian magazine emphasizing healthy living, and so much more. Let's begin our journey into Hallelujah Acres "firsts!"

Hallelujah Acres First To Promote Genesis 1:29 Diet

On February 12, 1992 Hallelujah Acres had its beginning in an 11-foot-wide storefront on Main Street in Rogersville, Tennessee. On this same date we began encouraging the Christian community (as well as anyone else who would listen) to return to nourishing their bodies with the garden foods God told Adam to consume in Genesis 1:29. Here is what God told Adam he should eat in order to properly nourish and sustain the life of the physical body God had just created for him:

“AND GOD SAID, Behold I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of all the earth, and every tree in the which is the fruit of a tree yielding seed; to you it shall be for meat.” (Genesis 1:29)

There are two ways to interpret this verse: (1) As written in the King James Version this verse concludes with the words: “to you it shall be for MEAT” or “in place of meat”. (2) But a little research will quickly reveal that a more accurate translation doesn’t even contain the word “meat.” Proper translation would read: “to you it shall be for FOOD.” In this verse God is telling Adam — and through Adam all mankind — that man was to consume a diet consisting exclusively of fruits and vegetables, seeds and nuts. It only makes sense since these are the very foods found in the garden God had created before creating Adam and placing him into it. There was not even a hint in this verse that man was to consume the flesh or drink the milk of an animal. Hallelujah Acres became the very first Christian ministry in the history of the church (at least that we are aware of) encouraging the Christian community to stop consuming the “world’s diet” and to return to consuming God’s original, 100%, plant-based diet as outlined in Genesis 1:29. Since its very beginning 20 years ago, Hallelujah Acres has discouraged the consuming of almost all the foods found in the Standard American Diet (SAD). We discouraged the consumption of all animal source foods, all refined sugars and refined grains, stating that these substances were the “cause” of most physical problems.

20 Years Ago Few Christians Were Concerned About Health

Our attempt was not received very well. In fact, it was received about as well by the Christian community as the Israelites received God’s attempt to change their diets back in the book of Exodus. He rescued them from the meat based diet they had learned to consume during their time in Egypt. Instead, in the wilderness gave them manna, a plant-based food (“like coriander seed” See Exodus 16:31).

“And the children of Israel said unto them; Would to God we had died by the hand of the Lord in the land of Egypt, when we sat by the flesh pots, and when we did eat bread to the full; for ye have brought us forth into the wilderness, to kill this whole assembly with hunger.” (Exodus 16:3)

When we began proclaiming God’s Genesis 1:29 diet, the Christian community was so steeped in its animal-based foods that barbecued ribs, Southern fried chicken, or a roasted pig, along with all manner of other flesh foods had become the main attraction at church fellowships. These fellowship suppers also included plenty of sugar-laden desserts made not only with refined sugar but also refined flour, both of which cause blood sugar to spike and lead to all manner of physical problems. You can imagine the reaction when I came along, telling them that their fellowship suppers were the primary cause of most of the physical problems for which they prayed for healing on prayer meeting night! Just who was this Baptist preacher who was trying to get Christians to change their diets? Was he a university-trained nutritionist or a medical doctor? No! He was just a preacher who had developed colon cancer and refused all medical treatments for his cancer, and in less than a year without any medical modalities was cancer-free. What had this preacher done in place of medical modalities to heal his cancer? He simply stopped consuming animal products, refined sugars and grains he had been consuming the previous 42-years of his life. Instead, he adopted God’s Genesis 1:29 diet along with lots of freshly extracted vegetable juices. My experience became the foundation of Hallelujah Acres' message that there was indeed a better way of dealing with physical problems than the medical/drug route these Christians had previously pursued.

First To Proclaim "You Don't Have To Be Sick"

When Hallelujah Acres came on the scene in 1992, the Christian community was just as sick as the non-Christian community, experiencing the same physical problems to the same percentages regardless of how many prayers were prayed for God to take away these physical problems. Sadly, the Christian community had also grown just as dependent upon drug (both over-the-counter and doctor-prescribed) as the non-Christian community. They consumed ever more drugs while feeling worse and worse, experiencing more and more sickness, spending ever more money on modern medicine. Meanwhile, they never fully recovered from the physical or psychological problems they were doctoring and taking drugs for. When I began holding seminars titled “How to Eliminate Sickness,” few people attended. Gradually, more people began attending these seminars, applying what was being taught, and began sending in testimonies of all manner of physical and psychological problems disappearing – from high blood pressure, to diabetes, to cancer, to you name it! These testimonies confirmed that when a person (Christian or non-Christian) ceased the consumption of animal source foods, refined sugar and grains, and began consuming God’s Genesis 1:29 diet along with lots of vegetable juices, they not only recovered from nearly all their physical and psychological problems, but they didn’t get sick anymore.

First To Publish Christian Health Magazine

In 1993, Hallelujah Acres began publishing a magazine titled “Back to the Garden.” It was the first Christian publication to encourage a return to the 100% garden diet God had given to Adam in Genesis 1:29. The first issue was a very humble beginning: 3,000 copies were printed, containing 12 pages, printed in dark green ink on a recycled paper. The feature article was titled “God’s Original Diet” Here is part of that article:

“When God created man, He placed him in a garden and told him his diet was to consist of raw fruits and vegetables. On this diet, man lived an average of 912 years without sickness! Following the flood, meat and cooked food were added to man’s diet. As a result, sickness entered the human race and man’s life span declined rapidly from an average of 912 years to 100 years by the time you get to the end of Genesis!”

That first issue of “Back to the Garden also contained numerous testimonies. Following is just one of the testimonies that appeared in that first issue:

“I am a diabetic. I started on the program you teach at Hallelujah Acres on March 5, 1993. At that time my blood sugar was running around 425 and I was taking two injections of 20 units of insulin daily. In eight weeks I have been able to eliminate one shot and reduce the other to 10 units a day. My blood sugar has dropped from around 425 eight weeks ago to 112 this morning. I have also lost 21 pounds in eight weeks and have lots of energy. My high blood pressure is also lower. My neighbors say they can see a big change for the better. I thank the Lord for this program.” Evelyn A.

Testimonies of healing began streaming in almost immediately after we started proclaiming God’s Genesis 1:29 health message on February 12, 1992. They have continued to this day, 20 years later! We have received literally tens-of-thousands of testimonies reporting drastic improvement or complete reversal of symptoms from more than 170 physical problems — including terminal cancers! Well over 1,000 of these can be found on our website. On page 12 of that first issue of our “Back to the Garden” magazine was an article titled: “The Message of Hallelujah Acres is essentially – Superior Health Will Exist if your Living Practices are in keeping with God’s Natural Laws.” Following this heading were eight natural laws (re-published here). Finally, on page 12 of that first issue, just below the “Eight Natural Laws” article, there was a quote I want to share:

“Don’t you believe the moth-eaten fallacy that man, as he gets older, must face decrepitude, decay, senility and death! Man does not die – he commits slow suicide with his unnatural habits of living. Your body is the most glorious accurate instrument of this universe. Given the correct fuel, pure air, exercise and keeping it internally clean; your body will last indefinitely and function perfectly.” Paul Bragg

Next Week, the good Lord willing and if the creeks don’t rise too high, we will continue sharing other "firsts" Hallelujah Acres has been responsible for. Amazingly, the list is quite long and has had a tremendous influence in the plethora of health information that is currently being shared today not only by Hallelujah Acres but by many other organizations dedicated to healthy living. Trust you will join us.