Real Food and Religion series: Southern Baptist

Our guest post today comes from Michelle Brumgard. She has a blog called Traditional Simplicity where you will find her blogging about real food, time management and Miessence.

Real food and religion is very interesting. "The Maker's Diet" by Jordan Rubin is the book I recommend to everyone in describing my religious beliefs about real food. If you wish, skip everything else in the book, just read the sections referencing the bible. Why does the Genesis diet not work? He tells us and shares the bible verses that confirm these beliefs. Real food is how my two Great Grandmothers, who both recently passed away at 98 and 103, ate every day. Realizing the way they ate and lived had something to do with their fabulous health into golden years, I began to think about real food. After reading "The Maker's Diet," I was convinced real food was the way for me to eat. I am a Southern Baptist, if I were to "label" my religion. Southern Baptists view the bible as the ultimate authority in shaping their lives. We believe in only one God, who is revealed as God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Spirit. A heaven and hell is very real. The only way to salvation is through Jesus Christ, believing God sent his only Son to earth to die on the cross to forgive us from all our sins. By faith, asking God to forgive us of our sins and acknowledging our belief in his son dying for those sins, gains us entrance into salvation; eternal life in heaven. This is the only way to heaven. We remember God's grace in sending Jesus to earth through the Lord's Supper. After receiving God into our lives and accepting him as our savior, we believe in baptism of the new believer. We do not believe in infant baptism. Baptism is meant to be a symbolic act, picturing what Jesus Christ did for the new believer through death, burial, and resurrection. It is only done by believers and as a testimony of their new faith in Jesus Christ. Baptism is also a symbolic act of washing away the past life, resurrecting in the new life, as a new believer in Jesus Christ. In all my life, I cannot recall learning about any specific teaching of how a believer in Christ should eat. I recall many of potlucks and even my church today, holds an annual Chili cook off. So food is very much a part of our fellowship. In my personal quest to live the best life God has created for me, I am continually seeking to glorify his name. I do believe that when Adam and Eve were sent out of the garden, it became mandatory for them to consume flesh for protein. They needed the meat protein to sustain their lives in the new, hard, manual work they were now required to do. I have also become to believe we should try to eat foods as close to the way God created them, hence my belief in real food. I am often asked what I mean by real food. The simplest explanation I can give is, how did God give it to us? I believe he gave us wood to create fire and that the food was meant to be cooked. He did not give us the chemical equations that now create much of what fills out grocers. God gave us beef cows, dairy cows, deer, elk, bear, fish, fruits, vegetables, nuts and so much more. He did not give us high fructose corn syrup, MSG, red dye, etc. Eating as close to the way God created, I hope to continually strive to feed my family this way. If you have any questions or want to join with me in this journey, stop by my site "Traditional Simplicity."