17 Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new. 2 Corinthians 5:17 ( NKJV)
By Bro. John L. Cash
Well, summer is officially over for the Cash household, and everybody is headed back to school in some form or fashion. And, as usual, I’ve been taking a vacation from writing columns for the summer months. It’s been a good thing for me, too. I think last winter and spring I was suffering from some sort of “writer’s block.” It just seemed like there was nothing interesting to write about. Somehow, my entire universe had become stale.
What a difference a couple of months can make! So many new things have come into my life, and I have a lot of new stories to tell you. I have a new office and a new classroom 
at school, and a new set of duties. Susan has a new hobby—running—and has finished a half-marathon. I performed a wedding ceremony this summer, and now I have a (wonderful) new daughter-in-love named Madeline. Spencer is the other half of the newlywed couple, and he also has a new diploma from Ole Miss, and a new profession as a Mississippi public educator. Seth has a new certification in auto mechanics from East Central Community College and a new job as oil change/tire installation technician. He will be starting a new college program at Meridian Community College in a couple of weeks.
(This summer we had some new family photos taken. In Mississippi, it’s a new style to have your pictures taken with a rustic backdrop—maybe an old vintage building that is falling down. We had our picture taken in front of an old Southern house with peeling paint. When the boys’ German grandmother saw the photos, she thought the ramshackle house in the picture was OUR house. She offered to send us some money to buy paint so our sons could paint the house. When we explained that we were merely using the old porch as a backdrop because that it’s currently stylish, she said, “Well, you know I ‘live behind the moon.’” I think that must be the German equivalent of being “out of the loop.” Here’s a picture of our family, including new daughter-in-law Madeline.)
So, I hope you’ll stay tuned as we begin a new school year together and as I tackle new topics. I have a new Bible study program I’m using that you can get absolutely free. I have a new obsession with a beautiful kind of Christian music that I hope to share with you. Most of all, I have a new attitude, and I’m ready to write.
I love new things, even if it’s just a new shirt or a new bar of Dial soap. The Scriptures tell us that God loves new things, too. In the Kingdom of Heaven, God will make “all things new.” (Revelation 21:5) But we don’t have to wait for the end of time for God to bring newness to our lives. Today’s Scripture lesson (at the top) teaches us that God will make us into “a new creation” if we put our faith and trust in Jesus Christ. And if we are ever in a slump, He is always able to restore our souls. Believe on Him today.
Dr. John L. Cash is the “Country Preacher Dad.” He was raised in Stuttgart, Arkansas, and has spent the last 28 years being a country preacher in the piney woods five miles south of the little town of Hickory, Mississippi. (On week days has a desk-job at a public school, and until recently taught Latin on closed-circuit-television.) He and his lovely wife, Susan, live in the parsonage next door to the Antioch Christian Church (where the Preacher is planning to send Gwen Rockwood’s parents new photographs when he finds an envelope.) Their kids include Spencer (age 22), his wife Madeline (age 22), and Seth (age 19). Email him at countrypreacherdad@gaggle.net.
