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My second favorite season is autumn. Of course, those who know me realize my first is Winter because I'm a snow nut. Yes, I proudly wore my snowflake on TV taunting snow haters (I call them Snow Communists). I love fall because of the drop in temperatures and humidity after a long Hampton Road's summer. I love seeing the kids go back to school so they can learn and be productive members of society. (O.K. That was a lie! If I heard my nine-year-old boy whine one more time that he's bored, I'll scream. He stopped that once I showed him how to operate a lawn mower and rake.)
I really love to see the leaves change color. November is prime season for fall colors on the peninsula and a drive on the Colonial Parkway is a must for residents of the region. Since I believe that God created the earth to project His power and might, I also believe that creation points us to the Creator. And that gets me to my point. Why is that before a leaf withers and dies it shines so brightly? What causes it to turn a bright yellow or red before it falls to the earth. Yes, I know the scientific principle involved but how about the spiritual principle?
Leaves are like people. You see, human beings need to give up what they want and refocus their attention on the needs of others. The greatest joy a person can experience is not serving themselves but rather serve others. The spiritual principle is to die to self and be born anew to a different life; a life designed by God to serve Him and his creation (people). Baptism shows this truth. When a person is dunked in the baptismal waters, the biblical truth is they never come up! They drown...dead...and are born again with a fresh new purpose in their lives.
When a leave is nearing death, the most beautiful part of it suddenly appears out of nowhere. Scientifically, the colors were always there yet they couldn’t appear until it neared the death cycle. And we all marvel at the colors. When a person dies to self, the best part of them shines with a brilliance that gets people to stand up and take notice. This is the desire of God. He wants His creation, be it the mountains or ocean, the butterflies or the bees, the autumn leaves, or the apple of His eye, human beings, to point people to Him and His wonderful creative power.
Do you want to see this truth revealed in politics? Take a look at this Washington Post electoral map sometime and see who voted conservative and who voted liberal. Now look at a Pew Forum list of states and their church attendance. You can see how voting lines up with church attendance. If you live in the city, you are more likely to vote liberal and not attend church while those who live in the country are more likely to vote conservative and attend church regularly. You may be wondering what's the point? The Bible certainly lines up with those who are conservative in their social, moral beliefs. People who live in the country see God's power because they live and breath within His environment. Since they spend more time closer to nature and God, they are more likely to follow Him. In the city, urbanites are surrounded by what man created leading them to more readily dismiss God and His omnipotent hand. Of course, this is a generalization that is not specific to any individual.
If you find yourself straying from God and have not recently considered the spiritual truths that nature affords us all, get away for a day and take a road trip outside the urban congestion.
1. Go to Williamsburg and experience the natural surroundings that our Founding Fathers witnessed as they began formulating the greatest plan for limited government the world has ever seen.
2. Drive the Colonial Parkway from Yorktown all the way to its dramatic ending along the James River.
3. When you drive this road…try a novel approach. Go slower than the posted speed limit, suck in the scenery as if you are taking your first deep breath in years, and take your watch and cell phone and toss them in the trunk.
Before God can open our eyes to see Him, we must get rid of the distractions that keep us from looking.
Crime on the Peninsula: An issue of the heart.
I was recently bored and surfing the internet a few days ago (I can’t believe I’m admitting this) when I decided to check out the latest crime statistics across the region. I was startled at the numbers. There are literally thousands of violent crimes reported each year on the peninsula. I must admit I thought the number would be in the hundreds.
Life is certainly different than when I grew up. It was a simpler time when kids played outside without much thought of adult supervision; it was a period when many didn’t even consider locking their doors during the day and when a smile and wave from the neighbors were the norm. Most people would go worship on Sunday morning and many wouldn’t consider working because it was the Sabbath day of rest. The majority of businesses would stay closed in honor of this special day. The only national chain that I know which still adheres to this principle is Chick-Filet.
If you are reading this column than I am quite certain that you read the newspaper each day. And I am convinced that you either read or scan the crime sections. Personally, I glance at the headlines and move on to something which perks my interest more…like the sports and business page and of course, the weather forecast. Thousands of violent crimes every year! With a population hovering around a half million people, those numbers are sobering.
While many generations and thousands of scientists over that time have unsuccessfully attempted to understand and solve the crime problem, I believe the good book, the Bible, has some amazing answers of it’s own. Remember, it is and always has been the best selling book of all time! The good book teaches that crime has its roots in the hearts of mankind. Human beings act upon the good or bad that is stored within their hearts and minds.
Proverbs 4:23 says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” Proverbs is a book of Godly wisdom. It contains the greatest thoughts and ideas that have ever been written. Solomon, the author of the book, has always been considered one of the wisest men to ever walk the earth. The cause of crime is not ones social status or the size of their wallet but rather the size of their heart.
Matthew 15:18-19 continues with this line of reasoning. “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile them. For out of the heart come evil thoughts — murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander.” These are the words of Jesus Christ. For Christians, He is considered the Savior of the world. Even the leaders of some of the world’s other popular religions consider him a great teacher and prophet. His words delve into the depth of the social problems plaguing the Peninsula and the rest of the country.
Our hearts are tied into our spiritual condition. As we seek God and turn our lives over to Him, He begins the process of transforming our lives and cleansing our hearts from the filth that leads us to commit these crimes and do wrong. Human beings are designed as spiritual creatures having a human condition. When we discover the spiritual truths that can turn our hearts and lives around, we then discover the secret to living a life free from the thoughts that lead us down the wrong road. Simply put, we as humans respond to the spiritual elements in our lives.
Tens of millions of Americans today can attest to this truth. I am one of them. At the age of 23, I discovered these spiritual laws that have radically transformed my thinking and the course of my life. As God changed my heart, He radically transformed my thoughts, attitudes, and my very purpose for living. I am living proof that the Bible does have the answers to the social ills that have crippled parts of our society. I challenge you to a spiritual, scientific experiment that is guaranteed to knock your socks off. Spend 15 to 30 minutes of the day studying the Bible on your own. Pray for the Lord’s guidance in understanding and applying these words of life.
You will not be the same person, I promise. Give it three to six months and get back to me. I would love to hear your stories. My email address is joncashministries@yahoo.com. I dare you!
P.S.
Please share your stories and testimonies right now under the “comment” section of this blog. Your testimony could change somebody’s life.
I spent 23 years forecasting the weather. I spent 21 of those years doing that in Hampton Roads. What a journey it was! Will I miss it? You bet. Will I miss getting up at 3:30 a.m.? Are you kidding me? I love staying up late to watch television after 10 p.m. and sleeping until 6:30 a.m.
Forecasting the weather put me in an interesting position. As a Christian for many years, I have found a unique parallel between the weather (which God created) and our lives (which God created).
1. Life is like the weather, it changes. People in Hampton Roads have told me a million times if you don’t like the weather here, wait a minute and it will change. So true. Living near the water offers the region some beautiful sights but also brings some dramatic weather changes in a blink of an eye. Life is that way, too. God designed life to change -- sometimes dramatically. You might wonder why? If life never changed it would get boring and predictable and that invites us to take things (and God) for granted. Many a marriage has crumbled due to monotony. I have learned that trusting God with my life means trusting Him through every part, every twist and turn, every mountain and valley that comes my way. An easy life always brings with it an attitude of self-reliance and that is the enemy of faith. Changes in life help cement our hearts to the Creator and Author of life.
2. Life is unpredictable, just like the weather. I hate to say that as a recovering meteorologist but the science is still an educated guess. I can’t tell you the number of times I was on the phone with a bride-to-be who wanted to know the weather forecast six months down the road. I tried to calmly tell her that I didn’t have a clue. It was impossible to even guess at it. I’m not a fan of long-range forecasts either. Oh…the number of times I would hear the winter forecast from some academic-type who was convinced that it was going to be a cold, snowy season. And how about the predictions of the hurricane experts? My co-anchors at my television station would come to me after that and say, “So what do you think?” I would just shrug my shoulders and say, “I don’t have a clue.” Nobody can predict the weather that far out. I say go buy a ground hog for a pet! Now back to the point. Life is totally unpredictable. One day you are funning it in the sun and the next day you are sitting in the hospital wondering what happened. One day you are happily married and the next day the rug has been pulled from under your world. The Lord uses this chaos to draw us into a dependence upon Him that eventually leads us into trusting Him with every facet of our daily lives. I believe that all of the craziness of life has a divine purpose; to draw His creation toward His nurturing, caring hands as a shepherd gathers his sheep into the sheep pen.
3. Extreme weather teaches us to appreciate the days of warm sunshine. Years ago I remember eight straight days of rain. Did I predict it? Yes -- one of the times I got it right. I remember telling the television audience that we would have five feet of fresh snow if the temperatures were just a few degrees colder. I love tennis and play three times a week when the body is willing. Eight days in the row without tennis, stuck in the house with two whining kids, an eternity of ugly skies forcing me to cut back on my ice-cream consumption (no exercise…no ice-cream) made me very unhappy. Then, it happened! Like a light at the end of a dark tunnel, the sun peeked through. The air warmed and the birds began to sing. The kids hit the yard, and I hit the tennis courts -- and that carton of ice-cream. When you lose something for a long time, you learn to appreciate it more. And that brings me to God. When the extreme surrounds us from all sides and threatens to derail our way of life, it is those times when we learn not to take the good times for granted. We learn to say thank you for the little things in life like a warm, sunny day, a butterfly floating on the breeze and the firefly lights dancing in the distance on a summer evening.
4. The weather also teaches us that we have no control over life. You can’t wish the rain away. No matter how hard you try, you can’t make a storm do what you want. The wind didn’t ask you which way to blow today, did it? No matter how badly you want snow, you are 100 percent powerless. You can't make it happen. As the biggest snow-lover on the East Coast, I hate this! God controls the destinies of man. Even though we cannot see Him face to face, His hand of intervention is everywhere for those who have humbled themselves before Him and have eyes to see and ears to hear the truths of scripture. When I realized I was powerless in so many different areas of my life, that was the moment when God began to teach me not only that He existed, but that He was intimately involved in every facet of my daily life. When I reached that point in my mid-20s, everything about my life changed. God could speak to my heart on a personal basis and began to change my thoughts, attitudes, desires and dreams.
God created the weather for a purpose. Open the eyes of your heart and begin to see things through a different set of eyes. I hope you can wake up tomorrow, glance out the window and smile no matter what you see.
Can we be honest for a minute? Does anybody really know how to raise a teenager? Wouldn’t it be nice if there were some kind of magic pill that we could give them on their thirteenth birthday? That’s an idea! Simply slip it under the icing of their birthday cake and once it hits their stomach…they are suddenly grown up and sane. It would be great! We could avoid the hormones, lashing out, midnight talks that drag out until sunrise and all the other assorted craziness of the teen years. If it were only that easy…Sigh.
I have a 15-year-old daughter, and I must admit that I am quite proud of her. Still, I really don’t understand her like I should. When I was a teenager, I would simply pick up the phone to talk with someone. My teenage girl doesn’t even consider that an option. She must, and I repeat, must text. She insists, “Talking on the phone is so caveman, Dad.” I don’t get it myself. It takes a lot more time and energy to text. You can accomplish more in less time by simply talking on the phone.
My daughter lives for Facebook. Her life is wrapped around her online persona. I asked her last night around 10 p.m., “Do you want to watch some TV honey?”
Her smile was a bit strained but polite. “No daddy, I need to go on the computer.” I sighed under my breath. I got it. Mom and dad were no longer the center of her universe. It was Facebook! She has more than 700 friends that she needs to keep up with. She would have more than 2,000 if we didn't "set our feet down."
I remember one of many times I set limitations for her. It wasn’t any fun. It happened last year after she met several boys at a swim meet and immediately wanted to add them to Facebook. The conversation went something like this:
“Hey honey, 'What you doin'?” I asked in my best teenage slang as I watched her typing away on the computer.
“Oh, nothing,” she responded.
I immediately translated. This meant, “Daddy, I’m busy in my world. When I’m ready let you in…I call you. Don’t call me!”
“Are you on Facebook again?” I asked as I glanced at the computer screen. A stony silence greeted my words.
I didn’t give up. “Are you adding those boys you JUST met?”
She glanced at me for a millisecond before she rolled her eyes in disbelief. "Dad, these are nice boys," she said.
“Oh, I’m sorry honey,” I lied as I glanced at the tattoo on one of their arms. (Yes…I know that was very judgmental. It's what's on the inside that counts.) “How long did you talk to them?”
Her fingers began to smack the keyboard with just a touch of violence. “Dad!”
I knew God didn’t want me to give in. A good parent is proactive but not suffocating with their teenagers. I gently but firmly said, “No.”
Christina batted her eyes in disbelief. “Huh?”
I took my hand and waved it in between her face and computer. “You don’t know those boys well enough to add them to your account.”
She jumped out of the seat to challenge my authority. “Dad! You’re so protective!”
I tried to cut her off with a dose of Daddy wisdom. “Honey, those boys…” was all I got out before she cut me off.
“I know, I know,” she ranted with as much respect as a teenage girl could conjure up. “Those boys could be ax murderers.” She closed the notebook computer with a thud and made a beeline for her room.
“I love you honey!” I shouted seconds before her door shut.
I’m certain this type of situation has never played out in your homes. I’m probably the odd-ball parent with the unreasonable teenager. Yes, the Cash household is the only dysfunctional family in Hampton Roads. Or…maybe we are the norm and we all struggle with those teenage years.
How much freedom do we give them? How many rules should they have? What kind of parents should we be? I don’t have all the answers but I do believe I’ve learned a few key points over the years from Bible study and hands-on-training.
1. Give them unconditional love. Teenagers want that from you.
2. Listen. Teenagers want you to listen to them even when they sound like crazy people. Don’t cut them off!
3. Give teenagers freedom to fail. This might be the best policy (within reason) to teach them life lessons that they would never accept from you.
4. Protect teenagers from others. This is paramount.
5. You can't always protect them from themselves. Those teaching moments can come from God. He’s much better at it anyway.
6. Live what your preach and preach what you live. Teenagers are watching every move we make. They can spot a hypocrite a mile away.
7. Don’t give them everything they want. You will spoil them. Teach them the difference between wants and needs.
8. Discipline with love. When you discipline them, do it out of love and not anger or vengeance. Even though they won’t admit it at the time, they know the difference.
9. Don’t be overbearing. Give them space to be themselves and find their own identity.
10. Be very patient. We are all a work in progress. God wants to make us like Him. It will take God a lifetime to make you that way. Don’t expect it to happen to your teenager in a few years.
