“GOD SAID TO ME, ‘I SAVED YOU FROM THAT. IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT?'”
It is no secret that God does some of His best work in prison. Joseph, Samson, and Paul are just three examples of how He used and/or transformed people during incarceration. A modern-day example of this is Tony Cash, who is no stranger to incarceration. In this video, you’ll see how God turned Tony’s life around and now how He uses Tony to minister to those whose situation he knows very well.
Video credit: Southeast Christian Church
News Articles
THE 700 CLUB: PEACE ONLY CAME THROUGH JESUS
“I was doing such harsh crimes at such an early age – they sent me to the tougher institutions,” said Tony. “Kids got raped, you know, kids got killed, just like you hear about adult prisons.”
Tony’s cycle of incarceration began at only eleven years old with his first stint in juvie after being arrested for a series of armed robberies.
SET FREE: IN AND OUT OF JAIL FOR DECADES, TONY CASH NOW PASSIONATE ABOUT LEADING OTHERS TO CHRIST
“From the age of 11 on, I did nothing but get worse,” said Cash, 51. “I was in so many prisons I stopped counting at 50. I actually tried to count, ‘How many jails, prisons, and institutions I have actually walked in and out of?’ Whether it be a week, month or decade. It’s been over 50. It’s amazing to share this because it’s like I’m telling someone else’s story. How in the world did I get to this point? This is what drives me to help other people to be set free.”
Most Sundays you’ll see Cash, the man with the long, gray ponytail, baptizing men at Southeast Christian Church’s Blankenbaker Campus.
REVERSE THE CURSE: AFTER HER WORLD CRASHES, KIM CASH JOURNEYS TO NEW IDENTITY IN CHRIST
Kim Cash didn’t see it coming.
After work one day in November 2013, Kim Cash came home to an abandoned house—her husband and most of her possessions were gone.
“My ex-husband was the provider of the home for the last 20 years, so when he left, everything I knew left,” said Cash, a Southeast Christian Church member. “When I came home, the money was gone. I couldn’t find the retirement anywhere. I was 55 years old. I was thinking, ‘Oh God, what am I going to do?’”
Podcasts
TONY CASH - CAN I REALLY CHANGE?
From age 11 to age 49, Tony Cash spent 36 years in prison, much of it in solitary confinement. He was fearless of crime and consequences, and his world was made of violence and chaos. For many people, this is just how life is; they don’t know anything else. You can feel trapped inside an ever-deepening well, and even when your heart and mind long for things to be different, there doesn’t appear to be a way out.
For Tony, there wasn’t an easy way out… but there was light. In the harsh world of crime and prison, Tony found Jesus and slowly but surely, Jesus began to guide him into a new way of life – a life that has led dozens of others to Jesus as well. Tune in to Tony’s story as we ask the question, “Can I really change?”
GRIP THE PLOW
Continuing our Mantra Series, this week’s episode looks at the mantra “Grip the Plow.” With this idea, we’re challenging believers to get their hands into ministry for the Kingdom. In particular, we’re going to revisit the ministry of Tony and Kim Cash, who you may remember from episode 6 of season 1. On that episode, we heard about how God saved Tony from a life of violent crime and called him to be a missionary – a disciple who makes disciples. We also heard how Tony brought he and Kim together to be partners in ministry.
On this episode, we’ll hear about what God has done since then through them. Their ministry in the prison system has led to more than 140 baptisms, many of which are the result of recent converts who’ve shared the gospel with others and produced second, third, and fourth-generation Christians. Their testimony is a powerful and encouraging picture of what it means to “Grip the Plow.”
#028 – BREAKING CHAINS FT. TONY & KIM CASH
Going on a long drive today!? Use your time wisely and fill your hearts and minds with God’s heart for Louisville and the world! Have you heard Tony and Kim Cash’s story yet? Today is a perfect day to tune into what Jesus is doing through the lives of this powerful couple. Join us as we laugh together and delve into the heart of God!
Radio Shows
#211 A LIFE OF CRIME AND REBELLION THAT LED STRAIGHT TO THE CROSS
First cigarette at age 5. First marijuana at 7. First armed robbery at 11. This is a life destined for destruction, both for self and others. It’s impossible to have any hope. Or is it? On this week’s show, former prison inmate of 36 collective years, Tony Cash, talks about the road he was on for most of his life. A road that led to 20 years in solitary confinement, but also led to a wrestling match in prison that would change his eternal destiny.
#212 TONY AND KIM CASH EMBARK ON A MISSION TO TRANSFORM PRISONERS INTO FISHERS OF MEN
On this week’s show, Kurt and Chad continue the conversation (from Episode #211) with Tony Cash. His wife and ministry partner Kim enters into the story that God is writing. She left a career she had built to join Tony on an adventure they wouldn’t have thought possible. The mission was simple but difficult. “Our mission is to transform prisoners’ lives by mobilizing, training and coaching qualified workers to implement the fruitful practices of disciple-making movements inside the walls of the prison system as God prepares them for re-entry into society, teaching them to be fishers of men outside of incarceration.”
