integrity

Voting: A Christian’s Civic Responsibility

Tammy M Cardwell2 Comments

Yes, I said a CHRISTIAN’S responsibility. In truth, it’s every American’s civic responsibility; I merely specify Christians here because there are so many that have the idea we’re supposed to stay out of politics. Nothing could be further from the truth.

You can toss around the phrase “separation of church and state” if you like, but you’ll be using it out of context. No, it’s not in the constitution no matter how many people believe it is. The phrase appears one time, in a letter from Thomas Jefferson to the Danbury Baptist Association in which he assured them that there was a wall protecting the Church from the government – not the other way around. Doubt me? It would take maybe ten seconds to do a search and find the text.

I was going to pull in a quote here, one that is commonly attributed to Edmund Burke. In double checking the actual quote and attribution I went down a fascinating rabbit hole that ended with, “We honestly don’t know who said it.” In the meantime, I found this, which was printed in a 1895 medical bulletin, and it even more clearly says what I want to get across.

“He should not be lulled to repose by the delusion that he does no harm who takes no part in public affairs. He should know that bad men need no better opportunity than when good men look on and do nothing. He should stand to his principles even if leaders go wrong.”

BOOM!

My convictions about voting go way back to a childhood conversation. David Marion Tisdale, my grandfather and, in my opinion, one of the best men who ever lived, once told me that if a man doesn’t vote he has no right to complain about the government. Apparently, if someone started complaining to him about government related issues, his immediate question would be, “Did you vote in the election?” If the answer was “No,” the conversation was over.

Obviously, I hold certain convictions that affect the votes I cast, and I would love it if everyone voted the way I do. Here’s the deal, though. The bottom line is that I firmly believe everyone should get out and vote, period. And every Christian should get out and vote as God leads them to. If we don’t, we’re shirking our responsibility, and if we stand by and do nothing it’s our own fault when the government becomes something other than what we believe it should be.

Which, as I understand it, is exactly why many of the Amish are suddenly voting en masse. If you’re not aware, this is a history-making event. A government agency encroached on their community not long ago and many of them realized that they can no longer stand completely apart. They are choosing not to be those “good men” who “look on and do nothing.”

Do your research. Spend time in prayer over how God would have you vote – on everything, not just for President of the United States. Then get out there and take action.

There are many reasons ours is a “free country” and the power of the individual’s vote is one of them.

Celebrating Jesus!
Tammy C

NOTEWORTHY INTEGRITY.

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

Honesty, even by itself, though making many adversaries
Whom prudence might have set aside, or charity have softened
Evermore will prosper at the last.
                                                                                    Tupper.

We have often read an interesting story of a stockbroker who, just before his death, laid a wager on parole with a Parisian capitalist; and a few weeks after his death, the latter visited the widow and gave her to understand that her late husband had lost a bet of sixteen thousand francs. She went to her secretary, took out her pocket-book, and counted bank notes to the stated amount, when the capitalist thus addressed her: “Madame, as you give such convincing proof that you consider the wager binding, I have to pay you sixteen thousand francs. Here is the sum, for I am the loser, and not your husband.”

An act that, in principle, matches the above, came to light not long since in Philadelphia. During the speculations of 1837-38, Mr. C., a young merchant of that city, possessed of a handsome fortune, caught the mania, entered largely into its operations, and for a time was considered immensely rich. But when the great revulsion occurred he was suddenly reduced to bankruptcy. His young wife immediately withdrew from the circles of wealth and fashion, and adapted her expenses, family and personal, to her altered circumstances.

At the time of Mr. C’s failure, his wife was in debt to Messrs. Stewart and Company, merchants of Philadelphia, about two hundred dollars for articles which she had used personally. This debt, she had no means of liquidating. It became barred by the statute of limitation, before Mr. C. became solvent, though his circumstances gradually improved. After the lapse of twelve years, and when the creditors had looked upon the debt as lost, Mrs. C. was able to take the principle, add to it twelve years’ interest, enclose the whole in a note and address it to Messrs. Stewart and Company.*

*Messrs. Stewart and Company, upon the receipt of the money, addressed a note in reply to Mrs. C, in which they requested her acceptance of the accompanying gift, as a slight testimonial of their high appreciation of an act so honorable and so rare as to call forth unqualified admiration. Accompanying the letter was sent a superb brocade silk dress, and some laces of exquisite texture and great value.

-[Philadelphia Enquirer.

______

Excerpted from Noble Deeds of American Women
(Patriotic Series for Boys and Girls)
Edited by J. Clement
——
With an Introduction by Mrs. L. H. Sigourney
Illustrated
BOSTON: Lee and Shepard, Publishers
Entered by Act of Congress, in the year of 1851,
by E. H. Derby and Co., in the Clerk’s Office of the Northern District of New York
______

Watch Your Mouth

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

In James 3, God repeats the classic parental command and makes it very clear that He’s serious. Yes, He says here that no one can tame the tongue, but the context of the chapter makes it clear that He expects us to try.

Luke 6:45 tells us that what comes out of our mouths reveals what is really in our hearts. We can say it isn’t so, but where else would the words come from?

If I’m truly walking in the 1 Corinthians 13 kind of love that God desires from me, if that’s what fills my heart, then the words that come out of my mouth will be words of love. I won’t be calling another driver an idiot (or worse). I won’t be bad mouthing the mother who isn’t controlling her screaming child.

I won’t be, as James puts it, cursing a person who was made in God’s very image. And, whether we want to admit it or not, EVERY man was made in God’s very image, even the one whose views don’t correspond with our own.

If I do catch my mouth saying things it shouldn’t (or my fingers typing things they ought not) it’s time for a heart check.

Celebrating Jesus!

Tammy C

My Lord’s Prayer

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment
The Lord’s Prayer

Our Father

Our FATHER! Not some uninterested god who created the planet and then walked away, not an angry God who has to be appeased. No. He is MY FATHER who loves me and will love me forever, who wants the best for me, who has good plans for me.

who art in Heaven

He’s not bound by Earth. He has a higher perspective. Where I can only see what’s around me, He can see everything. Where I have access only to the resources at reach, He has it all.

Hallowed be thy name

My father is holy. His very name is holy, and I commit myself to living a life that reflects His holiness, to strive to have a reputation that reflects well on my Father. Yes, living in this world can make that a challenge, so I ask, “God, help me.”

Thy kingdom come, thy will be done, on Earth as it is in Heaven

Yes! It’s GOD’S KINGDOM that I want to see here on Earth, where HE rules, where HIS will and ONLY His will is done just as surely as it is in Heaven. I know it will happen ultimately, and pray it is soon. I also pray that it be in ME today. Let God’s kingdom come in the earth that is Tammy Cardwell. Let God’s will be done in the earth that is Tammy Cardwell.

Give us this day our daily bread

Yes, please provide our physical needs for the day. Even more, let me feed on God’s Word. Let me chew on it and find in it the spiritual nourishment I need for the day. Let it strengthen me and help me grow.

And forgive our debts as we forgive our debtors

Ah, Lord God, give me the ability to always walk in forgiveness. I refuse to let unforgiveness poison my soul, and want to always forgive, whether or not the other person ever deserves it or asks… or even admits they were wrong. And Lord, forgive me for my sins as I forgive them.

Lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil

Yes, oh yes. Lead me in every step I take, Father, so that I can stay far away from temptation and the evil that comes with it.

For thine is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever

And that is the bottom line. It’s ALL about God. No one ranks higher. No one has His authority or power. He was in the beginning and will be throughout eternity.

Amen

Celebrating Jesus!

Tammy C

Do I?

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

I recently had to stop in the road because two little dogs had dashed into the street. One crossed the road, but the other got confused and was wandering. I prayed for the poor things, but then I realized what they’d been after and was floored.

A large dog was jogging beside a woman. He stayed right at her side, never seeming to even notice the little yapper that was chasing after him. He never broke stride, never looked away. He was doing EXACTLY what he’d been trained to do.

And he was carrying his own leash. Literally. He held it in his mouth as he jogged down the sidewalk beside a woman who obviously had total trust in him. And the two made me think.

In a sense, we’re all like that dog. God calls us to run along beside Him, but though He gives us a guide (the Word and the Spirit) that He could use as a leash to control us, He ultimately leaves the decisions up to us. What do we do? What do I do? Do I actively choose to walk faithfully beside Him, not turning to the right or left?

Do I?

Celebrating Jesus!

Tammy C

No Turning Back

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

You can’t afford to go backwards. You have too many people following you!

My pastor said these words this morning, and they seared my soul. We tend to think that what we do is our own business and only our own business. We think wrongly.

The Bible refers to us as being surrounded by a cloud of witnesses. We are. As Christians, we can never forget that we are being watched. We are being watched by those in the church. We are being watched by those in the world. But we are not merely being WATCHED. We are being FOLLOWED.

There are those who simply watch me, I’m sure, but there are others-often I don’t know who they are-who are watching me and following my example. If I’m walking in the right direction, setting them a good example, great. If I’m not, their blood may well be on my hands.

It’s a sobering thing to consider, this influence that we have. What if we consider something to be perfectly fine, but someone watching us believes it to be sin? Drinking is a good example here. Many Christians see nothing wrong with drinking while others consider it sin. If one who considers it sin is influenced by one who considers it not sin and chooses to drink, then in his own heart he has committed sin. Who is responsible for his sin?

Paul addresses this in 1 Cor. 8:10-13. His context is eating food offered to idols, but the principle remains. See, in particular, verses 12 and 13. [AMP]

And when you sin against your brethren in this way, wounding and damaging their weak conscience, you sin against Christ.

Therefore, if [my eating a] food is a cause of my brother’s falling or of hindering [his spiritual advancement], I will not eat [such] flesh forever, lest I cause my brother to be tripped up and fall and to be offended.

I cannot afford to do anything but move onward, forward, with God. I truly can’t afford to go backwards, to backslide, to drag my feet-or even to do something that makes it appear that I am. If I do, and if in doing I lead others to do likewise, I can get myself in a heap of trouble.

Celebrating Jesus!

Tammy C

Just as the Lord had Commanded

Tammy M CardwellLeave a comment

In reading Exodus 15:16-32, we see one phrase repeated many times.

…just as the Lord had commanded him.

Moses is setting up the Tabernacle and we see in these words that he has learned a great truth. We aren’t called simply to do what God tells us to; we are called to do it “just as the Lord has commanded.” It is for us to live our lives not by our own standards, but by His.

Because Moses paid such close attention to God’s commands…

Then the cloud covered the Tabernacle, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle. Moses could no longer enter the Tabernacle because the cloud had settled down over it, and the glory of the Lord filled the Tabernacle.

Oh, that we could reach this place!

Celebrating Jesus!

Tammy C