Look to the past - for a glimpse of the future!

So the Conservative Party Conference has ended.  And what a rousing (undoubtedly prepared by others!) speech from the leader of the Party!  How well he spoke to his audience (the old words "preaching to the choir" came to mind!); how convincing he must have been to many of the electorate.  However, he did make, in my opinion, one major faux pas.  In the context of the renegotiations that he expects to be conducting with the EU, after the May General Election, and speaking to those who expect little, or nothing, to come of them, he declared: "To anyone who thinks I can't, or won't, deliver this I will say, 'Judge me by my record'!"

It may be unfortunate for Mr Cameron, but I believe that that is exactly what great numbers of the British electorate are already doing!  It's not a record that would, even politically, engender any confidence at all in the Prime Minister's negotiating, or any other, skills.  He promised - indeed, gave a "cast-iron guarantee" of - a referendum on the Lisbon Treaty; but dropped it like the proverbial hot potato as soon as he gained office, and imposed a three-line whip to stop an EU referendum bill. He promised that, under his coalition government, net immigration to this island nation would be reduced to tens of thousands.  We are now paying France to try to stop illegal ''economic migrants" from entering the UK.  Please note, I am not in any way against the provision of asylum (sanctuary) for those who are genuinely in fear of their lives.  But far too many of those who come to the UK do so, not because they require a place of safety - that should be the first safe country they enter, not the one to which they travel through at least two other safe countries! - but because we provide them with the most generous benefits!  A legal 'marriage' service may now be held between two persons of the same gender - and the PM has even stated that he wants to export this deviance around the world - "Judge me by my record"?  Not a good idea, Mr Cameron - from your perspective!

Of course, not everyone is like the current holder of the office of Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland.   I am a fan of one particular make-up of The Gaither Vocal Band - Mark Lowry, Guy Penrod, David Phelps and, of course, Bill Gaither.  In one of their recorded songs is this chorus: "But now, more than ever, I sit at the cross; more than ever, I sit at His feet.  The days of my journey have proved my Lord true, and He is so precious to me."  I love those words "The days of my journey have proved my Lord true."  They're a reminder that the Lord can be trusted - absolutely.  I have proved Him so often in the past; I know that I can trust Him for the present, and the future.  His is a record that stands up to to the closest of scrutinies.  He is totally dependable.  As the writer of the Letter to Hebrew disciples of Jesus wrote: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and for ever." (Heb 13:8).

One of the Psalmists summed it up nicely when he penned these words: "Put not your trust in princes, in a son of man, in whom there is no help. ... ... Happy is he whose help is the God of Jacob, whose hope is in YHWH his God, ..." (Ps 146:3, 5).

Exactly what the Conservative Party, if returned to government in May, will produce can still only be the subject of speculation.  The dependability of Almighty God, especially for those who are His adopted children, justified through His grace and through the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus, at Calvary, is certain.  Hallelujah!

dropped it like a hot potato as soon as he gained office, telling the whips office to form a 3 line whip to stop an EU referendum bill.

"Anyone who thinks I can't or won't deliver this, I will say 'judge me by my record".

"Anyone who thinks I can't or won't deliver this, I will say 'judge me by my record".

"Anyone who thinks I can't or won't deliver this, I will say 'judge me by my record".

"Anyone who thinks I can't or won't deliver this, I will say 'judge me by my record".

"Anyone who thinks I can't or won't deliver this, I will say 'judge me by my record".

It's not an amnesty!

Listening, as usual, to the BBC Radio 4 Today programme, this morning, and an interview with Damien Green, the Coalition Government's Immigration Minister, two familiar quotes came to mind.  The first was from the works of William Shakespeare: "A rose, by any other name, would smell as sweet" (Romeo and Juliet, Act 2, Scene 2); the second was from Lewis Carroll's book, Through the Looking Glass, in which Humpty Dumpty makes the statement that, "“When I use a word, it means just what I choose it to mean — neither more nor less.”

The issue was the claimed (or un-claimed, if you are Damien Green) amnesty for some 160,000 asylum-seekers who have been in the U.K. for at least six years.  These people, not all of whom, apparently, have been checked out, have been, in effect, granted an amnesty.  Keith Vaz, of the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committee, who was also being interviewed, seemed to believe that these people had, in effect, been granted an amnesty.  On the simple basis that so many have been granted leave to stay in the UK, without the appropriate checks on the eligibility of their claims, I find it difficult not to agree with Mr Vaz!  Mr Green, on the other hand, insisted on speaking about an administrative measure!

Of course, as a disciple of Jesus, I would wish to assist anyone who was in serious danger in their own country.  The Children of Israel were instructed that they should not "... oppress a stranger ; you know the heart of a stranger , for you were strangers in the land of Egypt." (Ex 23:9).  Jesus was very clear that our treatment of a stranger is a mark of how we treat Him!  "... I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.'  Then the righteous will answer him, 'Lord, when did we see thee hungry and feed thee, or thirsty and give thee drink?  And when did we see thee a stranger and welcome thee, or naked and clothe thee?  And when did we see thee sick or in prison and visit thee?' And the King will answer them, 'Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brethren, you did it to me.'" (Matt 25:35-40).

However, it is also true that, writing under the inspiration of God the Holy Spirit, Paul tells us that, "If any one will not work , let him not eat.  For we hear that some of you are living in idleness, mere busybodies, not doing any work .  Now such persons we command and exhort in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work in quietness and to earn their own living." (II Thess 3:10-12).

This, it seems to me, is the crux of the matter.  Those who are in danger - and I know of so many in the persecuted church who fall into that category - should, surely, be welcomed, and supported until they are in a position to support themselves.  On the other hand, those who simply want to come to the UK for the social benefits that are so readily provided, should be returned to their country of origin and encouraged to work to improve the lot of both themselves and their fellow-country-men/women.

It seems so simple to me - but perhaps I am looking at the whole situation in too simplistic a manner!  Doubtless, if I am, someone will find this post, and take the time to write a corrective comment!