YOU will all know by now that there is to be a general election on the fourth of July and our papers and TV programmes have been jammed full about it, with the first of the two main party debates over.

Locally there is to be a hustings run by Inverclyde Christian Initiative on Thursday of next week in the former Ardgowan Parish church in Union Street at 6pm for 6.30pm with tea and coffee served from 6pm. The event is free to attend and will include debates on major moral issues amongst other things.

There have already been lots of promises being made by the major political parties and I long for the day when I genuinely believe that policies will be carried out. Promises need to be kept, and there have been some lies and U-turns in recent times of late, while what appears to be suspect information has been used to try and improve the fortunes of a particular party which have turned out not to be the truth.

It seems to me that truth has stumbled in the streets of our nation over recent years, and can often be hidden from our eyes in the many political happenings and events. A number of our politicians have been caught misleading or even lying in the houses of parliament - has the moral code and backbone we once had left the country?

If we increasingly cut God out of our lives, I think we can expect more troubles, than if we were to adhere to his practices and His words to us. We appear to be in a bit of a mess these days, yet God continues to say to us, ‘If my people, who are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land’.

We need to choose people to represent the Houses of Parliament and the House of Lords who are full of faith with a heightened sense of integrity while representing the needs of their constituency and not their own bank balances.

So please choose wisely who you will vote for this General Election. And pray whoever wins turn their hearts Godward and seek His guidance.