E DAY -6

Six election thoughts

1. One day other things will fill the headlines – even today, with the oil spill in Louisiana
2. TV is a double-edged sword – we might feel we know Nick, Dave & Gordon better now, but we also know we are irritated by Nick’s ‘I’m not like these two’, Dave’s ‘I’m going to get a grip’, and Gordon’s ‘I saved the world from financial disaster’
3. When every party leader begins his answer to every question with, ‘I agree with you’ all the answers start to sound rather meaningless. (O that one of them had said, ‘What a bigoted question’!)
4. Remember the name ‘Gillian Duffy’ – if for no other reason than it is bound to come up in all the end of year quizzes
5. Retirement seems to be working better for Tony Blair than office is for Gordon Brown
6. Isaiah 40:15

E DAY -7

Seven election thoughts:

1. Be careful what you say in private as well as public
2. Don’t be too concerned about what others say in private – you hypocrite!
3. The medium and the message cannot be separated – wear a radio mic at all times or agree to televised debates and that will shape what and how people hear
4. Fight for the primacy of policy over personality – it is a losing battle but a noble one
5. Be at peace about the fact that voting in elections is always choosing between lesser evils rather than for perfection – Jesus is the only perfect ruler
6. Thank God for his grace to us that the transfer of power happens through the marking of crosses and not at the end of a gun
7. 1 Peter 2:17

ONE WEEK + 1

Todays electioneering news is being swamped by 'bigot-gate' (and if no-one else has come up with that appellation yet I am claiming it as my own!). I must admit to feeling rather sorry for Gordon over this one. The poor bloke - he was very patient with the woman concerned in person, must be completely stressed out and exhausted, and was merely letting off steam when he got back in his car. And even that was mild stuff - no fruity adjectives or expletives. Which of us hasn't in private said the same or worse about other people? The video of him hearing the conversation is painful viewing...

Of more interest to me though, is the decision of the Conservative Party to disavow their candidate for Ayrshire North and Arran because of these statements on his website:

"As your MP I will support the rights of parents and teachers to refuse to have their children taught that homosexuality is 'normal' behaviour or an equal lifestyle choice to traditional marriage.
"I will always support the rights of homosexuals to be treated within concepts of (common sense) equality and respect, and defend their rights to choose to live the way they want in private, but I will not accept that their behaviour is 'normal' or encourage children to indulge in it.
"Toleration and understanding is one thing, but the state promotion of homosexuality is quite another."

Of course, I fully endorse these sentiments, and find it extraordinary that Philip Lardner should be suspended from his Party for stating them. What I find most obnoxious about this is that a Party that keeps talking about 'tolerance' cannot tolerate views like these. It seems absurd that a candidates moral position on issues of sexuality should be a basis for deselection - especially when expressed in such mild and carefully moderated tones.

The irony is that mild statements, whether by Gordon Brown or Philip Lardner, result in an extraordinarily harsh response. It just goes to prove what has so often been pointed out - that our notions of being a tolerant nation operate within an extremely narrow definition of what 'tolerance' is.

QUESTION TIME

Well I missed this evenings leaders debate as I was involved in a counseling situation, but I've now got the comment stream running, and may watch the repeat on iPlayer. Sounds like Cleggy continues to shine but Dave was pulling slightly ahead.

So how do you decide who to vote for?

One thing you might like to try is the survey on the vote for policies not personalities website. This takes sections from the manifestoes of six of the parties (Labour, Conservative, LibDem, Green, UKIP, BNP) and asks you to choose which policy you prefer on a number of key issues (crime, education, health/NHS, welfare, immigration, environment, economy, Europe, democracy). You might be surprised by the results!

Of course, if you have actually bothered to read the manifestoes this survey will not be much good because you will be able to spot which party is proposing which policy. I sent out my assistant to get me copies of the manifestoes of the the three main parties, but - bizarrely - she could only find the Tory one, so I have yet to get my hands on those of Labour and the LibDems.

Living in a constituency that has a large Tory majority means that there isn't much campaigning going on in my neighborhood, but if you are in a more marginal constituency you are probably getting bombarded. So what questions should we ask of candidates that approach us? Or if we go to a hustings what questions should we ask? As Christians, I think its good to ask a range of questions, that impact upon both personal morality and social responsibility. Questions like these...

• How would you like to strengthen marriage and the family?
• How do you think we should handle the drugs problem in our society?
• What do you think are our responsibilities towards developing nations?
• What do you think about life issues such as abortion, euthanasia and genetic engineering?
• What would you like to do to tackle the problem of prostitution?
• What are your plans for care of the elderly?
• What would you like to do to reduce the problem of debt in our society?
• Would you support policies that enabled churches to receive Government funding for social action projects without compromising their religious character?
• Do you support more stringent controls on pornography?
• What are your views on climate change?
• Can there be such a thing as an ethical foreign policy?

Happy asking - remember, they work for you!

PREDICTION TIME

OK, time to nail my colors to the mast...

It is 2.5 weeks to election day, and Clegmania is doing very strange things to the opinion polls, so here is my prediction for the result: Labour will win, with a small, but workable, majority.

Why? Because it smells to me so much like 1992 when a deeply unpopular and sleaze-mired government managed to stay in power because the electoral math meant that the opposition couldn't turn them over. Labours majority is still so substantial that it would need an unprecedented swing to go the Tories way, and there is a built in bias to the current constituencies in favor of Labour (ours is a complicated system, but basically its stacked so Labout need fewer votes per seat than the Conservatives or LibDems do). The swing is not going to go nearly far enough for Cameron to get in, especially if the LibDems do pick up a load of extra votes, so I'm calling it for another term for Labour.

So, the interesting question becomes, when Cameron loses, will he retain leadership of the Conservative Party, or will they again turn on one another and spit him out?

THE MORNING AFTER THE NIGHT BEFORE

So how was it for you?

My quick summary:

Brown does not come across well on television, which was always the great risk in him agreeing to a TV debate. His rehearsed jokes were painful, and he looked tired. As the man who is Prime minister he might be expected to come across with more confidence and authority, but doesn't seem to be capable of it. Just imagine what it would have been like if Blair had been there rather than Brown...

Cameron runs the great risk of sounding like the pub bore. His 'personal' stories really started to grate, and lines like, "I met a black man..." were real clangers.

Which leaves the surprise winner of the debate, Nick Clegg. We Brits always like an underdog, and as many people probably wouldn't even have previously been able to recognize the LibDem leader he was in some ways at an advantage, as so little was expected of him. I find it difficult to take seriously a party that is happy to have a pornographer as one of its candidates, but Clegg was definitely the winner in terms of how he presented himself on TV. It will be interesting to see what happens in the next debate - will he be able to sustain his advantage?

Overall then I thought it was quite a fun evening, but am still fundamentally unhappy about the way it is making British political life more like the American Presidential race. Remember, we vote for constituency MP's not Prime Ministers!

So if you get a knock on the door from someone standing for election in your area, be ready to ask them some questions, about what they think, and don't base your voting decision simply on who looks good on TV.

ELECTIONEERING

How’s your election campaign going so far then?

Bored?

Not surprised.

It’s not exactly overwhelmingly exciting yet, but let me throw in a couple of observations.

Now, I know I am a sad old romantic when it comes to these things, but I really would love to see the parliamentary nature of our democracy acknowledged. I realize that through the decades it has always been the case that people have spoken about “voting for Thatcher” or “voting for Callaghan” or Disraeli or Pitt or whoever, but I do greatly dislike the way British politics has become so personality based. Technically, only those who live in the constituencies where Cameron and Brown are standing for election actually get to vote for them. The rest of us get to vote for candidates standing for election in the constituencies where we live; so to say “I’m voting Brown” or “I’m voting Cameron” isn’t really correct (and I’m making the assumption that no-one votes for Clegg…).

We do not have a presidential system, but a parliamentary one.

This time around this has been made so much worse by the very public contribution of Sarah and Sam. I’m sure these two women are both very admirable, but if they want to have political office they should run for office themselves. We are not electing a president, and a ‘first family’. We elect MP’s and the leader of the party with the most MP’s is then invited by the Queen to become her Prime Minister. Who any particular MP is married to is of little concern; and certainly what she is wearing is of no concern at all.

Please, O Lord, grant that we might be given open primaries, where party members could actually choose the candidate they wanted rather than being dictated to by the Party.

The system should be that local people choose their preferred candidates and then the most popular of these candidates is elected as MP and then the MP’s choose their leader, and hold that leader and his cabinet to close account. But instead we have a virtual presidency in which real democracy is pretty much strangled.

And they wonder why so few people bother to vote anymore…

BOOK REVIEW: BEING BRITISH

Being British, Edited by Matthew d’Ancona

Under Gordon Brown there has been a renewed debate about what it means to be British, and this collection of essays, inspired and introduced by the Prime Minister, seeks to enlarge this debate.

The 35 contributors to this volume are largely agreed that the reason for Britishness being a subject of debate is the devolution of Scotland, the rise of home grown Islamic terrorism, and the increase in immigration. With a general election approaching this book is worth a look.

The essays range from the very short, to the fairly substantial. Of the 35 there were 12 I thought really worthwhile – inevitably with a volume like this there is a certain amount of repetition between authors, and a patchiness in quality. The political/cultural division represented in the book is summed up by George Carey – on the one hand, those who locate Britishness in such things as, “a common standing army, economic success and necessity, religious tradition and heritage – alongside British institutions.” And on the other, “those elusive ‘values’ of ‘fair play’, tolerance, rights and responsibilities, respect for the law, and so on, which are hardly the unique properties of Britain.”

As someone who leans towards the former definition, I found the most irritating contribution in this volume to be that of Trevor Phillips, which seemed to be just one cliché piled on top of another, in an attempt to puff the Equality and Human Rights Commission which he heads.

If you wanted to cut to the chase, the 12 essays I would pick out for your consideration are those by:
• Alex James – bass player in Blur, and producer of organic cheese
• Libby Purves – writer & journalist
• Dylan Jones – Editor of GQ
• John Gray – Professor at the LSE
• Douglas Murray – Director of the Centre for Social Cohesion
• Rowan Williams – Archbishop of Canterbury
• Jonathan Sacks – Chief Rabbi
• John O’Farrell – author & commedian
• Anthony King – psephologist
• Michael Gove – Shadow Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families
• Tim Hames – Head of Communications & Public Affairs at the British Private Equite & Venture Capital Asociation
• Charles Leadbetter – author

This selection probably reveals something of my political bias and cultural assumptions, so your list may look different, but it gives you somewhere to start.

As this is a varied collection of essays it is hard to summarize, but I’ll try to do so… The British are the result of a long pattern of immigration and ‘unsuccessful’ conquest. We gave the world the industrial revolution, but are characterized by muddling along. Tony Blair’s Cool Britannia ground zero of claiming us to be ‘a young country’ was a grave mistake, as we are at our best when we have an awareness of our history. History – and English Literature – should be more taught, and better taught, in our schools. Vague concepts of ‘tolerance’ are not enough to sustain us, and it is the breakdown of the family that is central to our other social dislocations. We are a unique island, with unique demographics – densely populated, highly urban, dominated by one super-city, which is as big as the next 17 largest British cities put together. We are not good when we are too earnest, which is just one reason why I’ll take Alex James over Trevor Phillips any day…

This book might not help you decide which way to vote on May 6th, but then it just might. And if nothing else, it gives a useful insight to the mind of the current incumbent at Number 10.

ZIM REPORT

Going to Zimbabwe is always a privilege. I feel blessed to have friends there and to be of some use there, and this time was especially encouraged by the progress I saw being made.

The most immediately noticeable contrast from my previous visits was the impact of dollarization. The results of working in a strong currency was a pithy lesson in economics. Ever since I first visited Zim in 2004 goods have been scarce and obtaining them always involved ‘making a plan’. This was particularly obvious with fuel, which could only be obtained by circuitous routes; it was odd this time to drive onto a fuel station forecourt and be able to just buy the stuff. So at a personal level I feel very relieved for my friends who have had the immense pressure of having to make a plan removed by the adoption of hard currencies.

Not that the economy is in great shape mind you! And goods are expensive. Petrol is about half to two-thirds what it costs in the UK, but most food and household goods seemed to be at very similar prices to the UK, and as incomes in Zim are much lower you can go do the math.

As well as economic improvements it was tremendously encouraging to see the progress the churches are making. New Creation church seems to be in rude good health. It is maturing rapidly, with what was pretty much a bunch of students a few years back now a more age-diverse congregation, and with many people getting married and having babies. This growing maturity was also reflected spiritually, and the church is clearly flourishing under the excellent leadership of Mbonisi (Bones) Malaba and his team. Mbonisi will be preaching at Gateway on April 25th, which will be great!

The Easter Camp was a great occasion. Pulling off an event like that in a place like Zim is not without its challenges, but the guys did so well. I have always loved preaching here, and this occasion was no exception. The uninhibited feedback and enthusiasm of the congregation makes it much easier for the preacher to in turn feel real freedom.


Ebenezer is going great guns too, with significant improvements since my last visit. More ground has been cleared, irrigation established, and more crops being grown. The team are planning for a big increase in the number of apprentices in the next intake. And among the current group of graduates one or two really stood out as potential leaders. Well done Stephen & Molly Manhanga and team!


Stephen is also doing a fantastic job of establishing Crossroads Church. The team I brought over last time helped clear some ground for a church building, and the site is now much more developed, with a marquee for meetings, a toilet block, and some farming all in place. Plans are now being put together for a more permanent structure to be built for the church to meet in.

Sam & Marlene Poe, from Seattle, are currently spending some time at Crossroads and New Creation. Sam is pioneering Chronological Bible Storying in the rural communities, which is a way for those who are not literate, or do not learn primarily through literate forms, to grasp the story of the Bible. When I arrived Sam was leading a prophetic training school for guys from across Zim, along with Julian Adams. Being able to spend time with Julian and Sam was a great added bonus of this trip.

And then a final highlight was Mbonisi & Tash taking me to the Great Zimbabwe ruins yesterday. In my many trips to Zim I have never done any of the tourist trail, not even a trip to Victoria Falls, so it was such a treat for them to announce we would visit the ruins. It was a long drive, but worth it, as Great Zimbabwe is a very remarkable place – a flowering of African culture that resulted in the construction of an amazing stone city, long before Europeans ever penetrated the interior of Africa. There was one rather poignant moment though that rather summed up the current Zimbabwean experience – Bones wanted to linger in the museum to read the information boards on the exhibits there, but was told by our guide to be quick because ‘the small drop of fuel in the generator will soon run out’. Great Zimbabwe – as important for African culture as Stonehenge or Westminster Abbey are for British, but not enough power to run the lights for more than a few minutes.


Nigel Ring has also blogged on his recent trip to Zimbabwe, so you may wish to check that out. Or look up the Ebenezer blog to get an insight on the work there.

Some of the most remarkable people I have ever met are Zimbabwean. They are real heroes. Please pray for them, and their beautiful nation.

MOZZIES & MINISTRY

Well a mosquito has just bitten me on the sole of my foot, which is unexpectedly painful. My ankles and arms are also well punctured. I feel like a walking blister.

Mercifully, I was provided with a mosquito net last night, which was a blessing of almost indescribable proportions. And I have also been given some insect repellent, but like an idiot haven't yet put any on today. It has started to rain again and that seems to have brought the blighters out. The curse of having soft English skin...

But blood-sucking diptera aside, the Easter Camp I am attending is going very well. As always, I am impressed by the fortitude, enthusiasm, and fervor of the Zimbos. They really are the most amazing people. It has been great to catch up with old friends, as well as meeting lots of new people - this crowd give me confidence for the future of the nation.

The physical beauty of the landscape is also breathtaking. Because of the rains it is as green as England in the spring, and this contrasted with the smooth, bare granite slopes of the surrounding hills is very striking.

This morning Tapiwa Chizana preached, and covered a lot of the ground that we were exploring at the Everything Conference last week. I am looking forward to having him with us at Gateway in July. It was inspiring to hear him challenging Zimbabweans to get a bigger picture of how God is God of everything and to get a vision for being people who are culture-shapers. This is not merely a western issue! And the thing is that in Zim the church is poised to give a national lead in a way that isn't yet the case in the UK. Because it is the church that is at the forefront of improved farming techniques, and because it is the church that has a vision for the future of Zimbabwe, it is the church that is likely to have a huge impact over the next ten to twenty years of the Zimbabwean story.

It's hard work though. These guys are in battles on every front.

The big change since I was last here is that the Zimbabwean currency has been abandoned in favor of the US dollar. This means the economy is more stable, and that the shops are again full. It has also relieved what was a huge source of stress, as people had to deal with inflation that was running at unimaginable levels, bank notes that were being printed in denominations of trillions, and a chronic shortage of even the most basic supplies. The economy could rapidly gain further strength, if only the political situation were more certain.

Tonight Julian Adams is in action, which I'm sure will be fun - just so long as I can keep the mozzies at bay...

16 YEARS OF GRACE

It’s raining in Africa.

Great, heavy drops of rain. Rain like it doesn’t rain in Britain.

But its good to be back. Up till this afternoon it had been hot – hot with an intensity that the sun never achieves in northern Europe. I forget what that heat feels like, that forcefulness of the sun, but so much else feels familiar and welcoming. Coming off the back of a long, cold, wet, British winter it has felt good to see the sun and color again. The strelitzias are out, and the bougenvillia. The bird life in Zimbabwe is extraordinary, and there are the familiar smells – of the flowers and soil, and of wood smoke and creosote. I am only sorry I failed to bring insect repellent – the mosquitoes are eating me alive!

There is something very comforting about the familiar, something that conveys a sense of being at home as soon as one comes into contact with it. While I feel that sense of home here as I have been travelling to southern Africa for the past 22 years, because I am here, in Zimbabwe, that which is most familiar, and most comforting to me is many thousands of miles away.

Tomorrow Grace and I will have been married for 16 years. I never like to be away from her, and I especially don’t like to be away for our anniversary. For 16 years Grace has mediated the grace of God to me. Being with her is to be at home.

So I am grateful to be married to a woman who releases me to do the things that God calls me to, and that I enjoy doing. I am grateful that she helps and encourages me. I am grateful that I can trust her absolutely. I know things will be well at home while I am away because she is there and holding things together.

I was teaching the apprentices at Ebenezer training college today about trust. Trust begins with trust in God – believing that in Christ he has exchanged my sin for his righteousness. There is nothing I can add to this – I just trust him that it is true. This trust than works out in ever expanding circles of trusting relationships, and the first and most important of these is the relationship of trust between a husband and wife. Build that bond of trust and a virtuous chain extends to embrace children, and neighbours, and the wider community, and eventually whole nations. Break that bond of trust and everything begins to unravel.

For 16 years I have been able to trust Grace completely.

I guess Grace and the girls will be reading this – so to them specifically I want to say, I love you, and look forward to being at home with you soon. You are more special and wonderful to me than you will ever know.