The situation this morning is absolutely terrifying. BBC News and the Guardian have live news sections that make frightening reading. The most concerning thing is that there seems that the authorities are struggling to control the situation. Now I am no expert in civilian unrest but here are my suggestions for the crisis meeting that the government are having later this morning.

It must be stressed that what is happening has NOTHING to do with protesting injustice. It has NOTHING to do with race. It has NOTHING to do with politics. It has nothing to do with cuts or poverty. These people are thieving pure and simple. It is a tiny proportion of our proud nation. Control must be restored and restored quickly and the perpetrators brought to justice.

It should be noted that of course my plan is offered as suggestions, and some aspects of my plan may not be practical or even wise. The general point is we need a more aggressive response, how we do that is down to the authorities. This would especially be true of getting the army out, alternatives might be better. I am very glad to hear today that all voluntary special constables are being asked to report for duty, and employers are being asked to release them. Statements from Cameron and the Police are very welcome and suitably robust.

Further Update (11th August) I am of course thrilled that many of my specific suggestions have proven not necessary. The general idea of a more robust police response without army involvement was the right choice by Cameron, and I am glad it seems to have worked so well. I leave these suggestions unchanged for historical integrity reasons. Some of them definitely reflected my emotional state early one morning, rather than a carefully thought through response:

1. We must declare a state of emergency and consider if it is necessary to call in the army to the streets of the UK. David Cameron should appear on the steps of number ten and state this personally.  This can and should happen this morning. It is not a declaration that the police have failed, it is a measured response to protect our nation.  A nationwide curfew may need to be declared for tonight since the works of darkness are performed in darkness.  Each day thereafter a decision should be made as to whether a curfew is still required.

2. The rules of engagement must be immediately and publicly changed. The nation should be warned that water cannon, Tazars, tear gas and possibly (and only in extreme circumstances) even guns will be used against any group that is menacing or property, our livelihoods, and our lives. Kettling can and should be used rather than allowing gangs to roam unchecked, even driving them along a high street as business after business is destroyed.

3. RIM Blackberry must immediately and publicaly close down their BBM instant messaging service in this country. They must also turn over to police all their records so that the authors of messages that have incited to violence can be brought to justice.

4. Arrest anyone who has incited to violence on Twitter, Facebook or elsewhere online (all of which are more public so easier to track than blackberry’s messages) should be rounded up and arrested.  Such errant accounts should be taken down and replaced with a message that shames their owner.

5. A police website should be set up for members of the public to upload photographs and video of the looters. All existing photographs and videos of looters should be placed on this website where it is then made possible for pictures to be tagged by people who do not have to give their name. When tagged the actual name of the person itself should not be shown publically on the site but they can be marked as “1 name suggested X times” or “3 different names suggested.” Thus the community can help the police locate these people and arrest them.

6. Sensible Community leaders from all areas such as my pastor should be given opportunities to address the nation via our news channels. We need compelling voices for unity and peace to be given a channel to communicate. It is critical that politicians in particular unite and do not use this mindless violence as an opportunity to score points against each other.

7. Road blocks should be placed around key commerical areas and access to them be controlled. Photographs, and searches can be required for entry and exit.

8. Petrol stations must be immediately required not to sell petrol in cans. Lockable caps for fuel tanks should also be made available free to allow the nation to reduce access to petrol for the gangs.

9. A website should be set up for requests for help, and offers of help to be exchanged so that the community can rise and help victims of this atrocity. In the absence of a website such requests could be made through Twitter. This seems to already have begun as riot clean up is trending. Speaking personally if anyone in the Enfield area needs help I am very happy to broadcast that via my twitter feed, and I know many members of our church are happy to help in whatever way is needed.

10. A clear declaration should be made by the government of who is in charge of the ongoing security operations and how different services will be co-ordinated.

Finally I do have an 11th point.  It is a point that in the not very distant past would have been top of the list for any such plan.  But I know that it might not be seen very well by the authorities.  Great to see then Justin Bieber make this point this morning on Twitter and to see the simple phrase “Pray for London”  trending there as a result.  We should call the nation to a day of prayer today.  Christians, who read this post from wherever you are in the world, I do call you to PRAY not just for London but for our nation.  We cannot let destructive elements destroy our society.  Be under no mistake, these elements are in the minority but a very dangerous anarchy has been released.   Our God has delivered our nation before and days of prayer played a part in that.  Please join us in prayer.

May God deliver our nation, and use this crisis as an opportunity to call many to himself.

During Adrian’s month away from the blog, he has hand-picked a selection of the most popular posts of the year so far to re-run.

Today we feature, “10 Ways a Christian should respond to the earthquake in Japan.” As the world was reeling from the astonishing news from Japan, this post proved quite popular as it attempted to think through how Christians should respond:

10 Ways a Christian should respond to the earthquake in Japan

As Japan braces itself for a possible further serious earthquake, and deals with the consequences of such massive devastation caused by the last one, not to mention the risk of a major nuclear incident, how should Christians respond?

The rest of this article is available by following the link above.

Many of you have probably seen this already as it is a couple of days old. But I only heard of it yesterday, so I thought some of you might also not have seen it. The whole article is worth a read as it updates us on the situation for Christians in Egypt:

Christians and Muslims have been united as never before defending their homes on overnight shifts (due to the lack of police security). This is resulting for many to make friends with neighbors they never knew, and there is a real sense of camaraderie, which we never had before. . .

Read More

Yesterday I spoke about our responsibility to help people who have been affected by the disaster in Haiti. Today I am able to share with you an interview I recorded with the USA head of World Vision, a major Christian aid agency with a strong presence of 800 people on the ground in Haiti even before the earthquake.

DOWNLOAD THE MP3 HERE

Richard Stearns spoke with me today. Based in Seattle, WA, he is the president of World Vision U.S. and the author of a challenging book on the need for churches to get more involved in social justice.

We discussed the joined-up relief efforts that are happening now in Haiti. He explained what the long-term rebuilding efforts will likely entail. He also talked about the generosity of people who have been giving, but stressed the need for a long-term commitment. Towards the end of the interview we spoke about potential church adoptions that might be helpful in the future.

After the interview, I looked up the website for his book,  The Hole In Our Gospel, and found  this description of how God had convicted him through an encounter with the poor of Africa:

My sadness that day was replaced by repentance. Despite what the Bible had told me so clearly, I had turned a blind eye to the poor. Now my heart was filled with anger, first at myself, and then toward the world. Why wasn’t Richard’s story being told? The media overflowed with celebrity dramas, stock market updates, and Bill Clinton’s impending impeachment hearings. But where were the headlines and magazine covers about Africa? Twelve million orphans, and no one noticed? But what sickened me most was this question: where was the Church? Indeed, where were the followers of Jesus Christ in the midst of perhaps the greatest humanitarian crisis of our time? Surely the Church should have been caring for these “orphans and widows in their distress” (James 1:27). Shouldn’t the pulpits across America have flamed with exhortations to rush to the front lines of compassion? Shouldn’t they be flaming today? Shouldn’t churches be reaching out to care for children in such desperate need? How could the great tragedy of these orphans get drowned out by choruses of praise music in hundreds of thousands of churches across our country? Sitting in a hut in Rakai, I remember thinking, How have we missed it so tragically, when even rock stars and Hollywood actors seem to understand?

While the nearest thing to a hospital the Haitians have right now is outdoorsand hundreds of thousands have been displaced, how can we not reach out and help in some way? One Christian couple is blogging about their experience.

High resolution versions of photos from Haiti (all copyright World Vision; used with permission and cleared for use in church services, etc.)

• collapsed church
• Woman in pink shirt
• Outside Medical Care

The world is still reeling in shock at what happened to Haiti. The acute crisis will give way to long term-problems, and so this weekend churches have the perfect opportunity to collect funds to help.

What is needed is for resources to be delivered to people on the ground who will know how best to help and will do it in the name of Jesus. There are many different groups that we could channel our resources through, but John Lanferman of Newfrontiers USA has recommended a group called Compassion.  Their Haiti Earthquake Relief fund will focus on helping families and children who have been affected by this disaster. He says that this group has very good contacts on the ground and will diligently administrate the funds they receive.

Tope Koleoso was very keen that we in the UK, and Jubilee Church in particular, find a way to help, tweeting yesterday “Haiti – We weep, we grieve, we give, we pray and we hope.” So we have decided to encourage people from the church to give to this fund, and we will be collecting money this weekend to send to this group as well as supplementing that from our nations fund. Perhaps your church could do the same. In the UK, channeling our funds through a local church will mean that the taxman can contribute to this cause through churches reclaiming the tax you paid.

The BBC’s correspondent today reported:

The situation here in Port-au-Prince is now at a critical point, with rotting corpses beginning to fill the streets.

The cries of help that were being heard from the rubble have now been silenced – for many people it is simply too late.

Haitians feel very alone at the moment. The promise of aid has not yet materialised and many locals are still digging through the rubble with their hands.
Most of the bodies are covered in white bed sheets or rolled inside carpets, but others have been left exposed to the hot sun and the stench of rotting bodies has begun to fill the air.

Families who are desperately searching for their loved ones are gingerly uncovering the sheets that cover the corpses in the hope they can at least identify family members.

But even if bodies are identified there is nowhere for them to be laid to rest. . . READ MORE

The 16th most read post is my interview with Terry Virgo from 2007, which also has a link to my 2008 interview.

In 15th place is a post that marked the closest I have come to being a true journalist on the blog. I had an exclusive story but, I must say I was taken back by the fact that anyone was surprised—still less angry—when I announced what I had been told were the reasons behind a split between Spring Harvest and Word Alive.

This press release was just sent out from Crossway. It is great news and reminds us of the need to pray during these Olympic games.

*****************************

Wheaton, IL— China will provide 10,000 free Chinese-English bilingual Bibles to be distributed in the Olympic Village where the Olympic athletes and media are housed, as reported by the China Daily newspaper. The bilingual Bible text will include the CUV (Chinese Union Version) and the ESV (English Standard Version), appearing in two side-by-side columns per page. The CUV Bible is the most widely distributed Chinese Bible in the world, and the ESV Bible has recently become the fastest growing English language Bible in the world.

In addition to the 10,000 bilingual CUV-ESV Bibles, 30,000 New Testaments and 100,000 bilingual editions of the four Gospels will also be made available at the Olympic Games.

Because cultural and academic leaders in China are seeking to understand the influence of the Bible on the worldview and culture of the West, there is a growing interest in Chinese-English bilingual Bibles in mainland China. “We are especially grateful,” Crossway President Dr. Lane Dennis notes, “that the ESV was selected by Chinese Christian leaders for publication with the Chinese CUV Bible, through our partnership with the British and Foreign Bible Society. Since both the CUV and the ESV are ‘essentially literal’ Bible translations, they are ideally suited for a side-by-side comparison of the two languages. What a wonderful thing it would be if thousands of people would learn English—and Chinese!—by reading the Bible in side-by-side bilingual editions.”

The CUV-ESV (Chinese-English) Bible was printed in May of this year at the new Amity Printing plant in Nanjing, China. A special CUV-ESV commemorative edition was produced and given to guests attending the opening ceremony of the new facility. Since the late 1980s, with the support of the United Bible Societies, Amity has produced 55 million Bibles, 43 million of which have been distributed through Churches in China and another 12 million were produced in English and other languages for Bible publishers and Bible Societies in many countries. The Christian population of China is estimated by some to be about 7 percent, or 90 million, of China’s 1.3 billion people. This represents a one hundred-fold growth in the number of Christians in China since the Communist came to power in 1948, when Protestant Christians in China numbered approximately 900,000. The new Amity Printing plant, covering more than 400,000 square feet, will significantly increase Bible printing capacity to 12 million copies per year, to help meet the rapidly growing need for Bibles.

“It is a great joy for all of us at Crossway Bibles to have a small part in providing God’s Word to the church in China through the publication of the CUV-ESV bilingual Bible,” says Dr. Dennis. “We pray that this is just the beginning—of building partnerships with the church in China for the publication of Bible resources that will help meet the needs of the Chinese people.”

Crossway is a not-for-profit ministry and an international leader in the publication of Christian books, the ESV Bible, and gospel literature. Celebrating its 70th anniversary this year, Crossway (also known as Good News Publishers) has distributed more than 2 billion books, Bibles, and gospel tracts since it was founded in 1938. Crossway will mark its 70th anniversary with the publication of the ESV Study Bible in October 2008.

The Evangelical Alliance released this announcement last week:

“The retiring General Director of the Evangelical Alliance will bring his passion for justice for the poor to two new roles as he joins Tony Blair’s Faith Foundation and becomes the first International Director of Micah Challenge . . .”

Mr Edwards, a British immigrant from Jamaica, is an honorary Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral. He was a probation officer for fourteen years, and the senior pastor of Mile End New Testament Church of God for ten years.

The announcement continues . . .

He has been appointed as a member of the International Religious Advisory Council to the Faith Foundation, which will give advice and help to Tony Blair on the Foundation’s work and plans.

Mr Edwards said:

“I am honoured to be part of this Foundation, which aims to demonstrate the power faith has for good in the modern world.”

Mr Edwards has been closely involved with Micah Challenge International—a Christian campaign challenging governments around the world to meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015—since its inception in 2000.

“I am really looking forward to getting stuck in and leading this global coalition into an exciting phase of mobilising and campaigning towards 2015 . . .”

Read the entire story . . .

This is not really a political blog. And I am not a campaigner for any one political party. Nor have I ever even been a member of a party. Nothing in this post should be taken as a personal endorsement of any candidate or even as a suggestion that I have already cast my own vote. As of yet, I don’t know that much about Alan Craig myself. I just want to give you this opportunity to hear more about a Christian who is standing for office and clearly not getting as much media coverage as Ken Livingstone and Boris Johnson.

Over the last few days I received, via e-mail, the following two press releases, which I thought I would share with you in their entirety. Before I do, let me say a couple of things myself about the forthcoming London mayoral elections. For my American readers, some useful background for you is that in the UK very rarely will an openly professing Christian stand for any political office as it is considered a handicap by all our main parties.

When thinking about the fact that there is a Christian standing for London mayor and deciding whether to vote for him, it is worth considering two little-known facts. First, if every churchgoer in London were to actually vote and they all used their first preference vote for Alan Craig, then he would easily become mayor. Second, if even just a small percentage of Christians voted for him as the first choice, then put one of the main party candidates second, he would definitely serve on the London Assembly.

The election will be decided by a simple process as I understand it. The top two candidates from the first preference votes will go into a run-off where the second preference votes are added to the first preference ones to decide who will be mayor. Thus, one should always vote for one of the smaller candidates first if you support them, and want both your preferences to be counted as, contrary to popular understanding, a second preference vote for a less popular candidate is wasted.

Here is the text of both press releases, with the newest one first:

A preview will be published from 11.55 pm Monday 21st April on the Christian Choice website:

Human rights campaigner and a Deputy Speaker in the House of Lords, Baroness Cox of Queensbury said:

“Among all the candidates running for London Mayor, Alan Craig stands out above the crowd. He has shown leadership in industry and for years he’s been devoted to bringing change to the inner-city through serving the community in London’s East End.

But it is his Christian qualities which make him distinctive—brave in facing-up to political correctness, standing by ordinary Londoners and confronting issues like the threatened Mega Mosque, which other politicians won’t touch. London won’t do better than to choose Alan for mayor.”

Mgr John Armitage, Vicar General of the Roman Catholic Diocese of Brentwood, praised Alan Craig for his years of service in London’s East End:

“He is a committed Christian, a man of integrity who has a passion for the common good. His service of the people in one of the most socially deprived areas in the country has given hope and encouragement to many people. He has a true desire to serve and help to build strong local communities in London.”

Prominent leader in the Evangelical Alliance and founder of Icthus Christian Fellowship, Roger Forster, said:

“A vote for Alan Craig of The Christian Choice can put the name of Christ officially onto the Greater London Authority, which after so many years must be a good thing. I have every confidence concerning the Christian commitment, integrity and intelligence of Alan.”

Dr Sola Fola Alade leads the Trinity Chapel congregation of major black church, RCCG. He wrote:

“Alan is an honourable and compassionate Christian man. I know him to be a visionary leader who is not afraid to stand for justice and truth. He has shown himself to be a selfless leader, one who has now become a voice of the voiceless and a defender of the helpless. Though a Christian, he is one who reaches out to people regardless of class, colour, or creed.”

Rev Lyndon Bowring, Executive Chairman of campaign group CARE, said:

“Alan Craig is an outstanding Christian leader and a man of the people. London and the GLA needs him and I wholeheartedly commend him to you in the forthcoming mayoral and GLA elections.”

Writing in Christianity Magazine, Premier Christian Radio broadcaster and Chief Executive, Peter Kerridge, wrote:

“Personally, I hope Alan Craig gets onto the London Assembly where I believe his influence would make a positive difference.”

Former London mayoral candidate for the Christian Peoples Alliance, Ram Gidoomal CBE, praised Alan Craig’s business credentials:

“London deserves better than simply a politician for mayor. That’s why Alan Craig is so different—he walks the talk—spending years in sacrificial service in one of London’s most deprived communities. But unlike other mayoral candidates, he comes with significant business experience. He understands that to stay ahead, the capital has to stay competitive, have a high quality of life for all its citizens, and be the British engine-room of innovation and investment. He makes a formidable candidate.”

Christian author, speaker, writer, and founder of Pioneer, Gerald Coates, concluded:

“Alan Craig is just what we need and is suitably equipped to be Mayor of London. He was a successful senior businessman, has more recently worked among the deprived and vulnerable, and is a politician with considerable experience and expertise.”

Colin Dye of Kensington Temple and J. John of the Philo Trust are also backing the campaign.

The Christian Choice is the united electoral option of the Christian Peoples Alliance and Christian Party. It is committed to serving all Londoners regardless of race, faith or background.

For more information:
E-mail: press@cpaparty.org.uk
Telephone: 07873 625396
View: http://www.thechristianchoice.org/?page=endorsements

Promoted and published by P Vickers, The Christian Choice, 85 Tarling Road, London E16.

The following video is the one referred to in the first press release above:

PRESS RELEASE

6 March 2008

One of the UK’s most senior Christian leaders, the Reverend Joel Edwards, will be leaving his post as General Director of the Evangelical Alliance UK after more than a decade of valued service.

Mr. Edwards completed two five-year terms as General Director for the Alliance last year, but wanted to stay on until he had finished work on a new vision for evangelicalism, outlined in his new book An Agenda for Change.

Due to depart in September, he will spend his final six months as General Director presenting this vision to the church on a tour of the UK and America.

Mr. Edwards announced his resignation to staff at a celebration of his twenty years working for the Evangelical Alliance and its sister organization, the African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance.

He said:

“These twenty years have been absolutely magnificent and have provided lots of exciting opportunities for me and the Alliance.

But I believe God is saying that now is the right time for me to hand on the baton to someone new, who can lead the next generation of evangelicals to implement our renewed vision for society.

The vision I and the Alliance have worked on together is clear: our future as evangelicals is to be at the heart of spiritual and social transformation for our society.”

Mr. Edwards, who was the Alliance’s first black General Director, has progressed and deepened the diversity of the Alliance while bringing credibility and attention to evangelicals in the ecumenical and secular spheres. In the UK he strengthened the voice of evangelicals in the media and in Parliament, while on an international level he was fundamental to the formation of Micah Challenge, a movement calling governments to account for justice for the poor.

Katei Kirby, Chief Executive Officer of the African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance (ACEA) said: “Joel has played a significant part in uniting and engaging the diversity of evangelicals in the UK. He leaves a living legacy of gracious and consistent Christian leadership that is both exemplary and inspiring.”

Derek Tidball, Chair of the Alliance council, said: “Joel is a greatly valued friend and ambassador for the Alliance, and has worked tirelessly in the name of Christ during his time as General Director.

We are very thankful for his contribution to the evangelical world and are already exploring ways in which we can continue to work together.”

Mike Talbot, Chair of the Alliance board, said: “Joel is an evangelical statesman who has made a significant contribution to the witness of the church in this land. He is respected across the Christian community, and beyond, and loved for his graciousness and his passion for the good news of Christ.

We will be very sad to see him go, but we are excited about the opportunities that will open up for him in the future.”

Mr. Edwards plans to continue his active involvement with Micah Challenge International, which he chairs. He also remains passionate about issues of human rights and freedom of conscience, and will continue to champion these through his role as a commissioner for the Equality and Human Rights Commission.

NOTE
Mr. Edwards, a British immigrant from Jamaica, is an honorary Canon of St Paul’s Cathedral. He was a probation officer for fourteen years and the senior pastor of Mile End New Testament Church of God for ten years.

Mr. Edwards was offered the post of General Secretary of the African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance in 1988, becoming UK director for the Evangelical Alliance UK four years later and General Director of the Evangelical Alliance UK in 1997. He received a medal of appreciation for services to Jamaica in 2003, an honorary doctorate from St. Andrews University last year, and is a published author.

More about his book and tour can be found at An Agenda For Change.

Christianity Today has published online a short news item about the UK which I wrote for them. The article, entitled Surprise Appointment, begins as follows:

The appointment of Joel Edwards, general director of the U.K.’s Evangelical Alliance, as a commissioner to the nation’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) has drawn complaints from gay activists.

Formed to enforce legislation guaranteeing age, ethnic, disability, gender, and sexual preference equality, the EHRC brings together the U.K.’s three previous equality commissions. The Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007, which went into effect on January 1, added prohibitions against treating anyone “less favorably than he treats or would treat others” on the grounds of sexual orientation. However, concessions within the act allow religious organizations to define standards of sexual behavior for their members and leaders. . . .

Read more . . .

The UK EA has freely released some legal framework documents that may be of particular interest to you if your church is in Britain and is led by one of its employees and/or decisions are not taken by a vote of the full membership. Legal changes have led to the following announcement:

“The Evangelical Alliance and the Charity Commission have announced the completion of three model governing documents that provide guidance for independent churches. These documents are the culmination of four years of work.

The documents set out the proper checks and balances required to allow paid church leaders to take appropriate leadership responsibilities as church charity trustees, manage any potential conflicts of interest, and offer churches a legal structure to help govern their charity.

The work, initiated in 2003, was primarily designed to strengthen accountability and governance of new independent churches. The model governing documents have been drawn up by the Evangelical Alliance, African and Caribbean Evangelical Alliance, Anthony Collins (solicitors) and Stewardship, in partnership with the Charity Commission . . .”

I should say before I start—there is a reason why I don’t usually blog about politics. It’s not normally something I feel strongly about. But right now a thought is welling up within me—something I suspect many people are feeling and few are willing to ask:

Is it time for the Labour Party to fire their new leader and our prime minister?

There — I’ve asked the unthinkable. Although, of course, since I am not a Labour MP, nor even a member or committed supporter of any political party, there is nothing I can do to bring about Brown’s downfall, other than perhaps write this post. But if you are a Labour MP reading this post, all I can say to you is perhaps you need to ask yourself, “Is it time to consider putting country before party, and begin to explore the possibility of changing your leader?” All it would take is the confidence to stand up to him. I’m sure many of you must be wondering why none of you had the courage to stand against him in a true leadership election. That surely was Brown’s first mistake—not ensuring that there was a true open contest for the leader’s chair.

When I wrote a post last month entitled “The Beginning of the End for Brown?” I certainly did not expect to see what we have seen since then. I must stress that I am not a committed Tory supporter, and am not even sure that David Cameron would do a vastly better job. Rather, I am beginning to feel that for the good of the nation, and for the good of Brown’s increasingly long and persecuted-looking face, it’s time to draw this more swiftly to the conclusion we know is coming. I still remember the look of relief on Major’s face when he lost the election to Blair. I genuinely don’t think it’s going to do Brown much good to hang on, and more importantly than that, I’m starting to have serious doubts about what this is going to do to our nation.

In the short months since Brown took over from our properly elected Prime Minister, Tony Blair, let’s look at the catalouge of errors, and in particular the indecision we have seen from Brown.

• We saw the foot-and-mouth crisis handled badly, with premature declarations that we were “free” of the illness, and allowing the lab that leaked the virus to go on working, resulting this past week in an astonishing second leak. A decisive leader would have shut the lab down and ensured that such labs did not work next to farms again.

• In the Northern Rock fiasco, we saw early dithering about whether to bail the bank out or let it go bust. It seems we, the taxpayer, have now loaned up to perhaps a staggering 30 billion to this bank. I can only assume that much of this has gone on enabling Northern Rock to repay loans made by other banks who should have known better. Surely there may well be other banks at risk. The extension of the ad hoc “savings guarantee” to all bank deposits in the UK suggests this might be the case. In the meantime we still don’t know what is going to happen to Northern Rock. A decisive leader would have either let the bank go bust or simply nationalized it. To allow this drain on the public finances, which now exceeds the primary school budget, to continue to grow is inexcusable. We have even been told that the loans might be illegal under EU law! To preside over the first run on a UK bank in 150 years is both shameful and obviously preventable and predictable (e.g. up front offering the savings guarantee but no loan, for example). What is shocking is that so many other crises are ongoing that this latest growth in the bank’s national debt barely gets a mention. A decisive leader might have seen this crisis coming and prevented it, or could have acted in a much clearer way from the beginning instead of what is now shameful and dangerous indecision.
• Brown has presided—the most damaging of all of the above for Brown personally as it happened in his old department—over the biggest data security breach I suspect has ever occurred anywhere in world history. Brown expects us to believe that the system he approved to be put in place allowed a junior official to simply download the names, addresses, phone numbers, and bank accounts of every child in the UK and their parents. If that is so, then he should resign in shame for that alone. It is simply unbelievable. I suspect that it also isn’t quite true, as Nick Robinson hints in his sharing of an email trail with us. A decisive leader would have never allowed a careless culture to arise, and would have called in the police to investigate what was surely a breach of the law.
• Brown has also, by his own admission, presided over a Labour Party which broke the law flagrantly over voter donations. He has not looked too good in refusing to initially call in the police, and in almost trying to blame his deputy in the whole “I know nothing about this man” bit. A decisive leader would have either demanded the head of his deputy before making his announcement or wholeheartedly supported her. Also, what kind of party is so casual about its fund raising?

Surely any one of these things would be enough to bring down the CEO of a company that had failed us all so badly. This is our government. None of these crises are in one sense massive—if we were to face a more serious situation, I would be very concerned indeed. Yet all of them have been made worse, not better, by our Prime Minister and his government. Am I the only one who thinks it is Brown himself who should resign?

UPDATE
One thing I forgot to mention was picked up by the BBC yesterday. The deathly power of humour to a politician. Here’s what they said: they first quoted from Vince Cable the following devestating put-down about Brown.

The prime minister had been transformed, he said, from “Stalin into Mr Bean.”

The PM’s face fell.

Opposition MPs fell about.

Quite a few Labour members struggled not to do the same.

The truly worrying thing, from the Brownite perspective is that, just now, a man who’s worked hard to establish strength, sound judgement and deadly seriousness as his defining characteristics seems to be in danger of becoming a figure of fun. . . .

Tony Blair was generally despised or admired.

Margaret Thatcher was often both, at once.

Recoverable?

I cannot remember an exquisitely delivered one-liner hitting home against either of them in quite the same way as we saw this week

Other blogs and main stream media are also strongly criticizing Brown this weekend. This includes the following:

* The Spectator
* The Quiet One
* Matthew Parris of the Times who says the following:

What possessed Gordon Brown to declare, before he had the least reason to know it to be true, that there was one individual alone, Labour’s general secretary, who knew about the fake donors just as the media began unearthing all the others, and, as I write, are still unearthing? Didn’t that great strategist, that colossus of a political intellect, pause for a moment to wonder whether there might be more to come out?

In what stunted imagination but Mr Brown’s could the plan then be hatched to make Harriet Harman the scapegoat for receiving, on Mr Brown’s own lieutenant’s advice, a sum representing less than 1 per cent of the total monies paid by David Abrahams? To what bully’s mind but Mr Brown’s could it fail to occur that if he kicked her in the stomach she might defend herself?”

FURTHER UPDATE
Another government data breach has been revealed. This is just unbelievable!

My friend, Tony Miles, reports on the death of Rob Frost. More information is available at Share Jesus International, where reflections from his family are also available. I found this passage striking:

On the last evening of Easter People this year Rob preached, and as he left the platform he was sad that this would be the last Easter People . . . but he believed God said to him, “. . . you will not be here next year Rob.” We thank God for this preparation, even though the knowledge has been difficult.

I don’t often mention politics on this blog. But today I simply can’t resist. This weekend, election fever was rife in the UK. One of the many oddities of our UK political system is that, right now, a man who was never directly elected by the population to be Prime Minister has the power to call an election at a time of his choosing between now and June 2010!

Because we don’t have term limits or fixed terms for Parliament, Tony Blair finally stepped aside to let his Finance Minister become Prime Minister. There wasn’t even a true election within the Labour party since no one stood against him. Please don’t think I am merely revealing an imagined political bias if I tell you that, so far, I am definitely less impressed with Brown’s leadership ability than with his financial acumen or policy-making.

After initially claiming there was no need to hold an election, immediately on taking over the premiership just three months ago, he was emboldened by the so-called “honeymoon period bounce,” during which his poll ratings climbed. At times I still think he looks a bit like a boy playing with his new toys. Certainly the way he has been teasing people over the last few weeks about a possible election has seemed somewhat smug to me. He knows that he has the power to do so as and when he chooses. Since things were looking good for him, he allowed everybody to think that he was undoubtedly going to call an election. He has even been accused of “spinning” over soldiers in Iraq this past week and using civil servants against the Tories. Now opinion polls have swung the other way. It is now, in the words of Nick Robinson of the BBC, “all tosh.” Calling an election is surely a power that ought not to sit in the hands of the elected (or in his case unelected) leader of our nation. This weekend has certainly underlined that for me.

Any pledge by Cameron that if he were Prime Minister he would give up the right to call an election and establish an alternative system would surely gain him some more votes whenever Brown eventually decides to go to the people!

In light of all the speculation that an announcement could be made about an election early next week (to take place, believe it or not, at the beginning of November!!) I decided earlier this weekend that I had better listen to both leaders’ speeches.

I listened to David Cameron’s first. The leader of Margaret Thatcher’s party, Cameron spoke for his political life. Without an autocue. Without detailed notes. He was engaging. Even funny at times. He announced a massive increase in the amount of money that can be inherited free of death duties—sufficient to take the value of most of England’s homes out of the equation. Unemployed who refused a “fair job offer” would lose benefits. There would be a married persons tax allowance, and the benefit system would no longer penalize people for being married or in a relationship.

That one speech changed Brown’s mind—that and the weekend polls, which placed Cameron in the lead over him! Then, cynicism of cynicism! We see a somewhat humbled Brown saying he wants the election to be about his view of the future, and so it will be in the future—a future of his choosing—and, he claimed it had absolutely nothing to do with the polls!

After listening to Cameron’s speech, and before Brown’s announcement, I began to listen to Brown’s. I didn’t get very far into it, but in terms of the style and rhetoric, I certainly didn’t enjoy it half as much as Cameron’s. Now I feel I don’t need to continue to listen.

Please don’t take this as an endorsement of the Conservative Party (even though I do know one of their candidates, Philippa Stroud), nor as a rejection of Labour. All I am saying is that leadership is about tactics, and about good speeches. The past few weeks has surely seen Brown look beaten by Cameron on both counts. Thanks to our electoral system, he can now lick his wounds, get on with running the country, and decide just how he can respond to the political grenade demonstrated in the following speech, which is available in both video and full text from the Conservative Party website.

“One of our international pastors in Acts 29, Pastor Sudhakar in India, is facing tremendous persecution, having been drug out of his church on a Sunday morning and beaten by twenty men. He is now standing trial for “converting Hindus to Christianity.”

Dr. James Kennedy, the well-known pastor of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, has been unable to preach during 2007 due to poor health and has now formally retired. His daughter made the announcement this morning.

More information can be found at Assist News Service, and the full press release can be read here.

HT: Denny Burk through Justin Taylor.

The much beloved wife of Billy Graham has died. There is lots of coverage on the CT Blog

Justin Taylor says it well when he writes “I join others around the world in thanking God for a life well lived in quiet, unashamed, faithful service to the Lord and his kingdom.”

I am glad for the work of this couple who have represented Jesus well to the whole world for decades. I wonder if we will ever see their like again. It is astonishing to think of all that they did, and of the selfless way Ruth supported her husbands ministry to the crowds and world leaders.

Billy and Ruth were constants in a changing world. Ruth’s passing reminds us no man goes on forever. With Billy now retired, and John Stott to preach only one more sermon a generation of world-class Christian leaders has passed away.

We should pray for world class leaders to be raised up to take their place. I am sure we can all think of several beginning to rise to significant influence. But, I wonder if we will in fact see just one or two rise to such prominence as say Stott and Graham had – between them embodying Evangelicalism to several generations.

The Associated Press has reported the following:

“The Rev. Jerry Falwell has died, a Liberty University executive said Tuesday. He was 73.

Earlier, the executive said Falwell was hospitalized in “gravely serious” condition after being found unconscious in his office.

Ron Godwin, the executive vice president of Falwell’s Liberty University, said Falwell was found unresponsive around 10:45 a.m. and taken to Lynchburg General Hospital. Godwin said he was not sure what caused the collapse, but “he has a history of heart challenges.”

Read more . . .