HOW SHOULD CHRISTIANS VOTE at this General Election? The bigger question is: how should we pray? Thursday is the day our established church keeps as Ascension Day - Jesus Christ ascended into heaven, to be granted the right to rule over all the kingdoms of the earth. I believe we should pray that Almighty God would confound the arrogant who think they govern on any authority other than that of the Lord Jesus Christ. Lord, send a miracle! Now for the voting. For me, I should like to vote for a God-fearing candidate, irrespective of party. I don't ask who would Jesus vote for! When the Lord returns, it will not be to vote, it will be to set a righteous government! I would like to think I should vote for someone He would have in His cabinet. Voting for the unrighteous only encourages them. However, some folks may wish to vote tactically, and others for the least worst. What do the parties stand for?

LABOUR: No longer the Party of the working man. This is the Party of Big Business. Has stood by as jobs have gone overseas. Prefers Free Trade to Fair Trade. Tainted with the Formula One scandal, passports for cash, the Mittal scandal and Cheriegate. Tony Blair packed the House of Lords with cronies who have donated money to Labour such as Lord Sainsbury of GM crops, Baroness Rendell, and Lord Goldsmith. Sent our servicemen to die in Iraq to defend no British interest and lied about intelligence and the legality of the war to do so. Kept Lord Goldsmith's qualified advice on the war from Cabinet and Commons. Still wants to introduce ID cards and Religious Hatred laws which would impede the Gospel. Home Secretary Charles Clarke has apologised to mosques that the Religious Hate clause had to be withdrawn due to lack of time. Clarke is also happy to lock people up without trial. Passed the Civil Partnerships Bill. Introduced special employment rights for homosexuals, removing the discretion of churches to employ who they believe God requires in post. Lifted the ban on homosexuals in the Armed Forces. Repealed Section 28, which was there to protect our children from the promotion of homosexuality. Passed the Gender Recognition Act, so transsexuals can falsify their birth certificates. Teenage Pregnancy Strategy is encouraging children into promiscuity and infertility. Downgraded cannabis. Children Bill set the State above parents. Deregulated gambling to benefit Labour's Big Business friends at the expense of the poor. Passed the Mental Capacity Act allowing euthanasia by omission. Has sidelined marriage, and promoted mediation in divorce, but not reconciliation, where God's heart is. Has vandalized our constitution, and on the basis that you can't have too much power, wants to restrict further the powers of the House of Lords.

LIBERAL DEMOCRATS: Have constantly stood up for civil liberties, and opposed the war in Iraq. Nevertheless, they are most supportive Party on Gay Rights. Supported the Gender Recognition Act. To the left of Labour on every social issue. They would totally ban smacking by parents, would license brothels and make porn available to under 16s. Libertarian on drugs. Even keener on the godless, bureaucratic, corrupt, oligargic, anti-democratic European Union than Labour.

CONSERVATIVES: Brought in no-fault divorce in the first place. Support the Teenage Pregnancy Strategy because they can't see God's way of chastity is worth promoting. Eroded marriage allowances, supported scrapping Section 28, supported the Civil Partnership Act and the Gender Recognition Act. They even supported the principle of ID cards and would have gone to war to remove Saddam. Labour like abortion at 24 weeks, Michael Howard says 20 weeks, God says all human life is sacred. Labour would tax at 40%, the Libdems at 41% and the Tories at 38%. Would we see improvements in public services under the Tories? Or are we back to the consensus of the sixties where governments changed, but everything went on just the same, controlled by those behind the scenes?

UKIP: Would come out of the European Union, support the family and resist political correctness (up to a point). Not tainted with power or the past, but unlikely to get elected. Does that matter? Have a strong number of Christian candidates standing, but are they God-fearing? Ask them if Jesus is King of kings. In fact, ask all the candidates that!

GREENS: The environment needs to be a massive issue, but not like this! New Age Paganism and as libertarian as the LibDems on social issues. Greens support gay rights and abortion. With our energy problems approaching crisis due to over-reliance on oil and foreign gas, they oppose nuclear, which is now our only option, and want to plug the gap with ever more renewables. Solar power, no problem, but do we really want more subsidised windmills polluting the hills which won't even power a light-bulb when the wind drops as that high pressure system comes in during a bitter winter? I don't think so.

PC & SNP: Plaid Cymru is libertarian and socialist. The SNP slightly less so, but just as nationalistic. Both want Wales and Scotland out of the UK as separate states of the European Union, In Which They Trust.

ULSTER: If only the DUP would send a mission to Great Britain!

CHRISTIAN PARTIES: Operation Christian Vote in Scotland and Christian People's Alliance in England need our prayer with around two dozen candidates between them. There are also individual Christian candidates standing in some constituencies. Search them out!

IT IS EASIER TO SAY who we can't vote for than who we can at a party level. God hates injustice, the shedding of innocent blood and divorce. Psalm 2 says He will also confound nations coming together to 'make a name for themselves.' We cannot vote for those who love the things God hates. Labour, the LibDems, the Nationalists and the Greens are all anti-God by that measure. To cap it all, the Conservatives have not opposed wickedness under Michael Howard, but welcomed it. Individual Conservative candidates, however, did oppose these measures and deserve our support.

Does that leave UKIP? As with the Tories, it all depends on the candidate. But if there is no God-fearing candidate standing you have the choice of staying at home or voting tactically. It is a matter for prayer. I am praying for a hung Parliament, and I fear a further dose of Labour would signal God's judgment.

Gracious Lord, do not send us the government we deserve, have mercy on us, we pray.