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Governor Mike Huckabee is creeping up on Senator John McCain in the polls!! The momentum is his for the taking. He has challenged Senator McCain to a debate prior to the March 4th primary, and 10,000 voters have signed their name to his petition. What about it, Senator McCain? Can we please have a coherent conversation between the two of you about the issues? If you’d like to see a debate between McCain and Huckabee, sign the letter here.
Debating is a form of persuasion that has been around a very long time. One of the strongest Biblical debaters was Apollos. Ever heard of him? He was a Jew who became a Christ-follower after hearing the evidence. Here’s what we find in Acts 18:
24Meanwhile a Jew named Apollos, a native of Alexandria, came to Ephesus. He was a learned man, with a thorough knowledge of the Scriptures. 25He had been instructed in the way of the Lord, and he spoke with great fervor[b] and taught about Jesus accurately, though he knew only the baptism of John. 26He began to speak boldly in the synagogue. When Priscilla and Aquila heard him, they invited him to their home and explained to him the way of God more adequately.
27When Apollos wanted to go to Achaia, the brothers encouraged him and wrote to the disciples there to welcome him. On arriving, he was a great help to those who by grace had believed. 28For he vigorously refuted the Jews in public debate, proving from the Scriptures that Jesus was the Christ.
In the original Greek, we learn that Apollos didn’t stand at a lectern like today’s politicians. A debate back then was very spirited. In fact, we’re told that he eutonos diakatelegchomai.
eutonos — forcibly or vehemently
diakatelegchomai — to confute with rivalry and effort or in a contest
In other words, Apollos was able to overwhelm in an argument, or to conclusively refute the Jews’ arguments that Jesus was not the Messiah. In the KJV, we learn that he “mightily convinced” them.
I’d like Mike Huckabee — and Senator McCain — to have a chance to mightily convince conservatives voters in a televised debate, wouldn’t you?
Two thousand years ago, public debates were used as a form of public persuasion. If you wanted to convince the public, you debated, and the listening public then got to evaluate the debaters’ arguments. The same holds true today. Conservatives deserve to hear an honest debate on the issues between the remaining Republican candidates. The Democrats are down to two “top tier” candidates and have had 2 debates in the past two weeks. I, for one, would really enjoy hearing McCain and Huckabee debate about their specific plans on taxes, illegal immigration, second amendment rights, education, parental rights, and yes, foreign policy.
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The rest of this post today will be very brief. I want to write about pain. I’m talking gritting-your-teeth, everything makes you cry kind of pain. It has settled down on my neck and shoulders, the product of early onset arthritis and a neck that needs an adjustment (and, at this pain-filled moment, an attitude that needs an adjustment, too!) But I wanted to share a Word from God with you. Perhaps you, too, are dealing with some pretty severe pain today. Or maybe someone around you is just being a ‘pain in the neck!’ Whatever the source, the Lord brought me comfort in the words in Psalm 3:
1 O LORD, how many are my foes!
How many rise up against me!
How many are the pain receptors firing into my brain!
2 Many are saying of me,
“God will not deliver him.”
Selah [a]3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD;
you bestow glory on me and lift [b] up my head.
You lift up my head when I can barely lift it off the pillow.
4 To the LORD I cry aloud,
and he answers me from his holy hill.
Selah
I have faith that he WILL heal me; he WILL answer me from his holy hill.
5 I lie down and sleep;
I wake again, because the LORD sustains me.
This pain will not keep me from sleep tonight.
6 I will not fear the tens of thousands
drawn up against me on every side.7 Arise, O LORD!
Deliver me, O my God!
Strike all my enemies on the jaw;
break the teeth of the wicked.
Break the teeth of this wicked pain, O my God!
8 From the LORD comes deliverance.
May your blessing be on your people.
Selah
My deliverance comes from the LORD. May yours come from him, also.
Yup, Huckabee can win Texas. Texans don’t much like other folks telling them who to vote for. In 1976, when the Republican elite were pushing Gerald Ford, guess who won Texas? Nope, it wasn’t Ford. An unknown underdog named Ronald Reagan swept Texas clean…and then, four years later, he swept the nation clean. Don’t count out the power of miracles. As Mike Huckabee says, he “majored in miracles,” not math. It’s true that he cannot mathematically get enough delegates to win the nomination outright….but…and it’s a huge but…Huckabee can stop McCain in his tracks, forcing a brokered convention. Then he’ll have a chance to go toe-to-toe with McCain among the delegates. Anyone who watched the recent debates can see which of the two men is the best communicator. In the case of a brokered convention, Huckabee has just as much of a chance, if not more, than McCain in winning the nomination.
In some respects, Texas is a bell-weather state. Although we’re in the south, we are a country of our own, to some extent. In fact, Texas is the only state in the union that was a country before it became a state, and, as a condition of our statehood, we retain the right to divide up into five separate states…although such a thing is highly unlikely! That’s why I am deeply offended that my governor, Rick Perry, has publicly asked Huck to withdraw from the race. Don’t I get a voice? Mr. Perry has another think coming if he thinks his state is full of people chomping at the bit to vote for Senator McCain. It’s not that McCain is “the enemy;” rather, it is more that Huckabee is really the best man able to beat either Hillary or Obama. Can you imagine McCain in a debate with either candidate? He has a difficult time thinking for himself (recall my earlier post about him running off the stage to his strategist, calling out, “Did I fix it?”)
The fact that Perry is so vocal about Huckabee pulling out of the race is indicative of his fear that Huckabee will WIN Texas. Oh no! That means Perry backed the losing team two times in a row, doesn’t it? Huckabee had a rally in Texas last week, and we were fortunate enough to attend. The energy was amazing! We arrived nearly an hour early, and the room was already packed “standing room only.” We wormed our way to the front by snaking along the side wall. The folks were very nice to let us through since we had a young supporter in tow who wanted to be close enough to see Governor Huckabee when he spoke.
I have never heard such a charismatic speaker nor have I ever experienced the sheer energy that I felt at that rally. Most of all, I was filled with hope for my country’s future and for my daughter’s future. To me, Senator McCain represents “old hat” politics. I am so ready for someone to come forward who will actually induce progress in solving our country’s problems!
Here are some reasons why Texans love Huckabee and will vote for him March 4th:
Huckabee’s stand on second amendment rights.
Newcomers to Texas are often surprised by the signs that greet them as they enter public buildings:
Please check all weapons at the front desk.
Yes, there are so many residents who are registered concealed handgun owners that businesses often must post those signs! The fact that my husband owned a gun was never so important to me as it was one night shortly after we were married. We lived in a second floor apartment. One night around 10pm a gang of guys knocked out our porch light and proceeded to use a screwdriver and tire iron to force open our door. My husband had the police on the phone in one hand and his handgun in the other, ready to fire if the gang succeeded in forcing open our door. Thankfully the police arrived and nabbed the kids (all were under 18 and had rap sheets a mile long) before he had to use it. Yet I had no doubt that he would fire to protect me. This second amendment right to bear arms isn’t just limited to protecting us from the bad guys. Our founding fathers set this fundamental right in ink because they had just overcome a government that had become the bad guy. What if, they wondered, what if somehow our government is overrun with someone who wants to set up another monarchy? Our right to bear arms offers us protection from such an event.
Huckabee’s Support for Abolishing the IRS in favor of the FairTax
Too many small business owners in Texas are overburdened with government regulations. They aren’t just competing against competitors; they are competing with the federal government with red tape and tax reporting requirements that make no sense.
Our current way of raising government revenue by taxing wages is outdated. It’s been almost 100 years since that method was introduced; it is high time to replace that method with a different way. Mike Huckabee’s support of the FairTax is enough to make many Texans raise their hats and yell “Yee-Haw!”
I worked my way through college. I lived on $11K a year. Yet that $11K was too much money to qualify for federal assistance in college. So I took out loans to help me pay for things my scholarship wouldn’t cover, like books. I had to quit my job when I became a student teacher. The minute I became a non-productive member of society, I got a Pell Grant that paid for my college. Does that make sense? Of course not! Oh yes, I did have to pay income taxes when I made $11K a year.
Contrast that scenario with this one that happened when I was in high school (has it really been over fifteen years ago??):
I remember a high school girl who was pregnant with her third child. We were in the same economics class. She patted her belly one day and said proudly:
This one is worth another $500 a month from the government.
Did you catch that? She was unmarried and on welfare. If the government handed her $500 per child per month, that adds up to $1500 a month. That girl was making $18,000 a year!
The problem hasn’t gone away; in fact, these same people are now ENCOURAGING their own children to do the same. I had a conversation with a friend who said that junior high teachers are facing an uphill battle trying to convince their students to not get pregnant. These girls are being told by their parents to
Go get pregnant so you can bring in some money for the family, do your part.
Can anyone see the folly in this cycle? We’ve got to break it! Mike Huckabee actually speaks about this cycle and the need to break it:
What’s the point of keeping the terrorists at bay in the Middle East if we can’t keep decline and decadence at bay here at home? The growing number of children born out of wedlock and the rise in no-fault divorce have been a disaster for our society. They have pushed many women and children into poverty and onto the welfare, food stamp, and Medicaid rolls. These children are more likely to drop out of school and end up in low-paying, dead-end jobs, they are more likely to get involved with drugs and crime, they are more likely to have children out of wedlock or get divorced themselves someday, continuing the unhappy cycle.
Moving to a consumption tax instead of an income tax will help lower income people with drive and determination have a better chance at climbing another rung on the socioeconomic ladder. It will also bring in tax dollars from EVERYONE, including those who currently bypass tax laws by doing cash-only transactions in shady circumstances, such as drug dealers, pimps, and prostitutes.
Huckabee’s Push For Energy Independence
Think of Texas, and you probably think of horses, cowboys, tumbleweeds, and oil derricks. I grew up in an area of Texas where nearly every street had at least one oil derrick pumping oil. There was one within walking distance of my grandma’s house, and we used to walk up to it on hot summer days. Today the big news in Texas is the huge reserve of natural gas which is largely untapped. Energy concerns are high on a Texan’s list, as are national security concerns. Huckabee is the first national leader I’ve heard of who has linked the two in such a compelling way as he pushes for energy independence:
We think of globalization as primarily an economic issue and the war on terror as primarily a military issue. Yet the same key unlocks the door to success in both, and that key is energy independence. None of us would write a check to Osama bin Laden, slip it in a Hallmark card and send it off to him. But that’s what we’re doing every time we pull into a gas station. We’re paying for both sides in the war on terror – our side with our tax dollars, the terrorists’ side with our gas dollars. Our dependence on foreign oil has forced us to support repressive regimes, to conduct our foreign policy with one hand tied behind our back.
The other Republican candidate, John McCain, mentions nothing about achieving energy independence on his campaign website. Apparently, after all his years in the Senate, he doesn’t think it important enough to be part of his campaign.
Huckabee’s Support for Homeschooling
Texas has a huge number of homeschooling families who are understandably eager to elect a president who will allow them to continue to exercise their homeschooling rights. As a member of this homeschooling group, I also am very concerned about protecting my parental rights. If we are not careful, we may go the way of European nations which have ruled that homeschooling is “detrimental” to a child and have even jailed parents for homeschooling, or have taken their kids away from them and put them in state care. You can read all about Germany’s homeschooling woes here.
Mike Huckabee has been endorsed by the Home School Legal Defense Association for his strong pro-family stance and his record and views on homeschooling. At the heart of his beliefs is figuring out what is best for “the least of these,” and he recognizes that home education where one-on-one attention leads to dramatic increases in learning is extremely beneficial to children. Here’s a video about Mike and his views on homeschooling:
On the other hand, John McCain’s only mention about homeschooling on his campaign site states:
John McCain will fight for the ability of all students to have access to all schools of demonstrated excellence, including their own homes.
My caution here for homeschoolers leaning towards McCain is the “demonstrated excellence” part of the above quote. Who decides excellence? The parent? Or the government? If you allow the government to cross the line in defining its view of excellence, they may soon decide to define what ought to be taught in home schools, which leads to a whole other can of worms. I have the flexibility now for my third grader to be reading on a 6th grade level, taking a 4th grade level math course, learning about American history with a near-high-school-level attention to depth and details, doing fifth grade spelling and fourth grade science. There is no way a government-issued curriculum would meet the vast learning needs of my own child. As her parent who just so happens to be a certified Texas teacher, I know best how to judge excellence.
The two Democratic contenders want to expand government oversight of education. Both candidates want to mandate pre-K for four-year-olds. Neither one of them has publicly said how they view home school, although both have expressed distaste for school choice or school vouchers. As a pro-family homeschooler, I cringe to think of what may happen to my rights to homeschool under either a Clinton or Obama-led government. Texas homeschoolers have a big message for the nation: Don’t Mess With Homeschooling Texas!
Huckabee’s Plan for Immigration Reform
Huckabee’s plan for immigration reform is comprehensive and common sense. Texas is an extremely diverse state filled with illegal, undocumented workers. Many of these people die every year while being smuggled across our borders in extremely inhumane conditions. Others are enticed over our borders and find themselves ensnared in illegal prostitution. Others do find work but live in fear every day that the police will find them and deport them, throw them in jail. Mike Huckabee wants to make them go home and stand in line so they can come here legally, with their heads held high. His plan for reform includes:
- I support the $3 billion the Senate has voted for border security. This money will train and deploy 23,000 more agents, add four drone planes, build 700 miles of fence and 300 miles of vehicle barriers, and put up 105 radar and camera towers. This money will turn “catch and release” into “catch and detain” of those entering illegally, and crack down on those who overstay their visas.
- In this age of terror, immigration is not only an economic issue, but also a national security issue. Those caught trying to enter illegally must be detained, processed, and deported. As Governor, I ordered my state troopers to work with the Department of Homeland Security to arrest illegals and enforce federal immigration law.
- I oppose and will never allow amnesty. I opposed the amnesty President Bush and Senator McCain tried to ram through Congress this summer, and opposed the misnamed DREAM Act, which would have put us on the slippery slope to amnesty for all.
- I will take our country back for those who belong here. No open borders, no amnesty, no sanctuary, no false Social Security numbers, no driver’s licenses for illegals.
Senator McCain, however, has different views about illegals. His campaign website says nothing about what our nation should do about the illegals already in our country. The “DREAM” act would have effectively provided amnesty for millions of illegals by requiring them to pay a fine.
Those are just some of the main reasons Texans like Huckabee. Perhaps the biggest reason Huckabee has such support is precisely due to his underdog status. Texans like to make up their own minds. We have our own way of doing life. If the rally last week was any indication of Huck’s support, I’d say he’s going to win Texas by a landslide, if only to spite Governor Perry!
“Who did it?”
Those were my dad’s famous words every time my brother or I got ourselves into a mess. It was his way of forcing us to fess up and take responsibility for our actions, whether they were intentional or accidents. I am so grateful for his and for my mom’s leadership in this because it shaped me into the person I am today.
Unfortunately, many in our American culture don’t ascribe to the same philosophy. When bad things happen, it’s somebody else’s fault. I saw this over and over when I taught in both public and private schools. Little Johnny reached over and pestered Little Roscoe, poking him in the arm with a pencil…over and over. Roscoe finally got fed up, grabbed Johnny’s pencil out of his hand, and broke it in two. Both boys got angry and red-faced, blaming the other. “He started it!” was a common refrain (and is just another reason why I homeschool instead of allowing my daughter to ‘learn’ how to behave from other kids!).
I wasn’t surprised at their behavior. After all, they were just seven years old and learning how to resolve conflict. What did startle me, though, was the attitude of many of my students’ parents. It gave me a window to their thinking, and what I saw was frightening.
In one circumstance I’ll never forget, a mom was incensed because her son kept getting into trouble. Rather than having her son take responsibility for his behavior, she shook her finger in my face and told me that I was “expecting too much” to make an eight year old stay seated in his seat. The child in question frequently got up out of his seat and wandered around the classroom — behavior that I might be able to overlook for a kinesthetic learner — except that he went around badgering other students while they tried to get their work done. In her view, it was my fault that her son was failing despite the fact that his failing grades were the result of not completing his classwork or his homework. It was my fault because I expected him to get his work done. No matter that twenty other students got their work done! She was unwilling to allow the school to get him some extra help and held a grudge against me because I had the audacity to give her child an “N” (for needs improvement) in behavior. This happened in a public school setting.
In another instance, a student with emotional difficulties was mainstreamed into my classroom. He was prone to physical outbursts like throwing chairs, overturning desks, and kicking teachers and other students when in the midst of a meltdown. My job was to recognize when a meltdown was coming on and attempt to diffuse it. The school district trained me in non-violent conflict resolution — which essentially means I was trained to put a child into a non-violent “hold” until help arrived. Remember, this is in a regular classroom! (Now do you see why I homeschool? How much learning went on for the other kids who were constantly walking on eggshells, wondering if Greg (not his real name) would have a good day or not.) Greg wanted to attend a field trip to the circus with the rest of the class. As a condition of his behavior modification, he had to meet several goals, set and agreed upon by me, his special ed teacher, and his parents. Greg did not meet those goals. Rather than holding him responsible, his parents appealed and asked that he be allowed to go on the field trip even though they themselves could not go with him.
The administration allowed him to go despite my objections. I feared for his own safety, for good reason. The sensory-rich atmosphere was too much for him to handle. He climbed up on top of the movie-theater-style seats and began running. His foot slipped and got caught where the seat met the back. Most children would allow an adult to help them remove a shoe and get untangled from the seat…but Greg had emotional issues and would not let anyone touch him. He kicked, he screamed, he totally lost control. The special ed teacher had to be found in the midst of the crowd because she was stronger than I was; I could not physically restrain him when he lost control in that way.
Who was responsible for this horrible event? I hold his parents responsible and the school administration for giving in to the parents. Where is Greg today? What did he learn? He learned that he didn’t have to meet his goals in order to get his reward. And he got put into an environment that was really too much for his senses to handle.
I saw an article in today’s newspaper about a local business that refuses the hire what are now called “Millennials.” These are the youngest generation now entering the workforce. Advertising executive Owen Hannay fired more than a dozen millennials over the course of the year 2006; subsequently, he stopped hiring them and turned to a consultant to help him and his staff understand how to work better with the younger set.
Their orientation is so different from Gen Xers, who were the latchkey kids and are self-starters. These kids are fabulous at building teams, but they’re challenged by responsibility and accountability.
There is a real problem in our country when our future leaders — those entering the workforce today — don’t have an internal sense of responsibility or accountability. Why did they get that way? They didn’t have parents who said, “Who did it?”
We are now a nation dealing with record numbers of murders, embezzlement, abortions, pornography, sexual assaults, identity theft, and fraud. Our culture lusts after news of Brittany Spear’s latest tale of woe. Third graders discuss whether or not a judge will give Brittany custody of her kids. Our elected officials are made up of drug offenders, DUI offenders, thieves, liars, and worse…and we keep electing them! Voter turn-out is dismal. We the people have no one to blame for the state of our nation than ourselves.
I can’t take responsibility for someone else’s mistake, but I can own up to my own. I can insist that my child own up to her own mistakes. As Christians, we can do much more to help heal our country. Hosea lamented over and over about Israel’s sins and the coming judgment on the people. We can learn much from him about how we can be restored:
In just a short time he will restore us,
so that we may live in his presence.
Oh, that we might know the LORD!
Let us press on to know him.
He will respond to us as surely as the arrival of dawn
or the coming of the rains in early spring.
Hosea 6:2-3
Then God says, in Hosea 7:
I want to heal Israel, but its sins are too great. Samaria is filled with liars. Thieves are on the inside and bandits on the outside! It’s people don’t realize that I am watching them. Their sinful deeds are all around them, and I see them all.
Can you see God saying that about America? Casting Crowns has a great song called “While You Were Sleeping” that addresses our current American state of mind:
United States of America
Looks like another silent night
As we’re sung to sleep by philosophies
That save the trees and kill the children
And while we’re lying in the dark
There’s a shout heard ‘cross the eastern sky
For the Bridegroom has returned
And has carried His bride away in the nightAmerica, what will we miss while we are sleeping
Will Jesus come again
And leave us slumbering where we lay
America, will we go down in history
As a nation with no room for its King
Will we be sleeping
Will we be sleepingUnited States of America
Looks like another silent night
But there is hope! God has provided a way for healing. Take a look at 2 Chronicles 7:14:
If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land.
Though not an Israelite, I am a Gentile grafted onto the family tree…so yes, I am called by God’s name. Will you join me? Let’s humble ourselves and pray, seeking the Lord’s face, turning from everything wicked? If we do these as a nation, then we are promised that God will heal our land.
One thing’s for sure: we are definitely a land in need of healing. We are so sick with sin that most people can’t even see it! Wrong has become a “right.” Free speech is elevated above all other rights, unless you’re talking about speech that glorifies the Lord and his commands. We’re losing the freedom to speak about our Lord because we aren’t using it. We have dropped the ball and allowed our religious freedoms to be taken away, inch by inch.
Who did it?
Again, there is hope! Not only does the Lord promise to heal our land…but he loves us. His compassion for us and mercy towards us overflows if we will just reach out and accept it! From Hosea 11:
8 “Oh, how can I give you up, Israel?
How can I let you go?
How can I destroy you like Admah
or demolish you like Zeboiim?
My heart is torn within me,
and my compassion overflows.
9 No, I will not unleash my fierce anger.
I will not completely destroy Israel,
for I am God and not a mere mortal.
I am the Holy One living among you,
and I will not come to destroy.
10 For someday the people will follow me.
I, the Lord, will roar like a lion.
And when I roar,
my people will return trembling from the west.
Look carefully and you’ll see my decorated windshield for Huckabee! If you’re a Huckabee supporter, decorating your windshield is a great way to spread the word.
Taxes generate revenue to keep our government functioning. I don’t dispute the need for a people to submit to taxation for the public good…what I do object to is the current method of taxation. It is antiquated and confusing. It is ironic that one of the most complicated pieces of legislation in the history of the US was started by one of the shortest amendments to the US Constitution. Amendment 16 states:
The Congress shall have power to lay and collect taxes on incomes, from whatever source derived, without apportionment among the several States, and without regard to any census or enumeration.
I graduated from college with a 4.0 GPA. Granted, I majored in education, not in math or in accounting. But all Americans who earn over a certain amount of income are to be taxed…what? How is a person supposed to follow the law if he or she can’t even understand it? Here’s a sample from the US Tax Code on the section about the alternative minimum tax (whatever that is):
There is hereby imposed (in addition to any other tax imposed by this subtitle) a tax equal to the excess (if any) of—For purposes of this part—(1) Amount of tentative tax (A) Noncorporate taxpayers (i) In general In the case of a taxpayer other than a corporation, the tentative minimum tax for the taxable year is the sum of—
(II) 28 percent of so much of the taxable excess as exceeds $175,000.
Okay, do you understand that gobbledygook? I sure don’t. I got lost after the first line! When my house gets cluttered, I go on a “flylady” frenzy. I weed things out, throw things out, give things away. Sometimes I throw everything out and start over. For example, I took a good look at the shoes in my closet. Some of these shoes have been in my possession since before I met my husband fifteen years ago. They looked it. Why was I holding on to them? I won’t gross you out with the description, but suffice it to say that I tossed many pairs in the trash because they were unfit to even be passed on to Goodwill.
Our current tax code is a lot like my old grubby shoes: antiquated, scuffed up, unrecognizable from its first intention, and it needs to be tossed into the nearest dumpster. Any system that penalizes productivity (and it does, people — the more you make, the more you have to pay, so why bother trying to make more?). Mike Huckabee agrees with me. He’s the only presidential candidate still standing who rips up IRS forms into tiny pieces on the campaign trail; he wants to abolish the IRS and replace income taxes with a consumption tax.
Mike Huckabee did not ‘invent’ the FairTax (unlike Gore, who obviously invented the internet). A group of leading economists tasked with creating a “dream economy’ came up with the FairTax plan. This system would fund our government by assessing taxes on what we spend (or consume). The very poor would be exempt from these taxes. The rest of us could minimize our taxes by buying USED instead of buying new; the tax would be paid only when it’s new. So, as a taxpayer in the market for a new car, I might be more inclined to buy a used car than a new one because the tax would already have been paid. But even if I want to buy new, the net effect on my purse wouldn’t seem any worse than it does now. Why? Because ALL taxes would be eliminated, even for businesses. The “fees” added into the price of the car wouldn’t be there anymore. Those “fees” on your phone bill, your electric bill, your gas bill — those are taxes the government demands from businesses who in turn pass them on to us. So the price of those things would drop.
Huckabee does not try to reinvent the wheel. He looks to the experts to help him determine what he thinks would be best. He does not take credit for these ideas, but he gets out there behind them and supports them. He looked at what the experts said about the FairTax, evaluated it, and then decided it would be best. He did the same with his stance on immigration reform and has the backing of the founder of the Minutemen because of it. This shows what kind of leader Mike Huckabee truly is. He’s willing to work with anyone (Democrat, Republican, Independent, etc) to get the job done (see his stance on ‘vertical politics). He is what my husband would say “results-driven.” He wants results and leads by setting a vision and then letting the free markets go to work.
Here are some verses about wisdom. See where Huckabee can be found:
Proverbs 10
14 Wise men store up knowledge,
but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.
Huckabee graduated college in a mere 2.5 years…magna cum laude! If that’s not storing up knowledge, I’m not sure what else is. As I mentioned earlier, I also graduated magna cum laude with a 4.0 GPA, but it didn’t come easily. It took me five years. I can only imagine the drive and determination it must have taken for Governor Huckabee to accomplish so much in so little time.
Proverbs 12
15 The way of a fool seems right to him,
but a wise man listens to advice.
Huckabee listens to the “best of the best” when forming policies. As Governor of Arkansas, he appointed a homeschooling dad to the State Board of Education. He was willing to take advice from a homeschooler — someone definitely outside of the mainstream. I like a candidate who allows his way to be led by God, not by political parties.
Ecclesiastes 10
The heart of the wise inclines to the right, but the heart of the fool to the left.
Huckabee made a joke about that one during his speech at the 2008 CPAC convention…isn’t it funny to know that the Bible backs up our ‘right-wing’ affiliation?
Daniel 2
21 He changes times and seasons;
he sets up kings and deposes them.
He gives wisdom to the wise
and knowledge to the discerning.
The Lord has given wisdom to Mike Huckabee, and he’s given him knowledge. You don’t have to believe me: just listen to him, and you’ll see for yourself. Whenever Huckabee is given the chance to speak, people are drawn to his wisdom and his common sense approach to the problems facing our nation today. Wisconsin’s primary is tomorrow, and Huckabee has been campaigning heavily in that state over the past week or so, with remarkable — some might even say supernatural — results.
Is McCain truly the “heir apparent?” I think the Goliath News Media will be great surprised — again — at the results. In just one week’s time, Mike Huckabee rose in the polls in Wisconsin from 4% to 42%! He is now within the margin of error to McCain’s 46%. Huckabee has the momentum — and wisdom — to win! For those of you fuzzy on math like me, that’s a 38 point jump to McCain’s 6 point loss! The people of Wisconsin have now met Mike Huckabee, and they like what they see.
Apparently I’m not the only one who likes the idea of putting the IRS out of business. Thank you, Mike Huckabee, for bringing this issue to the mainstream!
“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us.” Romans 8:35, 37
There is an intense spiritual battle being waged in the world. Our own land of the free is fast becoming anything but free for those of us who proclaim Christ. Make no mistake about it…the enemy thinks he is winning. In less than half a century, the morals of our culture have become twisted and upside down, and many people in our culture view Christians with contempt. They know nothing of God and don’t wish to know Him. They mock us, and in so doing they mock Him. They distort the Establishment Clause of the Constitution and act as if “separation of church and state” is a phrase contained in the U.S. Constitution. It’s not.
Take, for example, these recent headlines:
Green Bay Removes Nativity Scene, But Not Lawsuit
Dems: Amen to Ramadan, But Forget About Christmas
Judge Jones Admits The Activist Nature of Kitzmiller Ruling on Lehrer Newshour
Anti-Christian Bias in Education
Two Court Employees Suing Over Bible Study
In each of those stories, Christians face persecution. Here, on American soil. We were properly outraged when two Christian missionaries were captured by the Taliban for sharing their faith. Where is the outrage now?
I think most of us, myself included, are not outraged because we’ve been lulled into complacency. We have full bellies and blessings galore. The battle over religious expression is merely an intellectual battle, is it not? Wrong! This battle is but one prong of the enemy’s attack. Jesus himself warned us about our tendency to become complacent. From Mark 13:
“Stay alert! 34 The coming of the Son of Man can be illustrated by the story of a man going on a long trip. When he left home, he gave each of his slaves instructions about the work they were to do, and he told the gatekeeper to watch for his return. 35 You, too, must keep watch! For you don’t know when the master of the household will return—in the evening, at midnight, before dawn, or at daybreak. 36 Don’t let him find you sleeping when he arrives without warning. 37 I say to you what I say to everyone: Watch for him!”
Jesus tells us that we are like servants who have been given instructions about the work we are to do, and while we are at it, we are to…
- be on guard
- stay alert
- keep watch,
- and watch for His return,
all within six verses. I’d say that keeping alert is a priority to our Savior!
I want to zero in on the component of those verses about the instructions the man left for his slaves. What kind of instructions is he talking about? Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are chock full of instructions Jesus has given us, his servants. None of these contradict the commandments God gave Moses; rather, they enhance them and aim to transform our hearts so that we obey out of love, not simply out of fear. Here are a few instructions that many in our Christian culture do not fully embrace:
…becoming as humble as a little child (Matthew 18)
3 Then he said, “I tell you the truth, unless you turn from your sins and become like little children, you will never get into the Kingdom of Heaven. 4 So anyone who becomes as humble as this little child is the greatest in the Kingdom of Heaven.
5 “And anyone who welcomes a little child like this on my behalf is welcoming me. 6 But if you cause one of these little ones who trusts in me to fall into sin, it would be better for you to have a large millstone tied around your neck and be drowned in the depths of the sea.
What does humility look like? How does a Christian show humility? By giving all the glory, all the credit, to God. By being willing to do the least of tasks. Many of us want to accomplish great things for our Lord. How many times have I prayed, asking God to use me? I often lose sight of the fact that he does use me. He uses me as I go about my daily life! If I wear blinders and am lulled into complacency, I miss the miracle of what he is accomplishing. I confess that I’ve been wearing blinders. I have been complacent. I have allowed myself to be so distracted with each day’s tasks that I lose the chance to make each task count or to give Christ credit.
One of my favorite songs is Show Me Your Glory, by Third Day.
I caught a glimpse of Your splendor
In the corner of my eye
The most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen
And it was like a flash of lightning
Reflected off the sky
And I know I’ll never be the sameShow me Your glory
Send down Your presence
I want to see Your face
Show me Your glory
Majesty shines about You
I can’t go on without You, LordWhen I climb down the mountain
And get back to my life
I won’t settle for ordinary things
I’m gonna follow You forever
And for all of my days
I won’t rest ’til I see You again
I want to live like that. Rather than seeking to be the lamp, I will focus on ways I can be the lamppost, or perhaps on being the bolt that holds the post to the ground, or maybe even just a molecule of steel that makes up the post. If I take time to humble myself to this extent, I will see His glory everywhere.
…making sure we don’t look down our noses at others (Matthew 18)
10 “Beware that you don’t look down on any of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels are always in the presence of my heavenly Father.[c]
12 “If a man has a hundred sheep and one of them wanders away, what will he do? Won’t he leave the ninety-nine others on the hills and go out to search for the one that is lost? 13 And if he finds it, I tell you the truth, he will rejoice over it more than over the ninety-nine that didn’t wander away! 14 In the same way, it is not my heavenly Father’s will that even one of these little ones should perish.
Who have I found myself looking down upon? Just yesterday I read a very sad story in the newspaper that made me angry before it made me sad. A young woman was arrested after she threw her newborn baby in a hospital trashcan. She’s gone to the ER with stomach pains, went to the bathroom, had the baby, and then threw him away. Somehow they tracked this infant to her and have now charged her. My first reaction was disgust. Who could possibly throw away a newborn baby? What a sicko, right?
Exactly. Jesus didn’t come to save those who are well.
15 Later, Levi invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) 16 But when the teachers of religious law who were Pharisees[b] saw him eating with tax collectors and other sinners, they asked his disciples, “Why does he eat with such scum?[c]”
17 When Jesus heard this, he told them, “Healthy people don’t need a doctor—sick people do. I have come to call not those who think they are righteous, but those who know they are sinners.”
And just like that, I am seared inside. Rather than looking down my nose at that young girl, why can I not love her? Pray for her? There could be a million reasons why she did what she did, but the saddest thing of all is that she thought throwing away a life was the best choice.
I think Christians today (myself included) must be very alert to our own tendencies to badmouth those who make such horrible choices. Think of what might have happened had that young girl had a mentor, or her teacher reached out to her, or her friend’s mom took her under her wing. Who in my circle of influence does the Lord want me to reach out to today?
…loving God, and loving our neighbors (Matthew 22)
37 Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’[e] 38 This is the first and greatest commandment. 39 A second is equally important: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’[f] 40 The entire law and all the demands of the prophets are based on these two commandments.”
It’s very difficult to love the unlovable, yet that’s what Jesus calls us to do. If we Christians actually DID what the Lord commands us to do, we would be like a great cloud of witnesses — all without saying a word. Rather than storing up hatred for politicians and political candidates with whom we don’t agree, Jesus would have us invite them over for dinner! Who among us would extend a heartfelt dinner invitation to Senator Hillary Clinton? Look at who Jesus hung out with….the ‘worst sinners’ ever — the tax collectors! In my twenty-first century Christian worldview, a ‘worst sinner’ in today’s world might be a corrupt politician! Yet I’m called to love.
…honoring the Sabbath (Mark 3)
3 One Sabbath day as Jesus was walking through some grainfields, his disciples began breaking off heads of grain to eat. 24 But the Pharisees said to Jesus, “Look, why are they breaking the law by harvesting grain on the Sabbath?”
25 Jesus said to them, “Haven’t you ever read in the Scriptures what David did when he and his companions were hungry? 26 He went into the house of God (during the days when Abiathar was high priest) and broke the law by eating the sacred loaves of bread that only the priests are allowed to eat. He also gave some to his companions.”
27 Then Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made to meet the needs of people, and not people to meet the requirements of the Sabbath. 28 So the Son of Man is Lord, even over the Sabbath!”
How many Christians do you know of who actually take one day out of the week to rest? My Sundays are hectic between getting ready for church, teaching Sunday School, getting home, getting lunch done, and preparing for school the next week. As I write this blog, I have several loads of laundry calling my name. Many of our lives are so filled with activities and duties that the weekends are the only time we have to get our house chores done. Is it sinful to do work on Sunday? If I blast praise music from my stereo while folding clothes and pray while I chop vegetables, then I believe I am still keeping the Sabbath holy. But if I let the day pass just like any other without taking time to rest my mind and recharge my heart with praises, then I shortchange myself. My emotional and spiritual needs are not met, and my week begins with an empty heart, and I often miss the chance to see God’s glory.
I’ve spent so much time and energy these past few weeks volunteering and blogging for the Huckabee campaign. My spirit needed to take a detour back to my center, which is Christ. I am in Him. Regardless of the outcome of any political election, God reigns. Christ conquered death. May the outcome of this election be all to God’s glory, so that his power is displayed for all to see. I do look forward to the day when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus is Lord. Until then, there will be hardships. There will be persecutions, yes, even in America.
May it be to His Glory!
After four long months spent haggling over what is now the most important document in our country’s history — the U.S. Constitution — George Washington stood up from his chairman’s chair and walked over to sign his name. As he stood up, the back of the chair was visible. It was hand-carved with a design of a sun that was either rising or setting. As Benjamin Franklin looked at the now-empty chair, he said:
I have often looked at that (sun) behind the President without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting, but now….I have the happiness to know that is a rising and not a setting sun.
I zero in on this because my daughter and I are studying the birth of our nation. Today we looked up the U.S. Constitution on the internet and saw pictures of it. She wants me to get a copy of it so she can read it for herself. That’s right: my nine year old daughter is interested in history. Is that remarkable in today’s world? You bet it is! The quality of curriculum I have been able to find as a homeschooler is amazing. We are learning so much together. I say ‘together’ because homeschooling is filling in many gaps in my own education! Today I learned about Benjamin Franklin’s observation at the dawn of our country.
I sat there a moment, stunned in the enormity of his statement. At that time in our history, we were indeed a rising sun. Our republic and the constitution on which it is based has been a shining beacon to the whole world, an example of a government that is OF the people, BY the people, and FOR the people. But are we rising or setting as a nation?
I can’t pretend to have the answer to that question, but the direction in which we are headed is troubling. Personal responsibility has gone by the wayside. The perception of our government appears to be shifting from one in which it is OF the people to one that is OF the political establishment. Take the Democratic and Republican races for the presidential nominations, for example. The unbound “superdelegates” are allowed to cast their vote at the convention any way they please. Some of them vow to follow the “will of the people,” but others have already stated that they will vote for their favorite regardless of what the will of the people becomes. Is this true democracy? Who are these “superdelegates,” anyway?
According to this article on MSNBC,
They are the 796 Democratic elected officials and party activists who, under party rules, have a vote at the August convention that will nominate either Sen. Hillary Clinton or Sen. Barack Obama for president. The nominee will be the person who gets the support of at least 2,025 delegates —superdelegates accounting for about 40 percent of that necessary total.
Superdelegates do not have to vote the way the voters voted. Let’s say you are superdelegate in Virginia which went heavily for Obama, but you personally like Hillary Clinton. Under the party rules, you can vote for her even though your state did not.
Who gets to be a superdelegate? Only the bigwigs of the Democratic Party…senators, governors, congressmen, a party leader, or a member of the Democratic National Committee.
Is this fair? Is it a rising, or a setting sun?
The Republicans do not have superdelegates, but they do have 123 members of the Republican National Committee that are free to vote for whichever candidate they choose at the party convention.
I don’t know if this is what our founding fathers had in mind when they created our system of government. And then there remains another can of worms: the timing of the presidential primaries and caucuses. Because states are free to hold their primaries and caucuses whenever they want, voters in later-voting states feel disenfranchised as candidates are weeded out. Why should it matter what Californians or Floridians think when I’m a Texan? What if I was a supporter of a candidate who dropped out of the race because of early losses in other states?
Because of this system, the media and Republican party head honchos have declared McCain the “presumptive nominee.” Well, I beg to differ. I am a Texan, and I haven’t had a chance to vote yet. This country is still a democracy, and I believe my vote ought to be counted.
Let’s see what happens on March 4th when other Texans rise up and show Goliath News Media and the establishment that this country is still governed BY the people.
Rather than being disheartened and overly angry at the state of our national government, I lay my head on my pillow at night at peace because I have faith in my God. I don’t need to worry over whether we are rising or setting as a nation, because the Lord is Lord of them both. From Isaiah 45:
5 I am the LORD, and there is no other;
apart from me there is no God.
I will strengthen you,
though you have not acknowledged me,6 so that from the rising of the sun
to the place of its setting
men may know there is none besides me.
I am the LORD, and there is no other.7 I form the light and create darkness,
I bring prosperity and create disaster;
I, the LORD, do all these things.
So whether followers of the Lord rise up and vote for leaders who are righteous and firm in their faith, or whether they vote for the ‘presumptive nominee’ because the media tells them their first choice can’t win, or whether they stay home out of disgust and don’t vote at all…the Lord is God. I am his child and stand firmly in that truth, through every sunrise and sunset.
I must begin this post with a disclaimer that I have no intention to malign anyone’s character. I simply want to chip away the layers of gloss and splattered mud to see the truth about the so-called “presumptive” Republican nominee. Who is this man? What is his record? How does he compare to Mike Huckabee on the issues?
Many conservatives “hold their nose” when it comes to Senator McCain because of his stance on illegal immigration. Let’s take a look at what he himself has said about illegal immigration:
On Amnesty, to a Tuscon newspaper, 2003
“Amnesty has to be an important part because there are people who have lived in this country for 20, 30 or 40 years, who have raised children here and pay taxes here and are not citizens. That has to be a component of it… I think we can set up a program where amnesty is extended to a certain number of people who are eligible and at the same time make sure that we have some control over people who come in and out of this country…”
On Amnesty, at the end of a 2006 Senate debate
(Illegals have) “grasped the lowest rung of our ladder. They want to rise, and we should let them. Let them come out of the shadows, pay a fine, stay employed, pay taxes, and earn their citizenship.”
However, he said something different at the New Hampshire debate last year:
“I have never, ever supported amnesty and never will.”
About a border fence, in an interview with Vanity Fair, McCain said:
“In the short term, it (the debate over his failed immigration bill) probably galvanizes our base,” he said. “In the long term, if you alienate the Hispanics, you’ll pay a heavy price.” Then he added, unable to help himself, “By the way, I think the fence is least effective. But I’ll build the g**damned fence if they want it.”
More about the border fence, from his presidential campaign website (minus the profanity):
“I have always believed that our border must be secure and that the federal government has utterly failed in its responsibility to ensure that it is secure.”
Just who IS the federal government? According to the US Constitution, the federal government is made up of the executive, judicial, and LEGISLATIVE branches of government. Which of the two Republican candidates has been a part of said federal government for eons? Not Mike Huckabee. Sounds like McCain is saying that HE has “utterly failed” in HIS responsibility to secure the border.
I respectfully diagree with Senator McCain when he said he never supported amnesty. Let’s call an orange an orange instead of smiling and telling everyone it’s an apple. I could respect his opinions more if I got the sense that he was truly convicted in them. Rather than “straight talking” the American people, Senator McCain seems to rely on his staffers to tell him what the conservative base wants to hear.
An example of the Senator’s unease with conservatives came in an interview on MSNBC’s Hardball back in February 2007. The topic was gay marriage. According to the article in Vanity Fair, McCain said one thing, and then during the commercial break his political strategist, John Weaver, ran up and whispered to him. In the next segment McCain asked to clarify his answer on the gay marriage issue — and promptly did a 180.
Before Weaver’s Whisper
“I think that gay marriage should be allowed, if there’s a ceremony kind of thing, if you want to call it that…I don’t have any problem with that, but I do believe in preserving the sanctity of the union between man and woman.”
After Weaver’s Whisper
“Could I just mention one other thing? On the issue of the gay marriage, I believe if people want to have private ceremonies, that’s fine. I do not believe that gay marriages should be legal.”
After the interview, Senator McCain ran over to Weaver and asked, “Did I fix it? Did I fix it?”
What does the real, off-the-cuff John McCain think? Does it matter? His waffling on these issues makes it very difficult for me to believe that HE BELIEVES what he’s saying. It’s as if I’m standing in a nursery, looking at a tree obviously loaded with peaches, whose label states it is an orange tree.
From Luke 6:
44Each tree is recognized by its own fruit. People do not pick figs from thornbushes, or grapes from briers. 45The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
Yet another example of McCain’s “conservaliberalism” is the creation and funding of his Reform Institute. The McCain campaign’s “Hispanic Outreach Director,” Juan Hernandez, is also a fellow of McCain’s Reform Institute. According to Michelle Malkin’s blog, one of Mr. Hernandez’s latest projects was an art contest whereby children drew their protests against a border fence. How can McCain say that he supports a border fence when his Hispanic Outreach Director actively sponsors art projects in which children depict their angst at such a fence? Does this make any sense to anyone else?
What exactly is the Reform Institute? Well, it’s a non-profit, 501 (c) (3) organization formed in 2001 to support the McCain-Feingold law (remember the law that limits the amounts of money private citizens can spend to support their candidates but allows those who are individually wealthy to use as much of their own money as they want?). The institute also employs McCain’s chief political advisor, Rick Davis as a consultant for $110K a year. The Institute has bankrolled many events that highlight McCain and his agenda. Who funds the Reform Institute? Prepare to be surprised…
- The Tides Foundation gives money to the institute. They also happen to be a very heavy-handed pro-abortion activist group and have given over $500,000 to the pro-abortion cause.
- The Educational Foundation of America. This group supports nearly every left-wing cause available, including abortion rights, assisted suicide rights, opposes drilling in ANWR, etc.
- The Proteus Fund. This group has given over $935,000 in support of gay marriage rights. They also are anti-war to the tune of over $800,000.
- The Open Society Institute. This group founded by George Soros supports open-border causes like the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund and the National Immigration Law Center.
Why is that significant? It goes back to the fruit on the tree. The Reform Institute was founded by Senator McCain to bring “transparency” to the federal government election laws. Then why does it accept money from backers that also support highly “left-wing” causes? For those readers who say that just because he founded it doesn’t mean he has anything to do with it, think again. Cablevision gave the institute $200,000. Guess what McCain did after that? Mr. “No Pork Barrell Politics” wrote a letter to the FCC on behalf of Cablevision.
Again, take a hard, long look at that tree. What bill would he sign as President? If the Tides Foundation deposited a pretty million in his Reform Institute just as an important piece of legislation requiring informed consent before abortions came across his desk, would he sign it? Or veto it? It’s hard to know. Maybe he’s been in Washington so long that he’s been a victim of cross pollination and doesn’t have a true stance on any of the conservative issues.
Mike Huckabee, on the other hand, is not a Washington insider. He is a conservative’s conservative, and he is the only presidential candidate still standing who has actually run a country before. Well, the “country” of Arkansas, that is! There is a sincerity in Mike Huckabee that is rarely seen among those in Washington. On the border fence, he’s promised to build it in 120 days. He knows — as we all do, deep down — that there is NOTHING Americans can’t do (including building the fence and becoming energy independent) when they bind together. He has the vision — and the gift — of inspiring us to be better than we are today. You know exactly what you’re getting when you hear Mike Huckabee…pure conservatism with an abundance of compassion.
But don’t take my word for it: watch some of Huckabee’s speech to CPAC. Listen to him talk about the sanctity of life and securing our borders. Even if you don’t agree with him, you will agree that he really does mean what he says. He won’t be running off stage asking his strategist: “Did I fix it?”
How can Huckabee win the nomination? By blocking McCain’s gathering of delegates. If McCain doesn’t reach 1191, then the decision will be made at a brokered convention. I believe that conservatives…and moderates…who hear Huckabee speak will come away understanding that he is THE conservative choice.
Yesterday I was astonished at the audacity of the Washington State Republican Party. With 87% of the vote in, they declared Senator McCain the winner of their caucus despite the fact that there were only 242 votes between him and Governor Huckabee! Isn’t this America? Aren’t ALL votes supposed to be counted? Do the right thing; don’t cheat. In Moses’ day, cheaters had to fess up and then pay a restitution. Too bad Washington State can’t be held to the same standard as the one the Lord gave out in Leviticus 6:
1 The LORD said to Moses: 2 “If anyone sins and is unfaithful to the LORD by deceiving his neighbor about something entrusted to him or left in his care or stolen, or if he cheats him, 3 or if he finds lost property and lies about it, or if he swears falsely, or if he commits any such sin that people may do- 4 when he thus sins and becomes guilty, he must return what he has stolen or taken by extortion, or what was entrusted to him, or the lost property he found, 5 or whatever it was he swore falsely about. He must make restitution in full, add a fifth of the value to it and give it all to the owner on the day he presents his guilt offering.
The fact that Governor Huckabee’s votes were so close to McCain’s is astonishing — especially in a northern state! The pundits, trying to pass off Huckabee’s stunning victories in Kansas and Louisiana, tried to say he won because those were “southern” states. I say that we the people are America, and the people have spoken. McCain is NOT the heir apparent.
So how can Huckabee win this nomination?
There are two ways he can win. First, he can rack up 85% of the remaining delegates. This is, according to McCain donator and supporter Karl Rove, “impossible.” I say all things are possible! And I’m not the only one saying it:
27Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God.”
28Peter said to him, “We have left everything to follow you!”
29“I tell you the truth,” Jesus replied, “no one who has left home or brothers or sisters or mother or father or children or fields for me and the gospel 30will fail to receive a hundred times as much in this present age (homes, brothers, sisters, mothers, children and fields—and with them, persecutions) and in the age to come, eternal life. 31But many who are first will be last, and the last first.” Mark 10
In God’s economy, which always trumps man’s economy, many who are first will be last, and the last first. Isn’t that what has happened so far in this presidential election campaign? Right after declaring that he “majored in miracles,” not math, Mike Huckabee swept Kansas and beat McCain, the “heir apparent,” by a 2-1 margin!
Conservatives nationwide DO have a choice! Even if Huckabee is unable to gather the remaining 85% of the delegates, he can still win the nomination by forcing a brokered convention. This happens when no candidate receives 1191 delegates. At this point, the delegates at the convention will vote, and vote, and vote — as many times as it takes, until someone comes out with 51% of the vote. Huckabee’s enthusiastic supporters are not about to give up their vote for McCain, and his conservative stance on the issues shows just how “liberal” McCain is when compared to a man like Mike Huckabee. How does Huckabee stop McCain from achieving 1191 delegates? The same way the Texas Longhorns or Maryland Terrapins or Virginia Tech Hokies stop the ball at 4th and goal: interceptions, a strong defense, and a gutsy offensive line.
We, Huckabee’s supporters, comprise those offensive lines. Though we may be poor by Karl Rove’s standards, we can pick up the phone and make calls! Huckabee volunteers buy their own yard signs, bumper stickers, and t-shirts. We pick up the phone and use our free minutes to contact voters in states that have upcoming primaries and caucuses. And working together, we are mighty! We give the change out of the cracks of our couches and sell our conservative talk-show-host books on eBay, donating the proceeds to the Huckabee campaign.
Why do we support Huckabee and not McCain? Here are just a few reasons:
- Mike Huckabee always sides with life, whether the issue is a terminally ill patient or a mentally disabled adult, an unborn child or an embryo created for “research.” John McCain supports embryonic stem cell research. He has said that they would NOT want to see Roe v. Wade overturned but later changed his mind. Which is it?
- Mike Huckabee’s tax plan involves chunking the IRS into the round file and replacing it with a consumption tax called the FairTax. He is a visionary with fresh ideas that will take our country up and give everyday Americans the chance to move up in the world. On the other hand, McCain’s tax plan is more of the same gobbledy-gook. It keeps the IRS and rearranges income brackets. Just what we need, huh? More rules and regulations to fight through in order to maybe get lower taxes if we are able to understand the complicated mumbo jumbo.
- Mike Huckabee’s nine-point immigration plan would seal America’s border in 120 days. McCain’s failed immigration plan, co-sponsored by none other than Senator Kennedy, would have provided amnesty to millions of illegals already in our country. Huckabee saw a long time ago that a solid border is essential to national defense. Here is a YouTube montage of Huckabee remarks about immigration:
The bottom line? Mike Huckabee is a conservative’s conservative. The race for the Republican nomination is not over yet. You do still have a voice in this elections process. (By the way, Washington state voters whose votes were not counted….Huckabee’s campaign is investigating and, along with candidate Ron Paul, has not conceded the race to McCain. Read more about this possible disenfranchisement here and here.
Many of my conservative readers are shaking their heads in concern. They do not want to “hold their noses and vote for McCain,” as his mother so eloquently put it. If you are a voter in Kansas, Louisiana or Washington, don’t vote for McCain unless you really see him as the next leader of our country. If, like me, you desire a leader with unfailing, unwavering conservative principles and a record to match it, check out Mike Huckabee. Don’t listen to the media pundits. Who chooses the President in our country: the media, or the people?
Remember that the Lord is the one who raises leaders and sets them down again. Remember who it is who goes into the voter booths with voters, as He did on Super Tuesday in the Southern states. Huckabee’s “surprising” wins were no surprise to those of us who have been praying and believing God for a leader who will bring America right side up again.
Jesus spoke prophetically (of course He did…He told us what the Father told Him to say) of what would happen to nations. Read it with an eye towards events happening in our world today, and even in the world yesterday, and see the truth in his assertion:
10Then he said to them: “Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom.
Or political party against political party.
12“But before all this, they will lay hands on you and persecute you.
Or ignore you and discount your electibility.
They will deliver you to synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors, and all on account of my name. 13This will result in your being witnesses to them.
Or they will label you an “evangelical” as if that in itself is a bad name. They will count you out and not give you any airtime. They will stop polling because they assume the race is over. They will label you a “spoiler.” They will yell at you and tell you to get out of the race.
14But make up your mind not to worry beforehand how you will defend yourselves. 15For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict. 18But not a hair of your head will perish. 19By standing firm you will gain life.
My prayer is that is Huckabee gives speeches and debates in the coming days, he will experience the truth of Jesus’ promise:
For I will give you words and wisdom that none of your adversaries will be able to resist or contradict.
There is a path that Huckabee can take to win the nomination! The media won’t tell you this, but you can see it here! Many thanks to Dean Spooner, blogger for Huckabee, for posting this information. I thought it important enough to share. Here is how Huckabee can win:
The Path for a Huckabee win:
Minimum target is through a Brokered Convention
1) McCain can be prevented from winning 1191 delegates.
According to RealClearPolitics McCain has 720 delegates & still needs 471 to win.
That means he has to get 44% of the remaining delegates to secure 1191.
2) So Huckabee needs to win 57% of the remaining delegates to force this to a Brokered Convention.
3) On Super Tuesday McCain got 42% of the vote in Blue States and only 26% in Red States. Over 60% of McCain’s delegates have come from Blue States. Do we really want our candidate picked by States that we have very little chance of winning in the Fall?
4) Remaining delegates: Red States = 711 [ 70.5% ], Blue States = 297 [ 29.5% ]
RED States Left:
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47 Louisiana
39 Kansas
63 Virginia
140 Texas
88 Ohio
39 Mississippi
69 North Carolina
57 Indiana
33 Nebraska
45 Kentucky
32 Idaho
32 New Mexico
27 South Dakota
5) Every time Republicans have gone to a Brokered Convention we have won!
Abraham Lincoln – 3rd Ballot – Won Presidency
Rutherford Hayes – 7th Ballot – Won Presidency
James Garfield – 36th Ballot – Won Presidency
Warning Harding – 10th Ballot – Won Presidency
6) Conservatives Unite! There is still time! Win the Red States and we go to the convention for a discussion about what it means to be a republican.
I couldn’t have said it better myself. Vote your conscience, conservatives! You owe it to yourself, your children, and your grandchildren. Spread the word!!
By the way, I am only $150 away from meeting my goal of raising $1191 for the Huckabee campaign. To donate today, go to Mike’s website, input my Ranger Code R7954 in the “Donor Code” field and email me at everfaith@mcbrides.net to let me know so I can thank you properly!
My nine year old daughter wrote a beautiful essay about faith yesterday….
Yesterday, before Governor Romney dropped out of the race. Before Dr. James Dobson endorsed Mike Huckabee for president. Before the momentum behind Mike Huckabee rose up and up and up, as blogs on his website kept getting more and more comments and the ticker showing the money raised for the campaign kept getting higher and higher.
Indeed, faith is believing in something that is unseen…it is believing in our God and trusting him to preserve us and our nation. From Hebrews 11 we learn that:
1Now faith is being sure of what we hope for and certain of what we do not see. 2This is what the ancients were commended for.
3By faith we understand that the universe was formed at God’s command, so that what is seen was not made out of what was visible.
The surge behind Huckabee’s popularity comes from quarters that the Goliath News Media has no inkling about. They speak in terms of things that they see. Many of them have not believed, so they do not see the fingerprints of God all over our lives or grasp the enormity of what it means to be resting in the hands of the Father.
As I have come to expect from him, Mike Huckabee graciously opens his campaign to Governor Romney’s former supporters, and he does so with dignity and grace:
Today, Mitt Romney announced that he will no longer seek the Republican nomination for President. I wish Mitt and his family all the best.Over the past year, Mitt and his entire family have sacrificed a lot during the course of his campaign and for that, we should all be appreciative of their service and dedication.
This is a two-man race for the nomination, and I am committed to marching on. I believe in the importance of a strong national defense — which includes winning the war against Islamic extremists and the protection of American sovereignty.
I am redoubled in my resolve to carry on my campaign in a civil, dignified manner. The issues that got me into this campaign—protecting life and traditional marriage, enacting the Fair Tax, and border security are going to keep me in this campaign.
As a true authentic, consistent, conservative, I have a vision to bring hope, opportunity and prosperity to all Americans, and I’d like to ask for and welcome the support of those who had previously been committed to Mitt.
-Mike Huckabee, as posted on his website.
Now is not a time to gloat or say mean things about each other. It’s a time to offer praises to the Lord for making the way smooth. It’s late, and tomorrow I put on my teacher hat at our homeschool co-op, so I will end this blog with words about faith as penned by my sweet child. From the mouths of babes….
Faith is like a tree of wonders that has two branches, one of love, and the other of hope. When together the leaves grow there is trust. It is no longer just a seedling in our heart. As it grows, its branches grow twigs of: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, and self control. But where’s faithfulness? Soon after the twigs grow, it reproduces beautiful flowers! Not long afterward, the flowers disappear and fruit grows in their place….the fruit of faithfulness, that is.
Then the tree pollinates with another tree; soon it reproduces. Many droughts may come, but it stands firm. One day the place where it is may dry up, but still it won’t whither.
When its garden dies, a new garden will grow even more beautiful than the last one. It shall have great warmth with wonderful flowers and pure water. Bushes of good fruit and berries will grow there, and the weeds are as pretty as flowers.
