Frank Viola | Beyond Evangelical

Official Blog of Author & Speaker Frank Viola. Digging below the surface and moving beyond the shallows in today's Christianity.

Our First “One Word Monologue”

Alright, Fun Seekers.

Our beloved Blog Manager is back in business . . . fully rested, refreshed, alert, and ready to begin moderating comments again.

Applause.

Keep in mind that it took a lot of arm-twisting for me to convince her to take on this job again, so if you don’t want this blog to become a Brian McLaren-Greg Boyd-John Eldredge-John Piper-Mark Driscoll-esque “No Comments” blog, it would be wise for you to follow the rules for moderation (the link is at the very top of the blog).

As promised on our recent podcast, today’s blog will be our first ONE WORD MONLOGUE.

The way it works is very simple.

I will give you one word. Then you weigh in on that word. Say whatever you wish to say about the word (so long as it comports with the Blog Manager’s conditions, of course.)

The one word monologue for today is . . .

HUCKABEE

that’s right . . .

HUCKABEE

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. FAIR TAX – makes very good common sense – something God gave us, but that is used rarely

    Baptist – been there – done that (Take it Home – Build It there!) Oops, was that a politically persuasive form of encouragement of some sort?

    TV Progarm – Not bad – has a lot of good country music on it. In addition, he invites a cross section of differing backgrounds and beiliefs, and then does a good job of finding a thread of commonality to further his objectives. Don’t know enough to judge his guitar playing.

    Do like that FAIR TAX idea. Sure would alleviate a lot of gov’t spending, and make things simpler for everyone.

    Hey, Frank, have you been invited to be on his program or something?

  4. David,

    You’re right…I used that phrase and implied that it came from you when actually it was from another commenter. So I apologize for that.

    I like your phrase “the example of Christ and his kingdom that comes through power-under folks, not power-over.” Yet, it was the centurian who recognized both that Christ praised. I don’t think God is afraid of our power nor of our freedom.

    Maybe another way to phrase my question is this…doesn’t the kingdom advance by individuals in varying degrees of authority? I know from experience that the more responsibility I’m given, the more aware I am of my weakness and the more soberly I seek for Him to live His life through me.

    I don’t necessarily see Huckabee attempting to advance the kingdom. What I see is a flawed man with a humble desire to participate in the stewardship of our nation and that may be his unique calling IN the kingdom. Just as I’m paid to advance the success of my employer, I do it while I’m IN the kingdom and its holy and beautiful; except when I get caught up in these dang blogs when I should be working!

    Thanks for responding!

  5. Seriously correct me if I am wrong but We The People means to some extinct that those in a political office are there to represent us. Doesn’t this mean that the politicians are serving us. I know this is not the way it is all of the time but isn’t this the original idea. Mike would have had political power but it would have been to serve the people. That kind of sounds like Jesus minus the political part. Jesus has all of the power but He came to serve.

    I think God can use people in many different employment positions to bring people into His kingdom. The president of the United States is not immune to sharing the gospel with others.

  6. Wow, I am so impressed by the positive comments about Huckabee’s character. Sounds like a true rarity among politicians, and , sadly, among Christians.

    Thanks also to the one who pointed out the foibles of the prophetic movement folks. I am thankful for some of their emphases on relationship with the Lord and have no patience with those who do not believe God still speaks, but they also make me want to bang my head against the wall when they give prophecies publicly like that. This is the New Covenant, and specific predictions like that should be judged by the local body before being broadcast indiscriminately. And we all need to be willing to admit we goofed.

  7. Jo, oops… Greg does have a “body.” But his last name is “Boyd.”
    I recommend reading “The Myth of a Christian Nation: How the Quest for Political Power is Destroying the Church.”

  9. Jo,
    My statements have nothing to do with him stepping “out of the pulpit.” I would actually encourage others to do it. No, I am thinking about the example of Christ and his kingdom that comes through power-under folks, not power-over. It is time we take serious the teachings of Christ and the example of his own life. Does the kingdom advance by putting our hands to the political plow of power… or by speaking to it with spiritual authority from a position of weakness? Which one looks more like Jesus? I like how Gregory Body puts it: “Jesus calls us to bleed.”

  10. David P. Flowers–I asked this question earlier in the comments and it hasn’t been addressed…I don’t see Huckabee going after the goal of establishing God’s kingdom through his political activities. So my question is why is he considered misguided? Isn’t it possible that he has been called by God to participate in our country’s political process? Isn’t it possible that he (Huckabee) is moving in the direction that the Holy Spirit is leading?

    Look, I don’t know his heart…I do not believe, though, that he should be vilified because he stepped out of the pulpit to go into politics. That is what the pharisees did with Jesus….”Oh, you’re eating with tax collectors!” Jesus brought redemption to those tax collectors and a godly man just might do the same in this day and age!

  11. As in Mike Huckabee –

    You can not legislate morality – nor spirituality, for that matter. For instance, changing the Constitution, as Mike suggests, to reflect godly values will not a more godly people make – even if possible (which it is not). You can’t make the flesh godly; you can’t make the things of this world godly; you lay down the flesh and enter into a spiritual union with Christ and God.

    For someone publically committed to Christ, putting one’s foot in one’s mouth on a regular basis causes spiritual bad breath, not lost on the masses who turn their backs on God to begin with.

    What God truly wants and needs is a people who will lay down all they are, quit striving in the flesh, and become a spiritually mature people that God can use to win over those who yet remain unbelievers. The govt of the USA will never conform to God’s will/standard. It is not meant to. There is a reason Christ was sent to mankind and the Church or Body of Christ was born.

    First the natural, then the spiritual.

  13. I have learned a lot from watching Mike Huckabee’s program. He is gracious to all while making his views clear. He is my brother in Christ and even if we are on a different page in some areas I will do my best not to be used by the enemy as the accuser of the brethren.

  14. New York Post Image:
    “I Hucked Up!”….about the Mormon comments…
    .
    …we need more Mormon comments.
    Aren’t Mormons the end result of institutional church?
    The Huckster plays a mean bass….

  16. First thought…which one? If we’re talking Mike, I was ready to vote him in as our next president. I also thought of Melissa and said a prayer.

  17. Was an interesting choice in the presidential candidacy. Witty and good behind the mic. This makes me assume that he was probably interesting to listen to when he was behind the pulpit but not as interesting when he was asked silly questions from debate moderators. I would have voted for him… probably.

  18. From way out here on the rim he only came on the radar during the US Presidential Primaries. He is an example of a phenomenon that makes US politics and religion so hard to understand because they get so mixed.

    And, of course, if over here in Europe we had had votes, massive percentages of us would have voted for Mr. Obama.

    But maybe I should join the spirit of the one word monologue and agree with your humble Canadian commentator above in saying “huckabee” sounds like a nice, funny meaningless word – and so does “obama”.

  20. I sure wish we were saying “President Huckabee” rather than hearing “All Hail Presidential King Hussein Obama”.

    But in the end, I guess we have the leaders that we deserve.

  21. I was at the state capitol building soon after Mike Huckabee was elected Lt. Gov. The Democratic establishment was so perturbed that they nailed shut the doors to his office space. I went to his “temporary office” (which was the storage spaces around the Lt. Gov.’s offices) and talked with Mike for about 20 minutes. Saw the nailed shut doors. His staff was making do with some small desks and telephones with long cords. When the termidity of his opponents was exposed and being ridiculed by the public, the establishment cronies decided to give the office space the MLKjr. committee. Mike responded by applauding the decision and offering his storage space office in addition to the offices which were his by right.

    Mike Huckabee is ambitious. I also think he loves Jesus.

    Tom

  22. I’m glad Huckabee isn’t in this mess. He’s too nice a guy. However if I had been given a vote in the primaries (which we in SD were not–as always), he would have been my easy, no question-in-my-mind choice. He was the only one in the campaign (save Sarah Palin) with half an ounce of sense.

  23. Huckabee….
    If he were to stay out of politics, I think he would get listened to.
    If he were to stay out of religion, I think he would get listened to.

    If he acted like Jesus, he’d get listened to.

    But he acts like the religion he grew up ****. (Blog manager note: the rest deleted because it judged motives.)

    He also carries a gun. Jesus never did. So why should he?
    IMO.

  24. Why would you call Huckabee a kingdom defector? Christ’s kingdom is not of this world, yet we are called to be in it. We’re spiritual sons and daughters of God and yet we must exist in this natural realm for a time. Is it possible that he was led by the Spirit to partake in the political process of our country? Just like I’ve been led by the Spirit to a job in the aviation industry?

  25. That movie wasn’t as enlightening as I thought it might be. It only pitted two different philosophies against each other instead of various philosophies of existence. Yeah, that basic issue could only really reach two basic conclusions (or a combined one) but I was hoping for way more philosophy in it than that. So it was kind of boring while still being somewhat whimsical and fun.

    I just don’t see how someone could believe that everything is fundamentally divided. Doesn’t quite make sense to me.

    But here’s a scene from the movie if you haven’t seen it (explaining the existentialist view): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ui87KRiCC_g

  26. Wait! Did you say ‘Huckleberry’? No? Okay…

    Huckabee. I like him and here’s why. During the election he didn’t use a teleprompter…which means he’s able to coordinate his brain and his mouth at the same time, an excellent exception to most politicians.

    Also, when he spoke he made sense. I may not have agreed with him at all times, but at least I could tell WHAT I wasn’t agreeing with. Most politicians answers are so vague and convoluted that I’m not quite sure why I disagree with them. I think this is called ‘double-speak’ and I’ve never heard Huckabee use it.

    He handled himself like a statesman. For some now-forgotten reason, I ended up watching one of the Republican debates with the sound off. The body language of the candidates was telling. When Ron Paul spoke, Romney and McCain looked at him like he was an alien. When anyone else spoke, Ron Paul was in his own little world or rolling his eyes. McCain and Romney both plastered on a fake smile (that looked like a sneer when you squinted a bit) when listening to one another.

    Huckabee, however, listened intently with eye contact to each speaker. Not only was he listening, his manner was very respectful and thoughtful. I ended up not HEARING much but what I SAW spoke volumes about each candidate’s character and in that respect he won the debate hands down. It’s interesting, too, that he addressed, with tremendous grace and humor, the obvious imbalance of speaking time that each candidate was being allowed. The guy’s got guts and grace.

    Which leads me to my last point…I love that he did not give up the race because of his position in the polls. I love that he stuck it out to the end even though he had less resources, less media coverage, less everything! In my opinion, he had more character, more grace and more rational, reasoned positions than anyone in the race.

    He impressed me more than any politician I’ve ever seen…what I saw was a man driven by a heart to serve and a head for solutions. I like Mike.

  27. I found it interesting how the prophetic movement started proclaiming that Huckabee was chosen by God to win the presidency. Then, we he didn’t get the nomination, they proclaimed that Palin was carrying an Esther anointing and that McCain was God’s chosen. Then Obama won, and they proclaimed that judgement was falling on the US. I fully believe in prophesy, but I also believe in making prophets accountable for their words… *sigh*

  28. Wasn’t moving from preaching the Gospel to presidential polticsa a major step DOWN, when viewed from an eternal perspective? If so, what about going from politics to FOX TV?

  30. Being an Aussie, I only followed the lead election runners as the elections progressed toward November. So when I think of Huckabee, not much comes to mind specifically about faith or politics. All that I can come up with is two words:

    Chuck Norris.

  31. Ok I know this is crazy but during the campain I wrote to Huckabees website and said that he could get two million more votes just by using Doc Holidays line in Tomestone. I’m Your Huckabee this is just my game. ok

  32. OR (if you mean I <3 Huckabees)

    Marky Mark said to that dorky guy: “So now all we gotta do is do the ball thing all day every day and life will be great.” 🙂

    That really *was* a fun movie. 🙂

  35. Sounds like the respondents are delivering the monologues and Frank is playing a word association game. When you posted Hucakbee, I first thought of the movie, I Heart Huckabees. I have actaully watched the movie twice and I still don’t get it, but it turns out that there is actually a connection to Gov. Huckabee.

    After reading the Wikepedia article, I think I will try again….to watch the movie. I do remember two characters being “existential detectives.”

  39. I like Huckabee — mainly for some of the reasons others mentioned. I am really pretty non-political, and like to stay that way. I think it tends to muddy the waters of the Gospel in our culture. For instance, in some circles if you vote towards a particular party, people come pretty close to doubting your salvation. How you vote seems to become more important than repentance from sin, acceptance of Jesus and a few other “small” details like those. This is a problem. My concern is not over my own salvation being doubted by others, because who cares, but I am concerned about those I’ve been pouring the love of Christ into for years having some stumbling stone of politics suddenly put in front of them. The Gospel said “by this will all men know you are my disciples, by the love you have for one another.” It didn’t say “by the political party you affiliate with.”

    But that doesn’t mean I don’t think some believers may have a genuine calling to the political arena. I like Huckabee because he seems to show genuine love and respect even for his opponents. If one is going to be called into the political arena as a believer, this is so important. I think it’s so dangerous to get into an us/them mentality as believers. Our goal should always be to be all things to all men that by all means we may win some — so to the liberals I become as a liberal, to the conservatives I become as a conservative. Not talking about compromising my view or being wishy-washy, any more than Paul was, but I can definitely find common ground with most people and speak to the best in them. Huckabee finds this balance well. We he disagrees, he respectfully disagrees.

    One other thing I like about Huckabee is his self-depreciating sense of humor. At one point during one of the debates, he was asked in relation to his decision to run for president “So what would Jesus do?” He answered without missing a beat, “Jesus would be too smart to get into politics.” He really knows how to deflect with humor which is a wonderful gift.

  40. I am a humble Canadian. Without looking “huckabee” up in google, I have to confess the word means nothing to me, except that it is fun to say. I think I will say it all day today!

    Thanks for the fun word.

  42. I liked that Huckabee spoke from his heart, but I was disappointed when he created a political action committee to endorse the party candidate. He has just become another “party” player.

    I follow Christ, I do not follow politics as my savior.

  43. I Like him as well. He displays a respect for his opponents that you do not see that often in conservative circles. He has an ability to tackle the issue from a non self righteous posture which speaks volumes to me.

  44. Crazy bass player, baptist preacher, politician who wants to get rid of the IRS. A pretty down to earth guy for a presidential candidate.

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