Huckabee Eschews Politics for Preaching in South Carolina

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

SPARTANBURG, S.C. (AP) - Republican Mike Huckabee spoke from the pulpit Sunday, not as a politician but as the preacher he used to be, delivering a sermon on how merely being good isn't enough to get into heaven.

...

On Sunday in South Carolina, Huckabee avoided politics entirely, instead preaching about humility and trusting in Jesus to open the gates of heaven.

"The criteria to get into heaven is you have to be not good, but perfect. That's the real challenge in it," he said at First Baptist North Spartanburg, a megachurch with 2,500 members.

"On that day, when I pull up, I'll be asked, 'Do you have what it takes to get in?'" Huckabee said. "And if I ask, 'Well, what does it take to get in? "Gotta be perfect.'"

"Well, I'm afraid I don't have that, but you know what, I won't be there alone that day. Somebody is going to be with me. His name is Jesus, and he's promised that he would never leave me or forsake me," he said.

Asked by reporters later if he thinks only Christians will go to heaven, Huckabee refused to say.

...

In South Carolina, Huckabee didn't ask for votes or discuss the campaign, but senior pastor Michael S. Hamlet encouraged the congregation to vote according to how they try to live their lives, by the principles of Bible scripture.

"I'm going to tell you something, when you go vote, you ought to follow those principles," Hamlet said.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20080114/D8U5AF180.html