Who I pray will run in 2016

This past week, my wife, Gena, and I attended the National Religious Broadcasters, or NRB, Convention. The closing event featured my friend and former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, Israeli ambassador to the United States Ron Dermer and me. What caught the political buzz, however, was whether or not Huckabee would run in 2016.

According to its own website, the NRB is "a non-partisan international association of committed broadcasters and Christian communicators coming together to spread the life-changing Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ through every electronic medium available."

The Annual NRB International Christian Media Convention and Exposition is the largest national and international event specifically designed to assist those in Christian communications. This year, the NRB Convention was held from Feb. 23-26 at the Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

Some of the highlights included: 1) General and keynote sessions by top communicators and innovators, 2) Training from industry professionals, 3) Academic innovation exchange, 4) An exposition with nearly 300 vendors and 5) A News Media Center.

As BRnow.org reported, "Other notable speakers [included] author and broadcaster Eric Metaxas; Mark Burnett and Roma Downey, producers of 'The Bible' miniseries and other films and television programs; author Joel Rosenberg; Steve Forbes, chairman of Forbes Media; Al Robertson of 'Duck Dynasty'; and John Bolton, former U.S. ambassador to the United Nations."

Gena and I actually attended the NRB Convention for a few reasons. First, I was there to be a part of the closing event. Second, I was there to receive an award, which I'll describe momentarily. Third, Gena and I were there to participate in an intimate gathering with our friend and CEO of WND, Joseph Farah, and 100 others, who blessed me by kicking off my 75^th birthday celebration. We had a lot of fun. Farah also interviewed me about my career, faith, charity work and politics.

See Joseph Farah's interview with Chuck Norris below:

I was honored and humbled at the NRB Convention to receive the Chairman's Award. I was doubly blessed and humbled by NRB Chairman of the Board Bill Blount's explanation of the award: "Chuck Norris has had an extraordinary career in martial arts and entertainment. Through all his productions, he's maintained a high level of integrity, ethics and family friendly programming. Because of his superior standards, in a world that does not usually reward those ideals, we want to honor and recognize his achievements."

According to WND, "Past recipients of the award include: Charles Colson, founder of Prison Fellowship Ministries; evangelist Billy Graham, Gary Bauer, former president of Family Research Council; FCC Commissioner James Quello; Josh McDowell of Josh McDowell Ministries; recording artists Steve Green and Michael Card and Laura Schlessinger, radio talk show host." However, even more important than all that was said of me were the comments by Dr. Jerry A. Johnson, president and CEO of NRB, about Mike: "Governor Huckabee is a watchman on the wall. He consistently raises the alarm when our First Amendment freedoms are attacked, and we are grateful for his strong voice for freedom."

Mike truly is a first-class patriot and a renowned man of integrity. Our country can truly use his caliber of character back in the White House not only to help restore the Oval Office but also our nation. Gena and I pray he will run for president and be our next president.

Mike's not ready to make that decision yet, but he's sure hinting strongly at the prospects.

He chose to be at the NRB Convention and bypassed the big Conservative Political Action Conference, where 16 or so GOP presidential hopefuls gathered to rally the troops. But that isn't necessarily a sign that Mike has pulled himself from the prospective presidential platform.

As the BBC reported, Mike wrote in a Jan. 3 Facebook post, which received more than 95,000 "likes," that he's pressing on to even greater things than his super-popular Huckabee show on Fox News that ended the same night as the post.

Mike explained, "God hasn't put me on earth just to have a good time or to make a good living, but rather has put me on earth to try to make a good life."

He went to say, "As much as I have loved doing the show, I love my country more, and feel that it may be time for me to leave a zone of comfort to engage in the conflicts that have almost destroyed the bedrock foundations of America."

Again, as the BCC noted, it is not a coincidence that Mike "launched an independent political action committee, America Takes Action, which has hired several 2008 campaign advisers. In November, he traveled to Europe with a group of religious leaders, 52 of whom hailed from the key primary states of Iowa, South Carolina, Nevada and [New Hampshire.]"

Iowa conservative radio host Steve Deace put it this way: "Mike Huckabee has been 100 percent running since last February. You don't walk away from Fox News because you want to play shuffleboard."