Saturday August 30, 2008:

Debbie and I arrived in Minneapolis-St. Paul around 3pm this afternoon. Northwest was on time and while the Twin Cities airport is not the most user friendly in the country, it's not the worst either. We arrived at the Four Points Sheraton around 4pm. Ironically Gary Jones, the GOP State Party Chair was unloading luggage for some of the interns helping out as we drove up. We checked in and then changed clothes and then Debbie and I headed to Bethlehem Baptist Church. John Piper is the pastor. He is a very well known Christian writer and pastor. I had researched when he would be preaching this weekend and 5:30pm Saturday was the only time. We made it just in time- thanks to my Magellan GPS. The music was a little too contemporary for an old man, but the message was outstanding. Piper's subject was "Spiritual Wisdom." His text was Philippians 2:4 which says LET EACH OF YOU LOOK OUT NOT ONLY FOR HIS OWN INTERESTS, BUT ALSO FOR THE INTEREST OF OTHERS. Here are some notes I jotted down from the message.

• Wisdom is the ability of of the soul to discern God glorifying, Christ exalting, Gospel spreading, and People serving ways to live with the knowledge we have.
• Until you are stunned by the grace of God, you will go through life with a sense of entitlement.
• Humility is the opposite of entitlement.
• Philippians 2:4 should be the Charter of a Christian's life.
• Republicans & Democrats will all bow their knee to the King of Kings.

Piper is leaving tomorrow to travel to England to preach a four day series on the book of Ruth. The thousand plus crowd reflected a diversity of races and cultural backgrounds. Debbie and I introduced ourselves to Dr. Piper and congratulated him on his newest grandson. After a trip to the church bookstore- which cost me close to a $100, we headed out to eat.

We ate at Ichiban Japanese Steak House in Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis. The food was good, but the company was a little suspect. A man of middle eastern origin was in the company of three "ladies of the night" who shared our table. Thankfully, we had a couple from Iowa also at the table who afforded us some normal conversation. The quartet at the other side of the table were crude and vulgar- I'm sure the girl's mothers would have been proud. One heard my southern twang and said, "you're from down south aren't you?" I replied, "I'm from New York City." Either I am very funny or the Saki was working well, because she and here companions roared with laughter.

We have several receptions and meetings tomorrow. Getting to bed early so we can rest up for the rest of the week.