[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 146 (2000), Part 15]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Pages 22028-22030]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]



                       THE FOUNDATION OF FREEDOM

                                 ______
                                 

                           HON. FLOYD SPENCE

                           of south carolina

                    in the house of representatives

                       Tuesday, October 10, 2000

  Mr. SPENCE. Mr. Speaker, I rise to bring to the attention of the 
House a sermon entitled, ``The Foundation of Freedom,'' that was 
delivered by the Reverend Wendell R. Estep, pastor of the First Baptist 
Church of Columbia, South Carolina. I believe that the points that are 
made by Dr. Estep deserve the attention of each of us.

                The Foundation of Freedom--July 2, 2000

                       (By Dr. Wendell R. Estep)

       This week we celebrate the birth of our nation and I, like 
     you, have an undying love for America. I love the American 
     dream--the idea that a person can work hard, they can do 
     their best and, perhaps, accomplish anything they can dream. 
     I have been in some communist countries, I have looked into 
     the eyes of their citizens, and I have not seen that glimmer 
     of hope that is characteristic of Americans. I love the fact 
     that we live in a nation that allows us to be what we can be 
     and do what we can do. I love this land for its beauty. From 
     the plains of West Texas to the forests of South Carolina . . 
     . it is a beautiful land. I love the people of America--
     diverse, different--but American.
       Perhaps it is because of that love I have and you have, 
     that I have such a growing burden for this land, such a 
     concern for this land. Oh, I know when we look at it, the DOW 
     is strong . . . but the heart is weak. And my fear for 
     America is that we are losing the foundation on which this 
     land was built. My concern for our country is that we are 
     setting aside the principles that made this a great land.
       Last week, the Supreme Court ruled concerning public prayer 
     at football games. By a 6-3 vote Monday, the Court barred 
     officials

[[Page 22029]]

     from letting students lead stadium crowds in prayer before 
     football games. The Court's sweeping language in that Texas 
     case could extend far beyond the school's sports events and 
     eventually affect graduation ceremonies, moments of silence, 
     and more. Writing for the minority of three, [Chief Justice 
     William H.] Rehnquist said he found the tone of the Court's 
     opinion more disturbing than its substance. ``It bristles 
     with hostility to all things religious in public life,'' he 
     said. That is not the rantings and ravings of a right-wing 
     preacher. That is the concern expressed by the Chief Justice 
     of the Supreme Court!
       I'm concerned about the attitude. I'm concerned about the 
     hostility that is directed toward all things religious in 
     this land. Political correctness now calls for us to accept 
     things we believe to be morally and scripturally wrong. 
     Recently, there was a group of Christians in San Francisco 
     who began buying ads to appeal to the homosexual community 
     simply to say to them that Jesus loves you, that life can be 
     different, that Christ can change life, etc. A Federal judge 
     said that San Francisco had a duty to call the ads ``hate 
     speech.'' Brian Fahling with the American Family Association 
     Center for Law and Policy and, ``Nothing like this has ever 
     happened in this country. This really is extraordinary and 
     should give everybody great pause because now we have a court 
     decision, a Federal court decision, that says government can 
     take official action condemning religious belief.''
       My concern for our country is that those values on which 
     this nation was built are being set aside. And, ladies and 
     gentlemen, our unity as a nation is not in our geographic 
     proximity to each other, but it is in the values that we have 
     shared. That is what has united America. It is not that we 
     occupy the same body of land, but it is that we have shared 
     the same values. And today, with the push toward 
     multiculturalism, those values are diminishing, and our unity 
     is diminishing. I'm concerned about the loss of freedom that 
     we are experiencing, and I am fearful about losses of freedom 
     that we are likely to experience.
       Today, I want to speak to you on Foundation for Freedom. 
     One verse of Scripture to which I would call your attention 
     is found in Galatians 5:1. Paul, writing to the church in 
     Galatia, said, ``It was for freedom that Christ set us free. 
     Therefore, keep standing firm and do not be subject again to 
     a yoke of slavery.'' Let me suggest to you three 
     characteristics that provide a foundation for our freedom. 
     Number one, commitment provides freedom. Ladies and 
     gentlemen, freedom is usually won . . . it is seldom given. 
     That is the reason it is so important that we are always 
     committed to the freedom we have. You see, in this land we 
     have understood in the past that freedom is a gift from God. 
     It was God who gave freedom to man.
       When God created Adam and Eve and placed them in the 
     garden, He planted in their midst a tree of the knowledge of 
     good and evil. He said to man, ``Don't touch that tree.'' 
     But, you see, when He put that tree there, He gave man the 
     freedom to choose. So we have always understood that freedom 
     came from God. Folks, He allows you to choose your master. 
     God does not force us to choose to worship Him. Joshua stood 
     before the people of Israel on an occasion and said, ``Choose 
     you this day whom you will serve, but as for me and my house, 
     we will serve the Lord.'' You choose your master. God does 
     not force worship of Himself. You and I choose the life that 
     we will live, whether or not we will be obedient to God or 
     disobedient to God, but we choose. You choose your own 
     destiny. Jesus said there are two pathways before us. He said 
     there is a broad path that leads to death. There is a narrow 
     path that leads to life. And, He said, ``You choose the path 
     that you will walk.'' You see, we have always understood that 
     freedom was something that came from God. It originated with 
     God. God gave us freedom.
       We have believed within this nation that our social and 
     political freedoms came to us from God. God gave them to us. 
     It is declared in our Declaration of Independence, ``We hold 
     these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created 
     equal, that they are endowed by their creator with certain 
     inalienable rights.'' We have believed that freedom comes 
     from God, but freedom is a fragile gift. Forty-two percent of 
     the world today does not enjoy the freedom that you have. It 
     is fragile and can be taken away by those nations that are 
     stronger and more aggressive. We look at the nation of Israel 
     and the number of times that the Israelites' freedom was 
     taken away from them--by the Egyptians as the Israelites 
     became their slaves. The Egyptians took their freedom. By the 
     Babylonians, when the Babylonians took the Hebrew people 
     captive and made slaves of them. The Babylonians took the 
     Israelites' freedom. During the time of Jesus, the Israelites 
     were in subjection to the Roman government. The Roman 
     government took the Israelites' freedom.
       You see, that is the reason we understand that we always 
     have to be strong militarily, because there are always those 
     who would take our freedom if they could. I don't like 
     spending money on the military. You don't like spending money 
     on the military. We could use it someplace else. But it is 
     necessary. It is necessary to guard our freedom, to remain 
     militarily strong, because our freedoms can be taken away.
       There is a more insidious danger, and that is that our 
     freedoms can be given away. In fact, it seems so strange to 
     me--after Israel had been in Egyptian bondage where they 
     suffered so greatly, they prayed asking God to send them a 
     deliverer. Moses came to deliver them and to lead them to 
     freedom. Shortly after they received their freedom, they 
     began to desire to return to Egypt. Here they are recently 
     set free, and now they are willing to give their freedoms 
     away and return to the bondage of Egypt.
       Why? Well, first, because they had an unrealistic focus. In 
     Numbers 11:5, the Bible says, ``We remember the fish which we 
     used to eat free in Egypt . . . the cucumbers . . . the 
     melons, and the leeks and the onions and the garlic.'' So 
     here they are out in the wilderness and they began to 
     reflect, ``Oh, do you remember when we used to have those 
     fish? Oh, what I would give for one of those now.'' Someone 
     else said, ``If I could just have a cucumber.'' Someone else, 
     ``Oh, those leeks were good, those onions were so good.'' And 
     they began to focus on the food, and they forgot about the 
     shackles that had bound them. You see, their focus was 
     unrealistic. They began to focus in the wrong area, and they 
     were no longer focusing on their freedom. They also had 
     ungrateful hearts.
       In Numbers 11:6, ``But now our appetite is gone, there is 
     nothing at all to look at except for this manna.'' They had 
     asked the Lord to give them food, and God gave them angel's 
     food. And now they said, ``You know, I'm getting a little 
     sick of these leftovers. I mean, everyday its manna. I mean, 
     we even mix it with `manna helper,' but everyday it is manna. 
     I'm so sick of this manna!'' Rather than focus on the 
     goodness of God, they began to complain about what they 
     didn't have. Their focus was in the wrong place, and their 
     hearts were ungrateful.
       I think the greatest danger we face as Americans is in 
     giving our freedom away. If we will stay strong militarily, I 
     think we will be all right from outside forces, but I am very 
     concerned about what we will do to ourselves. We can give our 
     freedom away to enemies for a false sense of peace. Somerset 
     Maugham warned us, ``Any nation that thinks more of its ease 
     and comfort than its freedom will soon lose its freedom.''
       We can and are giving our freedoms away to the government 
     for a false sense of security. John Leland, one of our 
     Baptist forefathers, said, ``Experience, the best teacher, 
     has taught us that fondness of magistrates to foster 
     Christianity has done it more harm than all the persecutions 
     ever did.'' Folks, here's the danger we face. As Christians 
     and as the church today, there is a growing cry and desire 
     that the government subsidize our ministry . . . that we look 
     to the government to subsidize us--our schools, our various 
     ministries, and so forth.
       Let me sound a warning that is an old Baptist warning: The 
     more you depend on government, the more dependent you become 
     on government. And anytime the government gives something, 
     there are always strings attached. We can give our freedoms 
     away. We can give them to government. Norman Vincent Peale 
     said, ``Once we roared like lions for liberty, now we bleat 
     like sheep for security.'' Benjamin Franklin said, ``Those 
     who give us essential liberty to purchase a little temporary 
     safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.'' There is a 
     danger of sacrificing our liberty for governmental 
     provisions. Commitment provides freedom. We must be committed 
     to preserving our freedom.
       Secondly, CONSISTENCY SECURES FREEDOM. Verse one again, 
     ``It was for freedom that Christ set us free, therefore, keep 
     standing firm.'' Keep standing, persevere, for liberty is 
     always unfinished business. There are some areas in which we 
     must be consistent.
       We must be consistently grateful for the freedom we enjoy 
     because when you begin to take anything for granted, 
     eventually you are going to lose it. If we begin to take our 
     freedoms for granted, we will lose our freedom. Do you 
     understand? I don't think any of us do. So,--rhetorical 
     question: Do you understand how important, how precious is 
     the freedom of worship? Freedom for us to gather in this 
     sanctuary and sing praises to Jesus, to proclaim the word of 
     God? Do you understand how precious that is--for the 
     Methodists across the street . . . the Presbyterians across 
     the street--to have the same freedom? Do you understand how 
     important that is, how precious that is?
       Folks, that is the freedom we take for granted. Over 50 
     percent of our nation's population is not darkening the door 
     of a church this morning. Here is a freedom--we talk about 
     freedom--a freedom that our forefathers died for . . . and we 
     take it so much for granted.
       We have the freedom to work and to make a living for our 
     families. We spend most of our time complaining about what we 
     are expected to do, rather than being grateful for the job 
     that we have. We have to consistently be grateful for the 
     freedoms that have been provided.
       We must consistently be on guard, because freedom is not a 
     right to be granted, it is a gift to be defended. We need to 
     guard our religious freedom because there is an irresponsible 
     bias against religion in this land today.

[[Page 22030]]

     It amazes me. But there is an irresponsible bias today 
     against religion within this land. Our history is being 
     distorted to exclude the contributions that have been made to 
     freedom by religions Christian people. Our culture is hostile 
     to our beliefs . . . especially to evangelical Christians. 
     You probably saw on one of the network's news magazines 
     recently about a church outside Dallas, Texas, where the 
     young people were trying to reach other young people for 
     Jesus and how that became a major issue. And that is the 
     attitude today: ``Who in the world do you think you are, 
     asserting that Jesus is the only way a person can know God?''
       Dangerous legislation and rulings are attacking our beliefs 
     today. The Supreme Court ruled last week concerning late term 
     abortions, partial birth abortion. And, it was referred to as 
     a fundamental right. And I ask the question, how in the world 
     . . . when did it become a fundamental right to take the life 
     of an unborn child that is partially born in the birth canal? 
     Now, that is a fundamental right!
       Another example is the Supreme Court's recent ruling 
     concerning creation. In a Louisiana case, a school board had 
     ordered teachers who teach evolution to offer a disclaimer to 
     students. The disclaimer would emphasize that evolution is a 
     theory and the teaching of it was not meant to contradict the 
     biblical version of creation. The teachers were ordered to 
     suggest that students form their own opinions or adopt those 
     of their parents. The Supreme Court declared that innocuous 
     policy unconstitutional. So, even the suggestion that there 
     is another theory of creation is off limits in schools. We 
     have to guard our freedoms--our religious and our civil 
     freedoms--because they, too, are being eroded.
       And we must be consistently faithful to our spiritual 
     heritage. Friends, our heritage is spiritual. Our foundation 
     is religious. America was founded on faith.
       When Columbus sailed from Spain to come to this land, he 
     prayed asking God for divine guidance. He believed that he 
     was on a divine mission. He put a cross on the lead ship, and 
     when he came to the shores of this land, he took the cross 
     and planted it in the sand and dedicated this continent to 
     God.
       The pilgrims, when they came, stated their purpose was 
     ``for the glory of God and the advancement of the Christian 
     faith.'' This country was born in faith, it was established 
     in faith. George Washington at Valley Forge prayed for 
     guidance. Abraham Lincoln and other presidents have called 
     this nation to repentance, and throughout our history, we 
     have been sustained by faith. I'm absolutely convinced there 
     would be no America today if it were not for people of faith. 
     If it were not for the prayers and the sacrifice and the 
     commitment of the people of God, we would not be here this 
     morning. Consistency secures freedom.
       Thirdly, CAUTION THAT PROTECTS FREEDOM. Verse one again, 
     ``It was for freedom that Christ set us free, therefore, keep 
     standing firm and do not be subject again to a yoke of 
     slavery.'' What are our greatest enemies to freedom? Well, I 
     suppose we could come up with a lot of ideas and suggestions, 
     but I think one is selfishness. We have become a very selfish 
     people far more motivated by what's in it for me rather than 
     what's best for America. And, many of us have been surprised 
     to learn, without any question at all during these past 
     years, that if the economy is good in this nation, nothing 
     else really matters. If the economy is good, it doesn't 
     matter. Selfishness. Another enemy is indifference. We are 
     indifferent and impotent as we see our freedoms being eroded. 
     Another is comfort. Comfort is more important for us than 
     freedom. We are not willing to make ourselves uncomfortable 
     to secure the freedoms that we say we cherish.
       Freedom always required sacrifice from those who would be 
     free. I've gone back and read about Moses when he was willing 
     to risk his own life for the freedom of the Hebrew people. As 
     he stood before Pharaoh boldly declaring, ``Let my people 
     go,'' he was willing to sacrifice his life for freedom. In 
     1775, Patrick Henry delivered a speech to the Second 
     Revolutionary Convention of Virginia. He concluded that 
     speech with these words, ``Is life so dear and peace so sweet 
     as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery?
       Forbid it, almighty God. I know not what course others may 
     take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death.'' A 
     sacrifice. Are we willing to sacrifice for freedom? George 
     Washington said in his first inaugural address, ``It is a 
     strenuous thing, this living the life of a free people.'' Are 
     we willing to make that kind of sacrifice? Probably most of 
     you have been to Washington, D.C., and you have seen the 
     statue that is atop the U.S. Capitol building. The statue is 
     of a woman, and she is called ``Freedom Lady.'' She came here 
     from Rome. When she was being transported to America, there 
     was a fierce storm that developed in the ocean. Soldiers 
     thought the ship was going to capsize, that they were going 
     to lose everything, including their lives. And so they began 
     to throw the nonessentials overboard to lighten the ship. 
     And, as the winds continued to blow, they asked the captain 
     if they could throw the statue over. He replied, ``No, never. 
     We'll founder before we throw `Freedom' away.'' ``We'll 
     founder before we through `Freedom' away.'' Our freedom has 
     been bought by those willing to make sacrifices, and our 
     freedom is kept by those who are willing to make sacrifices. 
     It was for freedom that Christ set us free. Therefore, keep 
     standing firm and do not be subject again to the yoke of 
     slavery.
       Our gracious Father and God, this morning as we think about 
     the sacrifices that have been made, and the freedom that we 
     sometimes take for granted, Lord, please stir our hearts 
     again. Lord, help us to understand how important these 
     blessings are. Help us to be people who will stand up for 
     righteousness, that our convictions will mean something to 
     us, that we will not sacrifice them regardless of what others 
     do, no matter what the cost might be. Lord, may we be salt in 
     this world that is corrupting spiritually. May we be light in 
     this world that is so spiritually dark. Help us to begin 
     lighting a light that will shine throughout our homes, our 
     neighborhoods, across our city, our state and this land.
       As our heads are bowed and eyes are closed. . . . We talk 
     about freedom. Freedom comes from a relationship with Jesus 
     Christ. And, my friend, regardless as to what you have, if 
     you do not have Jesus, you are not free. He gives us freedom. 
     Today, if you are without Christ, would you give your heart 
     to Him, would you invite Him into your life to be your 
     Savior? There are some of you who need to get serious about 
     your walk with the Lord. You have taken it for granted, God's 
     goodness for granted. Let me encourage you today, if you need 
     to rededicate your life to the Lord, you do so. If you need a 
     church home, someone to join with, be a part of, our doors 
     are open to you. We would love to have you as part of this 
     family. What would God have you do today? As the Holy Spirit 
     searches your heart and as you listen to Him reverently, I am 
     going to ask that you stand with me, please. As we stand, the 
     choir sings. As they sing, if you are willing to make a 
     commitment to the Lord Jesus, join the church, rededicate 
     your life, you come and I'll greet you.

     

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