George Schultz, Secretary of State during the Reagan years, kept a large globe in his office. One of Schultz's responsibilities was conducting interviews with ambassadors. Whether it was a newly appointed ambassador or one returning to the U.S. after his/her first visit to the assigned foreign country, Schultz routinely gave a brief but simple test as the ambassadors left his office. He would say, "Go over to the globe and prove to me that you can identify your country." Each ambassador would spin the globe and point out the country flawlessly.

When Schultz's old friend, Mike Mansfield, was appointed as ambassador to Japan, he asked him to take the test as well. This time, however, Mansfield spun the globe and pointed to the United States and said, "That's my country." From then on Schultz used that story to every other ambassador. He told them, "Never forget you're over there in that country, but your country is the United States…and you're representing the best country in the world."

Every country has its problems. The United States is filled with problems. But it is still the greatest country in the world. Go visit other countries around the world. Enjoy yourself, but I promise you when your plane lands back in the U.S., you will think to yourself, "I'm glad to be back where I belong."

Last spring during the sabbatical the church granted me, I was able to travel to England and Scotland with Tyler and Greece and Turkey with Anita. We had a marvelous time. But staying on foreign soils sure makes you miss you your own country. There's no place like the U.S. of A.

This week I read some statistics that alarmed me. American Demographics asked people how well the word patriotic described them. Of all respondents, only 53 percent indicated that the word patriotic described them. Of those over 60 years of age, 77 percent; 50-59, 67 percent; 35-49, 44 percent; 18-34, 35 percent. The younger a person is, the less patriotic he is. Could it be that the older a person is, the higher the possibility that he/she served in the armed forces and actually engaged in warfare to protect our freedoms? What will happen to the level of patriotism when the older generation dies off?

The freedoms we enjoy as Americans came at a very high cost. In the last 230 years, hundreds of thousands have paid for our freedom with their lives. Almost every day in Iraq another American pays the ultimate price.

Think about the freedoms you enjoy as Americans. You're enjoying one of the greatest right now. You're sitting in a house of worship. You got in your car and drove to church because worshiping with other believers is a high priority in your value system.

Right now there are Christians in other parts of the world who have gathered for worship but they do so secretly and illegally. Some, if discovered by the governing authorities, would be executed for worshiping Jesus Christ.

Many of you read the Open Windows devotional book each day. In the center of that book are pages listing the names of Southern Baptist missionaries who are celebrating their birthdays during that three-month period. Many names are given just with their initials. Their country locations are not specific—Southern Asia, Middle East. Why the vagueness? These folks would be expelled and even physically harmed if officials discovered they were in these places serving as missionaries.

Oh, how we take for granted our freedom to gather in a public place to worship. How do I know that? Well, imagine on this very day across the country, how many people will complain about the boring sermon, the temperature being too hot or too cold, the music too loud, the kids not dressed properly, the fact that things are not the way they used to be, the empty toilet paper roll in the bathroom, and on and on and on. God, forgive us taking this freedom for granted.

Think about another freedom—the freedom of the press. Do you ever read letters to the editor? Man, where do these people come from? I will read one and think to myself, "That guy must have fallen out of the stupid tree and hit every branch on the way down." But do you know what? That person is exercising one of his freedoms.

I can go to the checkout line and learn that George and Laura are divorcing, that a woman gave birth to a 57 pound baby, and that aliens were seen playing Texas Holdem in southern Idaho. And I think to myself, "These reporters must have fallen out of a giant redwood stupid tree." But they are exercising their rights as Americans. And you have the freedom to buy that stuff and even believe it if you want to.

My question is—where are the Christian writers? If the vast majority of Americans believe that a supreme being, God, created this universe, then why is it that when we're debating the content of high school biology books, it seems that nine out of ten letters to the editor support godless evolution? If seventy percent of Americans believe that gay marriage is wrong, then where are those believers who are willing to use their talent for writing to bombard the presses saying, "This is wrong"? Where are those who are willing to write their senators or representatives and say, "If you vote for gay marriage, then we're voting you out"?

There is a lot of power in the written word. And quite frankly, I believe that godless Americans are doing a much better job of exercising the freedom of the press than believers are. Another freedom that I believe we take for granted.

I value the freedoms that I am granted as an American citizen. But these freedoms pale in comparison to the freedom that Jesus Christ gives me. There is no greater freedom than for a person living under the bondage of sin to be set free by Jesus Christ. Jesus said, "You will know the truth and the truth will set you free."

Are you living under a ton of guilt this morning? Jesus can set you free. But you need to know that freedom comes with a heavy price. Jesus paid that price when He died on the cross and gave His life for you. You don't have to keep living in the condition you are. Jesus can set you free. And He said, "So if the Son sets you free, you will be free indeed." That's true freedom.

If you visit the Smithsonian Museum of American History, you can see the flag that flew over Fort McHenry when Francis Scott Key wrote the Star Spangled Banner in 1814. The original flag measured 42 feet by 30 feet. It was the immense size of the flag that allowed Key to see it from his position ten miles out to sea following a night of gunfire.

How could a flag that large fly on a pole 189 feet in the air? The means is on display at Fort McHenry on Baltimore's inner harbor. There in one of the barracks are two oak timbers, 8 foot by 8 foot, joined as a cross. National Park Service personnel discovered this cross-shaped support near the entrance to Fort McHenry in 1958 buried nine feet in the ground. Not only did the cross piece help rangers locate the original site from which the Star Spangled Banner flew; it answered the mystery of how such a large flag could fly in stormy weather without snapping the pole. This unseen wooden device provided a firm foundation for the symbol of our national freedom.

In a similar way, the symbol of ultimate freedom is found in two pieces of wood joined together forming a cross. This wooden cross was not in Fort McHenry. It was located outside of Jerusalem on a hill called Calvary. It is the cross of Christ that allows us to have the greatest freedom of all-freedom from sin and freedom to live to our fullest potential. All because of Jesus Christ, the giver of true freedom.