SAN FRANCISCO- Some leading evangelicals in the U.S. will join their voice together to call the nation back to its Christian root in the midst of declining social morals.
The "America, Return to God" Book Project is spearheaded by the California-based Great Commission Center International (GCCI) with the world-class Chinese evangelical Rev. Thomas Wang as chairman.
"The publication will be ready by next week and 450,000 copies will be sent as gifts to all churches, American leaders of all social levels, and of all professions," Wang told reporters at GCCI office Monday as he showed some sample copies of the book. The reach of the book is going to be very extensive, from federal, state and local government officials to business tycoons, scientists and school principals.
The remaining 50,000 copies will be kept in stock for those who desire more copies on a free-will offering basis.
As the title of the book may have already suggested, the book aims to remind America of her Christian origin and to call America to repentance. Over the last decade, a crisis over the American society has revealed in its decline in morality. A very obvious evident is the prevailing agenda of homosexuality and same-sex marriage in the U.S. has caused the erosion of traditional family values.
"God is the Founder of America. He made this nation strong and free in less than three centuries. He blessed its churches and enabled them in sending out the most numerous and most widespread missionary force of the world," a press statement from GCCI stated.
"But alas, time is changing. America and the western ‘Christian nations’ are gradually moving away from God and have become non-Christian or even on occasions anti-Christian. This is alarming!"
As the book will be given out for free, GCCI has met great difficulties in terms of finances. However, Wang is compelled by the grace given to Chinese by the U.S. over the last 200 years since it first brought the gospel to the country.
"Thousands of American missionaries have risked their lives and come all the way to China for the sake of the Gospel. They were being despised and isolated, sometimes they were even too poor to afford the rent and had to sleep on the street, but they still kept the great heart of love and insisted in spreading the gospel in this vast piece of land," Wang said to reporters Monday.
Wang, born in a Christian family in Mainland China, is himself a fruit of American missionaries’ sacrifice. Wang’s grandparents became Christians after hearing the gospel from a missionary couple and the Christian faith therefore passes on from generation to generation in Wang’s family. Wang is already the third generation.
"Because America has helped China for the last 200 years, when America faces this big crisis, Chinese should stand up and help them," said Wang.
Most important than the influential leaders of the society, the target audience of the book is the churches today. Wang believes that they are the prophets who should send warnings to the nation and ask them to repent.
"Today's ‘Watchman’ (the true church) has the responsibility to sound out alarm and warning to the wayward society and the disobedient church. Through prophet Jonah God was able to call the great city of Nineveh into repentance. He can do the same today, through His servants, to call America and the West into repentance and come back to the ‘Faith of Their Fathers’!" said the press release.
The book will be about 130 pages, and have 20 selected articles from authors such as, James Dobson, Ravi Zacharias, Jim Nelson Black, Francis Schaeffer, Carl F. H. Henry, Gary DeMar, David Barton etc. Wang has also contributed three articles.
Though the response of American churches or leaders to the book remains uncertain, some of them have already showed their support to the project.
"Born in China and an adopted son of the U.S.A., Dr Thomas Wang is a Christian statesmen and U.S. patriot. He and all the authors contributing to this important book have observed the downward trend of morals and ethics taking in our nation and have written their concerns for our leaders and fellow citizens to consider and retify," said Dr. John Kyle, a former vice president of InterVarsity Christian Fellowship and executive director of Mission to the World, Presbyterian Church in America.
Wang said to reporters that a press conference would be held after the publication of the book, but the details are not confirmed yet. A press conference was held in Hong Kong on March 25 during Wang’s recent visit.
