In From the Rising of the Sun, Tim Challies and Tim Keesee take you on a journey of worship around the world. This book chronicles their travels as they discover how churches worship God in their own unique ways according to respective cultures and traditions. From Lautoka, Fiji, to Unalaska, Alaska — this book will open your eyes to the praise of our God from all nations, tribes, and tongues.
Customs and Cultures
Each church Challies and Keesee visit along the way aligns with a variety of Protestant traditions. I found descriptions of each church to be familiar in preaching and worship, but varied in terms of customs and cultures. Keesee provides travelogue entries, taking the reader along for the journey, and Challies offers reflections on the various elements of Christian worship they encountered.
While different music and singing styles are highlighted around the world, I was most delighted to read about their visit to St. Paul’s Anglican Church in Sydney, Australia — the home church of the band CityAlight. Reading about the band’s ministry aspirations and convictions was very inspiring, and I realized that I have been tangibly impacted by the thought and care they put into their work. The effort they put into making their songs singable and attention to lyrical choice detail are both elements that help me enjoy worshiping with their songs. It was also encouraging to learn that most of the band members are bi-vocational, having a career while still volunteering with CityAlight.
The story that moved me the most was Keesee’s account of their visit to Yullin Church in Seoul, South Korea. Keesee dives into the history of missionaries and the beginnings of Korean Christianity, highlighting the work of faithful Christians who have gone before me. His descriptions of the pastors and people of Yullin made me feel a greater sense of kinship and brotherhood with them, even though we are an ocean apart. I saw the importance of prayer and heard about a sermon on how the gospel must continue to be shared in our own individual families. Keesee writes, “My brothers and sisters here indeed pray like life is war – a war against unbelief and sin and darkness – and only our Captain can help us and heal us, and only he can lead us forward…[Pastor Paul Kim] spoke about the lost in our own families and rightly pointed out that while we talk to God about our unsaved family members, do we talk to them about God? He acknowledged the difficulties of such conversations, but he urged us to love them more than our own comfort and tell them about the Savior.”
Gather with God’s People
Most convicting was the book’s account of the house churches in Casablanca, Morocco. These churches don’t meet in homes to be countercultural or trendy — they are forbidden to organize Christian activities openly. This reality reminded me of the great privilege I have, and I don’t want to waste a single Sunday I get to gather with God’s people.
The book comes with a free film series that beautifully captures the people and praise of God. From the Rising of the Sun is a fascinating testimony of God’s faithfulness to His church, the wonderful worship of Christ, and the power of the Spirit to move in God’s people.
I received a media copy of From the Rising of the Sun and this is my honest review. Our Book and Reviews page focuses on Asian American authors and issues. For more, check out our YouTube Author Interviews.