One of the things I deeply enjoyed about this book was Challies’s reflections at the end of each chapter. They cover a variety of topics. His comments about learning customs in Southeast Asia I really loved. He points out that if we live and travel as ambassadors of Christ we ought to avoid unnecessary offense, learn the customs of others, and show honor. As a truck driver, I found that deeply inspiring. The road puts you in contact with all kinds of people, and it’s good to remember that bearing Christ’s name means more than being technically correct. It means carrying yourself with humility and gospel-centered love. 

I’ve read many books that are really informative and helpful. I’ve also read a few books that I thought changed me at a deep level. But rarely do I come across a book that did both.

From the Rising of the Sun by Tim Challies and Tim Keesee does both. It informs the mind, but it also stretches the heart. It reminds you that the Church is much bigger than your town, your habits, your style of singing, your view of what a Sunday ought to feel like. It lifts your eyes and makes you remember that while you are still rubbing sleep from your eyes, believers on the other side of the world have already gathered to praise Christ.

It shows us a picture of what really happens on Sunday.

That is the wonderful burden of this book.

The two Tims take readers on a journey through congregations around the world, tracing Christian worship from one time zone to another. I think what makes the book strong is that it doesn’t treat the global church like a tourist attraction or a collection of odd religious menu of styles. It treats believers in these places as family. This is a common thread running throughout this book. At one point Keesee captures this family reality when he reflects that though we may live on different continents with different histories and have no ties of language, blood, or custom, yet by saving grace we have been brought into a family whose bond is deeper than blood and stronger than death. 

This truth is the heartbeat of the book.

One of the most moving early chapters is the story in Fiji of Premend Choy, a man once called “Bible boy” because of his new found love for Jesus. 

I loved that story. 

It was personal for me because I had a similar nickname in high school for carrying a New Testament in my back pocket. But the detail that stayed with me even more was that he waited twenty seven years for his father to come to Christ, this was something even more special. As I wait and pray for my own dad, even as he fights cancer, I felt the weight of that hope. This book is not simply about worship services in distant lands. Rather it’s also about the long endurance of faith, the kind that keeps praying year after year.

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