Book Time AGAIN!

“There was so much I didn’t know I didn’t know. The person we are closest to — our own self — is the hardest to see. Denial is powerful and it keeps us from looking in the mirror.”

That is a quote from The Fourth Fisherman by Joe Kissack. Waterbrook Multnomah Publishing sent the book to me free for this review. I see no need to criticize this book because and more importantly Joe is telling about God’s miraculous work. I wouldn’t have much to criticize anyway and the two stories he tells, about his life and fishermen adrift in the ocean, are very interesting. I appreciate anytime I hear about God working and know many will benefit from reading this book.

The Fourth Fisherman is an autobiography and a biography combined. Joe tells about his journey from alcoholism, prescription drug abuse, depression, seeking wealth to no addictions and seeking God’s will. His story is just as incredible as the story of the fisherman, who were adrift in the Pacific Ocean for more than nine months.

One more quote from the book for you.

“For many, the fisherman’s experience is beyond any realm of understanding, and because it doesn’t fit into a compartment we can fathom, we question what is true. When you haven’t experienced the miraculous, it’s hard to get your arms around it. We are pretty wired to the ordinary. That’s sad, because it leads us to dismiss the remarkable, the triumphant, the extraordinary, the supernatural.”

While I’m in book quoting mode, I have a few more quotes from A Praying Life by Paul Miller that I really liked. I figure if I type these excellent points here, it will help me remember them. At least, I’ll know where to look when I want to remember them.
“Sometimes when we say “God is silent,” what’s really going on is that he hasn’t told the  story the way we wanted it told. He will be silent when we want him to fill in the blanks of the story we are creating. But with his own stories, the one we live in, he is seldom silent.” (page 201)

“Self-will and prayer are both ways of getting things done. At the center of self-will is me, carving a world in  my image, but at the center of prayer is God, carving me in his Son’s image.”   (page 161)

“Until we become convinced we can’t change our child’s heart, we will not take prayer seriously. Consequently, repentance is often missing. When we see, for example, our son’s self-will, we usually don’t ask, How am I self-willed? or How am I angry? We want God’s help so we can dominate our son. We forget that God is not a genie but a person who wants to shape us in the image of his Son as much as he wants to answer our prayers.” (page 169)

Both books quoted here are worth reading!