In The Fourth Fisherman, Joe Kissack has written about
the journey of five fishermen who vanished on an expedition on the western
Mexico coast. Senor Juan, Salvador Ordonez, Lucio Rendon, Jesus Vidana, and Farsero
left the coast on board a boat called a panga. When they were out at to sea, a
storm began to come and they lost their cimbra, which is a fishing line that costs
more than three thousand dollars. Senor Juan emphasized that they must keep
searching for the cimbra and they ultimately ran out of gas and the engine
sputtered and died. They were alone and lost at sea for about nine months
before they were rescued. Salvador had one Bible on the boat that they all read
and mediated on while they were lost. The book gets very graphic on all that they
had to do in order to survive and find food. Two of the fisherman unfortunately
didn’t make it and died. The book covered two stories that was intertwined together
to display God’s divine power, the fisherman story and Joe Kissack personal
story.
Joe Kissack had to endure through a difficult childhood
and deal with a hard to please father. His father was an alcoholic and he loved
to drink. His father would also use a paddle to punish him when he acted up and
misbehaved. He was told as a child to bend over and hold his ankles while he
was being hit by a paddle. This messaged conveyed to him to never mess up and
to always perform perfectly. Joe tried to be strong enough and he was very competitive
in sports to succeed. He strived to be a linebacker in order to make his father
happy. He had a lot of angry and he wanted to hit someone back for the pain he
felt inside his soul. He got the position of a quarterback on the football team
and his dad reminded him that he wasn’t any good at football. As he became
older, Joe became his dad’s drinking buddy and he used alcohol to escape the
pain of his childhood. He realized that he felt better temporary because of the
effects of alcohol. Joe Kissack became driven to succeed and he took a job in
licensing the rights of television programs to broadcast stations. He kept
climbing the ladder and he became rich and he purchased anything that his heart
desired. Eventually the price of money and success came crashing down when he
entered a deep depression and he began to take medicine and drink alcohol to relief
the torment he felt inside. His wife, Carmen and his two beautiful girls were
affected in ways he hasn’t perceived. He also revealed how he came to know
Christ and how his life has dramatically changed.
Another favorite piece of the book was the story about
how his wife told him that they were expecting their first child. He arrived at
the hotel and he saw a teddy bear with a ribbon attached to two balloons one
pink and one blue. Then he read the card and it said, “We are in the pink…or…
the blue. Love, Carmen.” (Page 38). I thought this was a really neat way to
tell your spouse that they are doing to be a dad! Future wife, wherever you are
at, please take note, I would truly love a kind genuine big reveal surprise.
I would recommend this glorious book on the fishermen to
anyone who loves inspirational stories that contains a message of hope in a God
that protects and guides his chosen people. I enjoyed reading about the
fishermen lost at sea and they encouraged me in my faith in God to always hold
to the expectation that God will deliver me in whatever battles that I may be
facing. I believed that Joe Kissack did an incredible job at combining both of
the individual stories into a much greater concept of how God increased their
faith. I immensely loved the transparency that Joe Kissack shared in his own
life and how he thought that being successful would cause his father to declare
and say to him that he was proud of him. Joe’s story taught me that many men
struggle with working hard to achieve greatness and to accomplish work in order
to feel better about themselves. Most of us men long to hear from our dad that
he is proud of them. This pointed out to me that whenever I became a father
that I must step up my game and proclaim to them that I’m proud of them. Joe
also imparted in me the importance of spending quality time with my children
and not be so concerned about climbing the ladder of fame. This book had a
number of tangible reminders that God was present in the fishermen lives as
well as, Joe Kissask. If you’re looking for a book that has the potential to encourage
you in your walk in God and one that will at the same time instigate you into a
deeper relationship with Christ, then this is the book you need to read!
“I received this copy of The
Fourth Fisherman for free from WaterBrook Multnomah Publishing Group for
this review”.
If you would
like to purchase a copy of The Fourth
Fisherman, check it out on Amazon.com:
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