Joe Kissack - The Fourth Fisherman: How Three Mexican Fishermen Who Came Back from the Dead Changed My Life and Saved My Marriage

Praise for
The Fourth Fisherman

Faith and hope unite the unlikely stories of Mexican fishermen lost at sea and an American television executive even more profoundly lost in his affluence. Youll be inspired by this passionate tale of intertwined lives, touched by the authors unvarnished honesty, and challenged to trust God in fresh ways. Heres an adventure story that may well launch you on your own new adventures with God.

L EE S TROBEL , New York Times best-selling author

We love this message. Joe weaves together two stories with the same central theme, being lost and adrift, and tells how one thingfaith in Godprovided each of the four fishermen the courage and comfort to face the next day and its uncertainties and ultimately led them safely to shore. These are the stories that we hold tight in our memorieswhen days seem so uncertain and doubts scream at us that well never find the shore.

S HAUNTI and J EFF F ELDHAHN , best-selling authors of For Women Only and For Men Only

This book is about the fishermens agony and survival, or at least thats where Joe begins. But the real book, the inner story, shows readers how God took a once high-powered salesman who was obsessed with success and image and turned him into a new man: a dedicated husband and a serious, committed Christian.

C ECIL M URPHEY , New York Times best-selling coauthor of 90 Minutes in Heaven

People of faith, myself included, often put limitations on it. But, as youll read here, real freedom comes when we finally surrender to the mystery of God and what He is doing. Thank you, Joe, for being so honest and real. I loved it!

J EFF F OXWORTHY , stand-up comedian and television personality

You wont be able to put this book down. It is more than the true story of three courageous fishermen and one brave author. Believe it or not, hidden within their inspiring stories is your story. It is the belief that life is bigger than we think. It is the hope of wanting our lives to have purpose. Its all there. If youre looking to find that hope, a common purpose, and a reason to still believe, youve come to the right place. But be warned. The journey begins when you board this boat.

J EFF H ENDERSON , North Point Ministries

Joe is an ordinary guy who has been given an extraordinary story. He answered a call that few will ever get a chance to say yes to. I wish it could have been me.

S TEVE B ARTKOWSKI , NFL legend, outdoorsman, and motivational speaker

T HE F OURTH F ISHERMAN
P UBLISHED BY W ATER B ROOK P RESS
12265 Oracle Boulevard, Suite 200
Colorado Springs, Colorado 80921

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the King James Version. Scripture quotations marked ( MSG ) are taken from The Message by Eugene H. Peterson. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations marked ( NIV ) are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by Biblica Inc.TM Used by permission of Zondervan. All rights reserved worldwide. www.zondervan.com.

Grateful acknowledgment is made to Ralf Hoppe of Der Spiegel for the information he provided regarding the fishermen and their story.

eISBN: 978-0-307-95628-6

Copyright 2012 Ezekiel 22 Productions, by Joe Kissack

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher.

Published in the United States by WaterBrook Multnomah, an imprint of the Crown Publishing Group, a division of Random House Inc., New York.

W ATER B ROOK and its deer colophon are registered trademarks of Random House Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Kissack, Joe.
The fourth fisherman : how three Mexican fishermen who came back from the dead changed my life and saved my marriage / Joe Kissack. 1st ed.
p. cm.
1. Kissack, Joe. 2. Christian biographyUnited States. 3. Survival at seaPacific Ocean.
I. Title.
BR1725.K498A3 2012
277.3083092dc23
[B]

2011039575

v3.1

To Carmen

She endures

I f something dark was looming, I wasnt aware of it. Not yet. Not now. I stood on the red carpet at the Emmy Awards, wearing obscenely expensive sunglasses. It was September of 1997, and my employment contract with Columbia TriStar Television was about to expire. Id been invited to fly out to L.A. for some important meetings that would determine the next move in my soaring career. A seat at the Emmys was an extra perk, a glamour ticket in Hollywood.

I certainly looked the part: a thousand-dollar tuxedo, cuff links from Neiman Marcus, a Rolex Oyster Day-Date, Ferragamo shoes, and, of course, those sunglassesthree hundred bucks worth of eye candy.

I had arrived according to Hollywoods standards, often calculated by ones ability to spend outrageous amounts of money on items of little substance. Even knowing that, I was a repeat offender. And I loved every glistening gold dollar of this good life. After all, Id earned it. In my tenth year with a major television studio that had promoted me five times, Id climbed all the way to executive vice president, pulling down a big salary with incredible bonuses. My job allowed for marvelous vacations, dining in the best restaurants, and shopping at the coolest boutiques. I always traveled first class (concierge level, of course), and I received a car allowance that paid for my BMW 540i and later my Porsche 911 Carrera Cabriolet. I owned a six-thousand-square-foot house, complete with a home theater and sound system that would straighten the hair on your legs. And, oh yes, I rode a Harley-Davidsonjust because I could.

If I saw something I liked, I bought it. If something could make me look better, I got it. If a hotel wasnt up to my standards, I found a better one. It was all about having the best. Not bad for a small-town kid from a blue-collar family in Illinois whose daughters make fun of him for having worn the same plaid shirt in his first- and second-grade class photos! Standing on the red carpet was an exclamation-point celebration of a once-lost kid who now looked so sharp.

Of course, there was something else. My life was furiously driven by something deep beneath the surface. Something I didnt know that I didnt know.

Trying to survive in the television industry is like being on the TV show Survivor. Youre on a team, but the truth is, its every man for himself. With an average of four shows to pitch each year, I was giving more than a thousand presentations annually. It wasnt brainiac stuff, but it was incredibly nerve-racking. I had to be on all the time; tens of millions of dollars were riding on it. Sure, some days it was glamorous, but the second I closed a deal, I would start stressing about the next one. I felt only as good as the last big thing I landed. This despite some of my successes