Saturday, July 28, 2012

Surfing for God one click at a time.


               Men everywhere are quick to acknowledge that purity is a struggle. With sex cheapened to the point of being used as nothing more than an advertising technique, it is no wonder that men feel this way.  Enter Surfing for God by Michael John Cusick. His book which is part personal accounts and part God-centered, practical advice based on those personal accounts gives the reader valuable tools on how take back the field of the mind for the cause of purity. Cusick is highly candid and transparent in sharing about his struggles and history with the issue of addiction to porn. Cusick expresses plainly that looking lustfully at a woman is a dehumanizing experience, both for the woman posing in the picture and the man viewing the picture.

               The writing in this book is straightforward. Cusick does not treat the issues lightly nor does he treat them as minor. He states what he means with a succinct clarity that shows that his intentions are to give the reader as much help as he can on the written page. If this book lacks in anything, it feels like Cusick spends more time at the beginning constructing scenarios and repetitively introducing his topic over multiple chapters before beginning to explain how to handle the issues. Overall, this was a decent book and I would easily place it alongside a book like Every Man’s Battle as recommended reading for any man who is wrestling with issues of sexual sin or pornography addiction.

I received my copy of this book from the publisher for free in exchange for reviewing it. I was not obligated to post a favorable review; the opinions expressed in this review are mine.

Saturday, July 14, 2012

Not Another "Fish Tale"


I am a Caucasian male and have never caught a fish in my life.  The thought of picking up a book like The Fourth Fisherman and expecting to get anything out of it seemed slightly ridiculous…until I started reading it.  I was wrong; Joe Kissack weaves together the personal narrative of a man who has, about losses, and then claims THE MOST IMPORTANT thing with that of Mexican fishermen who have, appear to be about to lose, and then receive THE MOST IMPORTANT thing in life.  I was expecting a hokey faith narrative and instead found open, honest, transparent truth.

Kissack does a good job of making some of the most intriguing moments of life seem normal and mundane.  I have never traveled all over the country for a job, or met with multiple station managers and entertainment executives, but Kissack make it seem normal.  He also excels at being able to share about his life in a way that makes the reader feel as if he or she knows him personally.  I am hard pressed to find anything to critique, but for the sake of saying something, at times the action especially in the early chapters seems too slow in building for me.  On the whole, The Fourth Fisherman is a great faith narrative which is no case a “fish tale.”

I received my copy of the book for free from the publisher in exchange for reviewing it.  I was not obligated to compose a positive review; my opinions are mine.