And the winner is . . . Sandra Stiles!
"People seem to want guys like me—son of a preacher man—to have some scandalous reason for all my 'mistakes.' But my scandal is less of what you might expect and more like something we all deal with: our dirty selves."
\\ About the Book \\ He spent his growing-up years living for himself-recklessly rebelling against his evangelist father's faith, numb to God and to the letters his father wrote him, immersed in the dark side of life. Until one intense night in the Jamaican Blue Mountains that allowed him to see himself in the mirror of grace, changing everything. The Secret Life of a Fool is Andrew Palau's unforgettable journey of running from God-and the crushing, freeing experience of coming back to Him. It is a story of getting high, burning up cars, being stranded in Europe, surviving a near-fatal plane crash, and utter despair overcome by simple grace-and a father's love, expressed in excerpted letters throughout this book.
"This book then is a peek into my life, but more than that, it's a story-arc that tells how a life that was discarded and broken can be gathered up again and remade."
Honest. That's the adjective I think best describes Andrew Palau's new memoir, The Secret Life of a Fool: One Man's Raw Journey From Shame to Grace. It's a thoughtful testimony about an imperfect person's encounter with a perfect God. I love it.
I love it because the author doesn't try to build himself up in any way. Andrew Palau recounts his past in often vicious terms, refusing to, as he says in one chapter, consider his past mistakes as moments of "sowing wild oats."
I love it because, while reading The Secret Life of a Fool, I felt like I had just sat down with Andrew Palau to share stories and encouragement. I didn't feel like I was being preached to, but that someone who really cares wanted me to know I was not alone in my mess-ups, breakdowns, and all-around selfishness.
I love it because, unlike some memoirs, The Secret Life of a Fool ends in hope. There is a real-life happy ending here, and it is filled with the grace and peace that only God can give.
If you are curious about the Christian life, if you're a fan of memoirs, if you just want to know that someone else struggles to, this book is for you.
I love it because the author doesn't try to build himself up in any way. Andrew Palau recounts his past in often vicious terms, refusing to, as he says in one chapter, consider his past mistakes as moments of "sowing wild oats."
I love it because, while reading The Secret Life of a Fool, I felt like I had just sat down with Andrew Palau to share stories and encouragement. I didn't feel like I was being preached to, but that someone who really cares wanted me to know I was not alone in my mess-ups, breakdowns, and all-around selfishness.
I love it because, unlike some memoirs, The Secret Life of a Fool ends in hope. There is a real-life happy ending here, and it is filled with the grace and peace that only God can give.
If you are curious about the Christian life, if you're a fan of memoirs, if you just want to know that someone else struggles to, this book is for you.
\\ About the Author \\ Andrew Palau, son of international evangelist Luis Palau, is an evangelist in his own right—organizing outreach events worldwide for the Palau Association and regularly sharing the gospel with tens of thousands. Andrew can be heard on the daily radio program Reaching Your World, which is on more than 850 radio stations in 27 countries. He and the Palau team have also been featured in some of the world’s leading media outlets including the Associated Press, Forbes Online, The Washington Post, CNBC Asia and USA Today. In addition, Andrew maintains his own website, which receives 5,000 visitors a month. He and his wife have three children and live in Portland, Oregon, close to the world headquarters of the Palau ministry.
