Nate Larkin - Samson and the Pirate Monks: Calling Men to Authentic Brotherhood

Nate Larkin turns a biblical and cultural landmine into a divine landmark.

LEONARD SWEET,
futurist and author of SoulTsunami

The kind of gospel that provokes Nate Larkin to dig into the faith and risk everything is the gospel that gives freedom to the oppressed, and gives men like me the ability to come out of the darkness of isolation and into the experience of genuine community.

DAN HASELTINE,
lyricist and lead singer, Jars of Clay

Most men I know urgently need Nates wisdom and honesty.

MARK BUCHANAN,
author of Your God is Too Safe

Christian men who love Jesus, but struggle privately with everything that most men struggle with, are about to find a new best friend. Nate Larkin has written the honest, no-holds-barred book theyve been waiting for.

CHARLIE PEACOCK,
music producer
and author of New Way to Be Human

Wow! If you are into playing religious games, burn this book. But if youre tired of shallow, clich-saturated stuff with Gods name attached, this book could change your life! Authentic, powerful, practical, honest, and, without compromise, disarmingly Christian. After you read this, you will thank me for recommending it to you. Put me in your will!

STEPHEN BROWN,
professor at Reformed Theological
Seminary in Orlando, Florida,
and author and teacher
on the nationally syndicated radio
program Key Life.

Nate Larkin is a man who, along with current-and-future Pirate Monks, is about to change how male spirituality is done. A path toward male soulwork is herefor those with the courage and faith to enter brotherhood and community. Meet a second Samson, now with vision, brothers, and far less hair.

PAUL COUGHLIN,
author of No More Christian Nice Guy

You might say that Samson was given the opportunity to see by having both his eyes gouged out. In his wake he left a pile of shattered and broken stones from the temple of Dagon. This motley band of brothers who bear his name, led by the motliest of them all, Nate Larkin, is growing every day in the understanding of their own blind brokenness. And now, another Temple is coming together from the ashes.

MICHAEL CARD,
songwriter, author,
and host of In the Studio
with Michael Card

The gospel is said to be a scandal, but it often seems more like a utility: plastic, molded to shape whatever the current need may be. Larkin takes us back and further into the transformative scandal of a gospel that has the power to shape us into the wild lovers of God we were created to be. I read with both terror and wonder, hope and joy. This is a wild book that will introduce you more deeply to the wiles of God, his pursuit of our heart, and the glory of being won by a God so scandalous.

DAN B. ALLENDER, PH.D.,
President, Mars Hill Graduate School,
and author of The Wounded Heart,
To be Told, and Leading with a Limp

Nate Larkins Samson and the Pirate Monks is the most moving book Ive read in years! Where can I sign up? I want an eye patch and a parrot. Dallas Willard has said that he does not trust any effort in Christian formation unless it resembles the AA movement in structure and approach. In Samson and the Pirate Monks, Nate grabs your attention with shocking honesty and then describes how he and a band of courageous friends have combined the best of the recovery movement and spiritual formation. This book will change the way we do church.

GARY W. MOON, PHD,
Vice President and Chair of Integration,
Psychological Studies Institute, and
author of Falling for God and Spiritual
Direction and the Care of Souls

We dont need another Christian book giving formulas and scripture verses on living the committed Christian life. What we need is a book so openly raw and transparent that we can finally see pieces of our own hidden and shameful selves between the pages. Thanks, Nate, for this courageous, unflinching, dangerous, and most of all honest book that just may help waken the church to what many Christians are actually struggling with without knowing where to turn... until now.

BRAD STINE,
social commentator, comedian,
and author of Being a Christian Without
Being an Idiot

Finally someone steps up to address the real truths that have kept men from coming to church.

BRYAN DUNCAN,
singer, songwriter, author,
and host of Radio Rehab.

Nate Larkin has written a stunningly candid confession of his struggles with sin, and in the process has invited men to face honestly their own struggles. And he has taken it to the next step: outlining a helping and healing process so men wrestling with addictive behaviors can really find hope for change, freedom from moral pollution, and authentic friendships in Christ. This is a great book with an awesome message.

JACK HABERER,
Editor in chief
of The Presbyterian Outlook

Long before he sat down to commit his thoughts to the page, I watched Nate write about Samson and Pirate Monks with his brokenness, his tears, and his thirst for the mercy and grace of God. And now I have the joy of seeing the fruit of his journey and labor of love when I look into the eyes of men in our church who are a part of the Samson Societymen who are discovering the wonder of the gospel, the necessity of brotherhood, and the hope of change. As his pastor and friend, Im glad this book is finally in print and not just a part of the gospel tapestry of our local community!

SCOTTY SMITH,
Founding Pastor of Christ Community
Church , Franklin, TN,
and author of The Reign of Grace

SAMSON AND THE PIRATE MONKS
2006 Nate Larkin

All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any meanselectronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, scanning, or otherexcept for brief quotations in critical reviews or articles, without the prior written permission of the publisher.

Published in Nashville, Tennessee, by Thomas Nelson. Thomas Nelson is a registered trademark of Thomas Nelson, Inc.

Editorial Staff: Greg Daniel, acquisitions editor; Thom Chittom, managing editor
Cover Design: Don Bailey
Page Design: Walter Petrie

Interior photograph is courtesy of Walter Petrie

Thomas Nelson, Inc., titles may be purchased in bulk for educational, business, fund-raising, or sales promotional use. For information, please e-mail SpecialMarkets@ThomasNelson.com.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCBS). 1999, 2000, 2002, 2003 by Holman Bible Publishers, Nashville, Tennessee. All rights reserved.

Other Scripture references are from the following sources:

The King James Version of the Bible (KJV).

The New King James Version (NKJV), 1979, 1980, 1982. Thomas Nelson, Inc., Publishers.

The Message (MSG), 1993. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Larkin, Nate.
Samson and the pirate monks : calling men to authentic brotherhood / by Nate Larkin.
p. cm.
ISBN: 978-0-8499-1459-1
1. Christian menReligious life. 2. Men (Christian theology) 3. Male friendshipReligious aspectsChristianity. 4. Samson (Biblical judge) I. Title.
BV4528.2.L37 2007
248.8'42dc22

2006033600

Printed in the United States of America
09 10 11 12 13 QW 6 5 4 3 2

To Allie
My Faithful Friend

Contents

MY NAME IS NATE, BUT YOU CAN CALL ME SAMSON. THATS the code name my friends have given me, and for reasons youll eventually understand, Ive given the same symbolic name to each of them. We are the Samson Society.