Andy Freeman - Punk Monk: New Monasticism and the Ancient Art of Breathing

2007 Andy Freeman with Pete Greig

Published by Baker Books
a division of Baker Publishing Group
P.O. Box 6287, Grand Rapids, MI 49516-6287
www.bakerbooks.com

Baker Books edition published 2014

ISBN 978-1-4412-2387-6

Previously published by Regal Books

Ebook edition originally created 2013

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data is on file at the Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from the Holy Bible, New International Version. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Publishing House. All rights reserved.

Other versions used are:

CEVContemporary English Version. Copyright American Bible Society, 1995.

ESVScripture taken from the English Standard Version, Copyright 2001. The ESV and English Standard Version are trademarks of Good News Publishers.

KJVKing James Version. Authorized King James Version.

THE MESSAGEScripture taken from THE MESSAGE. Copyright 1992, 1994, 1995 by Eugene H. Peterson. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

NASBScripture taken from the New American Standard Bible, Copyright 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission.

I dedicate this book to Mum and Dad. Love you both. Thanks for being there.

ANDY FREEMAN

I dedicate this book to the BCC boys in Kansas City, the Heasley clan in Ibiza and the Lgels in Bilder Ramsdorf.

PETE GREIG

punkmonk

Punk: (pngk) n. 1. slang. a. A young person, especially a member of a rebellious counterculture group. b. An inexperienced young man. 2. Dry, decayed wood that can be used as tinder. 3. A follower of Punk Rock.

Monk: (mngk) n. A male religious living in a cloister and devoting himself to contemplation and prayer and work.

The restoration of the church will surely come from a sort of new monasticism which has in common with the old only the uncompromising attitude of a life lived according to the Sermon on the Mount in the following of Christ. I believe it is now time to call people together to do this.

Dietrich Bonhoeffer

TAKEN FROM A LETTER WRITTEN TO HIS BROTHER, KARL-FRIEDRICH BONHOEFFER, ON JANUARY 14, 1935

Contents

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

This book has been born and raised in the 24-7 Prayer community, a group of friends who are precious to us and to whom we want to express enormous thanks.

Our specific thanks are due to Karen, David, Jonathan, Lucy, Jessica and Daniel Freeman and also to Samie, Hudson and Daniel Greig. Thanks for allowing us to take over kitchen tables, studies and living rooms with papers, books and computers. Thanks for freely giving up time so that we could write.

Id like to mention the Boiler Room team in Reading particularlythank you so much. To Pete Wardy Ward for faithfulness and sheer hard work; to Terri for continued wisdom and your Jesus-focused vision; to Annie for years of amazing kindness and support; to Lorraine for taking on the impossible job and succeeding. Thanks also to all who have been part of our team over the years: Danutia, Gemma, Josh, Andrew, Becky, Ruth, Heather and Sarah.

Thank you to Malc and Penny Peircethis story is as much yours as anybody elses and so many of the changed lives of the Forbury young people came from your obedience and hard work.

Finally, thanks go to Steph Heald, Helen Monkton, Jon Peterson, Dan and Carrie Heyward, Andy Wilson and Aleke Dekker for your input and advice during the writing of the book. Your words have been invaluable to us.

INTRODUCTION

Colonies of Heaven

Pete Greig

How do we begin to keep in time with the deep pulsations of Eternity and establish colonies of heaven in a society that is profoundly earthborn, materialistic and secular? One way is by establishing communities which embrace many of the disciplines found in the Celtic and Anglo-Saxon monastarium.

IAN BRADLEY

Punk Monk is mainly the story of Andy Freemans remarkable journey of discovery, which began with the initial explosion of 24-7 prayer rooms in 1999 and has led to the establishment of small, contemporary, monastic communities around the world today.

Of course, Andys stories, like mine, are far less exciting than those of our heroes and predecessors on the monastic waypeople like Saint Patrick of Ireland, Saint Francis of Assisi and the modern-day martyr Dietrich Bonhoeffer. But at least we have stories to tellwe come to this book as practitioners rather than theorists. Our prayer is that Punk Monk might encourage and equip many others to establish their own communities of Christ-centered, mission-minded prayer as centers of blessing both for Jesus Himself and for those who do not yet know Him: For my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations (Isa. 56:7).

The author Dr. Leonard Sweet believes that the future belongs to the storytellers and the connectors. If hes right and the telling of stories and the connecting of people can somehow shape tomorrows world, then to that end we offer this book as our contribution to a much larger conversation.

The Discovery of Prayer

When a publisher first approached me more than five years ago and asked me to write a book about the emergence of the 24-7 Prayer movement, I questioned his sanity. Whos going to want to read a book about a prayer movement? I asked. Especially one theyve probably never even heard of! However, the last time I checked, Red Moon Rising had been translated into German, Slovakian and Finnish, and theres apparently even an audio version for the blind. Its also been granted the ultimate rock and roll accolade of being banned from certain bookstores in America!

I suspect one reason for this unexpected interest is the fact that the story describes the truly extraordinary things God can somehow do through ordinary people like me and my friend Andy Freeman. Were like the Napoleon Dynamites of Christendom, only less funny. Most people can relate. Im often approached by people who say words to the same affect: Pete, they say, Red Moon Rising made me realize that if God can use someone as untalented and boring as you and your friends, then He must surely be able to do something pretty spectacular through me and my friends. When I get this kind of encouragement, its always hard to know whether to smile or wipe the tears from my eyes.

No one was more surprised than me when our little prayer room on the south coast of England began self-seeding around the world. I often tried to make sense of it. Why was this crazy idea of night-and-day prayer catching on? What was God doing? Why were people from Belgium to Brazil suddenly so hungry to pray that they were even willing to sacrifice sleep night after night just to sit with God alone in a dedicated room? Was there some big heavenly switch that we would eventually trigger if we prayed hard enough and long enough? As I tried to make sense of the perplexing phenomenon of which I had somehow become an intrinsic part, God began to show me that prayer is more important than I had ever realized. I admit that I had always viewed it merely as a boring, but important, power source for getting Gods will done on Earth, a bit like jumper cables for your car when nothing else will work. If you pray with enough faith (and in the name of Jesus) out will pop the occasional miracle in the form of a vanishing wart, a friend who wants to become a Christian or a parking space in town at 4 P.M. on Christmas Eve.