Samson and the Pirate Monks: Calling Men to Authentic Brotherhood

by Nate Larkin

Book Overview

With no-holds-barred honesty and poignant storytelling, Nate Larkin introduces a model of community and friendship that is reinvigorating men's ministry across the country, a model he calls The Samson... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0849914590
• Release Date: February 2007
• Publisher: Thomas Nelson
• Length: 224 Pages
• Weight: 0.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 8.4" x 0.6" x 5.4"

Customer Reviews

Life Changing

Samson and the Pirate Monks is a life changing book. God has used it, as I apply the principles, to take me into new life. BUY THIS BOOK. READ IT. ASK GOD TO HELP YOU APPLY IT.

More than Talk, a Real How-To

The thing that makes this book so very different than all the other Christian men stuff out there is that it gives a real how-to. This how-to is not "now go and do this and this," rather it guides the reader in how to form a vibrant community of men. Larkin has real-life, every day experience in this important thing. He doesn't write from some ivory tower. He is living what he is writing, every single day, in a real-life fellowship that he helped to start. Read this book, and then use the tools.

Authentic, Honest and Much Needed

Thank you Mr. Larkin for your willingness to share so much of your life's struggle. This book offers liberating truths that are most feared by our old Adversary! By removing the veil of secrecy, we truly can move toward greater freedom in Christ. The writing style is masterfully elegant and ever-intriguing, and as is promised on the cover it's never boring. Only someone who has walked down such a difficult path--and has experienced the grace daily offered to us--can speak with such honesty and joy at the same time. I recommend this book to anyone who has ever heard this lie in their mind: keep your mouth shut, this sin is too big!

Hard to Believe

I can't say that I have ever read of a modern man's confessions -and renewal- through such an interesting process, that is, Christian men regularly sharing intimate details of their lives with each other, and doing so without a leader. "Group counselling" always has a trained leader. Larkin's group is simply a group. And everything is held in true confidence. I am now participating in one of these groups, and it is having a quiet but profound impact on my life. The book reveals only the tip of the iceberg.

Nate Larkin's story helps men connect, grow, and thrive.

(Note: this review is based on the audio version of this book.) The very idea of cracking open your life in the presence of a group of men - most of whom may be total strangers - is counterintuitive to say the least. In our post-modern American culture we Christian men still think that the rugged individualistic lifestyle we've been taught is going to help us find peace. A casual glance at the shell-shocked men sitting dazed in most church congregations proves otherwise. Having come to know Nate Larkin personally and attended Samson Society meetings for just over a year, I can attest that the methods he proposes here do in fact work. Coming together, admitting our need for true accountable brotherhood (and not the artificial accountability that so often fails in most mens' groups), sharing our struggles and victories, and simply being authentic together, we are finally doing what we've been trying to do all our Christian lives - becoming more like Christ. There's something marvelously powerful in exposing your weaknesses within the safety of a Samson group that actually gives you strength. Learning that another brother is going through the same things as you disproves the all-too frequent lie that you are alone and outcast. Forming real and lasting friendships based on a common thread of humility and genuine care helps us all rise above the surface-level Christianity of today and gets us back to the heart of the gospel we all knew was still available to us. I commend Nate on this stark, funny, sobering, powerful work.

The world needs more Pirate Monks!

Nate Larkin has not only written a book... he has illuminated a dark hallway. The dark hallway is the role of men and friendship in a Christian context. Nate starts this book with his own journey and he does not mince words. His story is painful & powerful because of its "no holds barred" honesty -- which is too often missing in "Christian testimonies." Larkin then proceeds to show how his story and the lessons he learned prompted him to seek a better way. A better way for Christian men to find friendship and fellowship in a sanitized, feminized Christian/Evangelical world. Nate co-founded the The Samson Society to fill the tremendous need he saw in the Church for men to really connect; really listen and really be heard. The Samson Society provides that missing element, not just for Christian men but for any 21st Century Man wondering who he is, where his friends are and how to develop relationships in this isolated, plastic, cyber-ridden existence we call American Society in a post modern age. Hats off (pirate hats) off to Nate for his writing, his courage and his example. But be warned -- if you buy this book and love it as much as I do... you could quickly become a bore for talking about nothing else!! I travel a lot in my job and I think I have spread the gospel of Samson just about everywhere I have been in the past 6 months. Grab your sword and come aboard, mate! Arrrgh!