Hey guys! Since it’s just us dudes today I want to recommend to you a great book for your man journey.

Last night I read, cover to cover, Samson and the Pirate Monks by Nate Larkin. The tagline for the book reads “Calling Men to Authentic Brotherhood” and it chronicles Nate’s journey from individual Christian to Brother in Christ.

Nate details his personal struggle with addiction with brutal honesty. This is a life that was devastated by hidden sins. His life was a lot like a whitewashed tomb- beautiful on the outside yet full of death and decay. His life was just like most men I know. His life was a lot like mine.

The book unfolds, much like Blue Like Jazz, beginning with short essays about growing up, watching baseball from football seats, and about life as a preacher’s son. He talks about how he isolated his true self from even his best friends and lived multiple lives, all the while longing for true integrity.

At one point he says that every man longs to be more that just good but something thwarts our desires. He tells a story about his childhood dog, Boaz. Boaz was a good dog but he had a drinking problem. Men in town would provide Boaz with beer and he would stagger home blitzed. Nate’s dad would scold Boaz out of love for the dog and “for months Boaz would stay around the house, docile and obedient- until the next time.” Nate’s thoughts echo my own:

When I was a kid, it seemed to me that God liked me for the same reasons-and in the ways- that dad liked dogs. I was God’s pet. He brought me home with the expectation that I would be loyal, obedient, and useful. All God wanted from me was to be a good dog.

I wanted to be good dog, I really did. There was a part of me that sincerly loved God. But there was another part of me, a cat part. The cat in me was defiant and wild and unpredictable, and it didn’t care about God in the least. When it sinned, it sinned with impunity.

At every revival, youth rally, and campfire service, I laid that cat on the alter and did my best to kill it. Still, as everbody knows, cats have multiple lives. Sometimes the cat would go away for a while, but eventually, after the music had died away and all the Christians had gone home, he would come strolling back in, looking for lunch.

I desperately wanted the dog to be the real me, but my inability to behave like a good dog for very long led me to suspect, in moments of despair that I was really a cat.

Of course, we are called to be more than just good. We are a “new creation” but for some of us, we believe that maybe we can attain good if we really try at it. That’s what Nate believed and being merely good elusively evaded him.

After years of living in isolation, after refusing to truly deal with his addiction, his life began to unravel. He longed to live life in authentic community with brothers who held him accountable and who he held in accountability. That’s when he created The Samson Society. Borrowing from 12-step programs, the Samson Society cultivates authentic living between brothers in Christ at a level not offered by most churches. It’s more than a men’s group or guy’s class. It is broken me submitting to one another and to God, carrying one another’s burdens, and dealing with life lived in community. To me the whole idea of a Samson Society is a breath of fresh air in a world of stagnation and isolation.

I want to encourage each of you to read Samson and the Pirate Monks and see if you would do well to help to create an avenue for authentic living within your community of faith. If you can’t afford a copy, contact me and I make sure you get one.

This is a great resource and I believe it has the potential to make a difference in each of your lives.

Blessing on your man journey, Brother!