Samson and the Pirate Monks

I don't typically write book reviews via the blogosphere, but I wanted to pass along the word about this particular book. It is not the most theologically profound work, nor is it the most inspiring self-help book. Instead, it's just a story.

It's the story of Nate Larkin, a Princeton seminarian and former pastor who struggled with sexual addiction for years. It is the story of his earnest desire to overcome the things that controlled him. Larkin's story, like most of our own dealings with sin, started with private prayer and personal piety. Ultimately though, like most of our dealings with sin, Larkin's personal and private attempts left him farther in the pit of despair. As time went on, Larkin's struggles and his secretive attempts to overcome them left a path of immense destruction in its wake. His marriage in shambles, his career a joke and his self-identity nearly to schizophrenic levels from years of lying, Larkin finally sought encouragement through a support group. Throughout his experiences with various support groups, Larkin and a few friends eventually decided to start a new society of friends who could honestly discuss their faults and confess their weaknesses. Named after the famous macho man of the OT who struggled and died entirely alone, the group is an attempt to rescue men from the isolation that associates shameful weaknesses.

I read this book because a chapter of the Samson Society is starting here in Warrensburg tomorrow. I'd recommend this book to any men who feel entirely alone, entirely pathetic and entirely desperate for something new. But this book is just a book. I hope that you might read it and walk away from it with the resolve to find a place of friendship and camaraderie to encourage you and challenge you to rise above your struggles in grace.