Pirate Monk Podcast

178 • Handing a Scalpel to a Fellow Pirate

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REGISTRATION OPEN until July 31: "After the Miracle: Building a Life of Positive Sobriety", the Samson Society National Retreat, is scheduled for August 19–21, 2016. Click here for more details and to register. As of 7/6/16, only 33 spaces remain.

We launch this podcast with an emotions check-in with Nate, Newton, and Mark.

The heart of the episode circles around a recent experience Mark encountered. At a recent meeting, two men discussed their dissatisfaction with their Samson Society journey. Upon further discussion, everyone in the circle agreed that sometimes every Pirate Monk can get stuck early on The Path. We go to (some) meetings, we choose a Silas that we call (rarely), but steps three through seven elude us. How does a willing man face his journey and make progress.

Nate talks about a book he's reading:

Ego is the Enemy by Ryan Holiday.

We discussed a tried and true way to undergo a fearless (or courageous) moral inventory:

Take a look at the four horsemen:

  Resentment

  Fear

  Anger (or Shame)

  Lust

Music on this Episode:

"Shoulder to Shoulder" by The Allies

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177 • Who are the Samson Society? Is Everyone a Sex Addict?

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REGISTRATION NOW OPEN: "After the Miracle: Building a Life of Positive Sobriety", the Samson Society National Retreat, is scheduled for August 19–21, 2016. Click here for more details and to register. As of 6/22/16, only 44 spaces remain.

You've been there when a new man walked in the door for a first-time meeting. We get to know Lee Marcus who hesitated a little before sitting in our circle… and then God got to work. If you've ever been asked, "Who goes to Samson Society", this episode will help you answer with grace and the Gospel.

Lee Marcus is an eight-year veteran of Samson Society and came because of co-dependency, rage, and marital problems. Lee spent a long and decorated career in radio and now meets new people every day as a guide to owning new Acura vehicles. (If you're interested, you can email Lee here for more information.)

We launch the podcast with a mini-meeting about "regret." We'd love you to join in. Scroll to the bottom of this post and leave a comment with your thoughts on regret. If you want a more personal connection, email us here or leave us a voicemail. The link is below..

We then talk about why men come to—and stay plugged in to—Samson Society.

If you're unfamiliar with our meeting format, click here to read our charter.

Music on this Episode

"Straight Ahead" by Amy Grant

"He Ain't Heavy, He's My Brother" by Glen Campbell

Our listener survey is still open. We'd love to have your comments. If you haven't left us your opinion yet, please do so.

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176 • You Are There featuring Robert Campbell

REGISTRATION NOW OPEN: "After the Miracle: Building a Life of Positive Sobriety", the Samson Society National Retreat, is scheduled for August 19–21, 2016. Click here for more details and to register. As of 6/11/16, only 48 spaces remain.

Nate, Aaron, and Mark welcome a pastor, Robert Campbell, to the microphones for a conversation about building community, creation care, and shepherding Christians towards discipleship that is all the way down to the dirt.

  What is the fruit of a redemptive life?

  How do Jesus's life, death, and resurrection make a substantial difference in your own backyard?

  How is community built differently in a large city than a small town?

Find out more or purchase a copy of Robert's book here.

Music on this Edition of the Podcast:

"King of the Road" by Roger Miller

"Space in Between Us" by Building 429

Our listener survey is still open. We'd love to have your comments. If you haven't left us your opinion yet, please do so.

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175 • Questions About Porn

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REGISTRATION NOW OPEN: "After the Miracle: Building a Life of Positive Sobriety", the Samson Society National Retreat, is scheduled for August 19–21, 2016. Click here for more details and to register.

We open our conversation with a mini-meeting about "Disappointment." We'd love to hear your observations. Use the tools at the bottom of this post to leave us your thoughts and feelings about "Disappointment."

Our first question:

Is there a common source for pain for men that drives us to pornography? How do we find healing from the source?

Our second question:

Maybe this is so unique to each individual, but what is real sobriety like? Can it be defined qualitatively or quantitatively? What are the intangible aspects that you have wlaked through?

The Music on This Edition of the Podcast:

"Short Attention Span"

"American Tune" by Paul Simon

Our listener survey is still open. We'd love to have your comments. If you haven't left us your opinion yet, please do so.

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174 • A Couple of Regular Guys

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You asked for it. We delivered.

One of the most commonly asked for additions to the podcast line up is: "Can we hear from other Pirate Monks?" Today on the podcast, we sit down with two Samson brothers who have never met Nate.

Paul Maxwell (@paulcmaxwell) is a PhD student at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and philosophy professor at Moody Bible Institute. He writes more at his blog, and pretends to like coffee. Paul wrote the article "Seven Things to Do After Watching Pornography" for Desiring God and included a shout out to Samson Society.

He was first invited to Samson Society by his friend Ryan Gibson. Ryan started his professional life in ministry as a youth minister. He received an undergrad in theology and pursued an MDiv at Westminster Seminary where he met Paul Maxwell. He didn't complete his MDiv, instead pursuing a new career in web development and has been doing that for the past five years. He has done a lot of traveling since then, starting or joining Samson Society groups in each new location. He's currently living in Fishers, Ind. with his wife and two kids. He is currently meeting with other brothers in the local Fishers Samson Society group which meets at Christ's Community Church on the corner of 131st and Allisonville Rd. Most importantly, though, is that he's a diehard Cubs fan and doesn't miss a game.

We'd love to hear from you. Please take a few minutes and answer questions on our listener survey. You'll be entered for a drawing for a free, autographed copy of Nate Larkin's book, Samson and the Pirate Monks.

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Please tell us what you think by leaving a comment below, scrolling to the bottom and leaving us a voice mail via Speakpipe, or call (615) 807-0476.

[box type="info"] ANNOUNCING: Nate Larkin is hosting a national Samson Society weekend intensive focused on positive sobriety. Interested? Click here to provide your email address. You'll be the first to know all of the details when price and schedule are announced. All of the podcast Buccaneers will be there.

Send me information about "After the Miracle: A Positive Sobriety Retreat" August 19-21 Bear Trap Ranch, Colorado.

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Episode 173 • Soul Architecture featuring Aaron Porter

Our own Renaissance Man, Aaron Porter, takes us on a guided tour of one of his life's great passions—applying the Gospel to the great why questions of our lives. Every week, Aaron coaches several Christ followers on the path to greater understanding of their selves and Abba God using the material in his latest book, Soul Architecture: Building Your Story on a Gospel Foundation. Using the ancient enneagram as a tool and the Scriptures as the roadmap, Aaron helps us understand:

 

we need more than just a personality inventory that examines behavior

which part of the Body of Christ we function in

what "planet" we are on—how we process our surroundings and interact with others

 

Our Guest

Aaron Porter makes coffee mixed with Red Bull look lazy. When he's not being a husband and father, he helps lead Vintage Community, a fellowship of Christ followers in central (San Luis Obispo/Templeton) California. Somehow he finds time to write and perform music locally [download], write books, coach others in Soul Architecture, write engineering reports, and co-host our podcast.

Aaron—despite what you might hear on the podcast—is smart, wise, intuitive, and lives with a driving passion for others to fully understand the power of the gospel in their lives.

Aaron's Books

The Fallen Series, a trilogy of novels

A strange boy in the Arabian desert and the political turmoil of the Parthian empire collide as a group of magi seek to find the balance between a world of power and truth.

Download here.

Receive more information about Aaron Porter's book, Soul Architecture

 

 

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Music Used

Since our edition is published on Good Friday of 2016, Mark offers up two of his favorite Resurrection Sunday songs.

World-class guitarist and songwriter, Chris Rodriguez (Michael W. Smith, Keith Urban, Kenny Loggins, Shania Twain) penned this plaintive song about Mary Magdalene.

 

Purchase the music from Amazon or iTunes.

Matt Maher performs his contemporary classic "Christ is Risen".

 

Buy the music from iTunes

Scripture Used

Romans 6

Zephaniah 3:17

Romans 7:17

Links Related to Soul Architecture

The Enneagram inventory Aaron recommends is the Wagner Enneagram Personality Style Scales. Take the inventory by clicking here. (Reminder: the inventory takes at least 40 minutes to complete and costs $10.)

The authors Aaron appreciates most on the topic are Riso and Hudson of The Enneagram Institute.

Richard Rohr's book, The Enneagram: A Christian Perspective, is available here.

Aaron mentioned the importance of the first 100 pages of Watchmen Nee's book, The Normal Christian Life. You can buy it from here.

To go deeper into Soul Architecture through coaching from Vintage Community, click here. (Reminder: space is very limited)

We'd love to hear from you. Please take a few minutes and answer questions on our listener survey. You'll be entered for a drawing for a free, autographed copy of Nate Larkin's book, Samson and the Pirate Monks.

Subscribe to the Pirate Monk podcast

Please tell us what you think by leaving a comment below, scrolling to the bottom and leaving us a voice mail via Speakpipe, or call (615) 807-0476.

ANNOUNCING: Nate Larkin is hosting a national Samson Society weekend intensive focused on positive sobriety. Interested? Click here to provide your email address. You'll be the first to know all of the details when price and schedule are announced. All of the podcast Buccaneers will be there. 

Episode 172 • Embarassment, Guilt, and Shame

ANNOUNCING: Nate Larkin is hosting a national Samson Society weekend intensive focused on positive sobriety. Interested? Click here to provide your email address. You'll be the first to know all of the details when price and schedule are announced. All of the podcast Buccaneers will be there. Click here to sign up for information.

 

Certified marriage & family therapist and author Ramon Presson takes us into the darkest days of his life and helps us all look out the window at God's answer for guilt and shame.

Our Guest

Ramon Presson is a clinically certified marriage and family therapist for over 20 years and the founder of LifeChange Counseling and the Marriage Center of Franklin. From 1989 to 2004 Presson also served as an ordained minister and assistant pastor in churches in North Carolina South Carolina, Florida, and Tennessee.

A native of North Carolina, a teenage Ramon first met Dr. Gary Chapman, author of The Five Love Languages, at Chapman's Winston-Salem church. After graduating from Wake Forest University with a degree in psychology and later from Florida State University with a Master’s in Counseling, Presson returned to serve on the staff in the church’s counseling center and there renewed his relationship with Dr. Chapman. Many years later, in 2002, they would collaborate on the Love Talks trilogy of books for couples and families. “I thank Dr. Chapman and I credit the co-authorship of those books for opening many of the subsequent doors of writing and publishing opportunity I’ve enjoyed. I’m quite honored that Gary agreed to write the foreword for When Will My Life Not Suck.”

Ramon lives with his wife, Dorrie, and teenage sons, Trevor and Cameron, in Thompson Station, Tennessee, a pleasant drive into the country south of Nashville.

Follow him on Facebook for the laughs and the insights.

Ramon's Books



When Will My Life Not Suck?: Authentic Hope for the Disillusioned

Is this as good as it gets?

Personal crises and disappointments have led many to the pessimistic conclusion that "my life sucks." Underneath the contemporary slang are universal and timeless questions about the human condition. People of every age, in every kind of circumstance have wondered to themselves and others: Will my life ever be better than this? Is this as good as it gets? This book is an honest and compassionate look at the real struggles we face in a broken world where bad things do happen. Dr. Ramon Presson, a licensed marriage & family therapist for 30 years, describes his own significant personal struggles, including hospitalization for depression. Using the letter that Paul wrote to the Philippians from prison, Presson shares that hope and joy are possible even when life disappoints. Full of practical suggestions for how you can live with purpose and meaning right in the middle of your everyday struggles, this revised and updated edition of When Will My Life Not Suck? is a hopeful treatment of human suffering from someone who has personally lived it and counseled others through the wilderness. [Paperback] [Kindle]

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Recovering from Divorce? [Paperback]

Love Talks for Families [Paperback]

My Coaching Journal [Paperback]

My Counseling Journal [Paperback]

The Roles of a Lifetime [Paperback]

Music Used

Our fellow Pirate Monk, Dan Hasletine, and his band Jars of Clay present "Work".

Purchase the music from Amazon or iTunes.

We'd love to hear from you. Please take a few minutes and answer questions on our listener survey. You'll be entered for a drawing for a free, autographed copy of Nate Larkin's book, Samson and the Pirate Monks.

Subscribe to the Pirate Monk podcast

Please tell us what you think by leaving a comment below, leaving us a voice mail via Speakpipe, or calling (615) 807-0476.

Episode 171 • After the Miracle

ANNOUNCING: Nate Larkin is hosting a national Samson Society weekend intensive focused on positive sobriety. Interested? Click here to provide your email address. You'll be the first to know all of the details when price and schedule are announced. All of the podcast Buccaneers will be there. Click to receive more information.

 

Nate Larkin's own Silas, worship pastor and author David Hampton, climbs up into the treehouse for episode 171. They guys talk about what happens AFTER the pink cloud of early sobriety disappears. How do you maintain passion for recovery? How do you deal with those around you who either aren't used to the new you or keep expecting you to revert to the old you?

Our Guest

Though the first bullet point on his resume would include almost two decades as a worship director at a prominent Nashville mega church, the greatest impact of David Hampton’s career and narrative isn’t summed up so neatly.

David’s life story is certainly highlighted by his prodigy-like talent at the piano, his awards for songwriting and musicianship, the songs and hymns he has published and recorded, and traveling with a host of well-known music artists. However, David found the theme that emerged as he became more successful was one that he would never have chosen or written into one of his melodies—and one that ultimately would offer life, hope and healing.

The twists of his wife’s suffering with a progressive and eventually debilitating disease and his own subsequent spiral into alcoholism began derailing what, at first, seemed like a storybook life. David recounts his days as a “professional Christian” trying to spin the plates of a very public ministry life and a serious addiction to alcohol with candor.

David’s journey into recovery brought more than just a means by which he learned to live without alcohol. He became keenly aware of his spiritual bankruptcy and all the unaddressed questions of his faith and lack of it. His story includes how he entered recovery, incorporated spiritual guides from ministers to monks, the sensory overload of fresh sobriety, and determining what parts of his old belief system would make it into the renewed version of himself that was emerging.

 

Music Used

David Hampton's latest project is Fuel Music Group's "Split the Sky." Listen to the full song here:

Purchase the music from Amazon or iTunes.

We'd love to hear from you. Please take a few minutes and answer questions on our listener survey. You'll be entered for a drawing for a free, autographed copy of Nate Larkin's book, Samson and the Pirate Monks.

Subscribe to the Pirate Monk podcast

Please tell us what you think by leaving a comment below, scrolling to the bottom and leaving us a voice mail via Speakpipe, or call (615) 807-0476.

Episode 170 • Can Men Be Friends with Women? | Recovery Men's Ministry Samson Society 12-Step

In Episode 170, Nate, Newton, and Mark welcome Englishman Joshua Jones to the microphone. He discusses how we can build genuine relationships with the opposite sex that DON'T threaten marriage. Is it possible? Is it wise?

The Book

Forbidden Friendships: Retaking the Biblical Gift of Male-Female Friendship

Forbidden Friendships presents the case for why Christian men and women not only can but need to engage one another in deep friendship and how to do so.
In the name of integrity, walls are being raised that keep us from meaningful brother-sister friendship in Christ. While personal boundaries can be healthy, these generalised divisions are not Biblical nor these rules in line with Church History at its best. Contrary to their promises, we are not safer from sexual immorality by adhering to them - we are more at risk.

 

 

Movie Referenced


Music Used

The Official Motion Picture Soundtrack, When Harry Met Sally

We'd love to hear from you. Please take a few minutes and answer questions on our listener survey. You'll be entered for a drawing for a free, autographed copy of Nate Larkin's book, Samson and the Pirate Monks.

Subscribe to the Pirate Monk podcast

Please tell us what you think by leaving a comment below, scrolling to the bottom and leaving us a voice mail via Speakpipe, or call (615) 807-0476.

Episode 169 • Questions from Listeners

In Episode 0169, Nate, Aaron, and Mark attend a mini-meeting then answer some questions from our listener survey. (1) Is there such a thing as casual porn use, like casual drinking? (2) How do I handle going to the beach? Watching TV?

Mini-Meeting

If you're looking for resources to start a Samson Society meeting in your area, check out these resources. Feel free to comment or leave a voicemail with any questions you have.

Chess

Aaron told a great story about his son, Elijah. Check out this picture.

Super Samson

Nate and Aaron mentioned a funny video of things that can go right... and oh so wrong... at a Samson Society meeting. When this video resurfaces, we'll post it here.

Changing Lanes

Nate mentioned this movie in his checkin during our mini-meeting. Stream or download here. [iTunes] [Amazon]

Watch the clip mentioned here.

Music Used

"In the Light of the Common Day" by Phil Keaggy

 

We'd love to hear from you. Please take a few minutes and answer questions on our listener survey. You'll be entered for a drawing for a free, autographed copy of Nate Larkin's book, Samson and the Pirate Monks.

Subscribe to the Pirate Monk podcast

Please tell us what you think by leaving a comment below, scrolling to the bottom and leaving us a voice mail via Speakpipe, or call (615) 807-0476.