Healing is what every believer is seeking for the addictions that seem to constantly pull them back into embarrassing old habits. In this episode, Gary Wilkerson is joined by Nate Larkin to discuss how his own journey into emotional and sexual healing has happened through close community and inspired the creation of the Samson Society.
Key Points from the Podcast
· Our false selves cannot receive healing; only when we receive and reveal our authentic selves will we be healed from our addictions and sins.
· When our ability to feel grief is truncated, our ability to feel joy is also stunted. Our larger culture’s refusal to grieve and the church’s resistance to mourning is stifling our ability to experience the Lord’s joy.
· Life is a process of necessary losses, and if we want to navigate those moments well as believers, we must learn how to grieve authentically.
· Our natural impulse, when we are confronted by our own sinfulness and addictive behavior, is to try to heal ourselves alone and through thinking our way through the problem. True healing, however, happens the vast majority of the time through community and God’s work through other people in our hearts.
Bible Verses Referenced in the Podcast
Philippians 4:4
Resources Mentioned in the Podcast
· Samson Society
· Samson and the Pirate Monks by Nate Larkin
· Dr. Andrew Bauman, addiction and grief therapist
About Nate Larkin
Nate Larkin, the founder of the Samson Society and author of Samson and the Pirate Monks: Calling Men to Authentic Brotherhood, grew up as a preacher’s kid. He married his wife, Allie, on the day he graduated from St. Lawrence University, and they headed off toward Princeton Seminary. If you’ve heard Nate’s story, you know his plans didn’t work out so well. He was ensnared by a sexual obsession he couldn’t tame, and the fear of discovery eventually drove him to abandon the professional ministry. It’s a miracle his marriage survived. Nate’s nightmare finally ended in a painful collision with reality. Today, he helps overlooked victims of the commercial sex industry find their way back to integrity and the true intimacy that every person craves