Book Review: Punk Monk

Being the church going person that I am, when I ran across a book entitled "Punk Monk" I was curious to say the least. These are two words that are rarely seen together. Andy Freeman and Pete Greig attempt to bring two paradoxical worlds together in their book "Punk Monk."

Having gone to church my entire life, I have struggled with what many other Christians have struggled with: how to live out biblical principles in modern times. Of course, I am not the first person to struggle with this. Monasticism began because men decided it would be easier to live righteously in a separated society. Though it is probably true, it is not practical.

Freeman and Greig decide to take the principles of ancient monasticism and apply them to modern living. These principles are: prayer, pilgrimage and hospitality, learning, creativity, mission, and justice. They develop places they call Boiler Rooms that are completely dedicated to living out these six monastic principles. In these Boiler Rooms are prayer rooms. Freeman determined that we as a society do not take prayer seriously. He decided, as an experiment, to have a weekend filled with prayer. From Friday night to Sunday night, people would pray non-stop for the needs of their community. Kids from his youth group signed up for different time slots so that every hour could be covered all weekend. Freeman says that when he showed up for his first assigned time slot early Saturday morning, he half expected no one to be in the prayer room. He figured many of the kids would have slept through their shifts. When he walked into the Boiler Room, one of the leaders walked up to him to let him know what had been happening all night. You see, many of the youth had gotten there to pray and had never left. The kids said they could feel the Holy Spirit working in such a powerful way, they just didn't want to leave.

It started with that weekend. Soon they attempted an entire week, then two weeks. Today, Boiler Rooms operate 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year! There are people praying in these rooms every moment of every day! They post on the walls many prayer requests and answered prayers. They have grown accustomed to their prayers being answered. That is tremendously exciting to me!

And it's not just church people that are praying. It's normal for them to have homeless people, drug addicts, drunks, business men, kids, skaters, punks, goths, and anything else you can imagine coming in at all hours to pray. God is no respecter of persons. They are all equal to Him.

This book put within me the desire to be a part of something greater than myself. It's a great read for anyone. I recommend it fully!