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Porn Apps Pose Rising Risk to Mobile Users

Remember those awful pop up attacks when web browsing “free” porn sites on your computer?  Get ready to get attacked again if you use porn apps on your smart phone!

http://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/2013/03/02/mobile-attacks-click-jacking-data-theft/1957905/
by Byron Acohido, USA TODAY

SEATTLE – Cybercriminals are stepping up the spread of data-stealing programs via pornographic content optimized for viewing on smartphones and touch tablets.

What’s more, free apps and mobile ads are being pervasively manipulated by scammers bent on redirecting your clicks to web links you had no intention of visiting. Known as click-jackers, these scammers get paid by an advertiser for each such click.

Those two developments — outlined in recent reports from network security firm Blue Coat Systems and anti-virus giant Trend Micro — underscore how cybercriminals have begun adapting tried-and-true scams  from the  PC browser world to mobile devices.

“Mobile threats are following the money,” says Kurt Roemer, chief security strategist at Citrix Systems. “With mobile becoming the centerpiece of digital life, attackers are  flocking to this target-rich environment in new and innovative ways.”

Mobile attacks, for the moment, are largely focused on handsets and tablets that use Google’s open source code Android operating system, and fall mostly into the category of nuisances, says Sasi Murthy, Blue Coat’s director of product marketing.

The cybercriminals spreading corrupted links, via mobile porn content, appear to be after your phone number and list of contacts to sell to spammers, for instance. This ultimately can  lead to your friends receiving more spam on their mobile devices, but nothing more serious than that.

“It’s a mistake to trust that apps you download to your mobile device are inherently trustworthy,” says Jamz Yaneza, Trend Micro’s threat research manager. “Folks are having to learn the hard way that that’s not necessarily true.”

In fact, much of the malicious activity in the mobile space currently revolves around either stealing address book contacts and profile information, or tricking users into clicking to certain weblinks to generate advertising payments to the scammer.

In the end, “someone other than the legitimate developer is compensated for ad impressions,” says Kevin Mahaffey, founder and chief technology officer of Lookout Mobile Security.

In the current mobile environment, consumers ought to exercise healthy skepticism around any offer that seems too good to be true, says Mark Risher, CEO of data integrity  firm Impermium.

“On small screens it can be hard to see the signs of a scam, so when in doubt, try viewing the Web page for that app from a full-sized laptop and look for the tell-tale signs,” Risher advises.

Be suspicious of sloppy writing or descriptions and any security warnings that appear in your full PC Web browser, he says.

No one in tech security or law enforcement expects mobile threats to remain relatively benign for long. “Any mobile device that’s accessing the Web and accessing Web downloads is, in fact, exposed,” Murthy says. “And that presents a very real and immediate danger to mobile users.”

One big security hole cybercriminals are expected to increasingly focus on is the fact that the operating systems of mobile devices are cumbersome to upgrade. A recent survey by security firm Rapid7 revealed that 67% of devices using the revered Apple iOS platform, which powers iPhones and iPads, are running without the latest feature upgrades and security patches.

“Mobile devices are typically required to be updated by employees and patches can’t be pushed by organizations,” says Giri Sreenivas, mobile vice president at Rapid7. “Because of this, there is a high percentage of devices running out-of-date firmware.”

Android devices are difficult to upgrade because neither the carrier nor the handset maker have much of a financial incentive to push out security patches in a timely manner, says Chris Soghoian, principal technologist at the American Civil Liberties Union.

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Child Predators Over The Internet

Originally posted by Mahamas Earth on 09/13/2012

Human Trafficking!

With more than one billion internet users around the world, the internet has become an integral part of our daily lives. As New York Times columnist Tom Friedman wrote in his best selling book The World is Flat, the internet has leveled the playing field, creating a convergence of people, places, knowledge and information. As individuals, we have good global. However, there is a dark side to this globalization.

Criminals are readily making use of the internet, to carry out activities, ranging from computer intrusions to money laundering. Terrorists around the world are recruiting, training, and planning attacks, armed only with laptops. One of the most insidious uses of the internet is for Child ” Sexual ” exploitation. According to the Internet Watch Foundation (IWF), an Organization that works internationally to remove child Sexual abuse images from the internet, graphic images of child abuse are growing significantly in number on the web. The latest report published by the IWF, claims that the percentage of abusive websites had increased almost 28 percent in 2009. On these reported websites, 73 percent of the persons subjected to abuse appeared to be under age of 10 years.
Approximately 65 percent of the images and videos depicted sexual activity between adults and children, including rape and sexual torture of the children. In total, 715 unique sources of commercial child sexual abuse websites were identified. Each of the webpages or websites is a gateway to hundreds, or even thousands, of images or videos of children being sexually abused. These websites are, unfortunately, supported by layers of payment mechanisms, content stores, membership systems and advertising frames. Payment systems may involve Prepay cards, credit cards, ‘virtual money’ or e-payment systems, with transactions being carried out via secure webpages or e-mails. Case after case, we see adult predators taking advantage of the weakest among us, the proliferation of mobile phone and multimedia messages add another twist to the story. Recently, The Concise Oxford English Dictionary introduced several new words in its latest edition of dictionaries. Among these is the term ‘Sexting’ which is defined as the act of sending Sexually-Explicit text messages or pictures of individuals ( including minors ) via a mobile phone.
These messages and pictures are generally passed from mobile phone to mobile phone until they end up being uploaded on (and downloaded from) the internet. After this, these posts are extensively redistributed online, which makes stopping them or removing them from the internet, virtually impossible.
Modern technology has given users unprecedented ease and ability to become photographers and publishers. Unfortunately, having access to technologies and tools, and using them responsibly are two very diverse concepts.

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Breaking the Silence About Human Trafficking

By Deborah Bostock-Kelley
Email the author
August 31, 2012

Right now, as Week of Welcome fades into memory and college campuses  are merely days into full operation, naïve freshman, away from home,  possibly for the first time, are being watched.

Blondes, brunettes, redheads – bespectacled bookworms, pink haired video gamers and underage partiers.

Each are new on campus, trying to find their footing in an environment completely alien to them.

The Predator Makes His Move

The freshman is sitting alone, wishing she had taken a better  meal plan. She peeks into her wallet a third time, but she cannot will a  $5 bill to appear to buy the latte that is splashed across the coffee  shop sign.

In a college logoed T-shirt and ripped jeans, young, clean cut,  handsome or “hot”vas her friends back home would describe, he  approaches. There’s nothing shady about him. He blends in perfectly with  the other students on campus. 

He makes casual conversation, learning her hometown, the beloved  pet she left back home, how she misses her mom, dad, her younger sister.  She’s shocked that he would talk to her and he encourages the dialogue,  offering to purchase the drink. She hesitates and he playfully nudges  her. She finally relents. College is about new experiences, meeting new  people. She decides to trust him. He befriends her and they meet  regularly.

A few weeks later, he is her boyfriend, showering her with  attention and ultimately, gifts – a haircut, a manicure, jewelry, the  dress she was looking at in the mall display window, but could never  afford. He gives her the world and tells her how sexy and beautiful she  is.

And then the time comes.

He reminds her of everything he’s ever done for her, that he loves  her so much, but there’s this party and if only this one time, she  could do this one thing for him. She thinks of all her mother’s  warnings. She feels a little uneasy, but rather than upset the man who  loves her, she goes against her gut instinct to say “no.”

Traffickers Prey on the Vulnerable

“Traffickers look for teens who lack assertiveness. People are more  afraid of offending someone than saying the word ‘no,’ ” explained  Connie Rose, founder of Victims2Survivors.

Rose explained that the young girls are often drugged at the parties.

“They are not going to know what they’ve done and there is going to  be pictures taken of them,” said Rose. “The girls are mortified at what  they did because they don’t remember. The pimps use the photos to  threaten to show to new friends, Mom and Dad back home. They tell things  like that little dog that they talked about will be gone. They start  listing all the things that they will do to them if they don’t do what  they want, so what is a girl to do?”

A Voice of Experience

Rose, 56, is a survivor of human trafficking, sexual violence and the  daughter of a sex offender. As a child, Rose was raped by her father  and as a teen, sold in to sexual slavery.

Rather than self-destruct down the common path of drug and alcohol  abuse, Rose talked openly about her experience and in 2010,  founded  Victims2Survivors to give voice to other sexually trafficked children.

“It is not something new and is becoming a horrific epidemic.  Children can be sold 20 to 40 times per night. Sexual trafficking is a  $32 billion business. It is only second to drug trafficking.”

Knowledge is Power

Rose recommended that college students learn the signs of a predator,  trust their gut instincts, and have a plan of action if there comes a  need.

“I work with Wendy Vazquez-Ernest of I Know My Plan.  Oftentimes, when I speak, she comes with me. She can teach you what to  do to defend yourself,” said Rose. “Most of the pimp runners on campus  are the really good-looking, young guys because the girls are going to  talk to them. They’re scouting for the pimp.”

Vazquez-Ernest teaches a RAD (Rape Aggression Defense) program at the  University of South Florida for credit and also throughout the Tampa  Bay community. The course teaches women and teens realistic self-defense  techniques to escape violence.

“The most important thing to do is to keep your wits about you, trust  your instincts and don’t put yourself into a compromising situation.  Women need to feel empowered. To start on this journey is to enroll in a  class that teaches you about risk reduction,”  said Vazquez-Ernest. “I  teach this class because of the importance of woman being educated that  they do have a choice.”

On campus, the trafficker can also manipulate into such a situation  by using guilt. The pimp runner reminds the freshman about their student  loans—how can the parents afford college, and make suggestions how to  earn lots of money through things like stripping so they can “go party,  get their nails done, buy that cute dress,” said Rose. “They go through  the whole list. Everything that a freshman in freaking out about—they  have no money, plus the fact the guy is saying ‘your family is not here;  they’re not going to know. You want freedom? Here’s real freedom, a way  to make a lot of money.’”

Once the girls begin stripping, it often leads to sexual slavery.
“Eventually, they will be sold,” said Rose.

Fighting Back

In August, volunteers distributed thousands of bars of soap with the  National Human Trafficking Hotline number 888-373-7888 to area motels  and hotels. Save Our Adolescents from Prostitution, called the S.O.A.P.  project educated motel owners and managers on signs of human  trafficking.

The SOAP Facebook page said, “Due to the approximate 50,000 people who will be coming to  Tampa for the RNC, human trafficking is expected to rise by 50%.”

Rose works tirelessly with this and other local, national, and  international organizations and trafficking task forces to raise  awareness of sexual trafficking, especially during large events like the  Republican National Convention.

“This has nothing to do with a political party,” explained Rose.  “Whenever there’s a large event, it’s candy to the traffickers. There’s  now tens of thousands of visitors in one place.”

A joint effort between Shared Hope and the Zonta Club of Pinellas County,  a billboard campaign running May through September in nine locations  throughout Tampa Bay, sends a crystal clear message to guests and Tampa  Bay locals, “This man wants to rent your daughter.”

“Human trafficking is a human rights issue,” said Rose. “And I hate  the term prostitute because that word gives the false impression that  this person choose this life. This is a sexually trafficked  child. When someone is starting to be sold or rented, there whole  dignity is taken away. Everything about them is stripped. They’ve been  totally (desensitized).”

That is, by no means, a choice.

To learn more about Victims2Survivors or have Rose speak at your organization’s next event, visit her Facebook page.

Connie Rose is a voice for trafficked minors. She works with Wendy Vazquez-Ernest, who teaches Rape Aggression Defense classes at the University of South Florida. The two hope to prevent teens and young women from falling prey to predators.

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Burritos and Porn

Posted on February 27, 2013 at 5:41 pm.
by Aszia Walker
http://purehope.net/burrito-porn/

Burrito

Everywhere I’ve gone the past week, there has been online radio, in-car radio, billboard signs, and television commercials bringing me face to face with what I’ve dubbed “burrito porn.”

Advertisement after advertisement has had me drooling over tantalizing descriptions of the perfect burrito, full of fresh ingredients and euphoric flavor that this restaurant chain (that shall not be named, because their food isn’t actually evil, but I am using them to make a point) promises to deliver.

So, where has tuning in to all of these delicious marketing schemes taken me? Well, last week it almost took me off the highway to the nearest unnamed-burrito-location… even though I have the exact same ingredients at home.  I was willing to forsake my commitment to my food budget, for one measly burrito.

And then it hit me, this is what men (and women, but I’m going to commend the fellas for a minute) deal with every single day. They are bombarded with image after image of seductive women in general media, porn, and real life singing the siren song of “come away with me, forsake your commitment to your wife and/or your God and delight in all the pleasure I can offer you.”

I could barely resist a freakin’ burrito after enduring a mere three days’ worth of ads.

This revelation has given me an overwhelming compassion for the men in my life who figuratively speaking (and kind of literally) have their radios and televisions off, billboards blocked out, and are staring straight ahead at the highway of purity, justice, love, and covenant stretched out before them.

You go guys! It’s hard work. We live in a consumeristic society pimping burritos and women at every turn. I now know the extreme lengths to which I will have to go to avoid the temptation of a silly Mexican food dish.  How much greater lengths do you valiant men go to daily to act out the love you have for your families, your own heart, and your Lord!

Jesus’ grace abounds to you as you continue to fix your eyes on Him.  I am proud to call you brothers because you know the Way, Truth, and Life that is better than simple lies of a sexualized culture.  The way you men pursue Christ and guard your hearts, eyes, and loved ones is such an inspiration to me.  Stay strong!  Even when you are tempted to take the nearest exit to earthly-indulgence, know that He can keep you from stumbling and provide you a way back into your lane, just flip that blinker!

By the way… I make one heck of a burrito bowl with what I have at home. Not to brag, but it’s far better than anything I could pick up at burrito-place-I’m-still-not-naming.  I’m sure all of you married men can attest that the love of your bride is more intoxicating than any cheap imitation may claim to be.  And you single men who understand that “delight yourself in the Lord” is not some feminine, poetic line (although we have attempted to hijack that one, sorry) but is a bold truth echoing from the heart of warrior King David, and resounding today in your own soul… You guys are a testament that what the world offers is indeed incomparable to the goodness of our Lord.

Keep on men. Keep on.

Aszia1Aszia serves as the Social Media & Internship Coordinator for pureHOPE.  Shameless plug: feel free to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, or apply for our summer undergraduate internship.

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Sexual Sin in the Ministry

Sexual Sin in the Ministry
by Harry Schaumburg | March  6, 2012
Originally posted at: http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/posts/sexual-sin-in-the-ministry

For the last twenty years thousands of men from across America struggling with sexual sin have come to our intensive counseling workshop. Over half were pastors and missionaries.

I wish our experience was unique.

Several years ago a seminary professor told me: “We no longer ask our entering students if they are struggling with pornography, we assume every student is struggling. The question we ask: ‘How serious is the struggle?’”

One missions agency told me that 80% of their applicants voluntarily indicate a struggle with pornography, resulting in staff shortages on the field.

Pornography is just one level of sin, a form of visual sex, or heart adultery. Physical adultery includes an affair, multiple affairs, prostitution, and homosexuality. Other sexual behaviors within the ministry are such heinous “unfruitful works of darkness . . . it is shameful even to speak of the things that they do in secret” (Ephesians 5:11–12). To face the crisis we must correctly understand the nature of the problem, ask God to search our own hearts, and be committed to restore each one caught in sexual sin “in a spirit of gentleness” (Galatians 6:1).

I have pondered long and hard two questions: Why do people repeatedly return to sexual sin and why do people turn away from sexual sin?

Lured Toward Sin

First, I would say that after two decades of helping set free those held captive by sexual sin, I’m convinced that the concept of sexual addiction as a disease does not fully identify the seriousness of the problem. If we are going to get serious about the problem in the church we can ill afford to be misled in our thinking. The real problem is hidden deep within. The least bit of lust is an indication of vast corruption in the human heart. It is an enslavement that cannot be broken through any form of behavior management, recovery program, or counseling. The inside is so ravaged by sin that we can do nothing to change it.

When one is held in the grip of sexual sin, there is no hope of self-reform or self-efforts, for those living according to the “passions of their flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and mind” (Ephesians 2:3). To put it bluntly, those living in habitual sexual sin are “dead in their trespasses and sin” (verse 1). Dead, in a loss of spiritual life. Dead to finding satisfaction with God. Dead to living for his purpose. Holiness is dead. Wisdom is dead. Purity is dead. Love is dead. Like David, the sexual sinner has sinned “against the Lord” (2 Samuel 12:13), and in so doing has “utterly scorned the Lord” (verse 14). The horrible fact is they are “by nature children of wrath” (Ephesians 2:3).

I believe addictionology plays down the seriousness of sin and the necessity of the work of God when it encourages the sexual addict to accept the theory that recovery will only be successful when they begin to believe that they are a good person at the core and just have a disease.

Diagnoses always determine the method of treatment. So ‘good’ people only need to get serious, follow the steps of recovery, and remain in recovery. The opposite is true. When dealing with sexual sin we must hold fast to the teaching of Jesus Christ, “For from within, out of the heart, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality,  . . . adultery” (Mark 7:21).

By nature and by choice we satisfy ourselves, rebel against God, and have no accurate understanding of the depth of our problem. The heart is deceptive, and without supernatural change it will grow worse. The only hope is “the grace of God . . . training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age” (Titus 2:11–12).

Look closely and you will see that the sexual sinner is disappointed with pleasure in their pursuit of what is essentially false intimacy. As one pastor, who was living in two adulterous relationships, put it: “This was the insanity; I no sooner finished the sexual act and immediately broke into tears, devastated by what I had done, but I only returned again and again to the same sinful relationship.”

As sinners we are created with desires for intimacy and for delight. Therefore, “The way to fight lust is to feed faith with the precious and magnificent promise that the pure in heart will see, face to face, the all-satisfying God of glory” (Future Grace, 338).

Yet the sexual sinner, finding no pleasure in real intimacy with God, ultimately finds no pleasure in false intimacy. Real intimacy has both pain and pleasure; false intimacy offers the illusion of no pain, but in the end there is no real pleasure! A part of exchanging the “truth about God for a lie” (Romans 1:25) is that you end up with pleasure now, pain forever!

Descending Deception

Deception runs deeper than we think. Deception is inherent to the problem of sexual sin on two levels.

First, there is the double life with clandestine liaisons, endless hidden hours on a computer, or the misuse of unaccounted time away from the office or home. The behavior is carefully hidden from view, but there are lies, then more lies to cover the lies. Face the facts: the motive for secrecy is to keep doing it. But secrecy of sexual sin also indicates a person’s commitment to flee from the light. “And people loved the darkness rather than the light because their works were evil” (John 3:19).

The second level of deception is self-deception. If the heart is deceitful, it impacts the way we want to see the secret things in our lives, particularly secret sexual sins. The missionary can justify going to nude beaches; a pastor sees the value of an affair because it makes him happy; going to a prostitute on Monday is just a reward for hard work on Sunday.

When you say, “I will keep this part of my life a secret,” what are you hiding?

Hidden from view is a scandalous behavior that would certainly horrify any congregation or spouse. It is also a calculated contradiction of one’s public image that if revealed would bring ruin. It also may be a relationship that you believe is so fulfilling you can’t imagine ending it.

Everyone thinks they are hiding their acts of sin: lust, cheating, porn, and adultery. Such thinking makes it easier to justify the secrecy for the greater good of one’s marriage, family, ministry, job, and future. Such rationalization is universal to all secret sexual sin. “After all, a lot of people would be hurt if they knew what I was doing.” As one pastor put it, “I was in a six month affair, at the same time preaching and counseling against adultery, and telling myself that God didn’t care because the church was growing.”

In reality, it is not the behavior alone that is hidden.

Secret sexual sin is an invasive poison to the soul, mind and the body. It is a poison deep within the recesses of the soul that keeps one from finding satisfaction in God and meaningful intimacy with others. This is a poison that will kill not only in this life, but also life eternal! “For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexually immoral or impure . . . has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God” (Ephesians 5:5). Sexual behavior that is indistinguishable from the unbelieving world may indicate a person is not truly a child of God.

The Turn From Sin

Why do people turn away from sexual sin?

In thousands of cases that I have counseled, only about one-percent of the men have come to us voluntarily and preemptively. Ninety-nine percent of the men were caught.

Getting caught in sexual sin doesn’t change the heart.

I can’t prove it, but I believe that God will providentially expose the secret sexual sin of his children.

It staggers our finite imagination that God will allow his chosen ones to go deep into brazen sexual sin, live in it for many years, and have so many people badly hurt. And no matter how difficult it is for spouses and church members to see it in the moment, God is at work when a pastor’s sin is exposed. Exposure is a sovereign act of God. God’s ways are not our ways! In all the vileness and rebellion against God that is a big part of sexual sin, exposure is showing us the perfect patience of Christ.

Many times I’ve been asked, “How can you keep dealing with such sinful men?” There are two reasons: First, I have seen over and over again the power of God to change the darkest sinner. Second, restoration with God is more important than anything. It is more important than career or marriage. God cares more for you, your soul, and your wife than he does your gifts and calling. You are his child before you are a pastor or a husband.

Conviction

After secret sexual sin is exposed we can make the mistake of focusing on the actions and attempt to eliminate behavior. We may be inadvertently feeding a false conviction rather than aiding true conviction.

False conviction is a reflex reaction caused by self-disgust, a sorrow over the consequences of sin. True conviction is an abiding sorrow over the offence against God, and while not the natural response, it does demonstrate that God has begun a good work that he will complete. True conviction is followed by true repentance. False conviction is followed by counterfeit repentance that only sees the consequences of sexual sin and the pain it caused others. Often this leads to a temporary change in behavior without a heart change.

Heart change is critical, “For you may be sure of this, that everyone who is sexual immoral (Gk. porneia) or impure, or who is covetous (that is, an idolater) has no inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God” (Ephesians 5:5). There is no room for error when it comes to dealing with sexual sin. There is a demand to either repent or perish (Luke 13:3, 5). So there must be inner transformation of the heart because it is “deceitful above all things and desperately sick” (Jeremiah 17:9).

Christians must take severe measures in killing this sin. This is the real danger: “Every unclean thought would be adultery if it could” (John Owen). “Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality . . .” (Colossians 3:5).

The cross isn’t a recovery program, the place to improve on what good is already there. It is a place to die. It is not a question of giving up sexual sin, but of giving up one’s rights!

“But thanks be to God, that you who were once slaves of sin have become obedient from the heart to the standard of teaching to which you were committed, and, having been set free from sin, have become slaves of righteousness” (Romans 6:17–18). As dead sinners we lived “in the passion of our flesh, carrying out the desires of the body and the mind” (Ephesians 2:3). Deceived, we foolishly think we can use our bodies as we choose when we are in love, when it brings us pleasure, when it makes us a whole person or feeds our spiritual well being. The truly repentant sexual sinner begins to grasp, “You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body” (1 Corinthians 6:19, 20).

True repentance is radical change from the inside out. “The basic meaning of repent is to experience a change of the mind’s perceptions and dispositions and purposes” (What Jesus Demands, 41). Repentance is not just becoming sexually pure, but an inward change, “so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him, bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God” (Colossians 1:10). Inward change leads to sexual purity. Repentance happens on the inside where heart change includes the development of an ingrained attitude to flee sexual immorality.

Don’t Wait To Get Caught

Some time ago I met a pastor who told me that he had two or three affairs in each of the several churches he had pastored. He said, “My reputation in my denomination is to take a small struggling church and see it grow, only to again take another small church and see it grow. I’ve made that move three times, but in fact, I was only moving to a new church before I got caught in those affairs.” That man has no reason to expose his sexual sin or leave the ministry. Why should anyone know?

Why should anyone turn from sexual sin before being caught?

First, don’t let yourself be deceived. “Whoever makes a practice of sinning is of the devil . . . No one born of God makes a practice of sinning, for God’s seed abides in him, and he cannot keep on sinning because he has been born of God” (1 John 3:8, 9). While not completely free from sin, the heart of the true believer has been transformed, and they cannot live in a pattern of continual sexual sin.

Second, the exhortation is to “confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed” (James 5:16).

Third, fear is not a virtue. Yes, exposure will be costly, but right now you are dying on the inside. It may not feel like dying right now, but you are, you are slowly killing yourself, your spouse, your family, and your congregation.

Fourth, if secret sexual sin has severe consequences, it is worth dealing with before the devastation occurs. Obvious examples come to mind to get help before: your Internet browsing history is discovered and shared; the prostitute turns into an uncover police women and you are arrested for soliciting; you contract an STD; or you are publicly exposed, humiliating yourself, your spouse, your family, and your congregation.

Fifth, it will come out. God is never mocked. “Note then the kindness and the severity of God: severity toward those who have fallen, but God’s kindness to you, provided you continue in his kindness” (Romans 11:22).

Sixth, getting caught shatters trust and honesty in marriage, embarrasses your spouse, and makes reconciliation more difficult.

Seventh, there is hope. It begins with facing the truth. It is never just a struggle with your thought life; like all sexual sin, it is evil. If there is an old self to put off, there must be a new self to put on; that is the gospel.

Hear the Better Word

Christ bears the wrath that will come for all sexual sin. If you are a true believer and real change has occurred, you are called to put off the old and put on the new. Killing sexual sin starts with exposure; it ends with no longer being enslaved (Romans 6:6). Exposure is painful, but it is better to hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant,” than to hear, “I never knew you; depart from me, you workers of lawlessness.”

If you are a pastor stuck in sexual sin, no matter how well you have attempted to cover those sins with layers and layers of lies, I plead with you, step out from the darkness of those sins. Step into the light. Get help. You will never find life in the shadows.

Dr. Harry W. Schaumburg is a speaker, author, and counselor specializing in the area of sexual sin in the church. He is the director of Stone Gate Resources and the author of False Intimacy: Understanding the Struggle of Sexual Addiction (1997) and Undefiled: Redemption From Sexual Sin, Restoration for Broken Relationships (2009). He has been married to his wife Rosemary for 43 years, and they have two adult sons.