Cybersecurity is a subject about which I know almost nothing and would certainly never give advice.

Yet this is an issue that affects all of us—in our communications, finances, and now, especially, ministries.

So, along with many other people, I am dependent upon the expertise, advice, and assistance of those who really live within this realm of technology.

I am thankful, especially for the help of Steven Lee, the founder of SermonAudio, who visited with me in a video that is posted to SermonAudio.com/pscharf.

“Special Interview with Steven Lee” – video or audio at this link.

In last week’s column, I covered The Vault that SermonAudio is constructing on the campus of Bob Jones University.

“The Vault is going to be playing into a much stronger tomorrow for us,” Lee told me—assessing his situation after SermonAudio suffered a serious cyberattack in March of this year.

The second portion of our interview then focused on cybersecurity.

“We were hit pretty hard in a portion of our infrastructure that we would consider more legacy,” Lee said. “We have a lot of very new infrastructure that’s very, very secure. None of that got touched. Then we have aging legacy infrastructure which is more difficult to just lock down, and that’s the one that got hit.”

Among the areas suffering damage were the eDocs sections of each broadcaster’s page—one place where I post my column. Thankfully, that feature is now back up and running.

So, even if I cannot totally understand the technicalities involved, I can picture “the wicked one” pulling “fiery darts” (Eph.6:16) from his quiver and aiming them strategically at one of the most vital positions on planet Earth.

Lee evaluated the effects the attack has had on the entire organization, stating: “This whole exercise has been helpful for us on a number of fronts. Number one, it has kept us extremely grounded in humility. I am proud in a good way of the work that our guys have done, and they work hard, and it usually goes unsung.” Lee believes that such an experience can also bring about an unanticipated result: “to have a period of humility and of trusting God, and seeing God do great things, and of growth, and of strengthening. The great danger for all of us is to have our hearts lifted up with pride—to our destruction. And so, this whole episode was very helpful because it keeps us very humble.”

The cyberattack took its biggest toll on photos on the site. Lee called the incident “extremely painful, very unpleasant and very stressful.” Yet, amazingly, no sermons were destroyed.

“It taught us a lot of things—that week that we were working really, really hard, around the clock,” he said.

“It’s also been helpful, practically speaking, from the standpoint of accelerating the process of us moving to the newer architecture,” Lee stated. “A lot of things that we had projected on a timeline down the road, to be able to get to, well, those things just got moved up to the top of the list.” The matter of repairing the damage actually gave SermonAudio an occasion to implement more new features for broadcasters.

“We’re in a much stronger place today—in every way,” he said. “We are still on a very good trajectory.”

Six days each week, SermonAudio hosts an online prayer meeting via Zoom called Daily United Prayer. I have been privileged to provide the devotional for these meetings twice and will have that opportunity again on Friday, Aug. 19. I invite you to join us by going to SermonAudio.com/UnitedPrayer. It is an awesome thing to gather for prayer with believers from all around the world.

I think that it is also very appropriate that we would pray for God’s hand of blessing and protection to remain upon SermonAudio at this critically important time.

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Paul J. Scharf (M.A., M.Div., Faith Baptist Theological Seminary) is a church ministries representative for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, based in Columbus, WI, and serving in the Midwest. For more information on his ministry, visit sermonaudio.com/pscharf or foi.org/scharf, or email pscharf@foi.org.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version.

“Therefore gird up the loins of your mind, be sober, and rest your hope fully upon the grace that is to be brought to you at the revelation of Jesus Christ; as obedient children, not conforming yourselves to the former lusts, as in your ignorance; but as He who called you is holy, you also be holy in all your conduct, because it is written, ‘Be holy, for I am holy'” (1 Peter 1:13-16).

What does the word holy mean? In the denomination I grew up in, holy had much to do with outward observances: sprinkling yourself with holy water as you entered the place of worship; quickly kneeling one knee to the floor before entering your pew; and silence while waiting for the service to begin. In that religion, the height of a holy life was portrayed as one of casting off all connections to the world — to join a monastery or convent, the ultimate life being separate from even your own family.

After I became a Christian, I joined a denomination that fell under the category of a “holiness” church. Their definition of holy also had to do with outward appearance. The rules varied in the different branches, but if you were to remain a member, you had to keep to their rules.

The rules were like: no makeup; no jewelry; in some, not even wedding bands; in some, the women weren’t allowed to cut their hair; in most, the use of tobacco was as big a sin as adultery; no alcohol; movies, bowling alleys, skating rinks were all forbidden. As a pastor, I was told my children weren’t allowed to chew gum, and I wasn’t allowed to belong to a labor union. (I did when I was saved, and remained so.)

Does any of this define the biblical word “Holy”? We are instructed to be holy as God is holy. So, as the children of God, if we’re serious about being like Him, we need to find out what being holy looks like from the Scriptures and, obviously, not man. And so we start by reading this: “This is the message which we have heard from Him and declare to you, that God is light and in Him is no darkness at all” (1 John 1:5).

Where there is light, there can be no darkness; and where there is darkness, there can be no light. In relation to God, Holy means an absolute separation—but separation from what? Scripture defines it for us. God doesn’t just love, He is love; He is totally separated from hate. His words are absolute truth. When His Son Jesus spoke, His words are absolute truth; what the Holy Spirit directed the apostles to write is God’s truth.

The Scriptures thus define for us how we are to be holy: hate is darkness, God’s love is light—they don’t mix. A lie is darkness, God’s truth is light—they don’t mix. Love for the world is darkness, love for the Father is light—they don’t mix. To disobey His commandments is to walk in darkness, to obey His commandments is to walk in the light—they don’t mix.

Concerning keeping His commandments, the apostle Paul sums it up like this: “Owe no one anything except to love one another, for he who loves another has fulfilled the law. For the commandments, ‘You shall not commit adultery,’ ‘You shall not murder,’ ‘You shall not steal,’ ‘You shall not bear false witness,’ ‘You shall not covet,’ and if there is any other commandment, are all summed up in this saying, namely, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ Love does no harm to a neighbor; therefore love is the fulfillment of the law” (Romans 13:8-10).

In a nutshell, holy for God’s children means turning your back on the things of this world and following Jesus, trusting and obeying Him with all your heart—Be Holy!

Brother Bill is a Bible teacher and can be contacted at bboldham@sbcglobal.net.