Recovered Addict Offers Help to Men Living in Sexual Sin
by Randall Murphree
January 2, 2004
(AgapePress) - Steve Gallagher's victory over sexual sin and porn addiction provides the perfect foundation for a pioneering ministry that helps other men trapped in sexual addictions. Gallagher, founder and president of Pure Life Ministries, says his organization is the world's first such ministry to help men find freedom from sexual addiction.Out of the Depths of Sexual Sin, Gallagher's new autobiography, chronicles his history, his struggles, and his eventual victory before he founded Pure Life in 1986. American Family Association founder Don Wildmon first met Gallagher in early 1987, after AFA had begun to recognize that pornography was fast becoming a curse on our culture.
"Right away, I sensed in Steve Gallagher a man who had already been through the fire and was ready to be used to help other men," Wildmon said. AFA Journal ran a feature story on Gallagher and Pure Life in August 1987, and Gallagher says that article was the impetus that really got his ministry off to a fast start.
A life of drugs, promiscuity and crime once had Gallagher on the road to hell. At age 12, he had responded to an altar call at the church his mother made him attend. "Unfortunately," he writes, "nothing seemed to change in my life afterwards." By ninth grade, he was immersed in the drug culture.
While serving time in a juvenile work project for cultivation of marijuana, Steve went to a revival and gave his heart to Christ -- for real, this time. Immediately, he began witnessing to old friends, but after several months, his faith faltered. He reverted to his old ways, then returned to the Lord -- a pattern that would continue for several years.
As he entered his twenties and his interest in drugs subsided, another vice gained momentum in his life: pornography and illicit sex. By the time he joined the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department, he was a full-blown sex addict. Finally, a return to Christ set him on the path to victory.
Today, Steve and his wife, Kathy, offer a wealth of informational and teaching materials through Pure Life. The ministry is headquartered in Dry Ridge Kentucky and operates a live-in facility for 50 recovering sex addicts. Out of the Depths details the thrilling account of how God's mercy has preserved Gallagher's life, restored his rocky marriage and empowered his ministry.
He says he can only bring another as far as he himself has come. "If I had a superficial walk with the Lord, that was all I could hope to give others," he writes. "I owe it to these men to grow spiritually so that I might better help them."
Steve's story illustrates how God can use a man's ugliest experiences for His glory -- when the man is fully yielded to God. His transparency and humility make Out of the Depths of Sexual Sin a powerful book.
The book was released January 1 and is available in bookstores as well as from Pure Life. Gallagher is on an 11-city tour to publicize the book and his ministry.
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Randall Murphree, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is editor of AFA Journal, a monthly publication of the American Family Association.
