May I Help You With Your Christmas Shopping?

If you're struggling to find that perfect, though amazingly inexpensive, gift for someone you love, perhaps you might consider one of my books.  Listed below are the four top-selling works of the four books I've written. 

Books by Dr. Ronald “Dee” Vaughan

Messages from Mayberry:

Spiritual Life Lessons from My Favorite Episodes of The Andy Griffith Show.

For more than half a century, viewers have loved The Andy Griffith Show, not only for its wholesome humor and unforgettable characters, but also for the life lessons so many episodes teach. 

Pastor Ronald “Dee” Vaughan put that Mayberry magic to work in his church’s worship services, showing a particularly edifying episode, then going from the script to the scripture to explore life issues from a Christian perspective.  Messages from Mayberry contains Pastor Vaughan’s messages based on twenty-six of the most uplifting episodes of the show.  Let these life-centered sermons be your invitation to take your seat in the All Souls Church in Mayberry, NC and hear a message that will deepen your love of a great television show and deepen your understanding of the Christian life. Available now at St. Andrews Baptist Church (email deevaughan@standrewsbaptist.org for information) and soon at Amazon.com.  

  

The Stories of My Life

“Tell me your story.” When you offer that invitation, you want to know someone at more than a surface level.  You want to know where they’ve been, what they’ve done, who they’ve loved, and what they’ve learned about life’s meaning along the way. 

You share your faith by telling your story.  Christians believe that God is present in this world and is at work in our lives, so when we talk about our faith, we naturally tell the stories of those moments when God has revealed Himself to us.  The Stories of My Life contains over two hundred stories from the life of Dr. Ronald “Dee” Vaughan, moments when God revealed Himself, teaching the author about himself, about faith and about the miracle and mystery of life.  Available in paperback and Kindle formats at Amazon.com. 

 

Seeing in the Dark:

Biblical Meditations for People

Dealing with Depression

Does the Bible have anything to say about depression? In thirty-five years of serving as a pastor, counselor, and chaplain, Ronald “Dee” Vaughan has learned that this is not an academic question. Those who ask about the Bible’s relevance to this illness do so because they are struggling with emotional and spiritual darkness and need spiritual strength to survive. As a student of the Bible and a survivor of depression, the author answers those struggling seekers. During his own time of illness, Vaughan kept a journal of Scripture passages, quotations, advice, and personal discoveries—truths that gave him glimpses of spiritual light that guided him through the darkness toward healing and health. In this book, he shares those life-giving discoveries. This collection of biblical meditations is designed to be used as a daily devotional resource. Along with each meditation is a prayer based on that chapter’s life lesson and a truth to affirm, a short summary to help readers remember what they’ve learned.  Available in paperback and e-book formats at helwys.com, amazon.com, and barnesandnoble.com.

Making the Shift Worship Resources:

Sermons and other Worship Tools for Making the Shift in Congregations

How can the church be relevant and authentic in our rapidly changing world? 

Three years ago, Mark Tidsworth offered an answer to that pressing question by publishing Shift: Three Big Moves for The 21st Century Church.  Since its publication, Shift has been embraced by numerous churches and denominational groups as a way to understand and adapt to our shifting cultural environment.  As groups have made The Shift, pastors and worship leaders have asked for sermons, prayers, litanies and other resources they might use to design rich worship experiences to engage the entire congregation in The Shift experience. Now, that help is available. Pinnacle Leadership Press is delighted to partner with Dr. Ronald “Dee” Vaughan to bring you this volume of worship resources. A gifted communicator, preacher and author, Dee has the eyes to see and ears to hear how the scriptures guide us into personal and congregational transformation. As you read, you will also find sermons from some of the many other pastors and worship leaders who are making excellent use of the Shift content to seed their preaching and worship planning. Available in paperback and e-book formats at Amazon.com and Pinnacle Leadership Press. 

Answering the Call of Those Who Need You Most

Linda and I were attending Furman’s homecoming some years ago.  Among the people I saw that day that I don’t get to see nearly often enough was Kevin.  Kevin had been one of my apartment mates at Furman’s Montague Village.  Kevin was different from the other three guys who lived with him in that apartment.  While we were studying things like music, religion and psychology, Kevin was mastering mathematics and computer science.  When we graduated, three of us needed to go on to seminary to get yet another degree.  When Kevin graduated, he accepted a position in the Research and Development Department of Duke Energy.  Now, some twenty years after graduation, Kevin and I were catching up on each other.  After asking about family and children, I wanted to see how Kevin’s professional life was progressing, so I asked, “How are things at Duke Energy?”  His answer caught me off guard.  “I’m not with Duke Energy anymore.”  “OK,” I answered, “so what are you up to now?”  “I’m teaching math in a critical needs high school.”  I wondered if my friend had gotten in some kind of trouble with Duke or maybe had lost his mind, so I dug deeper, “Kevin, what made you decide to become a high school math teacher?”  He grinned as only he could do and looked at me as though to say, “You don’t get it, do you?”  Then he answered my question.  “I realized that Duke Energy doesn’t need me.  They have plenty of good computer people.  But those students really need a good math teacher and I’m going to give them one.” 

Kevin was a very successful computer programmer and analyst for Duke Energy.  He could have worked there for the rest of his career.  He could’ve earned enough to help support his former apartment mates serving in the ministry.  But his life changed dramatically when he heard a call, the call of the people who needed him most. 

The Apostle Paul heard that same kind of call, a call that changed his understanding of his ministry and the direction of his life’s work.  He was busy taking care of the churches he had started.  He was helping them grow.  Suddenly, his path felt blocked, not by anything outside him, but by someone inside him.  God wouldn't let him continue serving the same people in the same way.  Paul had a dream of a man from Macedonia, a place he'd never been, begging him to come to a new place and share the good news with people who'd never heard.  Paul's ministry changed when he heard the call of the people who needed him most. 

This is the time of year when many churches like ours think about the needs of the world, the millions of people living in hundreds of places who have never heard the good news of Jesus Christ in a way they can understand and believe.  We’ll do some good things for those people during the Christmas season like making gifts to special mission offerings to support missionary work all over the world.  That’s a good thing.  But before we can do our best to share Christ’s love with a lost world, we, like my friend, Kevin, like the Apostle Paul, need to hear a call, the call of the people who need us most.  Only then will we change the direction of our lives, enlarge the purpose of our earthly journey, and help the people who need us most.