Steven Furtick's Elevation Church Fires Youth Pastor Over Alleged Sexual Misconduct at Another Church

“Look at you. You think you've got everybody fooled, but you know what you are, you're not a good father, you weren't a good husband, you're an alcoholic.” Jamie Vaughn remembers the dark thoughts that plagued his mind. “You're, you're an addict. You're all these things. And if you really want, do your daughter and the world a favor, you'll end it right now.”

Jamie was abandoned by his parents after his birth. He was adopted by his grandparents and at a young age he found self-worth and a sense of control in martial arts. He says, “I totally allowed this to shape my identity 'cause I didn't have one, you know, I grew up without a, a dad in my life. I didn't have that male influence, living with a sense of that abandonment from your parents, especially a father that really hurt a lot. ‘Why doesn't he love me?’ Right? ‘Why doesn't he accept me?’”

His grandparents took him church, but his identity and purpose came from his time in the dojo. His commitment there turned into a successful career which led to coaching MMA fighters and his induction in the us martial arts hall of fame. “I put my identity in success of whatever I did.” Says Jamie, “And every time I would get what I was looking for, it didn't fulfill me. So I was constantly looking for something else. I couldn't be successful enough. I couldn't have enough money in the bank. I had everything I had ever really wanted, had security, I had all that. And then when the whole world crashed it, none of it was worth anything to me.”

His world crashed in 2011 when his wife Amanda, who had a long term heart condition told Jamie to call 911. He says, “I was in the middle of the call, and she fell on me. And at that point, I'm on the phone with 911, performing CPR on her, my daughter was standing there with her mom's Bible praying over her mom, begging God to spare her. And I'm trying to do everything I can do. I've trained my whole life everything from, you know, martial arts to military, to just everything, to have this world that I control, I couldn't save my own wife. I couldn't save and protect my daughter from that pain. In that moment I felt completely out of control.” Amanda died in his arms. Jamie’s illusion of control perished with his wife. Over the next year he began abusing alcohol and prescription drugs. Anything to dull the pain. Jamie says, “I was so dependent on this stuff. I became a person I never thought I would become. I didn't even recognize that person. I had my daytime self. I'm a mentor to these kids that I teach martial arts to. I'm a coach to these guys that fight for me. But then there was another side to me. I don't even know what I've become. But here's the big deal. I didn't know how to get out of it. I didn't know how to stop.”

He did his best to hide his vices while living a double life and struggling with addiction.  Then, one day while out on his property target shooting, his mind was flooded with guilt and thoughts of condemnation. He remembers his thoughts, “Look at you. You think you've got everybody fooled, but you know what, you are, you're not a good father, you weren't a good husband, you're an alcoholic. You're, you're an addict. You're all these things.  You're right. I'm just, I'm just a miss. I'm a failure. I am. I don't need to be here anymore. And that's when I took the weapon and I put it in my mouth and I pulled the trigger, And I'll never forget this, when I pulled the trigger, it clicked. And when this thing clicked, something in my head clicked. I was like, I, I don't, I don't want to die. And I dropped on my knees. I'll never forget that. And I’ve done all the sinner’s prayers and all that other stuff. But in that moment, I really talked to God and I was like, God, I'm a mess. I'm, I'm just jacked up, messed up. I don't know what to do with my life anymore. And it's a wreck. But if you can do something with it, you can have it. 'cause I can't live like this by myself anymore.”

Jamie says God met him in his moment of surrender. “I fell on my knees, a broken wreck of a person. But I got up a child, of the living God, peace flooded, joy flooded. Something happened inside of me. And I can't explain it, you know, it's, it is way beyond emotions and feelings. Something just happened that I was like, this is real. And I never really experienced that in my life. I experienced religion, but not the Holy Spirit. He gave me real life in that moment. It was joy that I had not really ever experienced. It was a fulfillment I've not ever experienced.”

A moment later, as he cleared the gun the shot fired. Jamie knew God had miraculously spared his life. That day, he found freedom and a new identity in Christ - as he put his future in God’s control. Jamie says, “And so everything just became alive, you know? So as I began to just walk with God and it was like, it just, these changes began to fall off one after the other, after the other. What I found in him was what I really wanted. And this other stuff, except this was real, it wasn't counterfeit. So there's no going back for me. When he gave me a new purpose, it gave me new desires. And not that I don't love and appreciate everything martial arts has given me, but man, I wanted to serve God full time.”

He has since remarried and now works in ministry - encouraging others to find their peace, purpose and identity as a child of God through Jesus Christ. “If you want real peace, you gotta meet Jesus. He's the one that brings peace. He's the prince of peace, all that stuff. But you really gotta meet him and you really have to trust him, and you really have to obey and walk with him on a regular basis to really get that.” He says, “The stuff that I tried to get peace from and cover up and feel for all those years, I found it in him. He really is my father. When I pray, I'm praying, like Paul said, Abba, like little children like daddy. That's how I look at him. Because what I found in him is like, man, is this what it's like? I'll stay right here forever. This is good.”

“I just carry on. Push. Push has always been a part of my life.  A cough is nothing.”
Retired Army tank commander “Chuck” Fraga never was one to complain. So, when he developed a persistent cough in early May of 2024, he didn’t think much of it. However, over the next couple of weeks it got worse.

“It got to the point where it was just ridiculous. When I coughed it was painful; I could not walk or stand long periods of time, and I couldn't raise my left arm. It was affecting my chest. And if your chest is hurting, you're not gonna wanna do anything.” 
The cough also made it impossible for chuck to wear his CPAP machine, so he couldn’t 
sleep.

“I was constantly just spitting up and coughing, coughing all through the night, keeping my wife awake. And it was keeping me awake. So, it got to be a pain. Not only pain in my body, but pain throughout my environment, because not only was I suffering, but my wife was suffering.”

Chuck and his wife, Asha, reached out to God for help.

‘“I sat there, and I just said, ‘Lord, you are the great healer. I trust you, without fail, you never leave me nor forsake me. Make me like you did before. Heal my disease, heal my cough, and let me feel better again.’ I was frustrated, but I basically just said, ‘Look, it's all in God's hands.’”

Then, on the morning of May twenty-seventh, Chuck sat down to watch the 700 Club, as he had done many times.

“I try to listen to the 700 Club just about every day if I can. I don't remember everything that was being shown that day, but I do remember the prayer because it was 
Ashley and Andrew. And they started praying. Ashley did one, Andrew came back, and he opened up and said:

‘There’s someone who had a terrible cough for weeks, and it’s causing great pain on the left side of your body and your chest. I want you to lift your hands now, and God’s gonna take that coughing away, in Jesus’ name.’

“And when I did this, it's like something just came outta me. There was no pain. The pain was gone. I never had instant, instant relief like that ever. And all I can say was hallelujah, because I know that my Savior healed me! And it was totally amazing for me because all I can say is, ‘Thank you Lord!’”

The cough and pain, gone in an instant, never returned. Soon, Chuck was back to his active lifestyle.

“You can ask anybody who knows me. I may not be able to run the five miles I used to run in the Army, but I can still out walk you. There's no physician on this earth that can heal you like God. He was a healer two thousand years ago. He's the same today as he was back then and always will be. He loves us. He cares for us. He wants the best for us. And he will heal you if you fully trust him, fully believe in him and fully receive what he has to offer.”

Ten-year-old Cindy lives with her parents and a younger brother high in the Andes mountains of Peru.  Their main source of water is an open-pit cistern that collects rainwater.  The family believes it is unsafe to drink.   

“The water looks clean, but when you drink it, it tastes very strange,” Cindy told us.  

“In rainy season, the cistern gets muddy and is contaminated,” her mother, Betsy, said.  “Then the children get sick with dysentery and vomiting.   

During dry season, or drought, the water in the pit disappears for up to five months.  Cindy and Betsy then have to walk 40 minutes one-way to another water source—which they know is dangerous, too.   

“When the water runs out,” Cindy said, “we have no choice but to drink contaminated water which looks yellow and smells bad.” 

Her mother agreed.  “Sometimes the water is also cloudy and dirty.  When I cook rice its turns yellow.”  

Betsy is concerned about her children’s health.  

“When my daughter drank the water, sometimes she got sick. We live far from a clinic so I didn’t know what to do.”        

“I had bad stomach cramps, a headache, and diarrhea,” Cindy lamented.  “I felt awful.

“Then, Operation Blessing came and built a community water project.  Thanks to YOU, we set up a reservoir and a large capacity storage tank to collect and treat the water.  Then we added a distribution system of pipes to bring clean water to all 61 families in the community!    

Betsy is extremely grateful.  “We are happy because the water now comes to our home!  We can use it to cook and prepare food, and even to wash clothes.”  

“I am very happy because now we have clean water to drink!” Cindy said excitedly.   I am very thankful to all the people who made this possible. Thank you!  

“I was diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer,” says Brenda Scott.

“You have stage 4 melanoma,” says Jim Burgett.

“(I had) Cancer in my right lower lung,” says Helena Ludwig.

For Brenda, Jim, and Helena, a cancer diagnosis was the scariest news they ever received.

Something else they had in common, was their oncologist, Dr Dianna Shipley.  “Patients always ask, and their family members will ask, "How long am I going to live?" I'm not much of a prognostication person, so I would never decree death over somebody or their time frame.”

Dianna gave her life to Jesus when she was 14.  Since childhood she knew she wanted to be a doctor.

“First grade, I was going to be a doctor and a teacher Played doctor all the time If you wanted to give me a toy, it was a baby doll and a doctor kit. And I fulfilled both of them I decreed it over myself, decreed it out loud,” says Dr. Shipley. “That's why I say all the time Words are alive Because I'd say I was going to be a doctor and a teacher And as a doctor in oncology, we teach patients every day.”

While pursuing her dream of becoming a doctor, Dianna also discovered her calling.

“When I did my internal medicine residency, I didn't even really know what oncology was. So, I said, "I'm going to sign up for this rotation with hematology and oncology" And I met a beautiful man by the name of Dr. David Lee.  Loved my month with Dr. Lee and did another month with him He taught me the whole time I was doing the rotation with him and then when the month ended, he handed me his hematology book and told me good luck in my career And that basically cinched it I knew I was supposed to do hematology and oncology,” says Dianna.

After graduation, Dr Shipley began her medical practice at Tennessee Oncology, but to her it was more than practicing medicine. To Dianna, it was a ministry to guide people through the physical and spiritual aspects of healing.

Dr. Shipley states, “I usually say if you are quiet, you can hear the still, small voice of the Lord, and sometimes you just have to know what He tells you to tell them. You know, where do you direct that patient? How do you speak to them?”

“When I first went to Dr Shipley's office, and just going down the hall, reading the framed scriptures, it was already ministering to me,” says Brenda.

“I've never met anybody that was as spiritual as she is Her office is full of things about the Lord, Bibles everywhere,” says Jim.

“You must give them hope or they won't want to even try to live for tomorrow,” says Dr. Shipley.

“She's so full of life, ask for prayer if you want it,” says Jim.

“She came into the room, and of course she knew my diagnosis. What she did was she encouraged me in hope, to put my hope in Jesus,” says Breanda.

Dr. Shipley adds, “Prayer is the essential for life Healthy or unhealthy, it is the essential for life, and it changes things.”

In her 25 years as an oncologist, Dr Shipley has treated thousands of patients and has one of the highest survival rates in the country.  She attributes all of it to the power of prayer and a healing God.

“I had met a woman 11 years ago who had stage 4 lung cancer, and she said, "Wow, when I found out my diagnosis, I didn't think I'd see my daughter," who was in eighth grade at that time, "graduate from high school" I've seen her graduate from high school, graduate from college, graduate from her master's, and in two and a half weeks, I'm going to be standing beside her as she gets married Those are big celebrations that even she didn't believe she'd live that long initially,” says Dr. Shipley.

“Anything I wanted to ask her, she'd take time to talk to me about it I hope one day I can be as spiritual as her,” says Jim.

“I would not give up Dr Shipley for anything, nothing whatsoever She has been such an inspiration to me,” says Helena.

“She was not the person that introduced me to Jesus, but she introduced me to a deep level of hope and trust and faith that I had not experienced And I was miraculously healed,” says Brenda.

“We still serve a healing God, God never changes.  I am beyond thankful to the Lord I couldn't imagine my life without the Lord and without the people He's brought into my life All the joy and the blessings I have are unbelievable It's in Ephesians 3, 20 day every day,” says Dr. Shipley. 

More information on Dr. Dianna Shipley.