It's All About Healing

Delivered From Self-Destruction: Faith, Prison, And A Second Chance, with John Vaughn: Episode 367

• Robin Black

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Some stories punch through the noise and make you rethink what protection, purpose, and peace really mean. John Vaughn’s journey starts in the streets of Indianapolis and spirals into fast money, arrests, and a near-death moment that should have ended everything. Instead, he walked away with a question that reappeared at every crossroads: who keeps rescuing me when I’m not even looking for help?

We sit with John as he retraces life before and after prison, the lure of quick cash and new cars, and the sharp emptiness he calls the “God void.” The turning point arrives on a front porch: a neighbor says God sent him, prays over John’s ruined shoulder, and years of scans and surgery plans are eclipsed by instant healing. That moment doesn’t just restore movement; it resets meaning. John opens the Bible and finds it alive—promises about protection, provision, and peace that prove steady when shelves go empty and costs climb.

Together, we explore how faith moved from vague belief to daily practice: praying and fasting, anchoring in scripture, and refusing to let fear write the story. John talks candidly about reentry, low wages, child support, and the grind of starting over, and how trusting God turned survival into endurance. He names the trap of status chasing, echoes Solomon’s warning about vanity, and shows why building on a solid foundation matters when the world shakes.

If you’ve ever wondered whether grace can break cycles, or whether a promise on a page can carry you through a hard week, this conversation offers both candor and hope. Listen, share it with someone who needs a reason to keep going, and if it resonates, subscribe, leave a review, and tell us where mercy showed up in your story.

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SPEAKER_01:

Welcome back, listeners. I'm Robin Black, and this is It's All About Healing Podcast. We have a special guest today, John Vaughn, and he's going to be speaking to us today about how God delivered him from self-destruction. John, how are you?

SPEAKER_00:

I'm good. How are you, uh, Ms. Block?

SPEAKER_01:

I am doing well, John. So tell us a little bit, just kind of tell us a little bit about yourself and about your past.

SPEAKER_00:

Okay. Uh, well, um, I'm uh 45 years old, uh born and raised here in uh Indianapolis my whole life. Um happily married, uh had children. Yeah, that's essentially a little bit, I mean, about my personal life, I guess. And uh Right.

SPEAKER_01:

Okay. And so when you're when you're speaking about some of the self-destruction, what destruction are you are you speaking of?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, initially in my early uh years, you know, it was like a late, like a late teens, early 20s. You know, I was out there in the streets, you know, uh selling dough, you know, just uh just headed towards a past, you know, like a path of destruction, you know, and um I really didn't know God, you know. I didn't I don't come from a religious background per se, you know, so I don't come from a really church going household, if that makes sense. And but, you know, God found me, you know, God found me through his grace and mercy, you know, through it all, through all that I was going through, you know. I felt that he found me out of all these. I mean, I mean, you look on the news every day, you know, you see a young black man dying from just, you know, living in the streets, from just selling dope, living the fast life, you know, and I think back to those days, and it was just nothing but his grace, his literal grace and his mercy that sustained me throughout all those, you know, uh devastating years of my life, you know. But uh, like I said, I wouldn't give them back for anything, you know, because just the things that I've been through has molded me into the individual that I am today. And uh, but yeah, I would say it's for you know for a path of destruction. But like I said, it was just through his grace and mercy that uh I am right here in front of this camera right here, uh, Ms. Block.

SPEAKER_01:

And so tell me a little bit about how long, how long were you on that road? How long were you selling drugs?

SPEAKER_00:

Well, you know, I mean, I mean I even had a you know, I mean, see, that's the thing. When uh God reveals Himself to you mighty, you think back, you know, you think back to all those years that you just think was just luck. You know, I mean, I was just lucky. I was just, you know, I was just, you know, I mean, you know, I mean, just think was luck, but nothing, there's no such thing as luck. If you are a child of God, his mighty hand is gonna be over you wherever you are, you know, in life, no, I mean, no, I just don't matter wherever you are, you know. And uh what was the question again? I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_01:

You're fine. How long were you selling drugs for? Like what?

SPEAKER_00:

Oh yeah, I was uh I mean, basically from the time um, I mean, I was like 19 to like I was like 23, you know, 23, and uh ended up getting arrested for villain and possession. And uh, like I said, that was the best thing that ever happened to me, you know. Uh man, at the time, what's that?

SPEAKER_01:

No, go ahead. Go ahead. I'm sorry.

SPEAKER_00:

At the time, even shortly before I even got locked up, you know, I was like in the just you know, various drugs and just various things, you know, just in life, you know, like I said, that was the best thing that ever happened to me because if he didn't, I would be literally dead, you know. And just even going back to the conversation that we had, you know, at work, you know, a little while ago, I had a situation, even in the midst of selling these drugs, you know, I had a situation to where, you know, me, I literally should have been dead. There's other, no, no other explanation other than I should have been dead in hell right now, burning, you know. But by his grace and his mercy, I mean, I mean, and keep in mind this this is this is coming at a time to where I don't, I'm not gonna say I don't know God, but I don't know the power of God, if that makes sense. I mean, I just don't know, you know, just you know, we just kind of we all look up, you know, as a as God, you know, just that he's you know, as a God that just sits up there in heaven, you know, that he's not an active God, you know what I'm saying? But we but what we don't understand is he's the same God that he was thousands of years ago when he parted the Red Sea, you know, for the uh children of uh, you know, uh Egypt. You know, he's the same God that delivered the three you know, Hebrew uh children out of the fiery furnace. You know, this is the same God, you know what I'm saying? This is this is this is our father, you know what I'm saying? And but like I said, I had a situation to where I literally should have been dead. But he his mighty hand came down and delivered me from death. And just as a youngin', you know what I'm saying? I mean, I still continued, you know, doing what I do, you know, selling dope and living the fast life. And even after, you know, because I mean I'm looking at it and I was just lucky. You know what I'm saying? And uh fast forward, you know, ended up, I ended up getting locked up. Uh I served uh almost three years in prison for uh dealing with possession. Got out in 2005 and uh I'm fresh out the uh joint, you know. So at the time I'm staying with my oldest son's mom to kind of get back, you know, on my feet. And uh and I'm lifting weights with my brother one day, you know, in the midst of all this. And keep in mind, I'm probably like maybe two, three months out, you know, of uh prison. And uh lifting weights with my brother and hurt my shoulder really, really bad. To where the point, I mean, at the time the Lord blessed me with a decent job, you know, gave me decent insurance, you know, and I'm going back and forth to these IU physicians. I mean, because I couldn't lift my arm, you know. They're doing MRIs and they're uh seeing like a lot of death and necrosis. And keeping in mind, this is my dominant arm, you know, that's my right arm.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And um, so they're they're they're telling me that in order for me to have full use of my arm again, I'm gonna have to have uh surgery, physical therapy afterwards, and you know, and you know, and all that stuff. But uh I'm three weeks into this situation. Still the arm, you know, there's there's no progress in it, you know, still not able to, you know, lift it. But keep in mind, if you didn't know me, there's no way that you could immediately tell. I didn't have a swing or I didn't have a cast on my arm or anything like that.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And this is on a Friday. This following Tuesday, I'm scheduled to go see uh the physician at IU that's gonna actually perform the surgery. And uh he's gonna just go over everything with me. I'm coming out the house, this is in the evening time. A gentleman next door stops doing my tracks, and uh the first word to come out of his mouth was uh, hey, uh come in for a second. You know, I went over there and he says, the Lord had me by this house just so I can have this conversation with you here today. He says he wants to hear your heart and your shoulder if you will. And uh keep in mind I'm thrown back. I'm thrown back to the situation that I had prior to, you know, where he like literally delivered me, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, and uh we sit out on this man's porch, you know what I'm saying? I mean, we ain't even talking about God, we're talking for like 20 minutes. And uh all of a sudden this man gets up, grabs my he greet, he grabs my shoulder and begins to pray up my shoulder in the mighty name of Jesus. And immediately my shoulder was healed. You know what I'm saying? And like, I mean, like I said, that was uh 20 years ago, you know? Yeah, and over 20 years ago. But like I said, I mean, I can literally sit here on this podcast with you, Ms. Black, and talk to you for hours about the goodness of God, you know what I'm saying? Because he's delivered me through so much, and he's continued to deliver me, you know, through everything, you know what I'm saying? And he is a mighty God. He is a mighty, great, good God, you know what I'm saying? Yeah, and uh, you know, but like I said, that was 20 years ago, but just after that situation, it really made me think deeply. Who is this who is this God in heaven that just keeps going intervening in my life? You know what I'm saying? Saving me when I don't even want to be saved, you know what I'm saying? Absolutely. And I just I just keep asking myself that it just just just kind of motivated me to get into that word, you know what I'm saying? The holy Bible. Yeah, and uh the rest is kind of history, but I'm gonna tell you right now that holy Bible, the word of God, is not just a book, it's the breathed words of an eternal God, of a God that made everything that was made that was ever made.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

When we as believers read scripture for what it is, the breathed words of the eternal God, it becomes a dwelling part within us. In John chapter 15, it says, If you abide in me and my words abide in you, ask what you will, and it shall be done unto you. He says, Heaven and earth shall pass, but my word shall remain. His word is mighty when we when we receive it for what it is, it becomes a dwelling part within us of us. When we read scripture, like no weapon formed against me shall prosper.

SPEAKER_02:

Right.

SPEAKER_00:

No weapon on this earth shall ever prosper against you, woman of God. You know what I'm saying? If you receive those words, you know what I'm saying? I mean, and and even deeper, you know what I'm saying? In Psalms 91, it says, No plague shall come nigh by dwelling. You know what I'm saying? I mean, hey, I believe that. You know, I mean, I believe that, and and even more so, I've been healed by mighty God. You know what I'm saying? By the mighty God, and uh any time of ailment, even in my age, I mean ailment's gonna come over your body, you know, from time to time. Absolutely. But I just think back to that day in which I was healed. You know, I mean, I mean, it's all temporal, you know what I'm saying? Because I'm I mean, what really motivates me is in the word it says anything that like basically anything that he starts, he's gonna bring it to completion. So I know whatever I go through, my God is always, you know what I'm saying, his mighty hand is always over me and my family, you know what I'm saying? And even as far as like what's going on with the like the with like the high prices of food and just the just the just the cost of living, you know, and just even years ago with the when the COVID stuff first, you know, hit, you know, you go to the grocery stores and there's no food there. You know, and as a I mean, even as a man with children, you know, I mean a man who can't feed his children, that is like a really, you know, that's a that's a that's a bad feeling to have.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

But if we go back to scripture, the word of God, David says that basically he says, I was once a young man, but now I'm old. He says, I have never known a righteous man forsaken or seed beg for bread. And I hold those words close to my heart. So my children are never gonna want, no matter what goes on in this earth, no matter what happens, my children, my family are never gonna want. No plague shall come now by door, no weapon that's formed against me shall prosper in the mighty name of Jesus. So I just believe firmly if we read that book for what it is, it'll make a world of difference in your life.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. I love that, John. Thank you so much for sharing that. But can you also tell us a little bit about what was going on in your mind when you when you were in prison?

SPEAKER_00:

When I was in prison, you know, a lot of things was going on in my mind, you know. I missed my family, you know, and you gotta think, when I was out there, you know, selling dope, you know, I had a lot of money. You know, I had a lot of money to where I could have bought basically anything that I wanted, you know. And the Lord, even in the midst of that lifestyle, he taught me a very, very valuable lesson. Because if you haven't really achieved that objective of having enough funds to where you can buy whatever you want, you would literally go up throughout your whole life trying to achieve the so-called American dream. But one thing I learned in 2001, I bought a brand new Cadillac DeVille, you know, and I had that car for maybe five or six months, and this is like an old one.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

And uh I seen a I seen the ad for the Cadillac EXT. This is when Cadillac was coming out with those uh, you know, like the EXT, like the pickup truck model. And I was like, man, that's a bad truck, you know. So I had to have it. So I ended up buying it, you know, I ended up trading my car in and you know, and got the ext. And you know what? I had that truck for maybe six months, and I seen brand new Mercedes, right? Oh, and I said, I want that. That that told me in my heart that there's nothing in this world that a man can achieve to satisfy. I call it the God void, you know what I'm saying? No matter how big of a car you have, no matter how big of a house you have, it's not gonna satisfy that heart. You know what I'm saying? If you are a child of God, you're gonna have a God void, an eternal, you know what I'm saying, area within your very soul that nothing can't feel but God.

SPEAKER_02:

You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_00:

No matter what wife you have, no matter what husband you have. You know what I'm saying? I mean, like, hey, hey, and just like you know, uh the wisest man Solomon, you know, and uh he says, he says it's all vanity. You know what I'm saying? This is a man that had everything, basically, had more than any man that's ever lived on earth as far as riches. You know what I'm saying? But he said it's all vanity. You know, he says, man, come on. But nah, it's all vanity. You know what I'm saying? I mean, so that just showed me a very valuable lesson about riches, about money. You know what I'm saying? No matter how much money you have, you're always gonna want more. You can have a million dollars in the bank, you'll want two million. You can have 10 million, you'll want a billion.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

Nothing is gonna satisfy a child of God but God.

SPEAKER_01:

Absolutely. I agree with that. So it looks like he brought you to this deliverance, but he brought you also the revelation of all these things. Because it looks like you had to transition from selling drugs to going to prison, then living outside of prison, you know, trying to establish a life outside of drugs in prison, and then going through that transition. So, what was all of this like mentally to be able to be thriving where you are today?

SPEAKER_00:

I mean, keep in mind, you know, you're you're going from making these large amounts of money to basically nothing. You know, the first job that I had when I uh got out was uh, I don't think I was making$13,$12,$13,$14 an hour, you know. But you can't, in all reality, I mean, it was a lot easier then.

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

But now if you're making$13, 14, even$20 an hour, you ain't sustaining nothing. You understand what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_02:

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00:

But uh, but so that transition was really rough, you know, just going from the fast money to basically having basically no money. The amount of money that I did have coming in was getting sucked up by child support and just living expenses, you know. So I literally had, I mean, I was in the negative. Yeah, you know, and uh it was like that for a long time, you know, it was like that for a long time. But I just began to trust God, you know. I just began to trust God, and like I said, that was years ago. And even I mean, I mean I mean, even now, you know, I trust God for everything, Miss Black. I mean, honest, honest truth, I trust God for literally everything. I trust God for my children's well-being. I trust God for, you know, because I mean, like the Bible says, He says, look at the lilies of the field, you know. He says, not even Solomon in all of his glory was as raised as one of them. He says, look at the fowls of the air. They now toll or stowaway and barns, but yet your heavenly father, you know, takes care of them. You know what I'm saying? Trust you me, we are of a more importance than all the fouls of the air and the beasts of the field. So he's most definitely gonna take care of his children, you know, and uh just with that, you know, just in my heart, you know, I just know no matter what I go through, no matter how much money I got in the bank, my household's always gonna be sustained in the mighty name of Jesus. I mean, I mean, I mean, I mean, period, you know, and the Lord bless me with just, you know, different jobs, you know, and I mean I haven't had very many jobs since I've uh gotten out, but uh even the job I have now, you know, the Lord sustains our household on that income. And I just give all glory to him. You know, I just give all praises to his mighty name and uh hallelujah.

SPEAKER_01:

Yes, absolutely. And I feel that what he'll do is he'll empty our cups, right? He'll empty our cups because he's he's emptying that ego and that pride, the judgment. He empties all of that to fill us with him. And sometimes that takes draining us of absolutely everything that way we come to him because that's I believe that's why he's closest to the brokenhearted, right? That's why he has to drain us for some of that when people aren't really understanding why they're going through the problems that they're going through. This story is one of those reasons. And it's it's just it's so uplifting and it's so profound. And I really do thank you for sharing.

SPEAKER_00:

All right, no problem, uh Miss Black, and uh just uh thank you for having me.

SPEAKER_01:

No problem at all. And it's if there's is there anything else that that you want to add or any piece of advice that you would like to give the listeners?

SPEAKER_00:

Um first and foremost, put your trust in God, put your trust in the Lord Jesus, because uh I I'm not a dooms, you know, like a I don't even know what you would call it, but uh but just something in my very soul has just been telling me there's about to be a great shake in this world, you know. Uh and what you're gonna have to have a solid foundation in which to stand. And the Bible says that my my people perish because of the lack of knowledge, you know, and I believe it's the lack of knowledge of the word of God. These times are uh approaching fast, you know, fast. It's gonna be here before you know we even know it. I think we need to, you know, grasp that sound foundation. So put up that word, I mean, just uh pick up your Bible and read, I mean, uh pray, you know, pray, fast, and you know, read that scripture, you know, and uh like I tell you, he's gonna give you a peace, you know, peace in your heart that surpasses all understanding. So when the world is crumbling around us, we're gonna have that solid foundation to know that we're gonna be taken care of in the mighty name of Jesus. And just uh just uh continue to persevere, keep the faith, you know what I'm saying, and just uh finish the race, you know what I'm saying? Like Paul said, but uh God is good, and uh and like I said, even our encounter, Mrs. Black, you know, I mean I've I've seen you a few times, but you know, we worked on different shifts, you know. And I just feel that our you know meeting was basically, you know, uh ordained by God, you know, definitely. And uh I just thank God for what you're doing. And uh yeah, God bless you, Ms. Uh Black.

SPEAKER_01:

No problem at all. Thank you so much, John. And thank you to all my listeners. And again, I'm Robin Black, and this is It's All About the Healing Podcast. Everyone, stay blessed.