In this episode, Mike Triem of Crawford Media Group converses with Kerry Vaughn, CEO of Love Worth Finding, about the enduring influence of Dr. Adrian Rogers. They reflect on how faith and divine wisdom guided Dr. Rogers’ teachings, emphasizing the importance of finding strength in Christ during challenging times. The discussion covers poignant ‘Adrianisms’ that continue to inspire listeners globally, conveying the significance of love, leadership, and the moral decisions facing our society today.
00:00:00 Introduction and Partnership Acknowledgment
Well, it’s Mike Triem with Crawford Media Group. I’m joined by Kerry Vaughn, the CEO of Loveworth Finding. And Kerry, thank you for taking the time with us.
SPEAKER 03 :
Oh, thank you. It’s been a great partnership, and we appreciate you.
SPEAKER 02 :
Kerry, we’re so grateful for Loveworth Finding. And Dr. Rogers had a lot to say about having strength in times of weakness, strength in times of challenges, and looking to Christ instead of saying, hey, we’ve got this. What are some of the things that stick out for you? And I’ll bring up a couple messages, too, if that helps.
SPEAKER 03 :
Yeah, well, you know, one of the things that sticks out to me because I had the privilege and the honor of serving on staff with him years ago was that he would say, you know, either we’re going to walk by faith and not by sight, or we’re going to take down the marquee, close the doors, and go do something different. And it was a reminder to us that we have to walk by faith. Trials will come. Tribulations will be here. And we’re promised that even in the word of God, John 16, 33. In this world, you will have trouble. That’s a promise. Lock it down. be of good cheer, I’ve overcome the world. And so, you know, there was always a strong push about faith, having the fundamentals of faith, and even living out your faith, right? We as believers in Jesus Christ need to be salt and light, and we need to live out the truth, and Jesus Christ is truth.
SPEAKER 02 :
Kerry, I don’t know if it was you or Bobby Lewis that told us this, but one of the things that Adrian said was, it’s getting gloriously dark.
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s getting darker. That was his Adrianism, right? It’s getting gloriously dark. And he would also say… you know, when it came to politics and the nation, hey, we need to get close to the Republicans and we need to get close to the Democrats and we need to get close to the independents because they all need Jesus Christ. And that was a great reminder, right? It’s a moral decision. It’s a heart decision. He would also say this. Sometimes the heart of the matter is the matter of the heart. And so he saw the ministry of love worth finding as a mechanism that would point people to the cross, mature them in their faith, And then come alongside them and help them in every aspect of life. And that’s the reason why we started Love Worth Finding in 1986. We’re getting ready to celebrate 40 years. Originally, it was Word for the World. And then he came back and said, well, there’s another ministry with a similar title. Let’s call it Love Worth Finding because it’s the greatest love worth finding. And so for 40 years, Mike, it’s been our mantra, right, to get the word of God into the people of God. But, yes, it came down to, you know, we need godly leadership not only in our homes, in the church, and in the community, but we need godly leadership in our country. And he believed that. And, you know, even God positioned him to be a leader. spiritual advisor for people like President Bush and President Reagan and Jimmy Carter. And some of these through his tenure, he was able to lean in and to pray with and to be that spiritual encouragement, almost like a Nathan to a David, so to speak. And so, you know, that was his ministry. And he really lived it well.
SPEAKER 02 :
I love that you told that, Kerry, because a lot of people don’t know that. That’s something I didn’t know. I just knew that the few times I met him, he was so genuine and kind and remembered people’s names. I’ve told you that before. You knew that, obviously, that he had that photographic memory. It was crazy to me how he cared for each person. Didn’t matter who you were.
SPEAKER 03 :
He made you feel like you were the only one in the room.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah.
SPEAKER 03 :
And that was a gift. And this is something very funny. My job back in those days was to administer our discovery class, our new member class. And so Dr. Rogers always spoke at the first five minutes of that class. And he came in one day and he said, well, look, I’ve met each and every one of you. and I’ve heard your testimony and he said by the way I’m pretty good with names I’m real good with names I took one of those Sam Carnegie courses
SPEAKER 02 :
That’s too much, man.
SPEAKER 03 :
That was his wit and that was his wisdom. But he made everybody feel like that he was only talking to them. And so I asked Joyce Rogers one day, I said, you know, I’ve watched him from afar. I’ve served with Dr. Adrian Rogers. He has the voice. He’s a prince of preachers. He’s athletic. He’s winsome. He’s good looking. He’s all those things. And she said, you know, when he surrendered to the ministry, God gave him every attribute to be America’s pastor.
SPEAKER 02 :
Wow.
SPEAKER 03 :
And so we don’t take that lightly, Mike. And so when I say that he was a spiritual advisor to the presidents, he was very much so. And to the point of when he retired from Bellevue, he was talking to President Bush at that time. This is 2005. about maybe being more of a spiritual counselor, advisor for him in D.C. And he really saw that as maybe his next move. And so I just think that as we look at all this, we talk about fear and faith and we talk about godly leadership. Adrian was the statesman, if I can use that word. He was the statesman that he could preach on Sundays, but he could also lean into our nation and our national leaders and say, we need to be leading at a level that’s honoring to God. And God’s not going to take anything that’s second best. He had that ability to do that.
SPEAKER 02 :
We’re speaking with Kerry Vaughan. Kerry is the CEO of Love Worth Finding and gives us some insights that we just wouldn’t otherwise have of behind the scenes with Love Worth Finding. And Kerry, one of the things that is accessible to our listeners and is really helping not only our current listeners, but also their children and grandchildren is come closer to Christ is some of the technology and the ways Loveworth Finding has been able to use that. Tell us about some of the things you’re really excited about that are new and perhaps reaching younger audiences.
SPEAKER 03 :
Well, I’m really excited about a few things. So if you go back 40 years ago, we were radio TV and God really blessed that and he honored that. But today in 2025, we are we are a mass communications ministry. We are social media. We are digital media. We have a podcast. We have an app. You know, the app is free. It’s called my podcast. LWF app and everything that I’ve said today and more is at your fingertips. It’s right there on the app and it’s one of our best tools that we make available. And so all those things put us into a new age with Love Worth Finding reaching not only a new audience, which is always exciting, but reaching to some degree a younger audience, an audience that maybe they were not familiar with the ministry and the preaching of an Adrian Rogers. Now we have those type of opportunities. Last year alone, Mike, we saw 54 million views on YouTube. That’s 54 million views on YouTube in 365 days. Is that not amazing?
SPEAKER 02 :
Yeah. And I think you told us that YouTube’s different than television, that YouTube’s really blossomed for the ministry. Not that television’s not important. And I know that there are some move back away from that. YouTube has been especially effective. Why do you think that is?
SPEAKER 03 :
It’s been very effective, and all of it’s important to us, and all of it’s important to our constituents. But I think it’s been effective and efficient because it’s reaching this younger tech-savvy audience that everybody has a cell phone, a smartphone in their hands 24-7, and we’re able to tap into that, and we’re able to reach out and connect with people real-time right where they are. Hmm. So, you know, at the office, at home, you know, during their hobbies or interests, in a car, wherever, we’re able to tap into that real-time right where they are and provide real truth. So we have a few sayings here at the office. Real truth never changes. And profound truth simply stated.
SPEAKER 02 :
Yes.
SPEAKER 03 :
And that’s the ministry of love worth finding because we believe that Jesus Christ is truth. Pontius Pilate was looking at Jesus and he said, what is truth? But yet he was looking at truth right in the eyes. John 14, 6, I am the way, the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. But we also know that the truth, God’s word. So sanctify them in truth. Your word is truth, John 17, 17. And so everything that we send out from Love Worth Finding Ministries is the whole truth, nothing but the truth. So help us, God, because it’s coming right from the word of God. It’s not watered down. It is full force, no compromise. And then we have this other piece that talks about speaking the truth in love, Ephesians 4, 15. Well, that’s our responsibility, right? As individuals, as the CEO and president of Loveworth Finding, as Loveworth Finding as a mass communications organization, we’ve been commissioned and we’ve been called to speak the truth in love. And that’s what we do in 196 countries and soon to be, Mike. in 14 new languages. And so that’s something else we’re working on is to transition and transfer all this content and all of what we call gold into 14 new languages so that people can hear the truth in their native language.
SPEAKER 02 :
Kerry, why do you think his messages, Dr. Rogers’ messages still are so personal for people? Because it’s clearly connecting, even with people who are younger, who may not know about love refining or Dr. Rogers. They just, you know, they might pass by if they didn’t see it on YouTube, have an opportunity to access it on some digital platform, and then realize this is relevant for my life today.
SPEAKER 03 :
Dr. Rogers would prep for a sermon, and he would pour in maybe 20 to 30 hours a week for a sermon. And then probably by Thursday or Friday, he would pare it down. And then he would read it again on Saturday, and he would pare it down a second time. And then he would read it again, maybe late Saturday night, or maybe kind of go over it early, early Sunday morning before church. And he would pare it down one more time. So that if you were 90 years of age, or if you were nine years of age, you could receive the word of God and fully comprehend it. Because to him, if you just heard the word, but you did not know how to apply it, what good was it? And so Dr. Rogers was very sensitive and very intentional about making certain that the word, the message could be received, but more importantly, it could be applied to their life. I think it’s the simple, profound truth that we at Love Worth Finding have the blessing to really disseminate every single day.
SPEAKER 02 :
Well, we’re honored to be stewards with you. I mean, that’s part of our role in the different ways that we can help, whether it’s radio, podcasting, letting people know about YouTube and the different mass media uses that you’re using. We’ve got a little bit of time left. Carrie, how do people interact? Our KLTT listeners especially, we have a dedicated page, 670KLTT.com slash LWF. So…
SPEAKER 03 :
Tell us how how do folks interact with you and with the best way to connect with us and the best way to to have really a relationship of love worth finding is LWF. Everything is there, lwf.org. You can receive messages, treasures from the Word, Adrianisms. You can find out how to download the app. You can listen to a podcast. You can do all those things there. You can even post a prayer request. We receive about 1,000 prayer requests per month, so we’re also a prayer ministry. All of that is there at lwf.org. And let me say this, Mike. It’s not just a vendor ministry partnership with Crawford. Crawford also supports this ministry. You guys believe in what we do, and I can’t thank you enough for that. So it’s more than just a platitude of, hey, we appreciate you, and this has been a wonderful legacy. It’s more than that. You really invest and believe in what we do and what we’re trying to achieve, and I just praise God for that.
SPEAKER 02 :
Kerry, thanks for recognizing that. And that really goes from Don Crawford Sr. all the way down through myself, his son, Don Crawford Jr., and others. So thanks for making the time with us. It’s always great. We learn something new about Dr. Rogers and love for finding every time. So thank you again for your time, Kerry.
SPEAKER 03 :
Thank you, my friend. Have a blessed day, Mike.
SPEAKER 01 :
What a great discussion with Mike Treem, Station Manager here at KLTT and the CEO of Loveworth Finding, Carrie Vaughn. You can tune in to Loveworth Finding Monday through Friday at 7 a.m. And make sure and get a hold of some free resources provided by Loveworth Finding. Just go to lwf.org forward slash KLTT. That’s lwf.org forward slash KLTT.
