Followed By Mercy
The Followed By Mercy Podcast
Real Grace, Honest Hope
You might notice a new name and a fresh look, but the heart behind this podcast is the same. After years as the World Evangelism Podcast, I sensed God leading me to a deeper, more personal path centered on His relentless mercy and the kind of honest hope that can reach into every hurting place. That’s why this show is now called Followed By Mercy Podcast. The format may shift, and the tone may be a bit more personal, but my mission hasn’t changed: I still believe the world desperately needs to hear the good news of God’s love in Jesus Christ. You are welcome here if you’ve been with me from the beginning or just found us now.
What if God’s love is more personal, stubborn, and relentless than you ever imagined?
Welcome to The Followed By Mercy Podcast, where we get honest about pain, hope, and the kind of grace that finds you right where you are, five days a week. This isn’t about religious performance or church routines. It’s for anyone who’s ever felt worn out, unseen, or unsure if they belong in the story of God’s love. Every conversation is rooted in this reality: God loves you right now, just as you are, and He isn’t giving up on you.
Here’s what you’ll find in every episode:
Experience God’s Relentless Love
Every show starts by reminding you that the Shepherd knows your name, cares about your story, and isn’t offended by your failures or questions. This is personal—it’s about God’s unwavering affection for you.
Find Your Place in His Heart
Once you grasp how fiercely you’re loved, sharing that love with others doesn’t feel forced. It becomes the most natural thing in the world. Real grace overflows.
Prayer That Changes You
We pray together—not just for the world “out there,” but for the battles and hopes you’re carrying right now. These prayers are honest, rooted in Scripture, and meant for hearts that need a gentle touch from the Shepherd.
Discover Your Unique Role
Whether you’re called to go, give, serve, or show kindness in your corner of the world, God’s mercy meets you where you are. You’re not just a bystander. You are His beloved, invited into the story He’s writing.
When life knocks the wind out of you, this is a place to catch your breath. You’ll hear the encouragement that meets you on your hardest days, and your honest questions will be welcomed. No pretending, no heavy-handed advice—just the reminder that your Shepherd is right there with you, walking every step with you, even when you feel like giving up.
Why does this matter? Because some days, it feels like nobody sees you or cares what you’re going through. But the truth is, you have a Shepherd who never takes His eyes off you, lets you slip through the cracks, and never gives up on you. That kind of love can put you back on your feet, and it might be the hope someone else is waiting to see in you, too.
If you’re longing for more than just religious talk—if you want to know you’re not alone and that God’s mercy is following you all the way home, you’re in the right place. Whether you listen in the car, on a walk, or in a quiet moment, let every episode remind you: God’s mercy is after you right now, ready to bring real grace and honest hope.
Subscribe today and join a community to discover what happens when loved people become loving people. The journey’s just beginning, and there’s a place for you here.
Followed By Mercy
Jesus: The Shepherd Who Chose the Cross for You
When Jesus said, “I am the good shepherd,” He gave those words a depth that has changed lives for centuries. In this episode, we explore the beauty behind that declaration and why it still matters today.
We’ll see how the original language shows that Jesus isn’t just “morally good,” but noble, beautiful, and interesting, the Shepherd who draws us not out of duty, but out of delight. Rome did not murder him, nor did religious leaders, nor even our sins. He laid His life down willingly.
We’ll connect David’s beloved words, “The Lord is my shepherd,” with Jesus’ claim, showing how God Himself fulfills the promise to lead, protect, and care for His people personally. Unlike hired hands who run when danger comes, Jesus stays. He knows His sheep by name, even numbering the hairs on your head. The Good Shepherd doesn’t leave when the night gets dark. He walks with you through it.
This episode brings hope if false shepherds abandoned you or if leaders who only loved you conditionally wounded you. The Good Shepherd doesn’t make you His because you’re good. He makes you His because He is good. When you were lost, broken, and weary, He found you and came for you.
Wherever you are, whatever weighs heavily on your heart, the Good Shepherd sees it, knows it, and carries you through it. He is enough. He is faithful. And He is with you.
Share this message with someone who feels forgotten or unloved. Let them know there is a Shepherd who never leaves, never abandons, and never stops loving.
Thanks for listening. Find us on YouTube, Substack, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
Welcome back to our wonderful Bible study on the 23rd Psalm, though today I'm followed by mercy. I want to take you to another passage of Scripture. I want to take you to the story we find when Jesus says I am the good shepherd. He is the beautiful shepherd who lays down his life. I have loved Psalm 23. I recently heard from a listener that said they don't want Psalm 23 to end. That's exactly how I feel about it. I feel like it changed my life. It radically helped me start learning more and more about how much Jesus loves me. Today I want you to think about this with me. He said I am the good shepherd. That's found in John, chapter 10 and verse 11. And it's a wonderful verse. It says I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep. I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd gives his life for the sheep.
Austin Gardner:Now, this goes far beyond whatever we might imagine. The word that's used for good in the Greek there, the original language is not just good in a moral sense, but it's noble, beautiful, excellent, compelling. It's a lot more than just moral goodness he's the good shepherd. It's a goodness that shines outward. It's a goodness that draws us to him. It makes him the kind of shepherd our hearts long to follow, not out of duty but out of delight. The good shepherd that means. It says he lays down his life for his sheep a deliberate, voluntary sacrifice. Rome didn't take his life. The priests didn't take his life. The Jews didn't take his life. Are you ready? Even your sin didn't take his life. Jesus chose the cross, didn't take his life. Jesus chose the cross. That's the beauty of his goodness. He freely gave himself for all of us.
Austin Gardner:I go back to Psalm chapter 23,. The Lord is my shepherd. Now, when we read that, you know we were talking about Yahweh. We're talking about God. I am, and this is. I am the good shepherd. Jesus is God in human flesh and he is there to be our good shepherd because he is good. God hated the false shepherds and the way they mistreated the sheep and all that, and he wanted to come himself in Ezekiel 34 and be our shepherd. And that is exactly what happened In Jesus.
Austin Gardner:The promise that God is our shepherd I am is our shepherd is that Jesus came. He is God in human flesh and he shepherds his own people personally. Now he is the good shepherd, right? The beautiful thing about that is I'm not good. I don't have to be good. He is good. He didn't make me his sheep because I was good. He made me his sheep because he is good. He found me when I was lost in sin, when I was rebelling against him, when I was ungodly Romans 5, 6, when I was weak and unable to do anything about it, when I was still sinning. That's when he came and got me. So you see, I don't have to measure up, because he's already come down to where I was. He stooped down to me.
Austin Gardner:Now he contrasts the fact that he's a good shepherd because when the enemies come, the hired hand, the hireling, the shepherd who's paid not because they're his sheep he runs away. But Jesus stays, he stands with us, he sacrifices himself. That's exactly what he does. So when the night is dark and the danger is real, our shepherd, the good shepherd, jesus, will not leave you, you know. Another truth is that he knows you by name. He knows you by name. Isn't that one of the most wonderful things Of all? The millions and millions of people on this earth that are saved? He knows you and, by the way, he knows how many hairs are on your head. He is able to do that because he is a good shepherd. He is able to do that because he is God in human flesh.
Austin Gardner:Now a lot of people have been hurt by false shepherds. A lot of us have been abandoned by our leaders. They loved us when it was convenient for them or when we could do something for them. They loved us when it was convenient for them or when we could do something for them, but they left us. But Jesus is the good shepherd. He will not leave. He is not like them. His love does not fail. His goodness does not vanish. He can free your heart from even the bitterness that you feel. He can give you rest. He is the good shepherd. He lays down his life for his sheep. He is a good shepherd who will not run. He is a good shepherd who risks himself for you. He is a good shepherd that gives it all for all of us. He is the good shepherd. I am so blessed, and you are too, that we serve the good shepherd. He is sacrificial toward us. He has given his life and today he's still doing that. He lives in us, he is working in us, he is showing his power in us. So I challenge you that you can have victory.
Austin Gardner:I don't know what you're afraid of. I don't know what keeps you awake at night. I don't know what's got your heart perturbed and disturbed. I don't know, but he does. I can't help you, but he can. I can't be there, but he is and he loves you. And he says to you come unto me. All you that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. I want you to know he loves you, he's there to help you. He's going to do a work in your life. If you'll just allow him, will you trust him?
Austin Gardner:Today, you know you've been fighting and struggling to get some equilibrium. You've been trying to figure out what you're going to do. You might have been wrestling with your wife or your husband. You might have been trying to wrestle with your parents or society, but God is telling you I am the good shepherd. I am the good shepherd and he came and gave his life for you and he loves you. So I challenge you to place your life in his hands. He is calling you now. He is working your life. He's the noble, beautiful, faithful shepherd and he is enough. He is enough.
Austin Gardner:So I want to challenge you to love our shepherd to follow our shepherd. He helps you with all the scars that have come from all the other places he's at work in your life. I want to thank you for listening to, followed by Mercy. I know there are other people hurting besides you and I would like you to share this with them. Let them know God loves them. Let them know that God loves them, no matter who they are, no matter where they've been, no matter what they've done, how many times they've failed, no matter how much the church or religion rejects them. God does not. He loves them and he cares. So I hope you'll share this with them and I hope that they will be blessed by what God is doing in their lives.
