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
God doesn't just tolerate you. He delights in you.
Have you ever felt like God just tolerates you? Like you’ve been let into the party but told to stay quietly in the corner? In this episode, we uncover the life-changing truth of Ephesians 1:6: we are “accepted in the Beloved.”
God doesn’t simply permit your presence. He delights in you. His love doesn’t keep you at arm’s length but draws you into the circle of joy shared between Father, Son, and Spirit.
Through real-life stories of radical forgiveness, the Morris family adopting the man who killed their son, Corrie ten Boom extending grace to her former Nazi guard, we see glimpses of God’s heart. Like Mephibosheth at King David’s table, we’re given a permanent seat at God’s feast. And, like Hudson Taylor, we learn that the Christian life is not about striving for acceptance, but about living from it.
You’ll be reminded that, unlike Queen Esther’s trembling approach to her king, our access to God is never uncertain. The scepter is always raised. The Father is always running to meet us. The table is always set. And most beautifully, God rejoices over us with singing, just as Zephaniah 3:17 promises.
If you’re weary of chasing approval, this conversation will help you rest in God’s unshakable love. Listen in, and then share it with someone who needs to hear: you are not barely tolerated, you are fully embraced and deeply loved.
Thanks for listening. Find us on YouTube, Substack, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
Welcome back, my friends, to Followed by Mercy. We're in the third season now and this is the fifth episode. And today we're going to jump into one of the most wonderful, beautiful parts of Scripture you can imagine and we're going to find out what it means to be accepted in the Beloved from Ephesians 1 and verse 6. Now you remember what we've read Ephesians, chapter one and verse six. Now you remember what we've read? Paul has written to the saints and the faithful in Christ Jesus who live in Ephesus real people living real lives, dirty lives, in a regular church full of regular people. They are saints and they are faithful and they have been blessed, and we have all been blessed with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places. We have been chosen, we have been predestined to adoption and we are now finding ourselves accepted in the beloved. So just think with me and meditate with me today on what wonderful truths are being expressed when he says we are accepted in the beloved, to the praise of the glory of his grace. Where he has made us accepted in the beloved, it's to his glory of his grace, and he's the one who did it. Before the world ever began. The Father, the Son and the Spirit lived in unbroken joy of love, the Father delighted in the Son, the Son delighted in the Father. The Spirit was a bond of that love, always giving, always receiving, never competing. Now the Bible says we're accepted in the Beloved. That means we're not tolerated from a distance. It means he has pulled us right into the middle of the circle of their love and joy.
Austin Gardner:John 17, 23,. This verse has radically changed my life. He says I in them, thou in me. This is Jesus praying that they may be made perfect in one, that the world may know that thou has sent me and has loved them as thou has loved me. God loves us like he loved Jesus. Can you believe that God loves us like he loves his son? That is beyond our wildest imaginations. So the Bible is saying to us we are not tolerated, we are fully accepted. We're not like just stand over in the corner and start of the way, I'll let you be at the party. We're in the middle of it all. It's like the angel that greeted Mary. When the angel said to Mary thou art highly favored, the Lord is with you. We are highly favored. And the Lord is with us. He doesn't hand us, he is not handing us scraps of grace. He is pouring out his favor. He doesn't just put up with us, he delights in us.
Austin Gardner:In Psalm 18, 19,. He brought me forth also into a large place. He delivered me because he delighteth in me. He delights in me. Did you hear what the verse says? God delights in you, god delights in you.
Austin Gardner:I don't think you honestly think that. I know it's very difficult for me. I'm still trying to grow in that idea. I can accept that we were condemned but now we're accepted. In John 3, 18, we were condemned already. But you know what? In Romans, chapter eight, there is no condemnation to them which are in Christ Jesus. We're in Christ Jesus, we're in Christ Jesus. We were enemies Romans chapter 5, 10, but we've been reconciled by the death of his son. We are reconciled and saved by his life. Once an enemy, now we are friends. Once condemned, now we're accepted.
Austin Gardner:That makes me think about the story of the Tulsa family, tulsa, oklahoma, and the Morris family. Years ago in Tulsa, oklahoma, a drunk driver named Tom McKee killed a young man named Ted Morris. Ted's parents, jack and Elizabeth Morris, visited Tom in prison Over time. They befriended him. They brought him cookies. Elizabeth Morris visited Tom in prison Over time. They befriended him, they brought him cookies and eventually, when he was released, they welcomed him into their home. They even adopted him as their son.
Austin Gardner:Think on it the man who killed their son became their son. Friends. That's forgiveness, but more than that, that's acceptance. That's the gospel. We didn't just kill the son of God by our sins. He gave his life, but we were. It's our sin that put him on the cross, or he chose to take our sin on him on the cross, but he, after our sins, did all of that. He adopted us. We're adopted by the Father after the cross. Romans 8, 17. We are heirs of God, joint heirs of Christ, so we'll be glorified together. You are not tolerated, you are fully accepted.
Austin Gardner:It's kind of like that story in the book of Esther, when Esther needs to go in and talk to the king, and the king is a very severe man and unless he lifts his scepter, the person trying to enter the courtroom dies, is killed, and she goes in scared, to death, terrified. But he raises the scepter and her life is spared. You see, the scepter, that fear. That's the old covenant. It's conditional, it's fearful and it's uncertain. But in Christ the scepter is always raised. You always have entrance. Let us therefore come boldly under the throne of grace that we may obtain mercy and find grace to help in time of need. He never lowers the scepter. The throne room is always open. You and I always have access.
Austin Gardner:I remember being in a conference one time and the whole conference was built on that theme and I squalled the whole week. I on that theme, and I squalled the whole week. I cried like a baby, thinking I had acceptance and I was welcomed in there. See, we just got to learn to live in our acceptance. You know, we've discussed the story of Mephibosheth before. He's the crippled grandson of Saul, but David invites him to eat at his table and he sat there just like he was one of the king's sons. He didn't earn it, he couldn't repay it, but he was accepted. That's my seat, that's your seat, it's always set and it's always secure. In fact, as the Bible promises you that he said, he has raised us up together and made us sit together in heavenly places.
Austin Gardner:In Christ Jesus, do you understand what's happening here? We are accepted in the beloved. It's a picture of that prodigal son we discuss so often. He returns, he's filthy and stinky, he's ashamed, he's rehearsing a speech, but it's the Father running to him, it's the Father embracing him, it's the Father putting clean clothes on him and throwing a feast. God doesn't wait for you to clean up. He runs to you while you're still in the pig mud and the pig stink and he accepts you. That's acceptance we're accepted in.
Austin Gardner:The beloved Hudson Taylor learned of what he called the exchange life. He was a missionary to China and he was collapsing because of his striving and straining and always working. And Galatians 2.20 really dawned on him in John, chapter 15. And he said I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless I live yet. Not I, but Christ liveth in me. And he took on what he called the exchange life. He would no longer strive for acceptance, he would simply live from the fact that he was accepted. He didn't have to prove anything, he didn't have to gain anything. He was discovering through loneliness and grief and decades of work that he couldn't. He just didn't measure up. Hudson Taylor learned that God wasn't asking him to live for acceptance, but to live from it.
Austin Gardner:You know another story, I'm sure you've heard of Amy Carmichael. She rescued the orphaned children of India. They were unwanted by society. The society told them you are not wanted. She said you are not unwanted. You are loved and chosen. That's what the Lord did for us. He chose us like a young man chooses his wife and he wants to marry her and he rejoices over her. Wants to marry her and he rejoices over her. And God rejoices over us. He's rejoicing over you, just like a groom over his bride. He is rejoicing over you. Our future is bright. It's as bright as the promises of God.
Austin Gardner:Adonai Judson was in prison and one of the guards asked him if his mission was failing and he simply replied my future is as bright as the promises of God, because he knew that he was accepted and that was unshakable. Do you realize what it's saying? For all the promises of God in Christ are yes and amen. Under the glory of God, the Father. We're accepted. You're accepted today. I don't care where you are, I don't care what's been going on, I don't care how you're feeling. He loves you. You're working and afraid and fearful, and the attacker, the accuser, the slanderer makes us feel like trash. But you are accepted.
Austin Gardner:Corrie Ten Boom was a Dutch lady that got in trouble for helping Jews in World War II and got put into a prison camp, and one of her guards saw her later and he asked her to forgive him. And she froze up. She remembered her sister's death and she prayed Jesus, I cannot forgive him. Give me your forgiveness. And she reached out and she said God's love flowed through her. That's acceptance. Not only does God accept us, he enables us to accept others we never thought we could. The scepter never lowers. We have boldness and access by faith of Christ. We have access by faith into his grace. We stand and rejoice in the glory of God. I want you to know that you can trust the Lord even if you're not seeing much fruit, even if you're not seeing much results, even if you're not getting much applause.
Austin Gardner:William Carey called himself the plotter. He was considered nowadays to be the father of modern missions. But you know what sustained him? He felt that he was accepted in Christ. He didn't need applause, he didn't need results. Let us not be weary in well-doing, for in due season we shall reap. So God loves you.
Austin Gardner:If you change once you get better, simply no, no, no. It's not about if you change, not about when you get better. It's just simple. God loves you. God loves you and there is no condemnation. God loves you, god is joying over you. The Bible says in Zephaniah 3.17, the Lord, thy God in the midst of thee, is mighty. He will save, he will rejoice over thee with joy. He will rest in his love. He will joy over thee with singing. He doesn't just accept us, he rejoices over us with singing. Do you understand it? I want you to take that home. It's like the mom of that new baby sitting in that rocking chair and tears of joy streaming down her face as she sings sweet lullabies to her child. God doesn't just let you in the door. He throws a party when you arrive.
Austin Gardner:Grace doesn't mean you can stop performing. It says start resting. You don't have to perform, just rest. You'll never surprise God. He knew everything about you when he chose to love you. He loved you when you were a sinner. He still loves you.
Austin Gardner:The verdict is in. You are not guilty. You are fully accepted. You are forever loved. Now, what's the loudest voice in your head? What's the loudest voice in your head? It needs to be that you're not to live in shame or fear. You don't need to improve yourself. You need to hear this to the praise of the glory of His grace, where he made us accepted in the beloved. You are accepted. The scepter is raised, the father's running towards you, the table is set. So come boldly. Come boldly to the throne of grace, rest in his embrace. You're accepted in the beloved.
Austin Gardner:I hope you're enjoying this journey through the book of Ephesians. I hope you're enjoying what you're seeing God doing. Just remember this nothing can separate you from his love. You are loved and accepted always and always will be so, no matter what's happening in your life today, no matter what you're facing, no matter what you're going through. Know this you are loved, you are accepted. It's all because of your relationship with Jesus Christ. You are in Christ Now. If you're listening and you haven't trusted Christ as your Savior, he loves you. He's already died for you. He's already paid everybody your sin debt. All you have to do is accept the free gift that he offers you. Trust Jesus that loves you and died for you and rose again to give you salvation forever. Believe him today. Thank you so much for listening. Thank you for being a part. If this is a blessing to you at all, please share it with others. God bless you.
