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
When Trying Harder Isn’t Holier
What if the heaviness you feel isn’t failure at all, but a sign you’ve been carrying a burden God never asked you to lift?
In this episode, we talk honestly about spiritual exhaustion. Not the kind that comes from rebellion, but the kind that settles in on sincere believers who love God and keep trying harder to please Him. We look at how “try harder” faith sneaks in quietly, how devotion turns into pressure, and why so many faithful people feel worn down instead of free.
From Ephesians 2, we’re reminded that we are God’s workmanship, not His unfinished project. From Psalm 147, we hear that the Lord takes pleasure in those who hope in His mercy, not those who hustle for approval. Obedience begins to change shape when you realize you already have God’s smile. It becomes a response to love, not a performance to earn it.
We also talk candidly about aging, illness, discouragement, and that constant sense of never feeling like you’ve done enough. And we name a better way forward. Rest is not a reward for the spiritually elite. It is the foundation of real growth. Transformation happens in safety, not fear.
If your soul feels tired, consider this your permission to stop performing. You don’t need to hide. You don’t need to hustle. You can return, because the door is open and the Father is kind.
#GraceOverGrind #GodsMercy #ChristianEncouragement #FaithAndRest #SpiritualBurnout #GraceNotWorks #RestInGod #HopeInMercy #WearyBelievers #FollowedByMercy
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I've been around church all my life. I've preached, I've taught, I've counseled. I've watched good people slowly wear themselves out, trying to please a God who was already pleased. I'm not talking about rebels, I'm not talking about people who don't care. I'm talking about sincere believers. People who love God, people who pray, people who read their Bible, people who honestly want to do what's right. And yet deep down they're tired. Not just physically tired, soul tired. They keep asking themselves questions they don't want to say out loud. I still feel like I'm falling short. Why does my faith feel heavy instead of freeing? Why does trying harder never seem to quiet the voice that says you should be doing more? If that's you, I want you to know something right up front. Your exhaustion is not proof that you're a bad Christian. It may be evidence that you've been carrying a weight God never put on you. Somewhere along the way, many of us were taught directly or indirectly that the Christian life works like this. God saves you by grace, and then he watches to see how well you perform. Never said it that plainly, but we live it like that. We measure ourselves constantly. How much am I praying? How consistent am I? How patient am I? How loving am I? And when we don't measure up, we don't usually run from God, we double down, we try harder, we promise more, we tighten our grip. And the strangest thing happens the more sincere we are, the more exhausted we become. That's because exhaustion isn't about the result of sin. Sometimes it's a result of self-effort in the wrong place. Paul speaks directly to this in Ephesians chapter two. He reminds believers who already love God what is true about them before Christ. And then he says, You are saved by grace through faith, and that not of yourselves. It's a gift of God, not of works, lest any man should boast. I really even love Ephesians 2.10, where Paul said that Jesus says, We are his workmanship. He's not ours. We didn't make him. He made us. We're not who we are because of us, we're who we are because of him. He's at work. Most Christians know the verses, but we often forget what they meant and what they mean when they say that. God didn't just start your relationship with God. Grace is the relationship. Grace started it. If salvation wasn't achieved by your effort, your standing with God won't be maintained by your effort either. God did not rescue you from drowning just to hand you a swimming test. Yet many believers live as if that's exactly what happened. We say we believe Jesus finished the work, but we live like we're still under review. That's why so many people feel anxious when they pray, guilty when they rest, uneasy when life slows down. I feel that sometimes now. Being 71 and having cancer and Addison's disease and being retired, I sometimes wonder what's it worth? Somewhere deep down inside, we believe God is pleased when we're striving, when we're working, and we believe he's disappointed when we're still. But Scripture paints a very different picture. Psalm 147 says this The Lord takes pleasure in them that fear him, in those that hope in his mercy. That's Psalm 147 eleven. Notice what it does not say. It does not say that God takes pleasure in those who get it right every time. It does not say he delights in flawless obedience. It does not say he's impressed by my spiritual performance. I sometimes apologize to him for how poorly I preached. It says he takes pleasure in those who hope in his mercy. That word doesn't mean wishful thinking hope in the Bible is expectation, a confident expectation. God delights in people who lean on his mercy instead of their record. That changes everything. Because when you believe God and you believe he is already pleased, then obedience stops being about performance and becomes just a response. You don't obey to earn his smile. You obey because you already have his smile. And when you miss it, when you stumble, when you fall short, when you don't hustle, when you don't hide, you return. That's why. Because see, when we mess up now, we're not afraid to go talk to our Father. We know he loves us. We come back. When we mess up, when we fall, when we fall short, we don't hide. We don't hustle. We just stop the hustle and we come back. That's what grace teaches us. Grace doesn't make us careless, it makes us secure. And secure people grow better than fearful ones ever will. I've watched believers burn out, not because they stopped loving God, but because they never learned to rest in his love. They mistook effort for faith. They confused discipline with acceptance. They thought closeness with God required constant strain, but Jesus said something very different. I actually got a phone call just a few weeks ago. A brother was hurting, tired, can't keep up, never enough. Exactly what I felt. He thought maybe I could help him because that's what I've been through and what I've done. And I want to help you if you're listening. Jesus said, Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I'll give you rest. Pay attention to who he's inviting. He's not inviting the strong, successful ones. He's not inviting the ones that got it all together. He's inviting the tired, the burdened down, the worn down. He didn't say he would give them more rules. He said he'd give them rest. He didn't say he'd put on more expectations. Rest is not the reward for spiritual maturity. It's the foundation of spiritual maturity. When you rest in Christ, real change begins. Not force change, not anxious change, but quiet, steady, inward transformation. So let me say this plainly. If you're tired right now, that doesn't mean you've failed God. It may mean you've been faithful longer than you've been free. And that's God's invitation to you is come closer, not try harder. Come closer to grace, closer to mercy, closer to the truth that Jesus finished something you keep trying to improve. You don't need permission from me, but maybe you need to hear it anyway. You have permission to rest. Boy, I needed to hear that. You have permission to stop performing. You have permission to trust that God's love for you is not hanging by a thread. If you're tired, that's proof you're that's not proof you're far from God. It's proof you've been carrying something he never asked you to carry. Come on, isn't it true? Do you not know what I'm talking about? Doesn't it break your heart? You know, this is what I wish someone had told me when I was so tired of trying. I never preached well enough, never witnessed enough, never gave enough, never was separated enough, just never lived up. You ever felt that way? That's not how our Father wants us to feel. That's not how he wants us to feel. Pray about that. Now, if I can help you, I'd love to. So I hope this might be a blessing to you.
