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
Transformative Discipleship: Emulating Jesus in Mentoring Church Leaders
Can true discipleship transform the way we mentor future church leaders? Discover the profound impact of life-on-life discipleship as we unpack what it means to genuinely mentor and disciple within the church. By emulating Jesus' methods and fostering deep, loving relationships, we shed light on moving beyond basic doctrine and engaging in ministry training that is personal and impactful. This episode promises to challenge conventional discipleship approaches and inspire you to invest in the spiritual growth of others with intentionality and care.
Join us as we explore the Apostolic approach to mentorship, drawing parallels to how the Apostle Paul nurtured his followers with a familial love and intimacy. This is not about watching a movie together; it's about living life together and learning through shared experiences. Whether you're a pastor, mentor, or passionate about church leadership, this conversation offers valuable insights into cultivating a nurturing and transformative discipleship environment. Learn how to treat your disciples like family and equip them for active ministry involvement, embodying the true essence of life-on-life discipleship.
Thanks for listening. Find us on YouTube, Substack, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
I've been trying to talk to you about training leaders. That's the whole goal being a mentor and training leaders. I want to talk to you just a little bit about what it means to disciple and what it means to be mentoring people. And so what is true discipleship or what is true training? You know you have to define your terms. A lot of churches would say we are doing discipleship and what they're doing is new church member material. It's what a church is doing. When I was a kid, no one used the term discipleship, but then we kind of changed the term. But I'm trying to teach you a whole different philosophy. I'm trying to teach you the idea that we would train men and women to carry the gospel message around the world, that we would be going much further than basic doctrine, much further than basic Christian living. We would be going on to train them to be involved in ministry. And so let me just give you a few of the things. Number one it's a life on life, and that means it's not something that can be done in a college classroom, it's not something that can be done in an academic setting, to be honest. It's not something that can be done in a pulpit and an auditorium. It's not something that can be done there. It's more done when you live life together and you're spending all the time with them and you're showing them unintentionally, but practically you're showing them everything. It's really what we saw Jesus do, isn't it? You know, jesus didn't have a Bible college. He never sat people down and said guess what? We're about to have a homiletics class, and so get out your notebooks, pull out your laptops, get out your iPods and take a bunch of iPads and take a bunch of notes. That's not what he did. What Jesus did was let's just walk down the street and talk. Whom do men say that I am? Who do you say that I am? Bring me a coin. Let's look at that coin. Whose image is on this coin? Well then, give to Caesar what Caesar's and give to God what's God's. And so it was a constant ministry thing. It was him living his life and sharing his life with him.
Austin Gardner:Now, it's not spending time together. Sometimes, you know, we watch a movie together, or we watch a ball game together, or we watch the Superbowl together, and some pastor will say to me I spent a lot of time with my young people. But I would say what kind of time do you spend? What kind of time do you spend? Now, it doesn't mean that there ought not be some just plain or relaxed time. There ought to be some time when you just play sports. There ought to be some time when you just watch a ball game Not a problem with that at all. But they ought to be watching you and seeing from you and hearing from you and learning how to live and do what God has called them to do.
Austin Gardner:I call that life on life, discipleship. That's what the apostle Paul did. And the apostle Paul's relationship with those students wasn't the relationship of a professor in a university. I mean, he could have never called a professor in a university, could never call a student in and say I think I need to circumcise you before we take this next trip together. But Paul could do that with Timothy, and I'm not suggesting that you circumcise anybody. I am saying there's an intimacy involved. There is I know you, you know me, I love you, you love me and I'm here for you and you're here for me.
Austin Gardner:Life on life. Maybe another way to look at it would be loving them like they're your family, loving them like your family. You know. What's really funny is you will do a different thing with your family if they do something wrong than you will with a young preacher. You know you are callous and unthinking and uncaring, because the pastor is just a number on a page, he's not somebody special. But if it were your son, you'd have a different attitude, and don't deny that. Please don't deny that. I hope you would have a different attitude. I really hope you treat your son in a very special way, because he is a very special person. What I'm calling on you to do is to treat the disciples like a son. Paul called Timothy his beloved son, and he wasn't his son. He didn't leave him for Christ and he wasn't physically his dad, but Paul loved him like family. Paul loved him like somebody in his family. And so I want to just maybe go just a fudge more with you.
Austin Gardner:This life on life, this loving them like a family, is you investing and pouring into yourself, into another person.
Austin Gardner:It is you teaching another person everything you know.
Austin Gardner:I do it in a way that comes across as I love you and I care about you, and not I'm being bossy or fussy. Not I'm calling you out, but it's got to be. I'm helping you when you go fishing, I'm going to teach you how to put the worm on the hook. I'm going to teach you how to use the bait. I'm going to teach you all the things to do. I'm not going to fussy, just say you dummy, you don't know what you're doing. That's not going to be my attitude, because you are family, because it's life on life and because I'm pouring myself into you. I am pouring myself into you. To be honest with you, most missionaries have a little bit of a problem with that because in some way they think of themselves as bigger and better than the national. Some way they begin to think you know what? The nationals aren't that important. Well, that's biblically just impossible. That's not the way it should be treated and I challenge you to think about that with me as we go on to the next session tomorrow.
