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
The LORD is my Shepherd, Pastor, Father
"The Lord is my shepherd."
We've heard those words so many times that we miss the meaning. But slow down for a second. Don't rush past them. Let them sink in.
The Lord is.
Not was. Not might be someday. Not when I get my act together. He is right now. In the middle of the confusion, the waiting, the pain, the pressure. He is present. Fully aware. Actively shepherding.
And then that little word: my.
Not just the Shepherd or the world's Shepherd but My Shepherd. That word "my" changes everything. This isn't some poetic verse about a distant deity. This truth is deeply personal. Try saying it out loud with your name in there: "The Lord is [your name] 's shepherd." Do you feel that shift? Suddenly, it's not just Scripture. It's relationship.
This isn't a God who checks in on you once a week. He's not keeping score or waiting for you to perform. This Shepherd knows every part of your story, including scars, shame, and silent battles, yet He stays anyway. He sees it all, and still, He chooses you. He leads you. He loves you.
And when life hits you sideways, the doctor calls, the relationship crumbles, and the nights feel longer than your hope—this is what holds you: You belong to a Shepherd who knows your name and never lets go.
Even when you wander (and we all do), He doesn't come after you with a lecture. He comes with compassion. He searches. He carries. And when He brings you home, He doesn't scold you, He celebrates. That's grace. Not earned. Not deserved. Just given. Freely. Fully.
So what's your response to all that? You don't fix yourself up first. You don't prove your worth. You just say yes. That's all. Yes to being loved. Yes to being led. Yes to trusting the Shepherd who already laid down His life for you.
Today—whatever you're facing—remember this:
The Lord is your Shepherd. You shall not want.
This isn't about religion. This is about relationship. Jesus came to show us that the Shepherd is also our Father. Not a cold authority figure, but Abba—Daddy. That's how Jesus prayed, and it shocked the religious crowd. He pulled back the curtain and invited us into something deeply personal. Family.
Just like a good shepherd lives among the sheep, knows their names, and gives his life to protect them, your Heavenly Father walks with you through every valley. He's not far off. He's near. Tender. Strong. Always providing. Always watching over you.
So let the truth land today:
The Lord is my Shepherd. My Pastor. My Father.
He's not going anywhere. And you're never alone.
Thanks for listening. Find us on YouTube, Substack, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
nothing sweeter, nothing prettier than the Lord is my shepherd. I am Yahweh, merciful, patient, gracious, long-suffering, long of nose, if you recall, never forgetting his promises, always forgiving, even paying the price to forgive us. The Lord is right now my personal shepherd. I want to give you two words. Today. Is that you are going to meditate on? The Lord is my shepherd? Now, in Spanish, the word shepherd is the word pastor. In fact, as if you say the word pastor in Peru and you were talking to a non-church person, they would automatically assume shepherd, and in America, we, you were talking to a non-church person, they would automatically assume shepherd, and in America we know that the pastor is a shepherd. The Lord is my shepherd. The Lord is my pastor. The Lord is the one who cares for me. The Lord is my shepherd, he's shepherding me. He is doing the work of a shepherd in my life. The Lord is the shepherd who cares for me. He takes me out to the pasture where I can graze, where I can get what I need to eat. He takes me to where I can get the water I need to be able to make it. He takes me to shelter. He protects me. He's my shepherd. The shepherd takes care of the livestock. He's my shepherd. The shepherd takes care of the livestock.
W. Austin Gardner:The word shepherd refers to all this caring and protecting and ruling and leading and guiding and directing. He has, it has to do. It's the word pastor. The word shepherd here is more like a companion or a friend. It's like you got to remember that David, as a shepherd, lived in the woods, lived in the pastures, lived among the rocks, lived in the sunlight with the sheep All day long. They heard his voice, they heard his music. They saw him walking around. He looked at them, he saw them. They knew who he was. He knew them by name. And there he is, the shepherd. He's keeping company. He's a personal friend.
W. Austin Gardner:This shepherd is an intimacy involved here. It's a shepherd that you can, the kind of friend you can share secrets with, you can feel very close to. This is not the acquaintance who would take what you say and twist it and turn it and go somewhere else. This isn't somebody you just wave at or know. This is a friend, the kind you only get two or three of in a lifetime, a lifetime covenant friend. That's the shepherd. That's who the shepherd is. He is very close to you. The shepherd doesn't mind, draping you across his back and neck and walking with you. The shepherd lays down in the doorway at night to protect you so that nothing bad can get to you and that you won't wander out and get hurt. It's the shepherd. The shepherd's like a brother or a son or a family member. The shepherd he's very close. He's a pastor. That's who Jesus is. Jesus. The shepherd he's very close, he's a pastor. That's who Jesus is.
W. Austin Gardner:Jesus is our shepherd. I am is my shepherd. The Lord is I am. Jesus is I am.
W. Austin Gardner:All of my care and all of my attention come from my shepherd, jesus. He feeds me, he protects me, he guides me, he directs me. He has a personal, intimate, close relationship with me. He protects me, he guides me, he directs me. He has a personal, intimate, close relationship with me. He has partnered with me.
W. Austin Gardner:Now, before I go on, I want to just say this David saw it that way and David understood it to that extent. But you realize, jesus lives in me, in the life which I now live, in the flesh. I live by the faith of the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me. Do you realize that I'm alive? But I'm not alive. Jesus is alive in me, so I am closer to. I never go anywhere. He's not with me, he's always with me.
W. Austin Gardner:He became one to be one of us, to live among us, to partner with us, to understand us and to prove to us that he understood. To understand us and to prove to us that he understood. He came to be our friend and to befriend us. He's a special friend, a friend that you can share your heart with. I never had to fear whether this friend will leave me. The Lord is my shepherd. Friends will come and go and even family members may turn their back on you, but not the shepherd. He never will. He's real family. He's real family. He's the family. And God made me his child and made me a joiner with Jesus. So it's a special relationship. The Lord is my shepherd. Now, when I was preaching through this to our church and I'm just kind of chatting through it with you in very small little nuggets so that maybe it'll help you have a day of meditating and thinking about it I hope Psalm 23 will do for you what it's done for me. It has radically changed my life. But I added this one right here the Lord is my shepherd. He's more than that to us, isn't he? He is our Father. He is our Father.
W. Austin Gardner:Now, david wouldn't use that term. It wasn't a common and accepted thing. The Old Testament did teach that God's our Father. In Deuteronomy 32.6, he said Isn't he your Father? In Exodus, 4.22 and 23, he said that we were his or Israel was his firstborn. But you know, it was amazing.
W. Austin Gardner:The Jews saw God as aloof and distant, and maybe detached and uncaring, sometimes, from individual lives. Maybe not the nation, but from individuals. And you think that too, don't you? On occasion, you allow yourself to think that. Well, here's the wild thing Jesus comes to the church. Jesus comes well, not to the church. He's with the disciples and with the religious people that are following him and he says I want to teach you all to pray. And he says the most radical to teach y'all to pray. And he says the most radical thing you've ever heard. Say this our father, which art in heaven. The Lord is my shepherd, my pastor, but he's also my father. The Lord is my father. He's our Father, our Father, he's our Father.
W. Austin Gardner:Now, nobody talks like that, but Jesus said boys, when y'all pray, you're not talking to some distant deity, you're talking to our Father, you're talking to God. I want you to know that. I want you to remember that, our Father, it blew John the beloved's mind In 1 John 3,. He said what kind of love is this that the Father says that we should be called the sons of God? What kind of love is that that God has for us? Jesus had said I pray our Father.
W. Austin Gardner:But when Jesus talks to God, he doesn't even call Him our Father. But when Jesus talks to God, he doesn't even call. He doesn't just call Him our Father, he calls Him Abba. He says Daddy, daddy, the Lord is my shepherd, the Lord is my Father, the Lord is my Daddy. In Mark 14, he said Abba, father, all things are possible. Would you take this cup away from me, abba? But then the things are possible. Would you take this cup away from me, abba? But then the Holy Spirit of God moved into us and in Galatians, chapter 4 and verse 6, the Holy Spirit, with our spirit, cries out Abba, father, abba, father. Do you understand?
W. Austin Gardner:As you go to reading this, I just need you to change your view Now. You may have a negative view of God because you have a negative view of your parents, your dad. You may have a negative view of God the Father, because you've been to church and you've heard a lot of church stuff that wasn't right, or you've heard adults talking or other people talking. God's never changed. He's always been the sweet, loving, kind Father that wants a relationship with us. He is my shepherd, not only my shepherd, he's my father, my dad, my daddy. It's the sweetest father-son-daughter relationship possible. The Lord is our Father. My Father, I need you to take that home with you today. I want you to meditate on that. I'm the dad of four wonderful children and I'll tell you something there isn't a price I wouldn't pay a place I wouldn't go. There isn't anything I wouldn't do to help them. I love them.
W. Austin Gardner:I have been known to get on an airplane at literally a couple hours notice. A few hours notice. I was on an airplane because there was a need in my family. I'll go where I got to go. You will too. Well, your father loves you more than that. Jesus even made the comment you people seem to understand that your dad wouldn't give you a rock if you asked for bread. He wouldn't give you a snake if you asked for a fish, but somehow y'all think our father, my father, would.
W. Austin Gardner:So today, what are you going through? How are you hurting? What is your need? The Father, the Lord, is my shepherd, my Father, and I want you to know he loves you not only as your shepherd, my father. And I want you to know he loves you not only as your shepherd, not only as your pastor, but he loves you as your father and you can talk to him like a son. You can run in the room and just dump your sorrows on him. When you're in trouble, you can just call out to him and he will be happy to hear from you and accept those burdens as he is and meet your need. So today, meditate. The Lord is my shepherd, my pastor and my father.