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
Why Love Went Missing In Church
What if the loudest Christian voices were not the angriest, but the most loving? That is where today’s conversation begins. We slow down and examine how communities drift from grace into performance, from compassion into control, and how that subtle shift can erode what we are trying to convey to the world. Jesus said people would know us by our love. If that is true, the way forward will not come from stronger platforms but from softer hearts.
We talk about grace as the frame that holds everything together. Take grace away, and truth turns sharp, correction becomes control, and faith shrinks into fear. Real love costs something. It means forgiving people who hurt us. It means serving when nobody notices. It means choosing a gentle word when everything in you wants to fire back. That is not weakness. That is the strength of Jesus, who washed the feet of Judas and chose a cross instead of comfort. Power without grace feeds pride. Power shaped by grace becomes service.
We also name the quiet killer that ruins love from the inside out.
Unforgiveness. It ties us to old wounds, drains joy from our calling, and splinters unity. Forgiveness does not excuse the harm. It frees us so the Spirit can soften what bitterness has hardened. From there, we offer a simple path. Start small. Start with the truth about your own heart. Admit where love has cooled. Have the honest conversation with gentleness. Build relationships and ministries where kindness matters as much as competence, and mercy stands beside talent. If the church chose that way of living, people would see the goodness of God long before they heard us explain it.
If this speaks to you, follow the show, share it with someone who is running low on hope, and leave a review so others can find their way here. Your voice helps build something beautiful.
In this episode, we ask why so many Christian leaders can sound less loving than the Jesus they preach. We trace how grace gets pushed aside by being right, by control, by performance. We outline a practical way forward through abiding, forgiveness, servant leadership, and small, honest steps that gradually rebuild a culture of love.
Topics we touch:
- The disconnect between Christian witness and love
- How being right replaces grace
- Grace as the frame that keeps truth from turning sharp
- Servant leadership shaped by Jesus with a towel
- Unforgiveness and how it fractures unity
- Practical steps toward a culture healed by love
- Imagining a church known for kindness instead of volume
Thanks for listening. Find us on YouTube, Substack, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
Today, I just want you to meditate on a question with me. Why don't so many Christian leaders seem loving? Thought love was supposed to be the point. Let's be honest, some of the harshest, most judgmental people you've ever met probably claim to be Christians. That's confusing. Jesus said the world would know us by our love, not by our politics, not by our theology, but by our love. So how did we end up here where the loudest voices in the church often seem more angry than kind, more defensive than compassionate? That disconnect has driven many people away from the faith. And if you felt that sting, you're not alone. What happens is love gets replaced. The problem isn't just hypocrisy, it's substitution. Somewhere along the way, many Christians replaced love with something else. We replaced love with being right. We replaced compassion with control. We replaced grace with performance. The irony is that most leaders didn't start cold or hard. They started out passionate. But over time, power, pressure, or pain got in the way. When you forget that God loves you, you start trying to earn it. And when you're performing for approval, people stop being people and they become your audience. That's when ministry turns into management. That's when hearts go numb. When grace gets lost, everything else breaks. Grace isn't a safety net, it's the whole structure. It's the thing that holds everything up. Without grace, truth becomes harsh. Without grace, correction becomes control. Without grace, faith becomes fear. Jesus didn't say work harder to love me. He said abide in me, stay close, stay connected, stay loved. When love starts being something you try to produce, becomes something you receive, then everything changes. Love isn't easy, but it is the standard. Real love isn't soft, it's costly. It means forgiving people who hurt you. It means serving people who may never express their gratitude. It means saying kind things when everything in you wants to fight back, but we stay kind. That's not weakness, that's the strength of Jesus. He loved the people who betrayed him. He washed Judas' feet. He chose the cross over comfort. That's what divine love looks like. It sacrifices before it judges. When you have power, without grace, it always turns toxic. Give someone a microphone, a title, or a following, and you'll see what's really in their heart. Without grace, power amplifies pride. With grace, power becomes service. Jesus showed us what leadership looks like when he took a towel, not a throne, when he led by humility, not force. True greatness in God's kingdom isn't measured by how many follow you, but it is measured by how well you love those who can't repay you. The hidden killer that destroys love is unforgiveness. Let's get real for a moment. Unforgiveness is a silent killer of love. It's the reason bitterness grows. It's why many leaders lose their joy and why so many churches lose their unity. You can't love deeply while holding a grudge. You can't experience God's peace while keeping score. Forgiveness doesn't excuse what happened, but it frees you from being chained to it. It's a doorway the Holy Spirit uses to flood your heart with love again. So whether a leader has hurt you or you've hurt others, the next step is the same. Forgive. Ask forgiveness. Let grace do its work. That's when power becomes pure again. That's when love starts flowing freely. How do we fix it? There's no quick fix for a loveless church, but there is a clear path. It's start small, one heart at a time. Start with yourself. Before you point out everyone else's hypocrisy, look in the mirror. Confess where your own love has grown cold. Pray honestly. God teach me to love again. Practice relational courage. If someone has wronged you or if you've wronged someone, go to them. Have the conversation. Do it with gentleness and humility. Build love into the culture around you. Encourage it in your church, at home, and at work. Value kindness as much as competence. Celebrate mercy as much as talent. When love becomes a culture, hypocrisy has nowhere to hide. Imagine if we got this right. Imagine if every Christian decided that from this day on we treat people the way Jesus treated us. Imagine if the world saw us not as the loudest or the most right, but as the most loving. We wouldn't have to convince every anyone that God is good. They'd see it and how we live. That's what Jesus had in mind when he said, By this shall all men know that you are my disciples if you have love one to another. That's our standard. That's our calling. And that's how the Lord, that's how the world will find its way back to Jesus.
