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
Learning Christ: From Performance to Participation
Use Left/Right to seek, Home/End to jump to start or end. Hold shift to jump forward or backward.
In today’s episode of Followed by Mercy, Austin Gardner explores the profound mystery of Ephesians 4:20: "But ye have not so learned Christ."
Most of us have learned doctrine, behavior, and religion, but have we "learned Christ"? Austin challenges the idea that we are "generators" of our own spiritual power. Instead, he invites us to see ourselves as vessels. Religion says, "Become like Christ." The Gospel says, "Christ is already your life. Discover Him."
Using the beautiful analogy of his 52-year marriage to his wife, Betty, Austin illustrates that knowing Jesus isn't about reading a book about Him—it's about the quiet, constant awareness of His presence.
If you are heavy-laden with the effort of "trying to be a good Christian," this episode is your invitation to rest.
Key Takeaways:
- Learning Christ is experiential, not just intellectual.
- Transformation happens when your mind catches up to the reality of your spirit.
- We don't live for God; we live from the God who lives in us.
Find more resources on grace and rest at waustingardner.com.
Thanks for listening. Find us on YouTube, Substack, Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, and Instagram.
Learning Christ Not Facts
Austin GardnerI'm excited to talk to you today. I want to talk to you about learning Christ. I am in Ephesians chapter 4, and uh it says learning Christ, learning Christ. That has just struck me very good. Christianity is about learning Christ, not knowing about Him, but knowing Him. And there's a major difference between knowing about a person and living in union with that person. Well, lots of us have learned doctrine and behavior and religion, but we have never learned Christ. Ephesians 4.20 says, but you have not so learned Christ. Ephesians 4.20. Paul does not say you have not learned doctrine or you have not learned rules. He said, You have not learned Christ. What's that mean to learn Christ? The verse, Ephesians 4.21 says, if so be that you have heard him and have been taught him as the truth is in Jesus. So learning Christ is not collecting information. It's not studying theology. It's being brought into a relationship with the living Christ Himself. You do not graduate into Christ, you awaken to him. This is not passive listening. It's hearing that leads to union and response. So what the scripture is saying here is hear him. It means enter into what he's saying until it becomes your life. Christ is not outside giving instructions. He is living in you, being your life. It's Christ who is our life. Colossians chapter 3, verse 4. That's where most of us miss it. Christ did not come to improve our life. He came to be our life. Not addition, not assistance, substitution. I am crucified with Christ. Nevertheless, I live, yet not I, but Christ lives in me, Galatians 2.20. The I you thought you were has been brought to an end in Christ. The life you now live is Christ expressing himself as you. The New Testament is written in living, everyday language, not abstract philosophy. Paul is just describing true, actual reality. You are not a Christian trying to be like Christ. You're a human vessel in whom Christ has chosen to live his life. So we are to awake those that sleep from the dead, and Christ shall give them light. Ephesians 5, 14. This year is not trying harder, becoming better. It's waking up. You're not, you don't bring Christ into your life. You awaken to the fact that he is already there. Know you not that Christ is in you. 2 Corinthians 13, 5. Religion would say to you, become like Christ. The gospel says Christ is already your life. Discover him. You're not moving toward Christ, you're waking up to Christ who has already moved into you. So be renewed in the spirit of your mind, Ephesians 4.23. It's your mind catching up with reality. It's your spirit that's already united with Christ. We are united with Christ, but our thinking is still separate, and we think of effort and we think of independence. And as you think in your heart, so are you, Proverbs 23, 7. But for a Hebrew, thinking is concrete and experiential. A truth must be lived, not just understood. Transformation is not you becoming something new, it's you seeing that Christ has always been true and it's always been true in Christ. Abide in me and I in you. That's not striving, effort, or performance. It's participation in a shared life. A branch doesn't struggle to bear fruit, it simply lives from the vine. The believers emphasized humility, participation in Christ's life, and living from Him, not self-effort. You do not live for God. You do not live for God. You live from God who lives in you. He said, Come unto me, all you that labor and are heavy laden, I will give you rest. It's not talking about a teaching, not talking about a method, talk about a person. So to learn Christ is to discover that the one that you've been seeking has already made his home in you. And the life you've been trying to live is already being lived by him in you. By him as you. Is that wild or not? Now, before I close out today's short podcast, I thought I would mention to you that I've been married 52 years. I know you know that. I've told you so many times. But you know, I don't want to know about Betty. I want to know Betty. I don't want to read about Betty. I don't want to look at Betty's picture. I want to look at Betty. I want to spend time with her. And actually, there's not a lot of effort involved here. It's just realizing she's there. I feel her every movement. I see her. I see her out of the corner of my eye. I hear her. I hear her sighs. I know her. That's what happens when you learn Christ. It's not about what you read about or what you study about or what you learn out of a book. It is literally about just spending time with him. Now, you're going to spend time with him in the Word of God. You're going to spend time with him in prayer. You're going to spend time with him just talking to him. He's how you learn about Christ. Now, I was thinking I'll be preaching this very message in Spanish. And uh I was just thinking about some of the things that I want to say. You're not learning these rules. You know, it's coming down to you hear his voice. It's uh we don't need anybody to teach us. Uh we have the mind of Christ. All these are Bible verses. We are new creatures in Christ. And just imagine a newly married man reading a book about his wife instead of getting to know her. So how do we get to know her? How do we get to know Christ? We learn in the same way we would with a person. We listen. In John 10, 27, he said, Hear my voice, talking about his sheep. They hear his voice. Uh in 2 Corinthians 3.18, it says you're looking at him face to face and through a mirror now, but we're learning about his glory and learning about who he is. And we learn about him by looking at him. We learn about him by renewing our mind. So that's going to take getting into the Bible and getting into truth and learning truth. And so we want to know him and we want to think about that. We we learn about him. We learn him by walking with him. He said, take my yoke and learn of me. And so we're going to learn of him. We learn of him by giving ourselves to him in Romans chapter 6. And so we are leaving the old person we are and living out this new person in Christ. So I think it's pretty exciting. And I challenge you to just take a few minutes and think about that today. Not learning a lot of the Bible, but learning Christ. He lives in you, he talks to you, walks with you, spend time with him. Let it be real, let it change your life. I love you. I don't know where you are. I think I've made so many mistakes in my life, and I think I'm so thankful for grace and so thankful for him having new compassions and new mercies every morning. And it's true for you too. And God bless you as you have a great day today.
