
Send us Fan Mail Are you exhausted from trying to "achieve" a spiritual status you already possess? In part two of this deep-dive series, W. Austin Gardner and Grace Walk author Steve McVey dismantle the "Original Lie" that keeps most Christians stuck in a cycle of religious performance. Austin shares a candid confession about his early years in ministry: he used to read the Bible like a "Chilton’s Repair Manual"—looking for instructions to fix himself instead of looking for the heart of his ...
May 28
52 min

Send us Fan Mail What happens when you’ve known someone longer than your own wife? You get the kind of raw, honest conversation that only 54 years of friendship can produce. In this episode of Followed by Mercy, Austin Gardner sits down with his lifelong friend and mentor, Steve McVey—the best-selling author of Grace Walk. They take us back to the beginning in 1972, sharing hilarious stories of street preaching and "witnessing" in bars, before diving into a profound truth: the danger of askin...
May 27
47 min

Send us Fan Mail "Evicting Shame and Embracing the Identity of the Beloved."Podcast Show Notes / Description: "Most of us are busy trying to 'fix' ourselves, but Mike Pennington suggests a different path: Spiritual Direction. Unlike coaching, which focuses on your next action step, Spiritual Direction asks: 'What is God’s invitation to you right now?' Austin and Mike get 'down in the weeds' to talk about: Shame & Self-Rejection: Why the devil never takes a day off, and how to use Romans 8...
May 26
33 min

Send us Fan Mail Are you living as God’s employee or His beloved child? In this episode of Followed by Mercy, Austin Gardner sits down with his longtime friend and cousin, Mike Pennington, to discuss the radical shift from performance-based religion to the rest of "belovedness." Mike shares his journey from the hills of Tennessee to the mission fields of Venezuela, revealing how even decades of successful ministry can hide an exhausted soul. If you’ve ever felt like your spiritual life is jus...
May 25
33 min

Send us Fan Mail Why do we feel like we have to "perform" to be loved by God? In this third part of our series, I’m joined by my cousin Mike Pennington to tackle the heavy weights of trauma and shame. Mike opens up about his own childhood trauma and how it created a cycle of shame that took years to break. We discuss why shame is a "slap in the face to God's grace" and how to return to the reality that you are already 100% attached to Him—not because of what you’ve done, but because of who He...
May 22
22 min

Send us Fan Mail Why is it so much easier to believe God loves us in our heads than it is to feel it in our hearts? In today’s episode of Followed by Mercy, Austin Gardner continues his conversation with missionary and SoulCare coach Mike Pennington. Together, they dive deep into the "blockages" that keep us from resting in our identity as God’s beloved. If you’ve ever felt like your spiritual life is just a "check-box" of performance, or if you struggle with a voice in your head telling you ...
May 21
26 min

Send us Fan Mail Are you tired of trying to prove you deserve God’s love? In this episode, Austin Gardner sits down with his cousin, Mike Pennington—a former missionary and pastor—for a deeply personal conversation about the "bedrock of a healthy soul": Belovedness. For decades, both Austin and Mike lived under the heavy weight of legalism, relating to God through performance rather than relationship. Mike shares the transformative moment in the Colorado mountains where he finally heard the F...
May 20
26 min

Send us Fan Mail "As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you." — Isaiah 66:13 We often focus on the "Fatherhood" of God, but on this Mother’s Day episode, Austin Gardner explores the deep, nurturing, and protective "Motherly" love of our Creator. Using his own childhood memories of his grandmother’s house and the profound imagery of Scripture, Austin reframes our relationship with God. If you’ve ever felt like you were "auditioning" for God’s approval, listen to this. Austin exp...
May 19
28 min

Send us Fan Mail "Have you ever felt like you were auditioning for God instead of serving Him? After 50 years in ministry—preaching thousands of sermons and traveling to 50 countries—I found myself exhausted. Not from the work, but from a deeper, invisible pressure: the Performance Trap. In this video, I want to talk to the 'tired' people. The ones who know the verses about grace but secretly believe God is mostly disappointed with them. I share my own journey of hitting rock bottom in a hosp...
May 18
19 min

Send us Fan Mail Is your view of God missing the "Sweetest Comfort"? In this special Mother's Day message, W. Austin Gardner dives into the profound mystery of God’s nature, revealing that while we often focus on God as Father, He explicitly describes His affection for us through the lens of a mother’s tenderness. Drawing from Isaiah 66:13 ("As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you") and Isaiah 49:15, Austin explores why motherhood is one of God’s chosen windows into His own h...
May 15
25 min
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