The Be Unbound Podcast

In this episode, Jonathan and David start with a rental car horror story before turning to a question that’s easy to agree with and easy to ignore: should you be reading more?David walks through research showing that reading works like a full-body workout for the brain, lighting up everything from visual and language centers to motor and emotional regions. Jonathan adds that only about 15% of Americans read regularly, so anyone who reads consistently has a huge advantage. Reading lets you learn from another person’s entire life experience, and it builds the empathy and perspective that help you serve others well.From there, the conversation turns to AI. When AI generates a response, it’s reordering material that already exists, and it tends to tell us what we want to hear. A book, by contrast, comes from a fellow image bearer who has taken the time to think, create, and say something original, even when you disagree with them. Reading gives you the context to ask better questions and to judge AI output, so that AI stays supplemental rather than foundational. Access to books has never been easier.The challenge now is desire.Go read a book!As always, Be UnboundLearn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David RethemeyerProducer: Tamma Phillips

A three-year-old prayed for a car. Her dad quietly prayed she would stop.Then the phone rang.In this episode, Jonathan and David tackle a deceptively simple question: what does prayer do? They share stories from their own prayer lives, from a World Series prayer over the Cardinals to a child's faith that put her father to shame, and they ask what prayer is doing in us as well as for us.The conversation starts with the most familiar answer: prayer builds faith and deepens our relationship with God. But it also reshapes how we see everything else. Kierkegaard said that prayer doesn't change God, it changes the one who prays. Jonathan and David explore how praying, whether silently, out loud, or through written prayers, puts us in continual conversation with God, guards us against thinking we are God, and prepares our hearts to receive either answer, a yes as a gift or a no with peace.Prayer also changes how we relate to other people. When we pray for someone, we take on a measure of responsibility for them without pretending we can fix their problems, which matters most when words fall short. And praying alongside others in a church body can lift our eyes off our own troubles and remind us that God is faithful to hear.If you're struggling to know what to say, you're not a bad Christian. The hosts suggest using written prayers or the Lord's Prayer as a starting point, making prayer a daily habit, and trying it out loud.Prayer transforms our hearts, our relationship with God, and our relationships with each other. It's a habit worth building.As always, Be UnboundLearn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David RethemeyerProducer: Tamma Phillips

Your coworker may be difficult. They're still made in the image of God.What do you do when you can't just walk away?In this episode, Jonathan and David share stories from their first jobs, from a pizza shop to an auto parts store, and ask how Christians should deal with difficult coworkers. The answer starts with a foundation that doesn't depend on whether anyone else shares your beliefs: every person you work with is made in the image of God. That means they deserve respect, they reflect something of God that only they can, and we are called to love them, which goes deeper than simply being nice.From there, the conversation turns to the mission. Before you decide how to handle a difficult person, ask what you are all there to accomplish. Shared values can be ranked in very different orders, and some workplaces leave more room for differing worldviews than others. When the mission aligns, it gives you common ground to build relationships on, and those relationships may eventually open doors to deeper conversations. Jonathan's story of watching a boss take credit for his idea shows how ego can sabotage a mission, and how much can be accomplished when you stop caring who gets the credit.The hardest case is a difficult boss. Jonathan's surprising first step is to ask what the worst thing is that could happen if you quit today. Remembering that you are not your job, and that your identity is in Christ, frees you to decide whether the job is worth staying in. Only then do tactics work, because your heart is no longer set on revenge or justice.The goal isn't to ignore the friction. It's to step back, remember why you're there, and love the people God has put in front of you.As always, Be UnboundLearn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David RethemeyerProducer: Tamma Phillips

Why do some of our most meaningful experiences come from the things we would never have chosen for ourselves?In this episode, Jonathan and David explore the uncomfortable truth that hardship may be essential to a rich and meaningful life. From exhausting physical challenges to seasons of suffering we never asked for, they consider how effort, endurance, and difficulty shape us in ways that comfort and convenience cannot. But what happens when the hardship doesn't have a clear finish line and we have no idea how much longer we have to endure?So how do we keep going when we don't know when things will get better? Jonathan offers two principles to hold onto: God redeems all things, and endurance is underrated. David and Jonathan also discuss the importance of prayer and Scripture, drawing especially from Psalms 20–24. Those passages move through hope, disappointment, lament, comfort, and the reminder that the whole earth belongs to God. Faith doesn't require us to pretend that hardship isn't painful. It invites us to bring that pain honestly before God and trust that he remains faithful, even when relief doesn't come on our timetable.Ultimately, living well doesn't mean avoiding every difficulty or forcing ourselves to maintain a sunny attitude when life is hard. It means learning to endure faithfully, allowing hardship to deepen our dependence on God, and remembering that the finish line of this life leads to something greater. We may not know which mile we're in, but we can keep praying, keep returning to Scripture, and keep being faithful with what's in front of us.The hardship you're facing today may be shaping a depth of faith, joy, and character you couldn't develop any other way.As always,Be UnboundLearn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David RethemeyerProducer: Tamma Phillips

The camera can issue the ticket. But who gets to ask whether it was right?And is it ever okay for a Christian to cut one down?In this episode, Jonathan and David take on one of the most talked-about surveillance technologies in the news: Flock cameras. These AI-powered cameras can read license plates, identify faces, and even issue tickets automatically, with no officer ever reviewing the footage.The conversation starts close to home, on a construction-heavy stretch of I-81 where photo-enforced cameras raised millions of dollars in a matter of weeks. Jonathan has never earned a ticket from one, yet he resents them anyway. His own run-ins with an automated ticketing system, including tickets for a car that wasn't his in a city he wasn't in, show how quickly "innocent until proven guilty" can flip to "guilty until proven innocent." Beyond that, there's a deeper question about what happens to a society that knows it's being watched all the time. We already appear on camera in stores and businesses every day, so why does a camera on a public street, backed by the authority of the state and accessible to many people, feel so different?That leads to the question that started it all: is it a Christian thing to cut down a Flock camera? The hosts work through the biblical pattern of civil disobedience, from the apostles to the civil rights movement, and land on a sobering principle. If you believe a law is unjust enough to break, you also carry the responsibility to accept the full consequences without complaint. They also draw a careful distinction. The apostles and civil rights leaders were acting to advance the gospel and affirm the image of God in people, and it's hard to make that case for vandalizing a camera. Along the way they count the cost to family and calling, and they remember that justice belongs to the Lord. It isn't ours to use for the satisfaction of sticking it to the man.If you're weighing whether to take bold action on something that angers you, the hosts offer a few questions to ask first:Are you willing to pay the full consequences?Have you exhausted every other means?Will it genuinely advance Christ's kingdom?Have you prayed about it?The goal isn't to silence your convictions. It's to submit them to what God says is right, true, and just.We don't have to take the easy road just because something makes us angry. We're called to ask the hard questions.As always,Be UnboundLearn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David RethemeyerProducer: Tamma Phillips