Unrefined Podcast .com

After four years, hundreds of conversations, strange rabbit trails, incredible guests, Bigfoot, Laurel Canyon, spiritual warfare, liminal spaces, theology, heart transformation—and more than a few things we still can’t explain—the Unrefined Podcast is signing off.For this final episode, Brandon is joined by Lindsy and Sandy to look back at how a couple of weird conversations became a podcast, how “Stairs in the Woods” helped launch the whole thing, and how years of exploring the seen and unseen changed the way they see the world, faith, people, and even themselves.They revisit some favorite episodes and guests, remember what happened behind the scenes, talk about the danger of going too far down the rabbit hole, and reflect on one of the biggest lessons Unrefined taught them: listen to people’s stories, hold some opinions loosely, leave room for mystery, and stay anchored to Jesus.But this isn’t simply about looking backward. Somewhere along the way, the conversation became a journey. The podcast may be ending, but “Unrefined” was never really about a podcast—or even the strange subjects they explored. It was about imperfect people willing to ask questions, grow, change their minds, and discover what all this information actually means for the way we live.So for now, we conclude our broadcast day.Good night, everybody.https://unrefined.life00:01:41 – We Now Conclude Our Broadcast Day00:03:50 – How Did Unrefined Even Get Started?00:05:53 – Stairs in the Woods: Where It All Began00:08:35 – When the Weirdness Started Getting Real00:10:49 – How the Podcast Changed the Way We See the World00:12:02 – Bigfoot, Cryptids & Opening Up to Possibility00:13:40 – A Bigger, More Complex Spiritual Realm00:15:32 – When the Supernatural Becomes Personal00:16:54 – Strong Opinions Held Loosely00:20:05 – Exploring Without Sensationalizing00:21:15 – The Episode That Almost Got Us Kicked Off YouTube00:22:22 – Where the Old Episodes Will Live00:23:46 – What Do We Do With Everything We Learned?00:24:38 – Listen to People’s Stories Before Judging Them00:27:50 – Nancy, Laurel Canyon & the Power of Telling Your Story00:28:56 – Looking Back at the Laurel Canyon Rabbit Hole00:30:25 – Behind the Scenes: The Episodes You Never Heard00:31:43 – Sandy, Editing & Four Years Behind the Curtain00:32:43 – Lindsy Confesses He’s Been AI the Whole Time00:34:19 – Coast to Coast & Other Early Influences00:35:00 – From Cryptids to Discipleship: Why Unrefined Was Different00:36:33 – The People and Friendships That Made It Worth It00:37:03 – When the Podcast Started Losing Its Shine00:38:55 – The Danger of Going Too Far Down the Rabbit Hole00:39:55 – What “Unrefined” Has Really Meant All Along00:41:20 – From a Conversation to a Journey00:42:14 – What Happens Next for Unrefined?00:43:00 – The End of the Unrefined Podcast

What if your heart was designed to experience God—not just know about Him?  Brandon welcomes certified Heart Physics coach Jennifer Johnson back to Unrefined for a practical conversation about moving from fear to faith and from simply knowing biblical truth intellectually to actually believing and living from it in the heart. Jennifer shares personal stories involving fear, relationships, forgiveness, family struggles, healing, and the hidden beliefs that can quietly shape our reactions and circumstances. Together they explore how repeated thoughts and emotions persuade the heart, why circumstances often expose what we genuinely believe, and how renewing the mind becomes an intentional process of gathering new evidence around the truth of God’s Word. They also unpack Dr. Jim Richards’ Heart Physics approach, including Essential Heart Physics, relaxation, meditation, the “secret place,” community, and learning to encounter God at the heart level. The central challenge is simple but profound: we are always persuading our hearts of something—so what are we persuading them to believe?Monday Meditation with Jennifer on zoom (free) @11am CST Monday'sReplays on Youtubehttps://www.jjohnsoncoach.com/Essential Heart Physics-Enroll in 1 month program- $29Timestamps00:00:04 – How Do You Persuade Your Heart?00:00:41 – Welcome Back Jennifer Johnson00:02:00 – From Fear to Faith00:05:20 – Building an Illusion & Gathering Evidence00:07:40 – How Thoughts Become Heart Beliefs00:10:03 – Forgiveness: Head Knowledge vs. Heart Knowledge00:12:21 – Sending Away the Pain00:14:42 – When “Fear Not” Becomes Real00:17:03 – Trusting God With Your Children00:19:15 – When God Exposes What the Heart Really Believes00:21:38 – Getting Real With God Without Shame00:24:05 – Brandon’s Journey Out of Religiosity00:26:17 – What Does It Mean to Persuade Your Heart?00:28:44 – How One Thought Becomes a Train of Thoughts00:31:07 – Religious Worrying & Collecting Evidence Against God00:33:10 – Mental Assent vs. Genuine Heart Belief00:35:24 – Healing, Pain & “Help My Unbelief”00:37:49 – Renewing the Mind Thought by Thought00:40:06 – Transformation Takes Effort00:42:30 – Secondary Gain & Hidden Heart Beliefs00:44:53 – You’re Always Persuading Your Heart00:47:16 – When Your First Reaction Begins to Change00:48:00 – What Is Heart Physics?00:49:26 – Essential Heart Physics & Heart Work00:51:44 – Why Essential Heart Physics Comes First00:54:03 – The Secret Place & Experiencing God00:56:06 – Jennifer’s Final Challenge & Prayer

Brandon and Lindsy invite Britton Smith, host of Pastor to Pioneer to share his journey from traditional church leadership into simple church and disciple-making movements—and the deeper transformation he discovered along the way. Britton opens up about the personal cost of leaving the institutional model, the impact on his marriage and identity, and the realization that simply changing church structures and discipleship tools doesn’t necessarily change the heart. The conversation explores performance-based Christianity, relational discipleship, dependence on the Holy Spirit, and the difference between doing the right things and actually becoming more like Jesus. Britton also shares a powerful supernatural encounter from his years in ministry and explains why true pioneering begins with what God is doing within us.to share his journey from traditional church leadership into simple church and disciple-making movements—and the deeper transformation he discovered along the way. Britton opens up about the personal cost of leaving the institutional model, the impact on his marriage and identity, and the realization that simply changing church structures and discipleship tools doesn’t necessarily change the heart. The conversation explores performance-based Christianity, relational discipleship, dependence on the Holy Spirit, and the difference between doing the right things and actually becoming more like Jesus. Britton also shares a powerful supernatural encounter from his years in ministry and explains why true pioneering begins with what God is doing within us.https://pastortopioneer.com/Timestamps 00:02:50 – Britton’s Journey  00:05:19 – Discovering the Supernatural 00:07:40 – An Unexpected Deliverance Encounter 00:09:43 – Are We Actually Making Disciples? 00:11:13 – Experimenting With House Church 00:13:37 – Discovering DMM & a Different Approach 00:15:55 – Why Changing the Model Wasn’t Enough 00:18:20 – COVID Exposes Dependency in the Church 00:20:47 – Church Split & Losing 90% of the Congregation 00:22:47 – Learning to Be the Church Without the Leaders 00:24:59 – Beyond Changing Models & Methods 00:27:26 – Marriage, Ministry & Facing His Own Brokenness 00:29:30 – When Ministry Relationships Become Transactional 00:31:54 – Realizing You Can’t Change People 00:34:16 – DMM Tools Without Heart Transformation 00:36:40 – Relational vs. Programmed Disciple Making 00:38:50 – Following Jesus Without Forcing the Outcome 00:41:11 – Are We Making Disciples or Gospel Spreaders? 00:43:30 – How Does Real Spiritual Maturity Happen? 00:45:50 – Obedience as Fruit, Not the Mechanism 00:48:09 – Identity After Leaving the Church System 00:50:12 – The Idol of Impact 00:52:35 – The Story Behind Pastor to Pioneer 00:55:01 – Helping Others Navigate the Transition 00:57:29 – The Internal Journey of a Pioneer 00:59:51 – The Wilderness Between Pastor and Pioneer 01:02:13 – A Powerful Lesson About God’s Love 01:04:17 – Britton’s Wildest Supernatural Encounter 01:06:39 – The Power Is in Jesus’ Name, Not Your Volume 01:09:01 – An Angel With a Flaming Sword 01:11:26 – Bringing Heart Transformation Into Discipleship 01:13:48 – You Can’t Give What You Don’t Have

What happens when following Jesus becomes more about maintaining the institution than actually being the body of Christ? Brandon and Lindsy sit down with returning guest Jonathan Brenneman for a provocative conversation about church, authority, leadership, supernatural ministry, and the difference between spectator Christianity and active discipleship. Drawing from his years of missionary work in Brazil, Jonathan shares stories of healings, deliverance, evangelism, and encounters with the Holy Spirit that often happen far outside traditional church services—in homes, neighborhoods, recovery houses, restaurants, barbecues, and everyday life.Together they challenge hierarchical models of church leadership and explore what the New Testament actually portrays when believers gather: shared meals, dialogue, spiritual gifts, mutual edification, and the participation of the whole body. The conversation moves into tithing, institutional structures, servant leadership, the priesthood of all believers, women in ministry, house churches, spiritual authority, and the dangers of allowing tradition or position to become more authoritative than Scripture. Ultimately, Jonathan calls believers not simply to leave something behind, but to recover a participatory Christianity where every believer is equipped to follow Jesus, serve others, speak the Word, and carry the presence and power of God into ordinary life.Website/blog: GoToHeavenNow.comEmail: [email protected]:00:28 – Welcome Back Jonathan Brenneman 00:02:27 – From Missions to Rethinking Church 00:04:55 – Healing, Miracles & Life Outside the Program 00:07:20 – Tithing, Grace & Leaving Institutional Expectations 00:09:41 – Ministry in the Streets of Brazil 00:12:00 – Manipulation, Money & the Spirit of Religion 00:14:22 – When Church Consumes the Mission 00:16:38 – Moving from Spectator to Participant 00:18:59 – The 59 “One Another” Commands 00:21:25 – Spiritual Gifts Around the Table 00:23:51 – Why Every Member Matters 00:26:10 – Rethinking Leadership & Authority 00:28:31 – Servant Leadership and Decentralized Church 00:33:16 – Does Authority Come from Position? 00:35:38 – Miracles Outside the Church Walls 00:37:57 – Is Revival Simply Normal Christianity? 00:40:16 – Receiving Jesus Through His Body 00:42:42 – Does Restricting Participation Quench the Spirit? 00:45:04 – Love, Miracles & Everyday Evangelism 00:47:25 – Evangelism at Carnival 00:49:43 – From Miracles to Making Disciples 00:52:07 – Worship, Friendship & Christian Community 00:54:29 – House Church, Heresy & Hierarchical Control 00:58:47 – Why Participation Helps Test Teaching 01:00:32 – Leaving Without Becoming Bitter 01:02:47 – Finding Biblical Fellowship 01:05:06 – Women and the Priesthood of All Believers 01:09:46 – Do Women Have a Priestly Duty to Speak? 01:11:58 – Women, Authority & Difficult New Testament Passages 01:14:21 – Phoebe, Junia & Women in Leadership 01:16:39 – Why Jesus Appeared First to Women 01:19:01 – Church History vs. the Teaching of Jesus 01:21:26 – Tradition, Scripture & Institutional Drift 01:23:49 – Religion vs. Relationship 01:25:52 – A Call Back to Participatory Christianity 01:28:17 – Jonathan’s Resources & Closing

What if the greatest evidence of spiritual maturity isn’t how much theology we know, but how deeply we love God and the people around us? Brandon and Lindsy sit down with Dr. Rob Reimer, author of The Tenderness of Jesus and Soul Care, for a deeply personal conversation about encountering Jesus beyond doctrine. Rob shares his dramatic conversion, his experience through a nine-month “dark night of the soul,” and how seasons of suffering and surrender reshaped his understanding of intimacy with God. Together they explore the tenderness of Jesus, God’s sovereignty and human freedom, dying to self, authentic humility, religious performance, soul care, and why biblical knowledge must become lived transformation. Rob also shares the story behind The Tenderness of Jesus, written originally for his own children, and explains why the cross and eternity provide essential lenses for understanding God’s goodness amid suffering. The conversation closes with recommended classics on spiritual formation, a remarkable healing story from Brazil, and a prayer that we would become people unmistakably marked by having been with Jesus.https://renewalinternational.org/Rob's book-https://amzn.to/46nj1nzTimestamps00:00:05 – Do You Love God and People More? 00:00:43 – Introducing Dr. Rob Reimer 00:03:06 – Rob’s Background and the Christian & Missionary Alliance 00:05:29 – A Life-Changing Encounter with Jesus 00:07:53 – Brandon’s Dark Night of the Soul 00:09:46 – What the Dark Night of the Soul Really Means 00:12:13 – Revival, Character and Dying to Self 00:14:32 – When the Presence of God Returned 00:16:56 – Sovereignty, Freedom and Human Choice 00:19:19 – God’s Goodness in a Broken World 00:21:40 – The Story Behind The Tenderness of Jesus00:23:59 – Writing to the Ones You Love About the One You Love00:26:19 – Soul Care, Freedom and Fullness in Christ00:28:39 – Emptying the Soul Before Filling It00:30:43 – Knowledge vs. Actual Spiritual Maturity00:33:05 – The Religious Spirit and the Condition of the Heart00:35:32 – Self-Focus, Ministry and Becoming Obsessed with Jesus00:37:38 – Authentic Humility and Weakness00:39:44 – Seeing God Through the Cross and Eternity00:42:07 – Suffering, Homesickness and Our Eternal Citizenship00:43:59 – Tenderness, Intimacy and the Holiness of God00:46:00 – Why God’s Love Leads to Transformation00:48:18 – Jesus’ Tenderness Toward Sinners00:50:41 – The Cross, Love and Dying to Self00:53:07 – Rob’s Favorite Classic Soul-Care Books00:55:14 – Ancient and Modern Spiritual Formation Resources00:57:36 – Theology, Encounter and Knowing Jesus00:59:53 – A Remarkable Healing in Brazil01:02:09 – Where to Find Rob and Closing Prayer