It takes millions of people, endless infrastructure, and staggering coordination to create something as ordinary as a laptop. And yet all it takes is a careless move and less than a second to destroy it. Creation is slow, difficult, and fragile. Destruction is fast, easy, and tempting.

So today, we ask an uncomfortable question: Is the work you’re doing an act of creation or an act of destruction?

Young adults are so often told that meaningful work must be glamorous, set-apart, or visibly heroic, but that idea misses how God actually works in the world. As Christians, we often misunderstand what “kingdom work” actually looks like.

In our conversation today, we talk seriously about the idea that any genuine act of creation pushes back against evil, no matter how small or unseen it may be.

Our conversation covers...

• Why creation is hard and destruction is easy
• The hidden moral weight of everyday work
• “Tell truth, celebrate beauty, expose evil”—and why that applies far beyond ministry
• Why we idolize visible, glamorous kingdom work
• How ordinary jobs quietly hold civilization together
• How to think about working for imperfect (or broken) organizations
• Why no institution gets this right all the time—including Christian ones
• When to change from within, and when to walk away
• Why discomfort might be a sign of moral awareness, not failure

If you’re made in the image of God, you’re made to create. If this conversation resonates, you’ll feel it woven throughout Ridgeline, Ascend, and everything we do at Unbound. You can find out more about Unbound here: https://beunbound.us/

Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David Rethemeyer

Producer: Kyle Hill

For an embarrassingly long time, one of us (Jonathan) believed that the solution to feeling overwhelmed was simple: just get a completely free day. No schedule. No obligations. Nothing planned. Surely that would feel restful, right?

Except it didn’t.

In this conversation, we unpack why those long-imagined “free days” so often leave us dissatisfied, and why a little bit of discipline often leads to far more joy, meaning, and memorable experiences than total freedom ever does.

Since it’s January and everyone is talking about habits, routines, and New Year’s resolutions, we decided to slow the conversation down and go deeper. Instead of just asking what habits should we build?, we ask the more important question: why do habits matter at all?

What We Talk About

• Why totally unstructured “free days” often feel like wasted days
• The false belief that habits restrict freedom
• How routines actually make adventure possible
• Why the mundane parts of life matter more than we think
• How contrast helps us appreciate both work and rest
• Productivity, purpose, and why humans are wired to work
• The importance of connecting habits to why, not just willpower
• How discipline creates stories, not boredom

If you’re looking for a healthy disruption to your routine—and a lot of meaningful contrast—we’d love for you to explore what we do at Unbound. From our high school programs to Ascend and experiences like Ridgeline, we create environments that stretch habits, build resilience, and invite people into a more purposeful way of living.

Thanks for listening, thanks for thinking with us, and as always—Be Unbound.

Learn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/

Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David Rethemeyer

Producer: Kyle Hill

This episode started the way some of our favorite conversations do: by accident.

Right before we hit record, David made a bold claim: everyone should be a runner. We hadn’t talked it through, we hadn’t outlined it, and we hadn’t even agreed on it. So naturally, we decided to hit record and see where the conversation went.

We talk about why physical discomfort matters, why distance running in particular teaches patience and mental endurance, and how doing hard things on purpose shapes the way we handle everything else. From goal-setting and planning to community, habit-building, and resisting temptation, this conversation connects physical training to Christian formation in a surprisingly direct way.

You don’t have to love running to get something out of this episode. But you might finish it thinking differently about comfort, discipline, and the kind of person you’re becoming.

What We Talk About

• David’s bold claim that everyone should be a runner
• The difference between short, intense effort and long, patient endurance
• Why distance running is as much mental as it is physical
• Goal-setting, failure, and learning how to adjust when plans break
• How physical discomfort trains resilience for everyday life
• Why modern life has eliminated most natural “resistance training”
• The surprising connection between physical training and resisting temptation
• The danger of comparison—and why the only real competition is with yourself
• Training not to win races, but to be ready for life

Whether it’s running, lifting, hiking, cold mornings, disciplined routines, or something else entirely—find a way to regularly do something that’s hard, inconvenient, and requires you to tell yourself, “Do it anyway.”

Thanks for starting this new year with us. We’re grateful you’re here, grateful for this community, and excited about what this season holds.

As always, be unbound.

Learn more about Unbound: https://beunbound.us/

Hosts: Jonathan Brush, David Rethemeyer

Producer: Kyle Hill