The Unbound Podcast with Dr. Tony Evans

Chrystal Evans Hurst is an author, speaker and founder of The Sister Circle, where she encourages women to grow in faith, embrace their identity and live with greater intention.In this episode of The Unbound Podcast, Dr. Tony Evans sits down with his oldest daughter for an honest, personal and often humorous conversation about family, identity, disappointment and learning how to keep moving when life does not turn out the way you expected.Chrystal opens up about growing up in the Evans household, becoming a single mother at nineteen and navigating seasons when she wondered who she was and what God was doing with her life. She shares how those experiences shaped her understanding of purpose and why the unexpected parts of our stories do not have to be wasted.Together, Chrystal and Dr. Evans talk about what happens when you spend so much time caring for everyone else that you begin to lose sight of yourself. They explore the importance of Christian community, why sometimes you need to “borrow” hope from someone else and how God can use even regret, pain and hidden seasons for His purposes.Chrystal also shares a simple but challenging idea for anyone who feels worn down by the demands of everyday life: fight for joy. Sometimes that means making room for the things that remind you you’re alive. Sometimes it means opening the gifts God has already placed in front of you. And sometimes it means trusting that He is still at work even when you cannot yet see what He is building.The conversation closes with a deeply personal challenge about vulnerability and relationships. In a world that encourages us to look polished, stay guarded and keep the hard parts hidden, Chrystal reminds us that meaningful relationships require the courage to be known—to let people see our failures, our hurts and our hearts.If you have ever looked at your life and thought, “this wasn’t supposed to happen,” this conversation is a reminder that your story is not over. Even when life has not gone according to plan, God is still at work shaping your story and leading you into what comes next.Learn more about Chrystal Evans Hurst:https://chrystalevanshurst.com/Follow Chrystal on Instagram:@ChrystalHurst———————————————————————The Unbound Podcast is a weekly space for conversations that don’t rush to conclusions. Each episode explores what it means to live free from what binds us—pressure, fear, reputation and the need to have it all figured out—through thoughtful dialogue and lived experience.Senior Producer & Creative Director: Heather HairTechnical Director, Audio & Lead Editor: Lee Sherman#TonyEvans #TonyEvansPodcast #UnboundPodcast

The Unbound Podcast is a weekly space for conversations that don’t rush to conclusions. Each episode explores what it means to live free from what binds us—pressure, fear, reputation and the need to have it all figured out—through thoughtful dialogue and lived experience.Senior Producer & Creative Director: Heather HairTechnical Director, Audio & Lead Editor: Lee Sherman#TonyEvans #TonyEvansPodcast #UnboundPodcast

Thank you for listening to The Unbound Podcast with Dr. Tony Evans. For more biblical teaching and ministry resources, visit www.TonyEvans.org, and if you’d like to go deeper in your study of Scripture, you can explore online courses at https://www.tonyevanstraining.org/She has spent years helping people see beauty, grace and the character of God through art, Scripture and everyday faithfulness.In this episode of The Unbound Podcast, Dr. Tony Evans sits down with author, artist and speaker Ruth Chou Simons for a conversation about anxiety, striving, rest and the spiritual lessons hidden in creation itself. Drawing from her book “Way of the Wildflower,” Ruth reflects on how God uses even the smallest details in nature to remind us of His care, His timing and His presence.Together, they explore Jesus’ words in Luke 12 and what it means to “consider how the wildflowers grow.” Ruth shares how seasons of motherhood, ministry, disappointment and exhaustion taught her to slow down, pay attention and recognize that growth is not always visible. Sometimes God is still working even when nothing appears to be blooming.Dr. Evans and Ruth also talk honestly about the pressures of modern life: constant noise, endless striving, technology overload and the temptation to believe everything depends on us. But this conversation offers another way forward. One rooted not in hustle, but in trust. Not in performance, but in presence.This episode is both practical and deeply encouraging. It is a reminder that God is constantly revealing Himself through His Word, through creation and through the ordinary rhythms of everyday life. And sometimes the most spiritual thing we can do is slow down long enough to notice.If your soul feels tired, anxious or stretched thin, this conversation will help you breathe again.Learn more about Ruth Chou Simons and her ministry:Website: https://ruthchousimons.com/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ruthchousimons/Explore Way of the Wildflower:https://wayofthewildflowerbook.com/———————————————————————The Unbound Podcast is a weekly space for conversations that don’t rush to conclusions. Each episode explores what it means to live free from what binds us—pressure, fear, reputation and the need to have it all figured out—through thoughtful dialogue and lived experience.Senior Producer & Creative Director: Heather HairTechnical Director, Audio & Lead Editor: Lee Sherman#TonyEvans #TonyEvansPodcast #UnboundPodcast

Thank you for listening to The Unbound Podcast with Dr. Tony Evans. For more biblical teaching and ministry resources, visit TonyEvans.org, and if you’d like to go deeper in your study of Scripture, you can explore online courses at TonyEvansTraining.org.When your mind is overloaded, your attention is scattered, and the world feels like one long stream of chaos, conflict, and noise discernment starts to matter more than hype.In this episode of The Unbound Podcast, Dr. Tony Evans sits down with Dr. Ramesh Richard for a conversation that feels honest, grounded, and surprisingly timely. What starts with friendship and shared history turns into a deeper talk about spiritual clarity, truth, discipleship and what it looks like to stay anchored when everything around you is trying to shape you. As Dr. Richard puts it, people do not really live by what they say they believe. They live by what they value. And whatever you love will end up leading you.Dr. Richard gives language to something a lot of people feel but do not always know how to explain: the gap between believing in God and actually being formed by Him. He talks about the spiritual life not as a side category, but as the center of everything. Heart, soul, mind and strength are not separate boxes to manage. They are the whole-person response to the God who has made Himself known in Christ.The conversation also gets bigger. Dr. Richard shares the burden that has shaped so much of his life’s work: helping pastors around the world who have been called by God but never truly trained, and helping the gospel reach people who may have never heard it clearly before. He makes the case that when pastors are stronger, churches are healthier, and when churches are healthier, communities are changed.What gives this episode real weight is that Dr. Richard is not speaking from a distance. He is the founder and president of RREACH, Ramesh Richard Evangelism and Church Health, and serves as professor of Global Theological Engagement and Pastoral Ministries at Dallas Theological Seminary. Through RREACH, he has spent decades carrying a bold vision: to change the way one billion individuals think and hear about the Lord Jesus Christ by evangelizing opinion leaders and strengthening pastoral leaders. He has trained thousands of church leaders in more than 100 countries to preach, live, think and serve biblically.This episode is for the person who is tired of shallow takes and still wants something solid. It is for the believer who wants stronger discernment. It is for the leader who knows borrowed conviction will not hold forever. And it is for anyone who needs the reminder that the Word of God is still active, still powerful, and still unbound.Learn more about Dr. Ramesh Richard at https://rreach.org/Learn more about the GProCommission at https://gprocommission.org/And if you want to join what God is doing through this ministry in a simple, steady way, RREACH hosts an online global prayer gathering every Sunday at 8:30 CST: https://rreach.org/prayer/———————————————————————The Unbound Podcast is a weekly space for conversations that don’t rush to conclusions. Each episode explores what it means to live free from what binds us—pressure, fear, reputation and the need to have it all figured out—through thoughtful dialogue and lived experience.Senior Producer & Creative Director: Heather HairTechnical Director, Audio & Lead Editor: Lee Sherman#TonyEvans #TonyEvansPodcast #UnboundPodcast

He’s 93.He believes some of his greatest ministry happened after 70.And that alone will make a lot of people rethink what they call “too late.”In this episode of The Unbound Podcast, Dr. Tony Evans sits down with Dr. Gene Getz for a conversation about church, leadership, discipleship and what it looks like to keep building when most people assume your best years are behind you.Dr. Getz talks about why so many people in the church are still hungry for real teaching, why consumer Christianity keeps weakening discipleship, and why truth and love have to stay together if the church is going to stay healthy.What gives this episode weight is not just what he taught. It is how he lived it. Dr. Evans reflects on how Gene shaped him in seminary and helped form his understanding of the church. Gene shares how his later decades became some of his most fruitful, including rewriting key books, expanding the Life Essentials Study Bible, and continuing global ministry well into his 70s, 80s, and now 90s.If you have ever wondered whether your most meaningful work is already behind you, this conversation says otherwise. It is a reminder that calling does not expire, faithfulness still compounds, and God is not in a hurry the way we are.This is a conversation about the church, yes. But it is also about endurance, usefulness and the hope that your later years may hold more purpose than you imagined.For more about Dr. Gene Getz’s ministry, visit: https://bibleprinciples.org/———————————————————————The Unbound Podcast is a weekly space for conversations that don’t rush to conclusions. Each episode explores what it means to live free from what binds us—pressure, fear, reputation and the need to have it all figured out—through thoughtful dialogue and lived experience.Senior Producer & Creative Director: Heather HairTechnical Director, Audio & Lead Editor: Lee Sherman#TonyEvans #TonyEvansPodcast #UnboundPodcast

Love is heavier than anger.Forgiveness is harder than outrage.And John Perkins spent a lifetime showing what that looks like.In this special in-memory episode of The Unbound Podcast, we are sharing a previously unreleased conversation between Dr. Tony Evans and Dr. John M. Perkins, recorded a few years ago and now offered in honor of his life and legacy after his death on March 13, 2026. In it, Dr. Perkins speaks with the kind of clarity that only comes from suffering, friendship and decades of walking with Jesus. He talks about dignity, reconciliation, discipleship, race, forgiveness and why love is not weak at all. It is weighty. It is costly. And it is the only way forward. What makes this conversation so powerful is that it does not sound polished or distant. It sounds lived. Dr. Perkins reflects on his grandmother’s love, his brother’s murder, the torture he endured in a Mississippi jail and the hard-won realization that suffering can become a virtue when it drives a person deeper into Christ. Again and again, he returns to the same center: discipleship is friendship, the Bible must be embodied, and the Christian faith is the outliving of the indwelling Christ.Dr. Evans also makes this deeply personal. He honors Dr. Perkins not just as a public voice, but as a hero, mentor and living influence on his own life and ministry. What unfolds is more than an interview. It feels like a final charge. A conversation about what still matters when a life has been lived all the way down to the roots.This episode is for anyone who has felt worn down by anger, division or the shallow versions of justice and faith that dominate so much public life. It is for the listener who wants something older, deeper and truer. And it is for anyone who needs to hear John Perkins say one more time that love, dignity and the gospel will always belong together.———————————————————————The Unbound Podcast is a weekly space for conversations that don’t rush to conclusions. Each episode explores what it means to live free from what binds us—pressure, fear, reputation and the need to have it all figured out—through thoughtful dialogue and lived experience.Senior Producer & Creative Director: Heather HairTechnical Director, Audio & Lead Editor: Lee Sherman#TonyEvans #TonyEvansPodcast #UnboundPodcast

You will lose someone you love.The question isn’t if. It’s when.And when it happens, will your faith hold?In this deeply personal episode of The Unbound Podcast, Pastor Tony Evans sits down with author and speaker John Onwuchekwa for a conversation about grief, faith and what hope actually looks like when life falls apart.John shares the story of losing his brother unexpectedly, planting a church while his world was unraveling and discovering that grief is not a journey you finish but a language you learn. Together they talk about why rushing people to hope can actually wound them, how Scripture becomes alive in suffering and why everything we love in this world will one day be lost.But they also talk about resurrection. About Good Friday moments that feel final. About how God meets us in the dark, not by turning the lights on, but by holding our hand.If you have ever lost someone. If you are walking through grief right now. Or if you want to know how to help someone who is hurting. This conversation is for you.John Onwuchekwa is a pastor, writer and speaker who helps people navigate grief and hope with honesty and depth. He is the author of We Go On. Learn more about John at https://www.johno.co/ and follow him on Instagram @jawn_o.Find his book "We Go On" here: https://a.co/d/0gBsEIKYWatch the full episode and subscribe for more conversations that connect Scripture to real life.———————————————————————The Unbound Podcast is a weekly space for conversations that don’t rush to conclusions. Each episode explores what it means to live free from what binds us—pressure, fear, reputation and the need to have it all figured out—through thoughtful dialogue and lived experience.Senior Producer & Creative Director: Heather HairTechnical Director, Audio & Lead Editor: Lee Sherman#TonyEvans #TonyEvansPodcast #UnboundPodcast

There are moments in life when you realize you’ve been carrying more than anyone ever knew. Stories you never told. Labels you never chose. A version of yourself shaped by loss, instability or simply being unseen.This episode of The Unbound Podcast is for anyone who knows that feeling.Dr. Tony Evans sits down with Terence Lester, whose life didn’t follow a straight line. Before the degrees or the leadership roles, there were seasons marked by homelessness, fracture and being overlooked. Those years didn’t disappear. They became the ground where something deeper took root.What unfolds here isn’t a résumé or a success story wrapped in neat conclusions. It’s an honest conversation about pain that lingers, dignity that has to be reclaimed, and what it means to let your past inform your purpose without being trapped by it. Terence talks about forgiveness that doesn’t rush, growth that tells the truth, and why truly seeing people is more than compassion—it’s an act of justice.Today, his work spans city streets, classrooms and communities across the country. He leads Love Beyond Walls, teaches public policy and social change and writes about poverty, race and human dignity from lived experience, not theory. His life’s work is shaped by a simple conviction: no one should be invisible.If you’ve ever wondered whether your story disqualifies you or whether the parts of your life you try hardest to forget might actually hold meaning, this conversation meets you there. Not with easy answers, but with clarity, humility and hope that feels earned.Freedom doesn’t always come from escaping the past. Sometimes it begins when we stop hiding from it and move forward, unbound.———————————Learn more about Dr. Terence Lester: https://terencelester.com/Love Beyond Walls: https://www.lovebeyondwalls.org/Watch on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@imterencelesterFollow on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/imterencelester/Pre-order From Dropout to DoctorateAmazon: https://a.co/d/0alHweurBarnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/from-dropout-to-doctorate-terence-lester/1146878381————————————The Unbound Podcast is a weekly space for conversations that don’t rush to conclusions. Each episode explores what it means to live free from what binds us—pressure, fear, reputation and the need to have it all figured out—through thoughtful dialogue and lived experience.#TonyEvans #TonyEvansPodcast #UnboundPodcast