In this episode, Lara Silverman welcomes Jim Burgoon—strategist for Faith-Driven Leaders, host of the Unshakeable Life Podcast, military veteran, and former pastor—to share his “faith in the furnace” story, centered on his wife’s decades-long battle with four major mental illnesses, recurring hospitalizations, and a near-suicide attempt while raising children and leading in ministry. Jim describes the church’s frequent lack of support and stigma around mental illness, his 2017 decision to step down and relocate for better care, and how surrendering control to Christ sustained him. The conversation addresses asking “why,” lament, and rejecting prosperity/word-of-faith formulas, emphasizing that God’s “no” can be about timing or eternity. Jim also recounts losing his mother and sister to cancer in 2023, a suicide attempt by his wife, and his own chronic illness, highlighting hope, truth over feelings, and trusting God’s goodness through suffering.

Jim's Bio

Jim Burgoon is a strategist for faith-driven leaders, podcast hosts, and
content creators. He is the host of The Unshakable Life Podcast. A
military veteran who is certified as both a Leadership Development
Coach and DISC consultant, Jim helps leaders stop hiding and start
building. He serves the "forgotten but called"—entrepreneurs and
leaders who are tired of hustle culture and ready to lead from a place
of rest. Jim’s approach shifts the focus from "earning your worth" to
stewarding your calling. Whether he is coaching on content strategy,
leadership development, or deep spiritual health, his mission is simple: to help you build a purpose-rooted life that stands firm when
the world gets chaotic.

Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
01:41 Jim's Furnace Story
03:18 Diagnosis Not Identity
06:05 Church Stigma and Support
08:59 2017 Turning Point Move
10:33 Hope and Surrender
13:15 No Dead Ends With God
15:31 Why Questions and Sin
18:12 Healing Theology Myths
24:46 When God Says No
28:13 Jeremiah 29 Context
31:07 Mom and Sister Cancer
33:40 Grief Without Bitterness
34:14 Obedience to Resign
35:00 Hardest Year Unfolds
36:06 Cascade of Loss
37:05 Anger and Trust
38:01 Discipline or Comfort
40:25 Lament as Worship
42:14 Sovereignty and Evil
45:39 Grief and Joy Together
47:42 Eternity and Salvation
50:13 Suffering Opens Hearts
54:08 Redefining Good
56:38 Sanctification and Fruit
01:01:11 Chronic Illness Endurance
01:04:27 Surrender and Resets
01:07:19 Caregiving by Truth
01:10:22 Final Encouragement

Resources and Links:

Jim's podcast, The Unshaken Life

Watch the Singing Through Fire podcast on YouTube.
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Conn

PODCAST DESCRIPTION:

Welcome to the Singing Through Fire podcast! I’m your host Lara Silverman, and this is where we:

• Worship when it hurts
• Discuss hot takes from the furnace of affliction
• Explore a biblical theology of suffering with a side of sass and sarcasm

From lamentations to laughter, this podcast is for anyone desperate for hope who has ever asked, "Why, Lord, why?”

Don’t forget to follow/subscribe because I upload content every Tuesday and Friday!

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2nd Corinthians 4:17.

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, Lara Silverman speaks to listeners who feel overwhelmed, afraid, and unsure they can keep going, and prays for God’s comfort. She challenges the idea that “God will never give you more than you can handle,” showing from Scripture that God sometimes allows burdens beyond our strength so we will rely on Him, citing Paul, Elijah, Job, Jeremiah, and even Jesus’ anguish before the cross. Lara centers the episode on 2 Corinthians 12:9—God’s grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect in weakness—along with other passages about God sustaining His people. She shares her testimony of being bedridden for years with severe vertigo, learning to depend on God one moment at a time, and describes God’s provision through timely verses, daily strength, and “rest stops.” She also recounts seeing God sustain her husband Matt through stage-four cancer, ending with hope in eternity and God’s promise to preserve believers’ faith to the end.

Chapters
00:00 Despair to Hope
00:49 Prayer and Purpose
01:33 God Gives More
02:38 Biblical Overwhelm
03:55 Grace Is Sufficient
06:51 Paul’s Trials List
08:33 Promises from Scripture
09:58 Memoir Break
11:08 My Bedridden Valley
13:28 Manna Moment by Moment
15:09 More Sustaining Signs
18:14 Matt and Cancer Grace
20:32 Rest Stops in Suffering
22:23 When It Feels Abandoned
24:17 Eyes on Eternity
25:30 Final Encouragement

Resources and Links:
Watch the Singing Through Fire podcast on YouTube.
Listen on your favorite podcast streaming platform.
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple podcasts.
Connect on Facebook.
Connect on Instagram.

PODCAST DESCRIPTION:

Welcome to the Singing Through Fire podcast! I’m your host Lara Silverman, and this is where we:

• Worship when it hurts
• Discuss hot takes from the furnace of affliction
• Explore a biblical theology of suffering with a side of sass and sarcasm

From lamentations to laughter, this podcast is for anyone desperate for hope who has ever asked, "Why, Lord, why?”

Don’t forget to follow/subscribe because I upload content every Tuesday and Friday!

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2nd Corinthians 4:17.

In this episode, host Lara Silverman continues the “Faith in the Furnace” series with Melissa McLaughlin, a writer, teacher, and speaker who retired early after debilitating chronic back pain from deteriorating discs forced her out of a beloved teaching career, exposing how much her identity was tied to work and capability. Melissa shares how suffering and dependence on others led her to rediscover her true identity as God’s child, even as she felt God’s silence and lost words to pray. She describes using Psalms and other passages as spoken prayers, collecting and rewriting verses into scripture-based prayers, and developing a prayer framework of praise, thanksgiving, confession, petitions, and ending in God’s strength, later shared in her book “In Dark of Night When Words Fail.” They discuss God’s sovereignty, spiritual warfare, eternal perspective, and Melissa’s second book, “The Whole Bible Devotional,” which helps readers see Jesus throughout Scripture.

Chapters
00:00 Show Intro and Guest
02:39 Family Roots and Brother
04:25 Teaching Calling and Career
05:01 Back Pain and Retirement
06:05 Chronic Pain Reality
07:59 Identity After Job Loss
14:16 Prayer When Words Fail
18:19 Trusting Gods Love
23:21 Obedience in Suffering
26:35 Sovereignty and Sufficient Grace
30:32 Eternal Good in Suffering
32:04 Suffering That Serves Others
33:09 Grace Through Letting Go
36:55 Spiritual Warfare and Daily Trust
39:49 Why Reliance Costs So Much
43:02 Scripture Based Prayer Framework
47:57 Sovereignty and Brother’s Suffering
54:02 Heavenly Crowns and Eternal Rewards
55:18 Training for Worship and Love
59:06 Final Encouragement Hold On

Resources and Links:
Melissa's website
Watch the Singing Through Fire podcast on YouTube.
Listen on your favorite podcast streaming platform.
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple podcasts.
Connect on Facebook.
Connect on Instagram.

PODCAST DESCRIPTION:

Welcome to the Singing Through Fire podcast! I’m your host Lara Silverman, and this is where we:

• Worship when it hurts
• Discuss hot takes from the furnace of affliction
• Explore a biblical theology of suffering with a side of sass and sarcasm

From lamentations to laughter, this podcast is for anyone desperate for hope who has ever asked, "Why, Lord, why?”

Don’t forget to follow/subscribe because I upload content every Tuesday and Friday!

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2nd Corinthians 4:17.

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, host Lara Silverman, wrestles with why God sometimes does not heal chronic pain and how Christians should respond when God calls them to stay in the storm rather than keep chasing the shore. Sharing her own experience of being led to accept a permanent neurological illness, she encourages listeners to grieve, keep praying for confirmation, and pursue surrender and contentment rooted in Scripture. The episode focuses on God’s purposes in weakness, arguing from multiple biblical passages that believers are created to depend on God, and highlighting 2 Corinthians 12 where Paul’s “thorn” remains so God’s power is displayed. She explains that weakness can glorify God, transform character, strengthen faith, and even advance the gospel through faithful suffering, while rejecting prosperity-gospel claims that lack of healing means lack of faith.

Chapters
00:00 God Wants You Weak
01:07 Prayer and Setup
01:27 When Healing Is No
02:55 Acceptance and Grief
04:31 Contentment in Pain
07:25 Purpose in Suffering
08:29 Break and Book Plug
09:41 Scripture on Dependence
12:53 Paul’s Thorn Explained
15:50 Is God Egotistical
19:04 Weakness Becomes Strength
20:09 A Story of Not Being Healed
23:35 Final Encouragement and Warning

Resources and Links:
Watch the Singing Through Fire podcast on YouTube.
Listen on your favorite podcast streaming platform.
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple podcasts.
Connect on Facebook.
Connect on Instagram.

PODCAST DESCRIPTION:

Welcome to the Singing Through Fire podcast! I’m your host Lara Silverman, and this is where we:

• Worship when it hurts
• Discuss hot takes from the furnace of affliction
• Explore a biblical theology of suffering with a side of sass and sarcasm

From lamentations to laughter, this podcast is for anyone desperate for hope who has ever asked, "Why, Lord, why?”

Don’t forget to follow/subscribe because I upload content every Tuesday and Friday!

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2nd Corinthians 4:17.

In this episode, host Lara Silverman continues her “Faith in the Furnace” series with guest Mary Balian, an Armenian American singer-songwriter dedicated to creating contemporary Armenian Christian worship music so Armenians can worship Christ in their own language. Mary shares her testimony of suffering and faith, including losing her father to a sudden heart attack at age 15 while performing CPR, and the bitterness, depression, and questions that followed without a strong church community until later finding deeper faith through Armenian Christian camp and church mentors. She also recounts her second daughter’s journey through pain, her NICU stay as a baby, and the resilience that led to major progress. Together they discuss lament, surrender, and eternal perspective.

Chapters
00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro
02:18 Mary’s Father’s Death
04:04 Faith Questions and Anger
12:07 Eternal Perspective Shift
13:41 Prosperity Myths and Cross
16:37 Pregnancy Crisis and NICU
19:01 Cerebral Palsy Diagnosis
23:48 Surrender and Mental Health
28:29 Nothing Wasted Redemption
31:15 Humbled by Healing
31:49 Holy Spirit Texts
34:20 When God Feels Silent
36:35 Empowering a Child
40:02 Eternal Perspective Shift
42:02 Verses for Low Days
44:28 Surprised by Joy
48:50 Doctrine of Rewards
51:40 Community and Accountability
54:42 Hope for Dad's Salvation
57:09 Where to Find Mary
58:41 Final Blessing and Sendoff

Resources and Links:
Mary's website

Watch the Singing Through Fire podcast on YouTube.
Listen on your favorite podcast streaming platform.
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple podcasts.
Connect on Facebook.
Connect on Instagram.

PODCAST DESCRIPTION:

Welcome to the Singing Through Fire podcast! I’m your host Lara Silverman, and this is where we:

• Worship when it hurts
• Discuss hot takes from the furnace of affliction
• Explore a biblical theology of suffering with a side of sass and sarcasm

From lamentations to laughter, this podcast is for anyone desperate for hope who has ever asked, "Why, Lord, why?”

Don’t forget to follow/subscribe because I upload content every Tuesday and Friday!

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2nd Corinthians 4:17.

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, Lara Silverman wrestles with a painful question many sufferers ask: if God is sovereign, why doesn’t He heal everyone? Drawing from her own eight-year battle with a rare neurological disease and the loss of her husband Matt to stage four cancer, she examines key biblical passages about healing, challenges prosperity gospel assumptions, and explains why unanswered prayers are not proof of weak faith. Lara emphasizes that God’s promises must be read in context and that God acts according to His will, not human timelines, while still being near to the brokenhearted. She encourages listeners to keep praying for healing, to submit to God’s will when healing doesn’t come, and to anchor hope in the certainty of complete healing and deliverance in eternity.

Chapters
00:00 Why God Won’t Heal Me
00:45 Welcome and Opening Prayer
01:35 Chronic Illness Reality Check
04:08 God Is Sovereign Still
06:23 Is God’s Will Healing
08:23 Verses That Seem to Promise
10:04 When God Says No
12:13 Break and Book Mention
13:29 Does God Want Suffering
14:58 Promises Need Context
17:16 Faith Isn’t a Guarantee
19:22 Pray and Submit Anyway
20:21 Ultimate Healing in Heaven
22:56 Delivered From All Troubles
23:41 God’s Love in the Fire
27:09 Closing and Next Episode

Resources and Links:
Watch the Singing Through Fire podcast on YouTube.
Listen on your favorite podcast streaming platform.
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple podcasts.
Connect on Facebook.
Connect on Instagram.

PODCAST DESCRIPTION:

Welcome to the Singing Through Fire podcast! I’m your host Lara Silverman, and this is where we:

• Worship when it hurts
• Discuss hot takes from the furnace of affliction
• Explore a biblical theology of suffering with a side of sass and sarcasm

From lamentations to laughter, this podcast is for anyone desperate for hope who has ever asked, "Why, Lord, why?”

Don’t forget to follow/subscribe because I upload content every Tuesday and Friday!

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2nd Corinthians 4:17.

In this episode, Lara Silverman continues her “Faith in the Furnace” series with Rick Cram, a resilience coach and author who has lived with severe left-knee pain since a high school football injury 50 years ago. Rick recounts a long medical journey—multiple failed repairs, a total knee replacement at 40, and a 2019 partial revision that solved some issues but created new problems—leaving him with daily bursts of agony and ongoing exhaustion. He shares how his faith has shifted over time from anger and “why, God?” questions to a practiced life of intentionality, gratitude, and “productive lament,” anchored in God’s love, promises, and purpose. Lara and Rick discuss joy in suffering (not joy for suffering), God’s grace being sufficient, and how eternity strengthens hope. They also offer practical guidance for supporting sufferers through presence, understanding, and being a “holder of hope.”

Chapters
00:00 Meet Rick Cram
03:24 Football Injury Origin
06:11 Surgeries And Chronic Pain
08:45 Joy And Resilience
12:53 From Anger To Intentionality
15:59 Love As Transformation
20:15 Answering The Why
24:34 Grace In Weakness
26:11 Resilience In Exhaustion
29:08 Character Growth Takes Time
30:41 Praying Through Pain
30:58 God’s Answered Prayers
32:43 Carry Each Other’s Burdens
34:03 What to Say to Sufferers
35:10 Connection and Hope
36:52 Eternity as Hope
39:21 Sources of Hope and Resilience
42:45 Joy as a Choice
50:04 Renewing the Mind
51:50 Long Term Perspective
55:02 Hope Does Not Disappoint

Resources and Links:
Rick's website
Rick's podcast

Watch the Singing Through Fire podcast on YouTube.
Listen on your favorite podcast streaming platform.
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple podcasts.
Connect on Facebook.
Connect on Instagram.

PODCAST DESCRIPTION:

Welcome to the Singing Through Fire podcast! I’m your host Lara Silverman, and this is where we:

• Worship when it hurts
• Discuss hot takes from the furnace of affliction
• Explore a biblical theology of suffering with a side of sass and sarcasm

From lamentations to laughter, this podcast is for anyone desperate for hope who has ever asked, "Why, Lord, why?”

Don’t forget to follow/subscribe because I upload content every Tuesday and Friday!

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2nd Corinthians 4:17.

In this episode of Singing Through Fire, Lara explores God’s end goal for believers—not an easy, comfortable life, but sanctification: being conformed to the image of Christ. Walking through key passages like Romans 8:29, Luke 9:23, and Philippians 1:6, she explains that becoming Christ-like requires daily self-denial, crucifying the flesh, and surrendering personal rights and agendas to God’s will. Lara also unpacks how God often uses suffering as a refining fire to test faith, strip away idols, and form perseverance, character, and hope, emphasizing that this discipline is not punishment but loving transformation in preparation for eternity. She clarifies that conformity doesn’t erase personality but upgrades it into a more Spirit-filled version of who God uniquely made each person to be and previews a future episode on healing.

Chapters
00:00 Have You Died Yet?
01:07 Gods End Goal
02:11 Prosperity Gospel Light
03:26 Predestined to Be Like Christ
05:32 Training for Eternity
08:14 Come and Die
09:34 Surrender Your Rights
11:33 Crucify the Flesh
14:40 God Finishes the Work
16:49 Death Brings Upgrade
19:13 You Keep Your Identity
21:13 Book Break and Promo
22:26 Suffering Refines Faith
31:40 Not Punishment but Surgery
32:49 Are You Dying Yet?

Resources and Links:
Watch the Singing Through Fire podcast on YouTube.
Listen on your favorite podcast streaming platform.
Listen on Spotify
Listen on Apple podcasts.
Connect on Facebook.
Connect on Instagram.

PODCAST DESCRIPTION:

Welcome to the Singing Through Fire podcast! I’m your host Lara Silverman, and this is where we:

• Worship when it hurts
• Discuss hot takes from the furnace of affliction
• Explore a biblical theology of suffering with a side of sass and sarcasm

From lamentations to laughter, this podcast is for anyone desperate for hope who has ever asked, "Why, Lord, why?”

Don’t forget to follow/subscribe because I upload content every Tuesday and Friday!

"For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all." 2nd Corinthians 4:17.