Pastor Hutcherson Inspires With Surprising Take on His Cancer Battle: 'One of the Greatest Things That Ever Happened to Me

Pastor Ken Hutcherson was one of the many popular conservative and religious leaders who took part in Glenn Beck's Man in the Moon event -- and the crowd loved him.

It's really no surprise, though, considering that the preacher's life story both inspires and invigorates. Hutcherson's personal tale holds the ability to spark change in others. From overcoming his dislike of whites at an early age to sharing how he copes with battling terminal cancer, he has repeatedly shown himself to be a fascinating and inspirational figure.

Photo Credit: TheBlaze

Rather than avoiding the spotlight amid life-threatening health problems, Hutcherson is regularly quite vocal and holds little back on the issues that he's passionate about. In a recent interview with TheBlaze, he spoke about his faith, cancer survival and hope for the nation's future.

Surviving Cancer

Perhaps most notably, Hutcherson doesn't fear his life-threatening cancer, nor does he lament the possibility that the condition could turn fatal at any moment. His Christian faith, quite amazingly, sustains him and gives him a sense of immeasurable peace.

"I've had cancer for 13 years and I have been condemned to die for five," the faith leader. "Cancer is one of the greatest things that ever happened to me."

This latter comment may seem odd, but "Hutch," as he is affectionately called, believes that the disease has been his "disciple" -- a plight that he claims has actually been a privilege to endure.

"[God] trusts me to suffer for him," the preacher added. "There's nothing that can touch me that's not filtered through the hands of God."

Of course, Hutcherson wouldn't have chosen the challenge for himself, but it's the hand he's been dealt. So, he rolls with the punches and trusts the Lord to get through the pain and suffering that accompanies his cancer.

"What cancer has done is given me an absolute focus on Jesus Christ, my Lord and Savior," he continued, noting that the challenges have sustained him and helped him to focus more profoundly on God's plan for his life.

To those who fear death, his comments may seem difficult to comprehend, but Hutcherson speaks from the purview of someone who has personally stared demise directly in the eye. He argues that the most important lesson of all is that, "You can't really live until you defeat the fear of dying."

As much as it is beautiful, life is also filled with struggles and plights. But Hutch argues that joy should not be predicated upon circumstances. The "fear of Christ" is true contentedness, he argued.

Hutcherson's Evolution on Race

A faith leader at Antioch Bible Church in Redmond, Washington, Hutch has captured attention for his views on social issues and for his compelling story of personal evolution during the civil rights fight of the 1960s (additionally, Hutcherson, played for five years in the NFL before becoming a pastor).

During the “Independence Through Enlightenment” conference at Man in the Moon, Hutch described the difficulties he encountered growing up in the 1950s and 1960s in the American south. He detailed the intense discrimination and highlighted how it inevitably caused him to despise white people.

"I had every right in the world to hate whites, humanely speaking," he said. "[But] as a Christian, I have no right whatsoever."

In 1969, when he began to trust God, his perspective changed. Those intense emotions simmered and, today, he's wildly popular among people of all races and creeds.

"God so changed me in my hatred for whites, but you know where he change me the most? My hatred for people," he said, getting some laughter with his quip that followed. "He changed my heart so greatly that I married the whitest white woman in the world."

America's Culture War

He also told TheBlaze that the U.S. is engaged in a hard-hitting culture war. The Supreme Court's recent gay marriage decisions, Hutch argued, should cause concern for.

"I think that there's a serious wake-up call that came out of the Supreme Court for those of us who stand on conservative Judeo-Christian morals," he said. "We have to look at how serious and close the Supreme Court came to making a federal law that same-sex marriage should be legal in all states -- they stopped short of that."

Hutcherson called for believers to stand up and stop the nation's move in what he believes to be an immoral direction. Christians, he argued, have the power and ability to make change.

"I really believe that if the church and conservatives who stand on Judeo-Christian values don't stand up soon, God is going to be in heaven having a throw-up," the pastor said.

At Man in the Moon, too, he drove home his views on the same-sex union issue, noting that, "Marriage belongs to God."

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