Pastor Ken Hutcherson Fights Prostate Cancer
Seven years? That’s some battle.
This explains a bit as to why he may be so dogged and relentless about the gay issues he preaches against. A man who is daily aware of his own mortality runs at a hotter pace and a faster speed. He knows that time is running out.
Yes, if you’re gay and you hate the man for his protests, then you’re going to feel a little schadenfreude at the man’s troubles. I ask you to keep it to that, and not slag the man for his current trials. (Hate screeds will be deleted from this post.)
It just…seems to explain a lot. My prayers are with the man and his family tonight.
REDMOND, Wash. — For more than a decade, Pastor Ken Hutcherson has been at the center of the culture wars in Washington state. Now he’s publicly sharing a very private battle, his own battle with cancer.
“I was diagnosed in 2002 with prostate cancer,” Hutcherson, looking tired and a bit rundown, said Thursday while sitting in his new Redmond office.
The pastor of Antioch Bible Church in Kirkland leads a congregation of 3,000 members. But Hutcherson came to prominence for his vocal and public battle against gay rights and gay marriage.
“I haven’t felt good for seven years, but I try not to let that effect how I treat others and how I live,” Hutcherson said. “I think that’s why most people didn’t think there was anything wrong with me.”
Many in Hutcherson’s own church don’t know he’s living with cancer, and he doesn’t talk about it much.
“I can either look at it as oh woes me, or I can say thank God that I am worthy to go through this to be molded to be more like Jesus Christ and to know that he’s kept me here for a reason.”
The reason, Hutcherson believes, is to continue preaching against gay marriage. I’ts a fight that has gained him many enemies.
“I think there’s a lot of people hoping I die,” he said. “That may be one of the reasons God’s keeping me around.”
Hutcherson said he’s praying for God’s guidance on how to fight a bill in Olympia that would expand the state’s domestic partnership law.
After a serious fall on his ranch during the snowy holidays, Hutcherson’s body reacted badly. His doctors have asked him to cut back at home and facing a new round of experimental drug treatment he knows cutting back at work may be necessary.
Still Hutcherson says, “I’ve enjoyed my cancer….because it’s molding me. That’s the thing God is using to keep my mind on him.”
Yikes. This guy seems to be saying that he is projecting his health battle onto his “enemies” – the gay rights community.
I pray for Hutcherson’s family and the gay families Hutcherson is persecuting.
Prostate cancer can be very slow in progressing. When my father was diagnosed, doctors told him if he did nothing, he’d have 8-10 years. As it was, he chose a “radical” and is quite well nearly 14 years later.
It was the newspaper article that used the term “enemies”–let’s hope Pastor Hutcherson does not see any individuals that way himself.
That’s good to know that we might have Hutch with us for an extended period. I applaud you for giving him the benfit of the doubt.
Hutch is a wonderful man, totally committed to God and willing to give up everything to pursue God’s plan for his life — even if it’s not politically correct. I admire him, and I know him pretty well, after attending his church for 10 years. He is not a hater of people — any people. He just hates the fact that God’s plan for marriage and sexual relationships has been so perverted as to make homosexuality seem “almost” normal. Thank God that He called Hutch to send an important message to our culture.
I’m glad to hear it Henry. My problem is that Hutch’s pride has gotten in the way of his message and young people who are just now figuring out their sexual issues are getting the idea that the church is not an answer to the questions they might have. When they protest the violence and the abuse they suffer, it seems the church’s response is to protest their choices, and in a tacit way, approving of the violence these young men and women inherit.
I’m just saying there’s a better, more Jesus-identified way to build bridges insted of inciting hatred and abuse.
I’d love to sit down and talk with the man about this some time.
formergay You say “young people are figuring out their sexual issues” I wonder where that thought comes from. A man is a man and a woman is a woman. The Bible is a wonderful love message from God but it also is very helpful during all the stages of our lives. Proverbs has a lot to say about the hormones raging and what to do about it. Mostly it says to walk a narrow path and don’t see how close you can come to evil. Certainly active sexual pursuit is supposed to be left to the incredibly enjoyable marriage bed. In the meantime self control is emphasized. Men and woman are not dogs in heat. They can wait and frankly if they can’t what does that say about them?
I have known Hutch since High School. If there is ever a Man of God out there it is Hutch. His love and compassion for Gods people is unfathamable and I am so proud of him and all God has done thru him. His cancer may destroy his earthly body but God began a work in him that will have a profound affect on people for years to come. He is a beautiful man with a beautiful family and I am so proud of him. I support all that he does and has done where gay rights are concerned. We are all children of God and it is our responsibility to live and teach as God as directed us to. Homosexuality is wrong, against God, it is sin. It isn’t the gays that we as Christians hate it is their lifestyle, their sin. We will pray that God will bring them back to Him. To a way of life that He intended. We love Gods children, but we hate their sin.
Did you even BOTHER reading the rest of the site? Did you read the news article where he admits that his obsession with Mt. Si is because he was insulted at an assembly and that it’s his pride at stake and not his love for gay people? Did you read the effect that his protests have had on the gay students at Mt. Si?
I’d guess probably not. Look, I love Jesus and his followers, but I have deep concerns that your Hutch’s sinful pride is getting in the way of the Gospel reaching those struggling, questioning souls. And that’s where I get angry.