Fathers & Brothers - "You Can Eat Without a Stomach" - Cancer Survivor Pastor Evan Gear

July 22, 2026

AI Summary

5 min read

When Pastor Evan Gear was diagnosed with an aggressive cancer that had filled his abdominal cavity with tumor fluid, he found himself in a strange place of peace. "I question, I'm forty-five and I think, Lord, I thought you had more for me to do yet, but I guess this is maybe if this is it, you've been good," he recalls. "You can take me and you would be right. Just I'll go." That acceptance of mortality—and the subsequent discovery that he could survive without a stomach, spleen, gallbladder, appendix, and parts of his intestines—frames a conversation about suffering, ministry, and what it means to bear a cross that others can see.

From Flannelgraphs to the Peace Corps

Gear's path to the pastorate was anything but direct. Raised in a Lutheran home in Roanoke, Virginia, where church attendance was sporadic and the Bible was never opened at home, he was drawn in not by preaching but by the unconditional love he felt from older youth group members. "I felt loved unconditionally in that place," he says. "Looking back, I know that was the Lord beginning to bring me to himself."

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What you'll learn

1 (00:08) **Facing Death with Acceptance** - Evan Gear opens with a prayer-like reflection on his willingness to die, balanced by the desire to stay for his family.
2 (03:13) **Conversion Story: Love Before Doctrine** - Evan recounts his early life in a Lutheran church, where the first draw to Christianity was not the preaching but the unconditional love he felt from a youth group.
3 (06:20) **A Confirmation Without Faith** - Evan describes going through Lutheran confirmation while still unconverted, arguing with the minister and feeling like an imposter.
4 (10:40) **A Fleeting Glimpse of the Gospel** - At a youth gathering, Evan hears a testimony that briefly pierces his spiritual numbness, a moment he describes as coming up for air before sinking back under.
5 (13:58) **College Suspension and the Thrill of Wrong** - Evan's rebellion escalates at Wittenberg University, leading to a deferred suspension for drug use and a second suspension for shoplifting.
6 (18:49) **The Darkness Within** - Evan describes a terrifying spiritual experience where he begins to see "darkness" in others and eventually recognizes it as coming from within himself.
7 (20:23) **The Bible Reads Me** - Following his friend's advice, Evan reads Romans 7 and experiences the scripture as if it were reading his own soul, leading to a profound, terrifying conversion.

+ Full timestamped outline available in the app

Show Notes

Jim McCarthy talks to cancer survivor Evan Gear, associate pastor at Independent Presbyterian Church in Savannah, GA.

Special thanks to Nathan Clark George for our opening and closing instrumental. Nathan serves as the Pastor of Worship alongside Kevin DeYoung at Christ Covenant Church in Matthews, NC. You can access Nathan's fantastic catalog here.