When doctors diagnosed Carman with cancer in February, the artistic evangelist said time stood still. Everything turned white, like a big flashlight was shining in his eyes.
After he went home with news that he had myeloma (an incurable form of cancer) and just a few years to live, Carman turned to soul searching.
“As a minister and as a Christian, I started to look over the past 12 years of my life. I tried to see some sort of a pattern and how this cancer fits into the pattern and what it means,” says Carman, who is known for his devil-provoking songs like “Satan,” “Bite the Dust” and “Courtroom.”
“An artist has a peak, and then they move on and go into other art. It happens with every artist or actor or creator or writer. You just have that time zone and it seems like my time had come to a peak in the year 2000,” he shares. “After that it was a time to redefine. The invitations slowed down and there were no more albums coming out. And you start to feel like, well, am I just being dialed out? Am I getting fired from the thing I loved the most?”
With so many emotions rolling through his soul, Carman thought to himself, “Wow, is this how it ends?” The transparent minister admits it’s difficult to be the man of faith, waving the Jesus banner, when you get hit with a terminal cancer diagnosis.
“Ministry begins with a vision, but as people get old, life changes—that’s the hardest thing for any ministry because you start off supernaturally but you end naturally,” Carman says. “That’s what I was thinking.”
Of course, Carman soon determined in his heart to fight. His conclusion: The devil has messed with the wrong Italian!
Stay tuned for the next installment from Charisma News’ exclusive interview with Carman, where he discusses why he decided to go public with his diagnosis just a few days after doctors gave him the news.
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