Pastor Kevin Sanders

It’s time for me to post another yearly review:

Cost of Living

2022 was the year that expensive stuff kept breaking (like my car and my teeth). We didn’t have as much of that this year, but the overall cost of living presented a challenge for us. I’m sure many of my readers can relate: the average American Family spent about a thousand dollars a month more in 2023 than in the previous year just to maintain the same standard of living.

I’m not mentioning this to complain or to dwell on problems. I’m simply writing it down so that some day I’ll look back and remember God’s faithfulness through the challenges.

Church/Ministry

A few things come to mind when I think about ministry this year.

I have continued to preach through the Gospel of Matthew. This may be the most enjoyable sermon series I’ve ever done. I always say that I hope the congregation gets a fraction of what I receive from studying when they hear the sermons.
I mentioned that a good friend of mine, a retired pastor, joined our congregation last year. He also started a new Bible study (“Sunday School” class) last year for some of the younger families that have been attending our church. It has gone really well, and we’ve had more young families get involved with our church. We’ve also seen growth in our children’s ministries.
We had good turnouts for both Vacation Bible School and Trunk or Treat. Vacation Bible School resulted in children putting their faith in Christ and getting baptized. Our children’s ministry in general has had a great year.

Clark: from Prekindergarten to Kindergarten

Clark “graduated” (completed) prekindergarten back in June. We were very happy with the school, so we enrolled him for kindergarten. It turned out that one of his best friends and one of his teachers from prekindergarten ended up his class this year. We also discovered that one of Clark’s new teachers is an Alabama Crimson Tide fan (not a common thing for a native-born El Pasoan). This school year has gone really well so far.

Breakthroughs

I didn’t mention this in last year’s review post, but Clark had a bit of bumpy start to prekindergarten last year. There were several days that he didn’t want to listen to his teachers and disrupted the classroom. I had to come to the school a few times to “persuade” him to behave.

But something clicked when we returned here in January of 2023 from our vacation in Alabama. He brought home a bad conduct report early that first week and I took away one of his favorite toys. We’ve used this punishment before, but it’s as though that day he finally made the connection between cause and effect. He’s only brought back one or two bad conduct reports from that day all the way through kindergarten this year.

Another breakthrough started in January: Clark’s speech, which had been a bit delayed, seemed to transform overnight. He began formulating longer sentences, asking more complex questions, and mastering all kinds of verbal skills that he was unable to do in previous months. Cris and I have been both astounded and relieved by this.

Clark has also continued to grow in his strong points, such as letters, numbers, and reading. He’s an amazing kid and I’m so thankful to be his dad!

Dual Citizenship

Mare Cris completed her path to American citizenship back in 2017. That was a long, expensive process and we were grateful for it to be finished.

This year we had an opportunity to acquire dual citizenship for both Mare Cris and Clark. The Philippine Consulate General of Houston Texas did an outreach here in El Paso back in April (this event was sponsored by one of the local Filipino-American groups). We were able to send some documents to them ahead of time, then finish other steps while the representatives were here in El Paso. My wife and son are now dual citizens of both America and the Philippines.

We’re not sure exactly what this benefit will mean for them. It should at least make future visits to the Philippines that much easier (no need for any kind of visa when you are a citizen of the Philippines).

A Season of Death

For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven: a time to be born, and a time to die . . .
Ecclesiastes 3:1-2a

Late August and the following weeks brought what I can only describe as a wave of death to our lives. It began with our family in the Philippines–one of my wife’s paternal relatives passed away. Then a young mother in Alabama we were good friends with died in a car accident. My wife’s maternal grandfather passed away next. This was followed by the death of yet another young mother–a church member who died within weeks of being diagnosed with cancer.

All of these deaths happened within about a month. The before-mention moms were both in their 30’s and had young children. These losses are still hard for us to wrap our minds around. I’m thankful for God’s grace, strength, and comfort.

Family

Mare Cris and I celebrated 11 years of marriage back in March. She grows in grace and beauty every day. We are still partners in life and ministry and we wouldn’t have it any other way.

We have continued to enjoy watching Clark grow up. The time goes by quickly!

This year’s cold and flu season has not hit us as hard as it did last year (so far, at least). We are grateful for that!!

We also continued a tradition we started last year: visiting my family in Alabama during July and Christmas time (instead of Memorial Day and Thanksgiving). This has allowed us to build great holiday memories with family without disrupting Clark’s school routine.

I’ll leave you with this quote from A.W. Tozer. I think it is fitting since we are bidding farewell to another year:

May you have a blessed, God-honoring 2024!

I remember a message I used to hear as a child of the 80’s. My television show would be interrupted by some annoying squawking sounds followed by this statement:

This has been a test of the emergency broadcast system. If this had been an actual emergency, you would have been instructed where to tune in your area for news and official information.

These messages came due to a government program that existed from 1963 to 1997. The intent was to have a way for the President to directly address citizens in case of war. It was never used for that specific purpose, but it was used thousands of times for other types of emergencies (weather, for example). The idea was simple: the government has the responsibility of interrupting whatever we are watching or listening to if doing so may save lives.

The Christmas season reminds me of an emergency message of sorts that was sent to Joseph, the earthly father of Jesus. He received a word that was much more convincing than anything that ever came to me through television or radio airwaves. It was a divine mandate sent through a heavenly messenger.

Matthew’s Gospel gives us this account:

Now the birth of Jesus Christ took place in this way. When his mother Mary had been betrothed to Joseph, before they came together she was found to be with child from the Holy Spirit. And her husband Joseph, being a just man and unwilling to put her to shame, resolved to divorce her quietly. But as he considered these things, behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, “Joseph, son of David, do not fear to take Mary as your wife, for that which is conceived in her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son, and you shall call his name Jesus, for he will save his people from their sins.” All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had spoken by the prophet:

“Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son,
and they shall call his name Immanuel”

(which means, God with us). When Joseph woke from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord commanded him: he took his wife, but knew her not until she had given birth to a son. And he called his name Jesus.
Matthew 1:18-25

Courtship and marriage didn’t happen back then the same way they do now. Mary was probably a teenager when her family set out to find her a suitable husband. Joseph was probably a few years older so that he could be a little more financially established. Keep in mind that you did well to live into your 50’s or 60’s back then, so there wasn’t much time to waste.

Their families arranged this marriage for them. In other words, Mary and Joseph probably had little say in the matter and simply trusted their parents.

Joseph and Mary would have made a legal contract before witnesses. Money may have been exchanged between families. This was the beginning of the betrothal period we see mentioned in Matthew’s Gospel. They were not yet allowed to live together—the wedding ceremony and subsequent cohabitation usually came about a year later. But unlike modern-day engagements, they were legally bound to each other. The only way their relationship could end was through a legal process of divorce.

It was in this context that Joseph discovered Mary was pregnant. He concluded that she had been unfaithful and betrayed her contract. He figured his marriage was over before it started.

Joseph had two options:

The first would be a public divorce. This would have exposed Mary to public shame and even the possibility of capital punishment (the Old Testament penalty for adultery).

His second option was a private divorce. That would mean just making a writ of divorce in front of a couple of witnesses.

Joseph was a “just man” and chose to “divorce her quietly” (vs. 18). It was the most merciful and honorable decision he could have made. But it was the wrong decision. Joseph’s plan would have been disastrous if he had followed through.

God intervened and interrupted Joseph’s well intentioned plan. He sent an angel to Joseph in a dream with new instructions. Joseph obeyed and became the earthly father of Jesus Christ—an honor that’s hard for us to fathom.

Bob Hall, one of my seminary professors, read this story years ago in a class. He made a point that went something like this: “Joseph’s intentions were good, but he was about to make the wrong decision. Sometimes we simply have to make the wisest decision we can, then trust God to show us if we are wrong.”

I can’t tell you how encouraging that insight has been for me over the years. It’s taken away my fear of somehow missing God’s will for my life.

I want to be clear about something: I am not talking about living disobediently then expecting the Lord to intervene or send a “sign.” I am speaking of times when I have prayed, read the Bible, sought godly wisdom, but still needed the Lord to intervene. I’ve never had an angelic vision, but I have seen the Lord move in unmistakable (and surprising) ways to reveal His will to me.

I still have those times when I’m not 100% sure I’m making the correct move. Life decisions are much weightier now that I have a family to care for. But I think about God’s work in Joseph’s life and I am encouraged. My prayer goes something like this:

“Lord, I believe this is the right decision. But I ask you to intervene and show me if there’s something I’m missing. My life is Yours, and I am open to divine disruptions.”