Here’s another yearly review with the categories in no particular order.

Dust in the Wind

This was a crazy year in El Paso as far as dust storms go. Living with these is just part of life here, but the frequency and intensity was on another level. Many long-term El Paso residents were telling me that it’s the worst they had seen. Turns out, it has been the most severe year for this since the 1936 Dust Bowl.

We took Clark across town to the eye doctor in the middle of one of these storms. It got so bad that I had to slam on the brakes while driving down the highway—I literally could not see beyond the hood of the car.

Let’s hope next year is not quite as windy/dusty.

Shade Tree Mechanic

I’m allergic to car payments and expensive insurance, so I still drive the 2002 Crown Vic that we bought back in 2013. This, of course, means more repairs than a newer car. Thanks to internet forums, a Facebook group, AutoZone, and YouTube I was able to diagnose and do three repairs for the cost of parts (these repairs happened in the final three months of 2025).

The first issue was a weird noise that turned out to be a worn-out Idle Air Control (IAC) valve. The second issue caused an engine light and stalling—it made me wonder if it I was going to make it home from the auto parts store. An EGR valve replacement solved that problem. Last, but not least, my car door lock started making a machine-gun sound when locking. I replaced the lock actuator, which was the most difficult repair. I had to remove the door panel and reach into the door.

I have jokingly told my wife that if we replace enough parts we’ll end up with a new car.

Church/Ministry

I’ve spent several months this year preaching through 1 Corinthians. We’ve studied Hosea and are now on Ecclesiastes for our Wednesday night prayer meeting/Bible study. As always, it’s a blessing to study, preach, and walk with my people through God’s Word.

One of my favorite Sundays of 2025 happened a few weeks ago. I had the blessing of baptizing one of the children in the church that had put her faith in Christ. Another long-time attendee was baptized on that same day (she had been a believer for years but had not yet taken this important step).

It was another year of watching my beautiful wife lead worship and watching my son enjoy church life.

Speaking of church: we will be celebrating the 45^th anniversary of Apollo Heights Baptist Church as soon as we get back to El Paso.

Family

Mare Cris and I celebrated 13 years of marriage this past March. We are thankful for His continued goodness, strength, and grace. I think of this proverb as time keeps flying by:

Fathers can give their sons an inheritance of houses and wealth, but only the Lord can give an understanding wife. -Proverbs 19:14

Clark turned 7, completed first grade at his nearby elementary school, and began second grade back in August. He continues to excel academically—he brought an all-A’s honor roll and perfect attendance certificate home a few days ago (seems he inherited his mom’s intellect). He has made new friends and lost a few teeth along the way.

May was a bitter-sweet month. My dad’s twin brother, my Uncle Neil, passed away. I flew in for the funeral and was able to celebrate my nephew’s high school graduation while I was in town. I was reminded that time flies and life is a mist.

We have continued to fly over to Alabama during the holiday season and summer. We always look forward to time with extended family and friends.

Note: You can see more of our photos on my Instagram account. We post most of our family pictures there (Mare Cris does most of the posting, but they are cross-posted on my account).

Books I Read

The Bible. This was not my first time to read the whole Bible, but this year I used an app on my phone called ReadingPlan. I used a five-day plan, which has two weekly off days built in. I found this approach made it easier to stay consistent.

Sage: A Man’s Guide Into His Second Passage, by Chris Bruno.

Bruno, a missionary-turned-therapist, argues that men heading into and beyond midlife should pursue the status of “sage”: a man who has found peace with God, himself, and his life. This allows him to mentor other men into wholeness and spiritual maturity:

At the end of your life, your greatest contribution to the kingdom of God will not be the wealth you have accumulated, the successes you have achieved, or the power you have acquired. Your greatest legacy will be found in the recovery of the glorious masterpiece God has written into your life and putting it on display for all to know the Master. That, my friend, is the true measure of a man. Pp. 24-28

Bruno strikes me as a fascinating man. I am a little leery of the abundance of the psychological jargon he uses and some of the authors he quotes. Having said that, I found this book to be full of insights and useful content for personal reflection. I also found his writing style to be both enjoyable and compelling.

The Imperfect Disciple: Grace for People Who Can’t Get Their Act Together, by Jared Wilson

This is the first time I’ve read one of Jared Wilson’s books, though I’ve followed him on social media for some time. I really enjoy Wilson’s sense of humor, much of which is expressed through self-deprecation. But what I enjoyed even more was this grace-filled approach to discipleship.

I want to write a discipleship book for normal people, for people like me who know that discipleship means following Jesus—and we know that following Jesus is totally worth it, because Jesus is the end-all, be-all—but we often find that following Jesus takes us to some pretty difficult places. -page 14

This book resonated with me as one who has struggled with self-doubts, failures, etc. Wilson is transparent about similar experiences in his own life, which makes him a very relatable author.

De-sizing the Church: How Church Growth Became a Science, Then an Obsession, and What’s Next, Karl Vaters.

Years ago, I read Vaters book entitled, The Grasshopper Myth: Big Churches, Small Churches and the Small Thinking that Divide. I found it very encouraging as a small church pastor.

Vaters has consistently challenged the notion that large congregations are superior to smaller ones. He is not against mega-churches, but he does argue that the church growth movement has created an obsession with numbers that is neither healthy nor biblical:

When everything has to be measured, we end up comparing ourselves to others. It’s inevitable. Measurement is comparison. And when we compare the size of our church or ministry to the size of others, we’ll find that either we’re bigger than they are and be filled with pride, or smaller and be filled with shame. -p. 108

De-sizing the Church challenges the reader to not see numbers as the end-all, be-all and to consider other ways of assessing a church’s health and effectiveness.

Knowing and Doing the Will of God. JI Packer

I found this book in my dad’s basement last year. I like Packer’s writing, so I brought it home as my daily devotional for 2025. This book seems to be a collection of his writings from various publications. I was a joy to read.

Books I Wrote

I had the opportunity to write/publish two books when I was a missionary in the Philippines. The second, Learning the Hard Way, was published in 2010. All this to say it’s been fifteen years since I have attempted to publish a book. I never would have imagined publishing two in one year, but that’s what happened in 2025.

Preaching for Life: A Pastor’s Journey of Biblical Proclamation is a project I started working on in 2024. I could summarize this book as things I wish I knew when I was first called to ministry and when I first started preaching.

Knowing God’s Will: Discovering His Plan for Your Life came together quickly a few months after I published the preaching book. I hope this book helps people seek the Lord’s will for their lives.

Consider this verse as you head into 2026:

Commit your actions to the Lord,
and your plans will succeed. -Proverbs 16:3

Happy New Year!

My book Preaching for Life has a chapter entitled: “Addressing Social and Political Issues.” I don’t pretend to have this issue completely figured out, but I do speak as one who has seen political leaders come and go (both here and during my time as a missionary in the Philippines). The chapter includes what I believe to be valuable questions for the preacher to consider when he steps into the pulpit. I’ll share them:

Will I come across as campaigning instead of preaching?

I am currently the pastor of a multiethnic, intergenerational church. I have members that vote differently than I do, and I’m fine with that. They are every bit my brothers and sisters in Christ as those who vote more like I do. Here’s my primary concern about getting political from the pulpit: I never want someone to come to my church and get the impression that I’m more interested in influencing their vote than I am in the state of their souls. The pulpit is for the proclamation of the gospel—it is not the place for me (or you) to promote political candidates or parties.

Will what I’m about to say age poorly?

I remember attending a church service around the time of Desert Shield (a military operation in which the US and her allies expelled Saddam Hussein’s Iraqi forces from Kuwait). The preacher began (loudly) arguing that the US should have invaded Iraq and gotten rid of Hussein once and for all. (I can’t remember if there were any “amens.”) To be clear, this was not my pastor—I believe we were having some kind of community service in which a pastor from another congregation spoke. That preacher did get his wish, for better or worse, about ten years later. But thinking about that message now causes me to scratch my head. I don’t recall the message including anything about what was supposed to happen after Hussein was ousted. Who would be the new leader? What kind of government would be adopted by or imposed upon the country? How would the Sunni and Shia Muslims get along if Hussein were ousted? These were all issues the international community had to deal with after Desert Storm (a military operation in which Iraq was invaded). I’m not here to argue for or against the invasion of Iraq. My point is that the preacher should have stuck to the word of God and not used the pulpit for his political rants.

More recently, I remember some so-called “prophets” incorrectly predicting the outcome of the 2020 presidential election here in the United States. Biblically speaking, that makes them false prophets (Deuteronomy 18:22). They have permanently disqualified themselves from preaching, though I suppose most of them will continue blowing hot air for years to come.

These may be extreme examples, but they point to something we should all consider—how would this sermon sound if someone listened to it five years from now? Twenty years from now? Applications and illustrations may change, but God’s proclaimed truth should be timeless!

Is the Bible clear about this topic?

Like it or not, the Bible doesn’t clearly say what the corporate or income tax rate should be. I have my own opinion on this issue, just like you. But this is an example of an issue that is not explicitly addressed in the scripture (at least, not as explicitly as some claim). I cannot say, “Thus says the Lord” on these and many other public policies.

There are issues that the Bible is perfectly clear about. Consider this statement from Genesis:

So God created man in his own image, in the image of God he created him; male and female he created them.

-Genesis 1:27

I am completely convinced, based on God’s word, that people are made in God’s image and are therefore valuable. I have no qualms about calling abortion evil (which I have done from the pulpit) since it is the taking of a human life made in God’s image. This verse also teaches that God created us male and female. This biological reality was not the least bit controversial until recently. I have on more than one occasion stated that radical gender ideology is rebellion against the clear design of our Creator and is destructive—especially in the way it is impacting this generation of children.

I don’t consider it a political statement when I preach on abortion, gender ideology, or homosexuality. I consider these biblical truths that have political implications. These may be controversial issues in the sphere of public debate, but they are settled in God’s word, and we should unapologetically preach about them from the pulpit.

Am I elevating my political party or candidate’s ideology above the word of God?

I have strong Libertarian (not to be confused with liberal) tendencies in terms of how I view the role of government. But Libertarians have a saying that I can’t fully endorse: “Taxation is theft.” I know taxation sure feels like theft, but Jesus said this when asked about taxes: “Therefore render to Caesar the things that are Caesar’s, and to God the things that are God’s” (Matthew 22:21b). Based on my Lord’s words, I believe the government has the right to impose taxes. That means I can’t completely embrace and repeat (or repost) every slogan that comes from Libertarian websites or social media accounts. I mentioned this to my congregation when I preached on Matthew 22:15-22.

Just to be clear, I’m not saying that Jesus’ words mean we have no right to influence our tax system—that’s what voting and political involvement are for. I’ll go further and say it’s perfectly legal and within your rights to voice your concerns about high taxes, unfair taxes, or misuse of government funds. But what we must not do is embrace any political mantra or ideology that contradicts the clear teachings of scripture.

Will I come across as having selective righteous indignation?

We all have our political biases, and these biases can cause serious inconsistencies in our praise or criticism of politicians (or political parties). I’ve seen well-known Christian leaders/authors write extensive criticism of one president, then treat the next president with kid gloves. Perhaps there is a time and place to criticize the actions of politicians, but I believe we should be as fair and consistent as possible. This is one of the many reasons I typically do not praise or bash politicians from the pulpit or even from my social media accounts. Kevin DeYoung has offered some wise words in this regard:

Only rarely will it be worthwhile for pastors to weigh in on some political matter immediately (other than lifting up many things to God in our public and private prayers). I don’t regret trying to address topics like abortion, transgenderism, race, or homosexuality, even if these can be called “political” topics. I do regret the times I’ve jumped in too quickly into the news cycle or offered my opinion too freely on individual politicians, if for no other reason than once you set yourself up as “a guy who comments on things all the time,” people can reasonably wonder why you comment on some things and some people and not on others.

Am I modeling civil discourse (including my life away from the pulpit)?

I have encouraged my congregation to talk about policies instead of personalities when it comes to political discussions. It takes zero effort to find a meme of your most hated politician in diapers and share it online. But we, God’s people, should show more respect and maturity. We should focus on clearly articulating what we value instead of engaging in the typical mindless online mudslinging that is all too common in today’s world.

These questions are an excerpt from Preaching for Life: A Pastor’s Journey of Biblical Proclamation. The book is available in both Kindle and hard copy formats.

Pastor Kevin Sanders

2025: The Year in Review