NewYear | Pastor Kevin Sanders

2021: The Year in Review

The Big Blur

2021 wasn’t a bad year–plenty of good things happened. But it kind of feels like one big, ambiguous blur to me as I look back on it. I don’t know how else to describe it.

I believe one reason the year felt this way is I had to re-adjust to life after formal studies. Going back to school was a big, challenging part of my life from 2018-2020.

Maybe 2021 also felt the way it did due to the continuing issues with Covid. I’ll address that next.

Covid Madness, Version 2021

I was hoping this would be the year the world recovered from “Covid madness,” as I call it. I hoped things would be closer to normal: the end of all lock downs, etc. That didn’t happen (not completely, at least).

Some progress was made: effective vaccines were developed, which was a huge step. I also vividly remember the day the CDC released a statement that vaccinated people don’t need to wear masks (back in May). My wife and I went to the store the following day with uncovered faces and have done so ever since (except for those few weeks when our local government tried to re-impose mask mandates).

It seems most schools are meeting in person now, which is a good thing. I still believe shutting down schools was a terrible thing to do to children–especially poor children.

But the virus did continue to take lives and dominate the headlines. I hope and pray that 2022 will be different in this regard (or at least end differently). Time will tell what life looks like after the new variant has swept through, but there is reason for cautious optimism.

Church/Ministry

Someone on Twitter asked if it was harder to lead in 2021 than in 2020. “Yep, its like a war of attrition,” I responded. Seems like it’s been a constant struggle to get any momentum going (at least from my limited, earthly perspective). This is not a criticism of my church–what I’ve described seems to be a nearly universal sentiment among pastors and church leaders.

Having said that, we have much to be thankful for: God has allowed us to continue being part of what He’s doing here in El Paso. I’m thankful for the faithful believers that have continued to attend and serve. I’m also thankful for the new people that have joined us on our journey.

Books

Here are a few of the notable books I read in 2021:

One of my most cherished ministry mentors gave me a devotional called God’s Best Secrets by Andrew Murray. The book has her signature in it, which adds to its sentimental value. I’ve used it as a daily devotional and regularly quoted from it on my Twitter page.

I finally got around to reading The Hiding Place, which is Corrie Ten Boon’s harrowing account of living in Holland during the Nazi takeover (World War II). The book’s title is based on the hiding place her family had built in their house to hide and project Jews from the Gestapo. Corrie, her father, and sister were all eventually arrested for their part in assisting the Jews. Her father died ten days after his arrest. Corrie and her sister were eventually sent to a concentration camp where they managed to conduct Bible studies (with smuggled Bibles). Corrie’s sister died in the camp–Corrie was the only one of her immediate family to survive. It’s an amazing testimony of hope and forgiveness in some of the worst circumstances imaginable.

Corrie Ten Boon’s home and the hiding place.

I read God’s Smuggler, which is Brother Andrew’s testimony of coming to Christ and spending much of his life smuggling Bibles into closed countries. What struck me was Brother Andrew’s complete faith in God. He trusted God to get him through security checkpoints with a vehicle packed full of Bibles. This expanded edition of the book includes an interview with Brother Andrew on his continued work through Open Doors, the organization he founded.

Last but not least, I read The Color of Church: A Biblical and Practical Paradigm for Multiracial Churches by Rodney M. Woo. The author describes his journey of leading a Houston church through change in order to reach the surrounding community. This process, which began in 1992, resulted in predominantly Anglo church adopting a new vision and becoming a multiracial church.

A News Diet

I just mentioned the decision I made a while back to avoid online debates. I also decided long ago to cut back on watching the news–especially national/world news. I do try to scan news articles and stay informed at some very minimal level. But I’ve become increasingly weary of the fear-and-hate inducing headlines that relentlessly come at us every day. I think this video nicely sums up my concerns:

Family

Our boy continued to grow up before our eyes in 2021–he turned three back in March. For the record, whoever coined the phrase “terrible two’s” apparently didn’t understand the real drama that was coming at three years old. Joking aside, we have enjoyed his third year–Clark keeps us on our toes and keeps us laughing.

Mare Cris and I celebrated 9 years of marriage the day after Clark’s birthday. I’m looking forward to the 10-year milestone in 2022!

We did our usual visits to Alabama around Memorial Day and Thanksgiving. Clark got sick with parainfluenza on our first visit (in May) and that put a bit of a damper on things. But the Thanksgiving visit went extremely well. He constantly talks about going to “paw paw’s house.”

Future

I think I’ll sum things up with a quote from Corrie Ten Boone herself (copied from The Hiding Place): “. . . this is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for a future that only He can see.”

Boone was right: everything my family and I experienced this past year was part of God’s master plan for us. I will obey Him and trust that He is working everything out in accordance with His will for me and my family.

Happy New Year to all my friends, family, and blog readers! I’m deeply grateful for all of you.

2020: The Year in Review

I usually write a review of the year around this time. Here goes:

Covid Madness

As I mentioned in a previous post, I underestimated what Covid-19 would do to the world. I have lived through both SARS and Swine Flu, neither of which had much of an impact on my life. I thought Covid-19 would come and go over the course of a few weeks.

I was wrong, of course. There was a lock down, immediately followed by a mad rush on toilet paper and even some groceries.

I remember posting a couple of pictures from the store on my Instagram account during those first couple of weeks (one was of the paper supplies section at Sam’s; the other is of the breakfast cereal isle at Walmart):

I will say this: I believe the way most governments (note the plural–not just America) have approached this pandemic has been an unmitigated disaster. It seems like we never recovered from a doomsday forecast that was not properly peer reviewed before it was put into circulation.

I believe the draconian lock down strategies have done more harm than good to society as a whole (this medical doctor from Sweden has written a good article about it). I am concerned about children (particularly children from poor families) who have missed months of education over a virus that poses no real threat to them (statistically speaking).

Re-evaluating Social Media

You may disagree with the above assessment of lock downs, and that’s OK. I won’t argue with you about it on Facebook/Twitter, because 2020 was also the year I decided that social media is not a very good place to discuss/debate these and many other issues.

Social media became incredibly toxic this year, at least from my perspective. I saw (and still see) people ranting and arguing about masks, medicines, vaccines, bizarre conspiracy theories, racial issues, and let’s not forget politics. I have cut back on posting anything other than Bible verses, devotional material, and pictures of my family. This has been good for my soul.

Church/Ministry

We stopped having worship services when the first case was confirmed in El Paso back in March. I did the best I could to minister to our congregation through email, YouTube and Zoom meetings while we were not meeting in person. These online formats are useful, but I must confess that it didn’t take long for me to get tired of virtual “meetings.”

Our church did start meeting in person again in June. Attendance has fluctuated as Covid cases and hospitalizations do the same here in El Paso. We are still doing Sunday worship for the remnant who feel comfortable attending.

We hired a new staff member in the middle of all this. He’s doing a great job with our children/students and I’m still amazed that we found him (or he found us).

I wish we could do more as a church, but I’ve been blessed by the faithfulness of God’s people during this difficult year.

Doctoral Studies

The final phase of the Doctor of Ministry degree involves leading a team through some type of process which enhances/improves your church’s ministry (and writing a detailed report of it). By the grace of God, and with the help of a wonderful ministry team from my church, I was able to get this done in 2020. I passed the oral defense of my ministry project report back in October and earned my doctorate.

I will forever be grateful for the opportunity to study at Gateway Seminary. I’ve learned so much over the past three years! Finishing this degree was a much-needed shot in the arm in the midst of a very challenging year.

Family

My son is growing in size while my lovely wife continues to grow in beauty. I’m thankful that I’ve had these two with me before, during, and after the lock down!

We did not get to go out and do much this year for obvious reasons. But we were able to go to Alabama a couple of times to visit extended family–most recently in November.

I was a bit conflicted about traveling and potentially exposing family members to Covid (since El Paso has been a hot spot). But tomorrow is never promised, and we don’t regret taking advantage of the opportunity to see them.

Notable Books

I didn’t have quite as much leisure reading time this year due to all the writing I was doing. But here are a few great books that I did find time to finish:

I started off almost every morning in 2020 with two devotional books: My Daily Pursuit (AW Tozer) and Being Still With God (Henry and Richard Blackaby). These devotionals, very different in style, were both great blessings to me.

Two theological books stick out in my mind from this year. First and foremost, Sam Storm’s Kingdom Come was a fantastic read. This is a book about eschatology–the doctrine of the Second Coming of Christ. I don’t think I’ve ever read such a long book (over 500 pages) so quickly.

I also finished The Potter’s Promise (by Leighton Flowers) a few days ago. Flowers is a former Calvinist who changed his mind about the doctrine of soteriology (salvation). He now believes that Christ loves every person and died for all. He explains how he came to that conclusion in this book. Very well-written.

Note: another great book on soteriology is Kenneth Keathley’s Salvation and Sovereignty. I read this one years ago, but it always comes to mind whenever I read a book about the nature of salvation.

I’ll also mention a book I read on pastoral leadership: Second Thoughts: 100 Things Small Church Pastors Need to Reconsider, by Dave Jacobs. This book was full of great insights/ideas for those who pastor small churches.

Final Thoughts

I’m sure most of you are ready for 2020 to be over with. I am too–it’s been a tough year.

But God is good, even in difficult times. And 2020 had more blessings than I deserved. I have so much to be grateful for, and I can trust God for whatever He has in store for us in 2021.