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This fall we have had some wonderful weather in my opinion. I guess we could have had a bit more snow, it definitely helps for hunting. But these warmer days have been quite enjoyable. Not having to drive in icy and wintery conditions is good. But we know the time is coming when winter will settle in and we will be shoveling, plowing and slipping on the ice! Winter is inevitable. It will come and we will survive. We really are guaranteed to have it due to where we live. It is a result of our decision to live in western Montana.

In getting ready for winter, I had to have some long overdue maintenance addressed on my snowplow and my pickup truck. The plow just needed a little welding and that was easy. My pickup has had a check engine light on and experiencing a bit of sporadic backfiring since last spring. As mentioned in past Musings, I can do a lot of “shade-tree” mechanical work on vehicles. But, with my shoulder surgery on May 16th, I was not up to doing it. So, summer becomes fall, and winter is almost here, and my truck is not running very well.

So, I scan the computer, read the codes, and order some parts. Once here, I put all the new spark plugs, wires and coil packs on, and the old truck runs excellent. I believe the coil packs were the original 2002 ones, with 294,000 miles on them. Yes, my motto is “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it”! Sometimes though I let things go too far.

The fix was relatively inexpensive, around $300, and that included new belts too. It was quick to fix, only about 2 hours working at a relaxed pace. I saw the warning signs for 6 months but chose to ignore them and fortunately the problem did not expand into something major. I wish all of life’s misfires were so easy to correct. Sometimes we ignore the warning signs of life, and the results are catastrophic.

In our world, we are habitually violating God’s commands. Just look at the 5 commands given in Exodus 20, verses 13-17; 13 “You shall not murder. You shall not commit adultery. You shall not steal. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor. You shall not covet your neighbor’s house; you shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, nor his male servant, nor his female servant, nor his ox, nor his donkey, nor anything that is your neighbor’s.”.

As we read the headlines one cannot ignore the fact that murder is rampant in our society and the world at large. In 2020 the murder rate for our country was 7.8 homicides/100,000 people. That is terrible, yet it is way lower than the 10.5 murders/100,000 in 1975. But the suicide rate is 13.5/100,000 and the deaths from drug overdose is 27.1/100,000. These are Pew research numbers. We continue to vote in judges and legislator’s who distain the law and release criminals back into society while expecting things to change.

Our families are in peril, sex trafficking is on the rise, single-parent homes are the norm in many segments of society, women are being exploited and we still encourage through our entertainment obsessed society loose and immoral standards. In the theft arena we again see how those in political and legal positions of authority who ignore the laws against stealing contribute to the loss of income and safety to the communities they are charged with protecting. The number of stores and businesses leaving these communities of chaos is in the thousands.

When it comes to lying one can see that throughout history, the telling and believing of lies, especially in legal proceedings, have resulted in many innocent people losing their lives, families, and the blessings of living outside the confines of prison. The number of innocent people executed for crimes they did not commit is astounding.

Yes people, we are in big trouble here in the USA on all fronts due to our decisions to ignore and even systemically violate God’s standards. His standard is perfection, something we all fall short of due to our sin (Romans 3:23). If you will turn to Christ and ask for guidance and forgiveness, He says he will receive you. Just look at John 3:16. Repentance works for us as individuals, and it will work for us as a Nation.

Dave Carroll is an area missionary with InFaith, America’s oldest Christian home mission agency, and Pastor of the Wolf Creek Baptist Church. You can contact Dave at 406.459.8935 or davecarroll@infaith.org.