Deliverance By Christ only

None of the Israelites under the Old Testament were ever saved by the Sinai covenant;
neither did any of them ever attain to holiness by the terms of it. Some of them did indeed perform the commandments of it sincerely, though imperfectly: but those were
first justified, and made partakers of life and holiness, by virtue of that better
covenant made with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, which was the same in substance with
the new covenant or testament established by the blood of Christ. Had it not been for that better covenant, the Sinai covenant would have proved to them an occasion of no
happiness, but only of sin, despair, and destruction: and therefore it is now
abolished, 2 Cor. 3:6,8.9,11. We have cause to praise God, for delivering His
church, by the blood of Christ, from this yoke of bondage; and we have cause to
abhor the device of those that would lay upon us a more grievous and terrible yoke,
by turning our very new covenant into a covenant of sincere works, and leaving us no
such better covenant, as the Israelites had under their yoke, to relieve us in our
extremity.
Excerpted from The Gospel Mystery of Sanctification, Walter Marshall, author.

Uncle Donnie

Coupla three things.....maybe four or five.....

Coupla three things Uncle Donnie is not too happy about:
My team's not doing so good in the series,this is Halloween weekend (which I am personally sick of) and if I get one more political call, I'm probably gonna throw up. Sheesh, enough already!
Oh yeah, there's a fourth thing: which is the fact that it's getting colder and colder and the days are getting shorter and shorter,ya know what I mean? Personally Uncle D. is more like a fair weather sorta guy. His attitude is affected by the appearance of the sun on a regular basis....Sunshine = good, no sunshine = not so good....Things are going good,Uncle Donnie's doing good... Things going not so good, Uncle Donnie's not so good, capisci?
Whaddya gonna do?
On the other hand, I really got no complaints. Life is good. Cold, but good. My daughter and my granddaughter are here visiting from warm,sunny Southern Florida,
so that's been a big treat for Uncle D. and his trophy G-Ma Betty. You know, Floridians
freeze at 68 degrees and their teeth chatter and knees knock, etc. vwhen they are cold... Anyways, we are enjoying watching them shiver, fuggetaboutit!
Go Rangers! Hold your nose and cast your vote,and try and stay warm.
Oh, and please keep away from all that Halloween candy, it'll kill you!
And we'll leave a light on for you.....
Sometimes Uncle D. hears crickets. I get little cricket sounds in my head, sounds loony
I know, but I hear them occasionally, whattya gonna do?

Ciao,
Uncle Donnie

The Texorcist and the Church of Pat Benatar

Uncle Donnie notices things.
Like when he's driving down the road, he notices the person almost running him off the road is usually very busy talking or texting on the phone.
Sometimes they're finishing up their make-up, sometimes they're actually reading a book,or putting the last touches on that croissant they purchased earlier from the local deli...You know what I mean? It makes D. think that what we really need is a Texorcist: someone who can help these poor folks rid themselves of those demons that are hellbent to send Uncle D. to the ICU. Someone with the authority to do some necessary texorcisms,healings... That type of expert intervention that would really help some of these wayward drivers!
Maybe even the laying on of hands and anointing with some thirty-weight motor oil would help. The Good Lord knows Uncle D. would've liked to have gotten his hands on a couple of these poor drivers(read: losers). Whaddya gonna do?

Speaking of the Good Lord, do you think Jesus ever reads some of the signs His Church
uses for advertisement? If He does read them, I wonder what He thinks? Does Jesus
laugh or does He get embarrassed and just shake his Divine Head saying,"As you can see, I spoil my children",(read: Don Vito to Virgil Solozzo, The Godfather)...D. wonders!
Anyways, here are some that Uncle D. has seen.....
"Autumn Leaves Jesus Doesn't...."
"The Church is made up of three types of people: true believers, unbelievers, and
make believers..."
"We're not Dairy Queen, but we have great Sundays!...."
"Seven Days Without Church Makes One Weak...."
"Jesus Is A Soul Man...."
"WWJD".... We Want Jack Daniels!...Oops, I mean "What Would Jesus Do?"...
"Christians Aren't Perfect, We're Just Disobedient..."
and finally, for those who prefer the Church of Pat Benatar, "You're a heartbreaker,
dream-maker, love taker......"
A dopo,
Donnie

Kid Gazelle and the P.R.O.P.

So today at work The Kid says to me, "you really should become a coffee drinker",
I reply, "no thanks,I'm not really interested in coffee...never have been, never will be!"
Did Uncle D. ever tell you about The Kid? He's the kid who works for me. The second son of my good friend, the rarely innebriated Takashi (he ain't no fugazi) Woods,co-champion canasta player,and part-time landscape genius! Anyways, his kid, The Kid, who should probably be working for the ATC, that is alcohol,tobacco and coffee, thinks that Uncle Donnie should change his status from non-coffee guy to pro-coffee guy, which ain't never gonna happen until Starbucks freezes over (if you get my meaning)which will be a while, I'm guessing. So, The Kid, whose last name let's say is Gazelle, reminds me of the name changes one has to go through when entering the witness protection program....New life, new job, new city and state,
and new name, you know what I mean?
Where was I? Oh yeah, so The Kid Gazelle,a real coffee snob, says "I need you to stop by a coffee house on the way home from work, so I can get a cup of coffee, and maybe another stop at a covenience store to get a pack
of smokes." To which I replied, "Sure 'ting, Mr. Gazelle, anything I can do to make you happy!"...Yeah,right! Now remember this also: Uncle Donnie is not overly fond
of being downtown in The People's Republic of Portland, a town whose motto is "let's
keep Portland weird", where the men are men and so are the women, where beer is supreme and so is the beer.(You gotta think about that one for a while). Anyways, after work we stop,park illegally and wait For The Kid to satisfy his cravings, which he does, and then we head for home. On our way, The Kid says that he's having a really good cup of C., with four shots and a little cream, to which I reply, "Take off the top of the cup and I will try it", I guess I was tired or curious, or just plain dumb thinking that four shots of anyting might be really good.I was probably imagining that four shots of J.D. with a little coca cola might hit the spot real nicely. I taste it, it tastes like coffee, I don't like coffee,game over. I think what it lacked was a couple shots of bourbon. If coffee tasted anything like bourbon, Uncle Donnie just might change his mind!

Ciao,
Uncle Donnie