George Washington never told a lie. He also never had to file a Form 1040.

Welcome to Monday where we are celebrating the fact that we are up and able to go on this January 23, 2011. It was my privilege to officiate the funeral service of our neighbor Roscoe last Saturday afternoon. These are always sad occasions but my desire was to point everyone there to the reality of God being the source of true comfort and peace. Roscoe leaves behind a lasting testimony of being a good neighbor. Plain spoken and direct, you never had to wonder where he stood on any particular issue. He will be missed. We also received word of the passing of another dear friend, Troy Bailey. Troy was 89 years young and about as genuinely sweet as they come. He was a WW2 veteran and we are so very proud to call him and his wife Dorothy true friends for many, many years. Brother Troy came to the know the Lord later in life but he was one faithful man and he and I loved to exchange stories about that good old fashioned home cooking. We could talk the talk regarding peas, butter beans, fried okra, homegrown tomatoes, and some of that skillet cornbread. Throw a little of that home canned pepper sauce into the mix and both of us would soon be wiping the drool off our smiling faces. I attended his home going service Saturday morning and left immediately to do the service for our neighbor Saturday afternoon. May God bless the memory of this fine gentleman and brother in Christ and may God bring comfort to his mourning family. Amen.

You may have heard by now that Paula Dean the celebrity cook on the food channel has announced that she is diabetic. I've never been a fan of Paula Dean but I know enough about her cooking style to say that she may be directly responsible for at least a good share of the Type 2's who became diabetics while using her recipes. She has signed up with a diabetes drug company and I can almost guarantee you that pretty soon she will be hawking all kinds of diabetic cookbooks. Her world for years has revolved around the concept that you could never add too much butter or granulated sugar. I read where a number of the diabetic associations are welcoming her as a spokesperson for dealing with this disease. I have my own thoughts about that: No thank you. Maybe she will have one of these huge events where everyone can bring her old cookbooks and burn them. They say most folks have trouble tolerating those who become preachy about their conversion from fatty foods to healthy eating. At that book burning event they will no doubt provide the opportunity to stop by the merchandise booth for any number of her brand new personal nutrition guides, healthy cookbooks, and maybe even some autographed diabetic cooking utensils. If she actually ends up helping some folks in the process of selling the antidote to her previous cooking style, well, I suppose that will be progress. As for me, I will stick with my Dora the Explorer gummy snacks and dream about opening a package where all of them will be lime flavored. Now that would be sweet, if you know what I mean.

Sometimes your kids know how to encourage you. When I told our youngest, Rodney, that I would be doing the service for Roscoe, he volunteered this information. He said, "Dad, if you do 5% as good as you did for Uncle Donald's service, it will be great, because that was one of the best I've ever heard." He went on to describe why he thought it was such a tremendous service. That left me both encouraged and puzzled as I tried to remember exactly what I said at Donald's service. At any rate, I told him how much I appreciated him saying that, and it was good of him to encourage me. That got me to thinking. Wonder how much of what you or I say to others each day that fits the category of it being uplifting, complimentary, and encouraging? I wonder how much falls into the negative category or even in the neutral column? The Apostle Paul followed the example of our Savior in promoting the use of wholesome words. We are called to build each other up. That is exactly what the word edification means. (There are many different passages on this subject but a good quick summary can be found in 1st Thessalonians, Chapter 5, Verse 11.) I will admit that I felt a little more confident after Rodney said that to me. I know. With me, it doesn't take much. But it is a good object lesson for us all. And, I will add my own Amen to that! Have a great Monday and may God bless each one. Amen.         .....More later.