Proverbs Daily

Proverbs Daily is a reader-supported publication. All posts are free, but all donations help spread the message. When you see the word “upgrade,” you’re simply invited to help me make the sacred positively contagious…thank you in advance for becoming a free or paid subscriber. Some of y’all heard that title and already started moving. Parliament. “Flash Light.” The album version gives you five min...

Proverbs 18:17:“There are two sides to every story. The first one to speak sounds true until you hear the other side and they set the record straight.”Today’s Episode: Who Told You That? Today marks one hundred years since Chuck Berry was born. His music drew Black and white listeners in an America that still enforced segregation. Think about that contradiction. You could love what a Black man pla...

Proverbs 17:10:“A rebuke cuts into a man of discernment deeper than a hundred lashes cut into a fool.”Today’s Episode: Broken but still working. Somebody says, “Can I tell you something?”And you say, “Sure.”But inside? You’re putting on a helmet. We say we welcome feedback. Then somebody gives us some, and suddenly we need their qualifications, three references, and a background check. Now, someti...

Proverbs 16:26:“A worker’s appetite works for him because his hunger drives him onward.”Today’s Episode: What Are You Hungry For? I was today years old when this really sank in: the world already produces enough food to feed everybody on the planet. Check the sources, I ain’t lyin’Everybody. And yet somebody’s child is going to bed hungry tonight. Today is World Food Day. Usually that gets us thin...

Proverbs 15:15:“For the despondent, every day brings trouble; for the happy heart, life is a continual feast.”Today’s Episode: Live ImmediatelyYou ever sit down to a good meal and spend the whole time talking about what might go wrong tomorrow? Food right there in front of you, getting cold. Somebody you love sitting across from you. Did I mention the food? It’s here, and you’re somewhere in next...

Proverbs 14:15:“The simple man believes every word, but the prudent man watches his steps.”Today’s Episode: Don’t Believe Everything You ThinkYou ever watch those three little dots while somebody’s typing a text? They haven’t said anything yet, but you already know what they’re about to say. You’ve got your comeback ready. Your thumb is warmed up. Then the dots disappear. Oh, now we got a situatio...

Proverbs 13:16:“Every prudent man dealeth with knowledge: but a fool layeth open his folly.”Today’s Episode: Deal With Your JunkI was in my mid-thirties, working with Josh McDowell’s ministry, doing ministry at a hundred miles an hour. We had an opportunity to do a series of youth ministry events in Trinidad and Tobago. Man, I was ready to go! Except my paperwork wasn’t quite…ready. My passport ne...

Proverbs 12:10:“A righteous man regards the life of his animal, but the tender mercies of the wicked are only cruelty.”Today’s Episode: The Lynch-ed LogicA flag goes up. Somebody cheers. Somebody else wonders whether they and their children are safe anymore. It’s the same flag. But are you the one planting it, or the one being told to leave? Today is Columbus Day, and for many Indigenous people, t...

Proverbs 11:15:“He who puts up security for a stranger will surely suffer, but the one who hates indebtedness is secure.”Today’s Episode: Allergic to Being BrokeLast month my sister asked if I was gonna work on Labor Day. I told her, “I have to go to work cause I’m allergic to being broke.”We both fell out laughing. Some people are allergic to pollen. Some can’t do peanuts. Me? An empty bank accou...

Proverbs 10:17:“He who keeps instruction is in the way of life, but he who refuses correction goes astray.”Today’s Episode: Receiving Help Is WisdomEverybody wants to take the training wheels off. Get rid of the guardrails. Let me freestyle! Sometimes that freedom ends with us sitting in a ditch. On World Mental Health Day, here’s something I’m learning about receiving help in my chaplaincy practi...

Proverbs 9:15:“To call passengers who go right on their ways:”Today’s Episode: Check the SenderMan, I got an email at work and wasn’t paying attention. Opened it. Clicked something inside it. Turns out, IT was testing us for phishing. And your boy failed. Had that sender been malicious, I could’ve put the whole company at risk. It’s World Post Day. Shout out to the folks delivering mail in weather...

Proverbs 8:12:“I, wisdom, dwell with prudence, and I find knowledge and discretion.”Today’s Episode: What Wisdom SeesGoogle’s first name was…you ready for this? BackRub. That’s right. We almost ended up “back-rubbing” for info on that new restaurant! Yeah, I’m glad they changed that name too. Larry Page and Sergey Brin built it from their Stanford dorm rooms, using links between webpages to help p...

Proverbs 7:1:“My son, keep my words and store up my commands within you.”Today’s Episode: Keep On Keeping OnWhen I was a kid, the old folks could send you on your way with four words: “Keep on keeping on.”Man, that sounded good. They wouldn’t need to explain it. There was encouragement tucked inside that little phrase. And now I catch myself saying it to somebody every now and then. Keep on keepin...

Proverbs 6:21:“Keep them ever folded in your heart, and have them hanging round your neck.”Today’s Episode: The Bind That UntiesYou’ve heard of “the tie that binds.” Today, I want to talk about the bind that unties. And since it’s National Coaches Day, let’s give a nod to the coach whose voice you can still hear when nobody’s standing on the sideline.“Keep your head up.” “Follow through.” “Finish!...

Proverbs 5:13:“Oh, why didn’t I listen to my teachers? Why didn’t I pay attention to my instructors?”Today’s Episode: The Teacher Was Trying to Tell MeWorld Teachers’ Day gives me permission to confess: I have not always been an easy student. My best friend, Andre Jones, and I were buddies from fifth grade through eighth grade. We had a teacher named Mrs. Lloyd. And I thought Mrs. Lloyd was the sp...

Proverbs 4:10:“My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life.”Today’s Episode: Listen to LifeThere is a wisdom in you that was speaking before you knew how to talk. Think about your body. Before you had a face, a name, or a personal opinion, there were instructions already working inside you. DNA carried a pattern. Cells followed a rhythm. What began almost invisibly...

Proverbs 3:13:"Joyful is the person who finds wisdom, the one who gains understanding."Today's Episode: Found and FormedHave you ever bought a book and felt smarter just because it was sitting in your house? Paulo Coelho’s The Alchemist (one of my favorite books on my shelf) gives us a picture of that temptation. The Englishman has books on alchemy. He has theories, vocabulary, and information. Bu...

Proverbs Daily is a reader-supported publication. All posts are free, but all donations help spread the message. When you see the word “upgrade,” you’re simply invited to help me make the sacred positively contagious…thank you in advance for becoming a free or paid subscriber. October 2 is the International Day of Non-Violence, observed on Mahatma Gandhi’s birthday. When we look at the caliber of...

Proverbs 1:26:"I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you."Today's Episode: Another October SurpriseI don’t know what October is carrying, but the world stage may have another surprise. Proverbs 1:26 says:“I will laugh when you are in trouble! I will mock you when disaster overtakes you.”Wait a minute. Why would Wisdom laugh at suffering? I don’t want to make...

Proverbs 30:24“There are four things on earth that are small, but they are unusually wise.”Today's Episode: Small Things, Big MeaningI love a little thing that refuses to stay little. A seed is small, but it knows how to become a tree. A single word can be tiny on the page and still change the temperature of a whole conversation. And sometimes one little thought, tucked away in the corner of your...

Proverbs 29:11:"A fool lets it all hang out; a sage quietly mulls it over."Today's Episode: Mulling MomentsHave you ever had a thought keep circling your heart like a lawn mower going over the same yard? That may be more than overthinking. Sometimes your soul is asking you to go over the ground again—but this time with wisdom. Proverbs 29:11 says:“A fool lets it all hang out; a sage quietly mulls...

Proverbs 28:14:"Blessed is the one who always trembles before God, but whoever hardens their heart falls into trouble."Today's Episode: Don't Sleep on Your SoulBefore “woke” became a word people argued over, hip-hop had a whole show called The Wake Up Show. It wasn’t just a title. It was a posture. You had to be awake to the beat, the bar, and the artist who could change the room’s temperature. Pr...

Proverbs 27:17“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.”Today's Episode: Sharpened By The Right PeopleHip-hop is layered. One of its most profound experiences is as an emcee stepping into a cipher—or onto a stage—with a fresh rhyme nobody has heard before. You can’t wait to see their faces when you land the punchline, the double or triple entendre, and take control of the moment. Tha...

Proverbs 26:18–19:"Just as damaging as a madman shooting a deadly weapon is someone who lies to a friend and then says, 'I was only joking!'"Today's Episode: That Joke Was a Weapon"I was just joking" may be the most common receipt people hand you after they've spent your trust. No. You weren't "just joking."You were testing how much disrespect you could get away with. And when the room got quiet,...

Proverbs 25:19:"Putting confidence in an unreliable person in times of trouble is like chewing with a broken tooth or walking on a lame foot."Today's Episode: Check Your Emergency ContactEverybody has an emergency contact. But the worst time to discover yours won't answer is during the emergency. Thirty-four years ago, D'Ann and I lost a baby through miscarriage. We named him Destin, and we trust...