Proverbs Daily

Proverbs 24:6:"So don't go to war without wise guidance; victory depends on having many advisers."Today's Episode: When the Counselor Becomes the WeaponAI (and that's Artificial Intelligence, not Allen Iverson) is the new voice in the war room. It doesn't wear a uniform. It doesn't sit at the table. It lives inside a server. Artificial intelligence can gather intelligence, recognize patterns, anal...

Proverbs 23:18:“There is surely a future hope for you, and your hope will not be cut off.”Today’s Episode: Not Now Doesn’t Mean NeverThere are two seasons we don’t talk about enough:Now…and not now. Now is when the door opens, the call comes and the thing we prayed for steps into the room. But just as surely as there is a now season, there is a not-now season. Wait long enough, and “not now” start...

Proverbs 22:3 says:“A prudent person foresees danger and takes precautions. The simpleton goes blindly on and suffers the consequences.”Today's Episode: Read The Season. So it’s September in Texas, and Texas hot does not play with nobody—not even in September. You can walk outside at seven in the morning, and the air already got an attitude. But just when you settle into believing it will stay hot...

Proverbs 21:3“The LORD is more pleased when we do what is right and just than when we offer him sacrifices.”Today's Episode: I Want You To Want Peace TooMarvin Gaye’s “I Want You” makes your shoulders and hips move before your heart realizes it’s listening to grief. But listen closely to what’s underneath that groove. He doesn’t just want somebody. He wants to be wanted back. And that’s the deepes...

Proverbs 20:24“A man’s steps are from the LORD; how then can man understand his way?”Today's Episode: WALKING WITHOUT THE WHOLE MAPIt was close to midnight, and I was driving by myself down one of those scary pine-tree-dark Mississippi roads. It was raining. I was exhausted. I volunteered at a small Baptist church to bring our youth ministry event to kids who couldn’t afford the big ‘ticketed’ one...

Proverbs 19:20:“Listen well to wise counsel and be willing to learn from correction so that by the end of your life you’ll be known for your wisdom.”Today's Episode: Correct Your TrajectoryHave you ever watched somebody miss a turn, ignore the GPS, then get mad when it says, “Recalculating”?Baby, the GPS did not betray you. You refused correction. That’s how trajectory works. You don’t usually wak...

Proverbs 18:20 in the NLT says:“Wise words satisfy like a good meal; the right words bring satisfaction.”Today’s Episode: Say It While He Can Hear ItFathers are funny. We’ll give a complete stranger a whole scouting report on our son—his work ethic, his character, everything he has overcome. Then our son walks into the room and all we say is, “You good?” And son says, “Yep.” And we be like, “Aight...

Proverbs 29:14“If you repay good with evil, evil will never leave your house.”Today is Constitution Day, commemorating the signing of the United States Constitution in 1787.Now, those delegates didn't gather because human beings always do the right thing. The whole system of divided powers and checks and balances rests on an honest confession: given enough time and unchecked power, anybody can dri...

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. They had a plan. But what happens when history changes the calendar? The leaders of Mexico's independence movement were pr...

Proverbs 15:32“If you reject discipline, you only harm yourself; but if you listen to correction, you grow in understanding.”Everybody looks dangerous in a house of mirrors. In Enter the Dragon, Bruce Lee enters a room where his enemy seems to be everywhere. He turns one way—enemy. Turns another—enemy. But most of what he sees isn’t his opponent. It’s a reflection. Correction feels like that. Some...

Proverbs 14:29"People with understanding control their anger; a hot temper shows great foolishness." Are you watching the game tonight? That question has been opening conversations between men for generations. Monday Night Football used to feel stitched into the American male identity. For young me, knowing the teams, players and what happened Sunday could tell folks whether you were really inside...

Proverbs 13:14Grandma and them be knowing. I just got back from Wild Goose in North Carolina—shout-out to my Wild Goose family! A highlight was Jaki Shelton Green’s workshop. She’s been North Carolina’s poet laureate since 2018.She invited us to close our eyes, feel our cells and imagine the lineage they carry—the lives of our ancestors. Now, I’m the average American male. My emotional acuity hasn...

Proverbs 12:15 says:“The way of fools seems right to them, but the wise listen to advice.”Today's Episode: Check The ReplayAt the U.S. Open, one ball can land so close to the line that half the stadium sees it in and the other half sees it out. The player is certain. The opponent is certain. The crowd is certain. And somehow everybody saw a different ball! That’s why you check the replay. Not beca...

Proverbs 11:11“Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted, but by the mouth of the wicked it is destroyed.”Today's Episode: A City Still StandingTwenty-five years ago today, New York City took a wound the whole world could see. The towers fell, lives were stolen, families were changed forever and a nation stood tunned. Today, we remember the victims, the families carrying names and empt...

Proverbs 10:17“Whoever heeds discipline shows the way to life, but whoever ignores correction leads others astray.”Everybody loves the highlight reel. Nobody posts the film session where the coach rewinds the play and says, “Freeze it. Right there. You missed your assignment.”Because applause is easy…we all want to hear it, receive it and give it. But correction? Whew. Correction will show you wha...

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. Football is back, baby, and everybody loves a kickoff. The lights come on, the crowd erupts, the ball goes flying—and for...

Proverbs 8:6“Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right.”Today’s Episode: Let Wisdom BreatheHave you ever heard somebody read a whole paragraph like punctuation personally offended them? They blow past every comma, run every stop sign and hit the period completely out of breath. You’re sitting there thinking, “Breathe! Please…breathe!”Sometimes that’s how w...

Proverbs 7:25 (Berean Standard Bible)"Do not let your heart turn aside to her ways; do not stray into her paths."Freeze the frame! Proverbs seven has been moving like a movie. A young man leaves home, drifts toward the wrong corner, meets the wrong woman and listens to words that sound right coming from the wrong mouth. Before long, he follows her like an ox going to slaughter. You already know th...

Proverbs 6:22“When you walk, they will guide you; when you sleep, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will speak to you.”“It's alive!”I remember being a preteen, eating popcorn and watching Gene Wilder in Young Frankenstein—excuse me, “Fronkensteen.” If you know, you know. Lightning flashes. The lab starts shaking. Something that looked dead suddenly moves, and the mad scientist scr...

Proverbs 5:19“A loving doe, a graceful deer; may her breasts satisfy you at all times, may you be captivated by her love always.”At my niece Jasmine’s wedding reception, Anita Baker came on. D’Ann and I didn’t discuss it. We just jumped onto the dance floor. While we were dancing, my brother sashayed over and said something I didn’t know.“Whenever I hear Anita Baker, I think of you two.”That caugh...

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. Proverbs 4:1“Listen, my sons, to a father’s instruction; pay attention and gain understanding.”Imagine a pilot walking int...

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. Proverbs 3:34“He mocks proud mockers but shows favor to the humble and oppressed.”A great comedian can walk into a room, s...

Proverbs 2:9“Then you will understand righteousness and justice in every circumstance, and integrity and every good path.”“Are we there yet?”If you’ve ever taken a road trip with children, you’ve felt that question in your nervous system. When our kids were young, we traveled across the country while I preached the gospel. We played games, sang songs, counted cars—anything to keep some peace in th...

Proverbs 1:9“They are a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck.”“You got to coordinate!”If you’ve seen Boomerang, you can probably hear John Witherspoon preaching that wild dinner-table fashion sermon. Everything was loud. Everything matched. And the outfit…was outrageous! The scene is hilarious because we’ve all seen somebody wearing good pieces that somehow refused to work tog...

Proverbs 31:1“The sayings of King Lemuel—an inspired utterance his mother taught him.”Calling all Mama’s boys! I’m a Mama’s boy to the bone—and I say that publicly as a grown man who considers himself a manly man. Fellas, loving your mama doesn’t make you less of a man. It means recognizing the woman who helped make the man. My story goes deeper than I can tell here. My father came home from Vietn...