Proverbs Daily

Proverbs 14:26:"Confidence and strength flood the hearts of the lovers of God who live in awe of him, and their devotion provides their children with a place of shelter and security."Today's Episode: Make Courage a ShelterPicture a six-year-old walking into school. Now put four federal marshals in the picture. That was Ruby Bridges on November 14, 1960, in New Orleans. She was the first Black chil...

Proverbs 13:5:"A good person hates false talk; a bad person wallows in gibberish."Today's Episode: Wallowing in GibberishYou ever get a text message that starts, “I don’t know if this is true, but…”?Okay. We could’ve stopped right there. But you know you read that whole text. Back in 2016, Microsoft put a chatbot named Tay on Twitter. People could talk to it. Within the first twenty-four hours, Mi...

Proverbs 12:2:"A good person basks in the delight of God, and he wants nothing to do with devious schemers."Today's Episode: Let ’Em LookOne day I was walking and talking to God. I was giggling under my breath. What can I say? That’s how we talk sometimes. Then I looked up. My son and my nephew were standing there staring at me. Laughing. And I could see why. As far as they could tell, I was just...

Proverbs 11:18:"The wicked man does deceptive work, But he who sows righteousness will have a sure reward."Today's Episode: What Service SowsOn Veterans Day, I think about my great-uncle, D. A. Record. We called him Uncle Bubba. He served in World War Two. Near the end of his life, he kept telling me one story. His unit had driven a tank into a minefield without realizing it. To get out, somebody...

Proverbs 10:14:"Wise men store up and treasure knowledge [in mind and heart], But with the mouth of the foolish, ruin is at hand."Today's Episode: Write It Down–Store It UpI was in the studio the other day, and I spent twenty minutes getting a vocal to sit right in the mix. Then I opened the next session and thought, “Now, what did I do last time?”Dang! Should’ve written that down. Today is World...

Proverbs 9:16:“Let all who are simple come to my house!” To those who have no sense she says,Today's Episode: Whose House? Whose house? If you heard that question and answered it in your head, you already know where I’m going. Run-D.M.C. “Run’s House.”They didn’t start hip-hop, but they helped bring it to a whole new audience. And on that record, Joey Simmons, aka Run makes it clear whose house he...

Proverbs 8:31:"And how happy I was with the world he created; how I rejoiced with the human family!"Today's Episode: Wisdom Delights in UsTell me if you know this feeling. You just finished cutting the yard. Before you push the mower back to the shed and move on to the next chore, you turn around, breathe in that fresh-cut smell, and look at the lawn like, “I did that.”Or you finish a song and tel...

Proverbs 7:25:“Do not let your heart turn to her ways or stray into her paths.”Today’s Episode: Before Your Feet FollowBefore your navigation app gives you directions, you have to tell it where you want to go. You can have a full tank, good tires, and a beautiful day for a drive. But if you enter the wrong destination, every helpful instruction takes you farther toward a place you never needed to...

Proverbs 6:28:“Can a man walk on hot coals without his feet being scorched?”Today’s Episode: What Did You Think Was Gonna Happen?“Can I walk across those hot coals without burning my feet?”Well... what did you think was gonna happen? Sometimes wisdom is that blunt. You can almost hear somebody standing on the porch, watching you work very hard to make a bad idea sound reasonable. Proverbs 6:28 in...

Proverbs 5:7:“So now, children, listen to me; do not turn aside from the words I speak.”Today’s Episode: That Means You TooThere’s a certain kind of announcement that gets made in a house.“Everybody, come here.”And somebody always needs clarification.“Me too?”Yes. You live here. Everybody includes you. Proverbs 5:7 in the New English Translation says:“So now, children, listen to me; do not turn as...

Proverbs 4:12:“When you walk, your steps will not be hampered; when you run, you will not stumble.”Today’s Episode: The Unhindered StepI’ve been watching a freestyle rapper named Harry Mack for the past few years, and this dude is truly an Emcee in every sense of the word and has my respect. People give him words, and he freestyle rhymes using those words while the beat keeps moving. Now I’ve seen...

Proverbs 3:27:“Do not withhold good from those to whom it is due, when it is in your power to act.”Today’s Episode: The Good Within Your ReachBy tonight, a whole lot of people will be wearing that little sticker that says, “I voted.”Small sticker. Serious responsibility. I ain’t mad at you. Because behind those names on the ballot are decisions that reach somebody’s kitchen table. Somebody’s class...

Proverbs 2:10:“For wisdom will enter your heart, and knowledge will fill you with joy.”Today’s Episode: Souls & SaintsYesterday was All Saints’ Day. Today is All Souls’ Day. In Christian traditions that observe them, these days honor the saints and remember the faithful departed. Saints and souls. And you know we have some amazing ones that everybody recognizes and quotes. Then there are the e...

Proverbs 1:23“Turn at my rebuke; Surely I will pour out my spirit on you; I will make my words known to you.”It’s Daylight Savings Day! Today we fall back an hour. Your phone probably handled it while you were asleep. The microwave? That’s gonna need your help. Also the stove…also the car…also the coffee machine…Wouldn’t it be nice if our habits reset as easily as our smartphones? Wake up and disc...

Proverbs 31:25:"She is clothed with strength and dignity; she can laugh at the days to come."Today's Episode: Dressed for TomorrowThis year Halloween fell on a weekend. Me and Geto Boys…ain’t trick or treatin’.Cape. Boots. Makeup. You know the schematics! We love disguises! And I ain’t hatin’…Heck I’m a Preacher who has used rap as a disguise for decades. But on your big moment to dress all up and...

Proverbs 30:12:"There is a generation (class of people) that is pure in its own eyes, yet is not washed from its filthiness."Today's Episode: Passed My Own InspectionOn October 30, 1935, Boeing’s Model 299 crashed after takeoff. The crew had failed to release the locks that kept its control surfaces from moving on the ground. Experienced people. A step missed. That history gives me a question for...

Proverbs 29:17:"Discipline your children; you’ll be glad you did—they’ll turn out delightful to live with."Today's Episode: The Turn OutBefore my father passed away, we had conversations that went beyond coffee and smiling at each other across the table. I was a grown man. He’d tell me I looked just like him thirty years earlier. And he was proud of how I’d turned out. Hearing your father say he’s...

Proverbs 28:27:"Those who give to the poor will lack nothing, but those who close their eyes to them receive many curses."Today's Episode: Well, Come On In! Lady Liberty has been holding that torch up for a hundred and forty years today. October 28, 1886, was her dedication. That’s a long time to keep the porch light on. Later, Emma Lazarus’s words were placed at her base: “Give me your tired, you...

Proverbs 27:9:"The heartfelt counsel of a friend is as sweet as perfume and incense."Today's Episode: Keep That VoiceYou ever play an old voice message just to hear somebody say your name? Or find a picture and suddenly you’re back down memory lane? Somebody laughing. Somebody dancing. Somebody telling you to get out of the kitchen and you sneaking back in to see what the grown folks were talkin’...

Proverbs 26:28:"A lying tongue hates those it hurts, and a flattering mouth works ruin."Today's Episode: What’s Your Mouth Working On? Before we get to any other famous Jacksons, let’s give Mother Mahalia her flowers. Born October 26, 1911, Mahalia Jackson carried gospel around the world and put her voice to work for civil rights alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. At the March on Washington, she...

Proverbs 25:28:"If you live without restraint and are unable to control your temper, you’re as helpless as a city with broken-down defenses, open to attack."Today's Episode: All That Power and No WallsYou ever know somebody that everybody has to prepare themselves to be around?“Now, don’t bring that up. You know how he gets.”Huffing. Puffing. Everybody checking the weather before they open their m...

Proverbs 24:26:"An honest answer given is like a kiss on the lips."Today's Episode: The Kiss of an Honest AnswerSome sales pitches come with so much fine print, you need reading glasses and the gift of discernment.“It’s all included!”Until you find out what “all” doesn’t include. And when you ask about it, somebody says, “Well, technically, we never said that.”Technically. That word has done some...

Proverbs 23:33:"Your eyes will see strange things, and your mind will utter perversities."Today's Episode: My Mind Is Playing Tricks on MeBack in the 90’s the Geto Boys gave us a song you could ride to all day long and still get uneasy when you paid attention to the lyrics!“My Mind is Playing Tricks on Me.”In Bushwick Bill’s verse, he imagines a Halloween outing that turns into a fight with a stra...

Proverbs 22:18:"for it is pleasing when you keep them in your heart and have all of them ready on your lips."Today's Episode: Fixing Your MouthGrowing up in the South, I heard my mother and my aunties and them ask a question that required no answer.“How could you fix your mouth to say that?”Now as a kid, my little imagination went straight to the repair shop. Somebody taking their mouth off, getti...

Proverbs 21:13:"If you stop your ears to the cries of the poor, your cries will go unheard, unanswered."Today's Episode: Tell Me What I Missed“I didn’t do anything!”Sometimes that’s the problem. Somebody tried to tell you they were hurting, and you kept scrolling. You weren’t being mean. You were locked into your own world. You even nodded at the appropriate places. That little “mm-hmm” can do a w...