3922 101 Most Powerful Proverbs 10.16.03 1:51 PM Page i 101 MOST POWERFUL PROVERBS IN THE BIBLE 3922 101 Most Powerful Proverbs 10.16.03 1:51 PM Page ii 3922 101 Most Powerful Proverbs 10.16.03 1:51 PM Page iii 101 MOST POWERFUL PROVERBS IN THE BIBLE [\ J. Stephen Lang A Division of AOLTime Warner Book Group Copyright © 2004 by J. Stephen Lang. All rights reserved. Published in association with the literary agency of Alive Communications, Inc., 7680 Goddard Street, Suite 200, Colorado Springs, CO 80920. Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations are from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations noted NIV are from the HOLY BIBLE: NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION ®. Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984 by International Bible Society. Used by permission of Zondervan Bible Publishers. All rights reserved. Scripture quotations noted KJV are from the KING JAMES VERSION. Warner Faith Time Warner Book Group 1271 Avenue of the Americas New York, NY 10020 Visit our Web site at www.twbookmark.com. First eBook Edition: April 2004 ISBN: 0-7595-0876-3 3922 101 Most Powerful Proverbs 10.16.03 1:51 PM Page v Contents General Editors’ Preface ix Introduction: The Book of Reminders xi 1. Brain Stretching and Ear Tuning 1 2. No Walls, Bad City 4 3. Sword Words 7 4. Taking Herself Lightly 9 5. Honey-Speak 11 6. Mighty Low 13 7. Gray Knight 16 8. The Weight of Honesty 19 9. Monumentally Immoral 22 10. Eagle Money 24 11. Adults and Adulterers 26 12. Dedication Against the Grain 28 13. More Awesome Than Pizza 31 14. Outloving the Pagans 33 15. The Anxious Bench 36 16. Tea Equality 38 17. No Useless Saints 40 18. Wordless About Words 42 19. Leftover Righteousness 44 20. Pennies and Purple 46 21. Reserved for Good 49 3922 101 Most Powerful Proverbs 10.16.03 1:51 PM Page vi vi CONTENTS 22. Very, Very Worldly Workers 52 23. Lying Down with the Dogs 55 24. The Lions Club 57 25. Rescue the Perishing 59 26. Quiet, Everyday Glory 61 27. Nation Transformation 63 28. Hate-Filled Saints 65 29. Pig Snouts and Sequins 67 30. Déjà Views 69 31. God, Pharaoh, and Mr. Heston 71 32. Poor Little Rich Folk 73 33. Belittle, and Be Little 75 34. Honoring God and Orphans 77 35. When Silence Is Not Golden 79 36. Traffic Artery 81 37. Brother Spite, Sister Malice 83 38. Cannibal Sports 85 39. Attila the Softy 87 40. Futureless Oppressors 89 41. The Dog and the Cider 92 42. Shutting Down a Stubborn Mind 94 43. Embraceable Blessing 96 44. A Tough / Loving Father 98 45. Free Me from Me 100 46. Healthy, Beautiful, Unhappy Folk 102 47. Valley of the Shadow 104 48. Stuck in the Idol Mode 106 49. Agape Connection 108 50. The Cat in the Moon 110 51. Mocking the Cynics 112 52. Wising Up the Scholar 114 53. When “Together” Breaks Apart 117 3922 101 Most Powerful Proverbs 10.16.03 1:51 PM Page vii CONTENTS vii 54. Kickin’ the Big Boys 119 55. Chigger Children 121 56. Elevated Compassion 123 57. Holy Deerslayer 126 58. Sunday Observation 128 59. Hatred Stew 131 60. Snapshots from an Album of Saints 133 61. Mud and Monsters 136 62. God the Lender 138 63. Weight on the Truth 140 64. Give Till It Feels Good 142 65. Self-Reliant Saints? 145 66. Clay for the Glory of God 148 67. Lunches with Losers 150 68. Courting God 152 69. Kings and Minimum Wage Earners 154 70. Blessed Are the Poor Aiding the Poor 157 71. He Slash, She Slash 160 72. No King But God 163 73. Bruiseless Abuse 165 74. Hellaciously Proud 167 75. Cut ’Em Down to Size 169 76. Confessional Cruelty 171 77. Sacrificing Morals 173 78. Sharpening the Spiritual Fellowship 176 79. Seaside Vocations 179 80. Vengeance Topsy-Turvy 182 81. Tolerating Intolerance 184 82. A Nightingale’s Toughness 187 83. Dead Air 189 84. Ill-Gotten Grain 191 85. Sentimental Fools—Bless ’Em 194 3922 101 Most Powerful Proverbs 10.16.03 1:51 PM Page viii viii CONTENTS 86. Last House on the Right 196 87. Omitting the Goats 199 88. Legends in Their Own Minds 201 89. The Party Zone (Temporarily) 204 90. Auto-Honesty 206 91. Speaking in (Forked) Tongues 208 92. My Way, Even If It Kills Me 210 93. Outhoping the Pagans 212 94. Honk If You Love Showdowns 214 95. Promises, Promises 216 96. Beastly Behavior 219 97. Swords and Winter Winds 222 98. Wounds and Kisses 225 99. The Flip Side of Coolidge 228 100. Great Pumpkin, Great Satan 230 101. Doubts and Toys and Envy 233 Epilogue: Good-bye and Get to Work 235 3922 101 Most Powerful Proverbs 10.16.03 1:51 PM Page ix General Editors’ Preface There are thousands of verses in the Bible. How can we find those verses containing the divine wisdom and guidance that will help us grow spiritually and live more faithfully? This book and others in the 101 Most Powerful series will help you find and unlock powerful passages of Scripture that inspire, comfort and challenge. 101 Most Powerful Prayers in the Bible helps us open our hearts to God by showing us how earlier saints and sinners prayed. 101 Most Powerful Promises in the Bible brings together those pas- sages that convey God’s boundless and eternal love for his creation and his creatures. And 101 Most Powerful Verses in the Bible provides a treasury of divine insight gathered from nearly every book of the Old and New Testaments. 101 Most Powerful Proverbs in the Bible will enable us to apply God’s timeless truths to many of the messy details of daily life. We believe J. Stephen Lang is the ideal author to unlock the time- less wisdom found in Solomon’s ancient proverbs. He has written many articles for major magazines. He is a former book editor, and himself the author of more than twenty books. Stephen can extract and explain the essence of even the most ob- scure biblical passages, and he writes with an energy and concrete- ness that fits well with the poetic and practical nature of the Book of Proverbs.