The Blog of Tom Dale

I’ve heard a lot of bad sermons in my day. Have you? I remember growing up in church and sneaking out of the sanctuary to play in the hallways instead of hearing the pastor preach. When I grew older, I would sometimes try listening to a podcast or watch a video on Youtube of preachers, only to become distracted by Saturday Night Live clips. Why is it sometimes so difficult to listen to a sermon? I think part of the reason is that we know there are bad preachers. Preachers who aren’t entertaining enough. Preachers who deliberately lie to manipulate people. Preachers who claim that they are speaking on God’s behalf but they really seem to be only giving their opinion. Preachers who tell bad jokes. These can be legitimate reasons to avoid preaching. In fact, when we call a person “preachy”, it’s usually as an insult. But does the fact that there are bad sermons and preachers out there mean that we should avoid sermons altogether? I don’t think so, and h

“Investing”. The word probably conjures up several different images. A greedy banker. Dollar signs. A small business that your uncle suggests you “invest” in. But what exactly is investing? “Investing is the act of committing money or capital to an endeavor (a business, project, real estate, etc.) with the expectation of obtaining an additional income or profit.” -Investopedia.com Of course, probably the most common form of investing is through the purchase of stocks, bonds, and mutual funds. The Motley Fool writes, “Over the past 70 years, the S&P 500 advanced 1,100-fold. That's enough to turn a single, modest $1,000 investment into more than a million dollars. It's extra meaningful when you consider that this massive gain happened despite many double-digit market crashes, recessions, and even the Great Depression. The lesson is that over the long haul, the stock market tends to rise -- just not in a straight line” (January 2016). One