Marriage

The Five Temptations of a Pastor

Several years ago I read Patrick Lencioni’s The Five Temptations of a CEO, a “leadership fable” about Andrew O’Brien, who is approaching his one-year anniversary as CEO of Trinity Systems. Faced with his accountability for the company’s poor fiscal results, Andrew learns some tough leadership lessons from a quirky old man named Charlie. Woven into the parable are a CEO’s five temptations: 

1. The desire to protect career status
2. The desire to be popular
3. The need to make correct decisions, to achieve certainty
4. The desire for harmony
5. The desire for invulnerability[1]

The Simple Secret

He makes a beeline for Hallmark and is soon gazing upon all those racks full of greeting cards. One colorful card quickly catches his eye. He skims the words - they are perfect! He thinks, This card is her - no doubt about it. He grabs it off the shelf, pays the clerk, and hurries home rejoicing - I didn't forget this year!

She is there when he arrives at home, so he sneaks the card into another room, signs it, and quickly writes her name on the envelope. He even adds a couple of tiny hearts over her name as an ...

Finding God in Marriage

    There is something mesmerizing to me about standing beneath a tree that is seven hundred years old. "What was happening here when this tree first started growing?" my daughter asked me as we hiked the western slope of the North Cascades in the state of Washington. "Not much," I laughed, stunned by the realization that this tree was nearly two hundred years old when Martin Luther was born. One of the reasons the trees on the western slope of the Cascades survive so long is quite simple: The Washington forests are so wet that lightning strikes cause relatively few fires ...

Loving Your Marriage Enough to Protect it

    Sue was not the prettiest and certainly not the sexiest woman John had ever seen. In fact, she didn't hold a candle to his wife. But Sue worked for John. He spent a lot of time with her at the office. He could tell she admired him. He liked her, respected her, and thought she was bright, creative, and interesting. He liked being around her, liked her smile, enjoyed her wit. She was doe-eyed, had perfect teeth, and was married.   Was John romantically interested in her? The question would have offended him. They were both happily married. Was Sue ...