Editor’s Introduction
Balancing act
Have you noticed that it’s rare to find someone who honestly feels that their life is in good balance: their work, their family life, their spiritual life, their daily ch … »
The purpose of life
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “The purpose of life is not to be happy. It is to be useful, to be honorable, to be compassionate, to have it make some difference that you hav … »
Input → Output
In computer science and mathematics, Garbage In, Garbage Out describes the concept that flawed or nonsense input data produces nonsense output or “garbage.” In other word … »
The character builder
The great American evangelist Dwight L. Moody had a pithy phrase to describe character: Character is what you are in the dark. As Christians, we all want to grow in spiri … »
The answer
Have you ever wondered why it seems that some prayers aren’t answered? Have you even ever, like me, wondered why it seems that it’s your prayers, specifically, that aren’ … »
Night vision
In one of his psalms, King David wrote, speaking to God, “To you, the night shines as bright as day. Darkness and light are the same to you.”[[Psalm 139:12 NLT]] I’ve alw … »
“Who’ll take the Son?”
I recently reread the touching story of a wealthy man and his son who loved to collect works of art. (The story appears in several sermons and books, but the original aut … »
The quest for success
We may not all have the same definition of success, but who doesn’t want to be successful? And rightly so. The desire for comfort and security and the yearning for meanin … »
The treasure
God only knows why He put so many of this world’s most precious commodities in such hard-to-get-at places. If it was to test our wills—to see to what lengths we would be … »
Happy birthday, Activated!
This introduction page has traditionally served to present the issue’s topics, highlight an article or sometimes to share an anecdote or personal reflection. In keeping w … »
Keeping Christmas
Another Christmas is almost here, and if you’re like most people, you’re probably so busy with all that goes into Christmas that you haven’t yet found much time to stop a … »
The miracle berry
You may have heard about the miracle berry, which is an amazing little red berry found in West Africa that causes sour foods, like citrus fruit or hot sauce, to taste swe … »
A life well lived
The Bible has a lot to say on the topic of what our purpose in life should be. King Solomon, described in the Bible as the wisest man of his time, [[See 1 Kings 4:30.]] d … »