Nilo’s smile
When I ponder who the greatest people in my world are, I find there are so many to choose from. There are great men and women from the past with outstanding accomplishmen... »
Personal Accounts
My journals
I was doing some organization and deep cleaning of my belongings. This is the longest I have ever lived in the same house, and I’ve accumulated a lot of things. In the co... »
Faith does it again!
When I look back at the crossroads in my life—times when things seemed to have taken a wrong turn or my plans and goals were dealt a severe blow—I realize that my faith p... »
Surviving a difficult situation
Those first few minutes while the news sank in were devastating. I felt like my whole world was caving in. Somehow I managed to stumble shakily out of my boss’ office. Hi... »
Paperclip faith
Did you ever hear about the young man named Kyle MacDonald who traded a paperclip for one item after the other until he was able to get his own house? Surprisingly, it on... »
The doubt side of my faith
I grew up thinking that “faith” and “doubt” were opposites. Faith was good. Doubt was bad. With that mindset even questions could be dangerous, as I figured they could le... »
Peaks and valleys
I recently read C. S. Lewis’ novel The Screwtape Letters, which chronicles a fictional correspondence between a senior devil named Screwtape and a junior devil named Worm... »
Tasting the fruit
A few years ago, Activated published a special series on what Paul in his letter to the Galatians called the fruit of the Spirit. [[See Galatians 5:22–23.]] One issue was... »
The power of a peach
When I was eight years old, my family and I watched a BBC documentary featuring a group of British WW2 veterans who had fought in North Africa. Throughout the film, the v... »
Like the flowers
I was sitting in a friend’s living room when I noticed some crimson red flowers in a vase on the coffee table. I was almost spellbound by their loveliness, and as I gazed... »