Stories & Sermons

Sometimes you meet someone and, at once, you’re reminded of how resilient people can be. That’s what I experienced when I met Jason for the first time. He was released from prison a few months ago after spending the last 24 years in a cell. At 47 years old and with his first smartphone, he’s...

There are not too many native Ashevillians among us But he was one Kim Arthur Bailey was born in Asheville on January 30, 1961 He told Brook that he was named after the main character in Rudyard Kiplin’gs “KIM”- a story about a man on a quest And he did indeed live up to his...

Born in Washington D.C., Eric James Laurilla was the eldest of three. Reared in the northern Virginia suburbs, his veins coursed with Finnish blood and alcoholic genes. By day, he was a street baller; by night, a protective big brother; in between, a restless wanderer most at home in the wilds of creation. When Eric...

Ecclesiastes 1:1-10, 4:1-3 The Old Testament wisdom book, Ecclesiastes, is like a chaos anthology—a collection of poems, stories, and wisdom sayings for when life feels upside down. The author—who calls himself ‘The Teacher,’ or Qoheleth— detects no discernible order to creation. He observes injustice and oppression, sees the righteous receive the same fate as the...