Scott and Raegan Gilliland

A new year. I'm not really into resolutions. Never really have been into them. Mainly because I usually am awful at them. Changing my life for Lent is hard enough, but a whole year?! Come on! I keep thinking about where I was at this time last year.  Well, not literally.  I was in the Holy Land so it is kinda hard to top that.  At this time last year, I had a huge prayer. And it wasn't answered in 2014, or 2013, or 2012... Frankly, I've had this prayer for as long as I can remember. What I wanted did not happen. So it begs the question, "Was this past year a waste?" No. Not at all. Some of my highlights this past year included: Traveling the Holy Land Completed another semester of seminary Became a certified candidate for ministry Progressed to the next level of ordination Went on a mission trip with the best middle school students around Visited family and friends Gained more responsibility and opportunities at work Wrote a TON of papers Dr...

Ok, so there's been a lot of hullabaloo surrounding the Osteen Empire following the viral spread of a video  showing Victoria Osteen putting on a clinic of how to insert your foot into your mouth.  Of course, the theological landscape has been ablaze with blogs, articles, and status updates decrying the Osteens as "heretics," "liars," and "probably responsible for all the world's problems."  Okay, maybe that last one is a bit of an overreaction... This got me to thinking, and there's a few things I'd like to address in light of "Happy-gate 2014." 1. This is nothing new for the Osteens. I can only assume from the reactions I've seen that some people have simply never heard of the Osteens before, or if they had heard of them, they have never bothered to look into their theology (or lack thereof) or their practices. If they had bothered to investigate them, if only briefly, they would know that this kind of message is bu...

Scott here.  I've seen a lot of concern over the wasting of water in the now infamous ALS Ice Bucket Challenge.  If you don't know what that is, welcome to the internet, you must be new here.  Google it and come back, we'll wait. Anyways, I've seen figures suggesting that around 1.2 million Americans have participated in the Challenge, using approx. 5 gallons of water each, meaning somewhere in the ballpark of 6 million gallons of water have been used so far (as of two days ago, so that number has grown).  Sounds like a staggering number, and it is a significant amount of water, to be sure.   And if you donated to ALSA, but chose to forgo the ice bucket to conserve water, I think that is admirable, and I applaud your decision to use the Challenge as a way to shed light on water scarcity at the same time. But before we begin criticizing an effective fundraising practice by lamenting the waste of water, I wonder if we are willing to examine our own daily...

Yesterday, I celebrated 15 years with Jesus. I know what you’re thinking. Wow, that is cheesy. Hallmark is thinking, how have we not thought of that card line yet?!?! I’ll expect to see my check in the mail, Hallmark.   I remember when it was my 10 year anniversary and I didn’t really think anything of it, but for some reason, this “anniversary” is different. Maybe I’m thinking about it because I’m turning 30 next month ( I mean, 25…yes..25) and I’ve started to super reflect on my life. Maybe it is because I am about to enter into my third year of seminary. Maybe it is because I am about to begin the process of answering a lot of questions on my beliefs as part of my   ordination process. (I’d be okay with it if you prayed for all the papers I have to write by the way. I'm kinda super way stressed out.) Whatever has got my wheels turning I think I know God is pressing on to me to think about those around me that have helped me along the way.    ...

Now before I begin, I'm really hoping this doesn't turn into a "woe is me" sort of blog. This is certainly isn't my intention.  I find relaxation and comfort in writing which I don't get to do much of these days. Well, let's be honest, I write a lot these days, but not much for pleasure. Don't get me wrong, I love writing sermons, but I don't get to put nearly as many jokes in those as I'd like (as one of textbooks said to shy away from too many jokes). Apparently the author of that book doesn't know that is all I have. Recently I have been running a little fast. I'm pretty sure I passed Usain Bolt while going from church to school earlier this week. I'm to the point where I'm hovering above the melt-down, uncontrollable crying (yes my tear ducts actually do work), major stress eating, and collapsing in my bed because I'm beyond exhausted. Going to seminary full-time and working full-time is fun right? It will get easi...

I was really tempted to just say "ditto" after all of Scott's blog entries, but here I am at 4 a.m. typing away.  Thank you jet lag. I've been back just a couple of days and thinking back to my first day in the Holy Land seems like decades ago.  Although it was 2013, so I could say it was last year which means I don't remember everything and that would indeed be a fact.  I'm not going to name places, dates, or facts, but merely things I felt and things I feel are true.  This may be partly because I don't remember all the details, but mainly because I have no idea how to spell half the places we went to visit. The first week we studied under the Shalom Hartman Institution and I simply can't brag enough about this place and the people we encountered through it.  Simply phenomenal.  The people that I met that week were so full of passion and had a level of devotion I have never seen in my life.  Their faith inspired me and the phrase we coined tha...

By: Scott Gilliland I'm a little late with this final installment, but as the two weeks came to a close, my exhaustion began setting in.  It may have been a good thing to wait, because the last few days have given me a  lot  to ponder.  We spent these last few days learning about the Palestinian side of the wall, in the West Bank.  The more we've listened and learned, the clearer it becomes that the Palestinian people and their story deserve attention... and not just the attention given on the evening news. We started Thursday by visiting Diyar Consortium and Dar Al-Kalima University in Bethlehem, both dedicated to empowering students in the arts, despite pushback from the Palestinian government, who for a long time have seen the arts as inconsequential when compared to business and engineering.  Through perseverance, private backing and a recent change of heart from the government, both Diyar and Dar Al-Kalima are succeeding in their mission "T...