I love that phrase – Reckless Abandonment.  I can just feel the freedom saturating those words.  In order to abandon things, truly abandon them, there is a wild passion behind it.  It is the type of passion that drives crazy people to do the impossible.  It is the type of passion that makes people believe that dreams are possible, and that Kingdom can truly come.  I have been learning this month, that to truly go to the deeper places of God, we must because people of Reckless Abandonment.  There are so many things in this world that are holding us back from the dynamic things of God.  How tightly do I hold on to things, and am I willing to break everything at Jesus’ feet in order to follow him.  As much as I don’t want to admit it, abandonment is the message of the Gospels.  Every person that Jesus called to follow him had to completely abandon their old life.  They didn’t just have to leave their past mistakes behind, they were even called to abandon the good, God-given things.  This is the place that God has been calling me to this month.  A few days ago, I felt God calling me to abandon even more than I already have.  At first I was resistant.  I kept praying, “God I’ve given up my family, my home, my bed, what else do you want me to give up?”  And yet he called me deeper.  I began breaking the things that he was asking me at his feet in a sign of submission and abandonment.  Even though it is hard to break the things that you love, it is also the most freeing thing in the world.

Today I was brought to another level of abandonment.  Our squad leaders have been praying for a while what the next step for our squad was.  They felt like the Lord was calling us all to a level of abandonment.  They heard the Lord asking us to fast all technology as we spend December in Israel.  This means that we will not have any Internet access, and will not use our computers, iPods, or anything else electronic. So this month, I will not be able to communicate with all of you who I love so much.  But please know that you are in my prayers constantly and that I miss you more than I can describe over the internet.   Even though I am very sad that I will not be able to talk to my family on Christmas, I am excited that God loves us enough to challenge us.  I am really looking forward to spending more time with Him and just sitting at the Lord’s feet in worship.  We are leaving for Israel in less than 8 hours and I could not be more excited!!  It is the perfect place for me to get still before the Lord, and show Jesus’ love to those who have not experienced it yet.  That’s the thing about abandonment, God doesn’t just call us to hard places so that we can suffer – it’s because he has so much more good for us!  He wants to shower us with his love, his blessings and his anointing. Sometimes those things can only come when we are at a place of complete brokenness.  And the quickest was to brokenness is through abandonment, reckless abandonment.  Is God calling you to lay some things down at his feet?  Are you ready to respond in reckless abandonment and completely break the jar instead?  You see, I just keep getting this whisper in my ear that abandonment is the key to blessing.   It’s the key to a deeper relationship with Jesus.  It the start of a different kind of life – a world changing kind of life.

So may we have the strength to take our most precious alabaster jar and use it to anoint the precious Lamb of God.

May we have the courage to hear the Lord’s voice as he calls us to deeper places with him.  And may we have the obedience to walk down that path.

May we truly be people of reckless abandonment.

This week we got the chance to go to Ephesus, Turkey.  Yes, Ephesus, like the book of Ephesians, Ephesus.  Don’t worry; I had no idea it was in Turkey either.  Anyway, today I had two of the most powerful revelations that I have had on the trip thus far.  The first began when my team did one of the coolest things I have ever done.  We were sitting in the ruins of the main theater in Ephesus and decided to read the book of Ephesians out loud.  We were the only ones in the theater; so we decided to each take a turn reading a chapter out loud.  And I was up first.  To be honest, I was a little nervous.  I was scared that someone would see us and we would get kicked out.  Even though Turkey is not a closed country, it is still very unpopular to be Christian and to preach about Jesus.  I feared getting in trouble with the authorities; and that was my problem, I feared man.  Timidly, I stepped down from the theater seats onto the main stage. 

Hands slightly shaking I turned to Ephesians 1 and began to preach.  It was an incredible moment for me.  Thoughts of Paul standing on the same spot preaching to the Ephesians thousands of years ago flooded my mind as I read.  I envisioned the theater seats full of Jews and Gentiles, listening on the edge of their seats as they heard the good news of Jesus Christ for the first time.  As we each took our turn on the stage, various tour groups made their way through the theater, each silently listening to the words being spoken.  We got to preach where so many spiritual giants had stood before us.  The best part is, we just did what we wanted to do in that moment.  We didn’t set out to preach on the street corner.  We didn’t go searching for converts or beating people with the Bible.  The moment was truly organic.  Who knows how many seeds were planted that day.  I was amazed that people actually sat, listened, and some even applauded as the Gospel was read out loud in a 99.7% Muslim country.  I learned that day to never fear the acts of man.  Instead, my calling is to just fall more in love with the Lord daily and allow him to move me when he wants me to move, and for me to rest and be when he wants to love on me.  It truly is wonderful that the Lord is calling us to just be still and know that He is God.

While we were sitting in the theater I began thinking about Paul’s visit to Ephesus as recorded in Acts.  Acts 19 says that while he was there, Paul basically went in front of the temple of Artemis and declared that “gods made my human hands are no gods at all”.  It angered the people so much that they all gathered in the theater and for 2 hours yelled, “Great is Artemis, god of the Ephesians!”

Let me provide a little background…During this time, Ephesus was one of the biggest cities in the world.  It was a port city, and was therefore was home to many different types of people.  Artemis, their god was one of the most worshiped gods in all of Asia, as well as the rest of the world.  The influence of the Ephesians stretched far indeed.  The temple built for Artemis is one of the ancient wonders of the world today.  This town was completely devoted to their god.  Paul and his companions caused such an uproar that the crowd was ready to kill him.

Paul’s friends prevented him from going into the theater, for fear of his life, but they stood boldly before the crowd.

This story really stuck me hard.  Paul and his friends basically, in today’s equivalent, walked up to the Hagia Sofia and yelled that Allah is no god at all and that Jesus is the only true God.  If they did that today, they would probably be killed instantly…but that thought never worried the Early Church.

I wonder if today we hold on too dearly to our own safety.

I wonder if we think quantity is greater than quality and that we will be able to “reach more people” if we keep on living.

I wonder what would have happened if Jesus thought that way?

I think sometimes we wait and do not do radical things like Paul because we don’t “get a vision from God” to do it.  So we keep on waiting for an absolution that may never come.  Hasn’t he already told us in his word that we will be persecuted on account of his name?

Scripture tells us that the Ephesians believed they were the guardian of the temple of one of the greatest gods in all of Asia.  Artemis was the most powerful and most worshiped god.  They loved their god so dearly that they yelled adoration for Artemis for two hours. That seems like an impenetrable religion.  Yet Paul kept tilling the hard ground.  He may never have seen any results….

And yet, No one worships Artemis anymore….

I wonder if during the riots Paul saw any hearts changed.

I wonder if he was concerned with his ruining his witness in those moments.

I wonder if he was worried about offending people.

It seems as though he merely preached the Word and let God do the rest.  Too often I think I am scared to speak about Jesus because I fear it will hinder the fragile relationship that I am building with non-Christians.

But who am I to get in the way of God?

If He is passionately pursuing hearts like I think he is, I doubt I am going to be able to prevent it.  Maybe God is just waiting for me to boldly tell people about him, and then he will move in hearts.  John 6 says that the Father draws people to Jesus.

So are we called today to till the ground through consistent friendships?

Or are we still called to preach boldly everywhere we go like the Early Church did?

The whisper still remains…

No one worships Artemis anymore.

The cross of Christ is a beautiful thing.  It not only brings us to fullness in Christ, but it also takes our pasts and brings them new.

Thank you Jesus for your sacrifice.

Thank you for saving us.

Thank you for your grace.

Thank you for Redemption.

redemption stories. from ashley higgins on Vimeo.

*** As written by Dan Snyder*****

so team seven camels and unwritten took a 24 hour bus ride from bar, montenegro to istanbul, turkey.  here is a recap of the events (thanks to my boy don brensinger for this idea):

4:11 AM: i surprisingly wake up before my alarm goes off

4:13 AM: i go into the girls room and find that two of the girls have explosive diarrhea…awesome

5:45 AM: anna realizes that she stole a lid and plate from micah (sorry micah)

6:00 AM: our bus fails to show up and we realize that it must’ve been day light savings time or something…because all the clocks are an hour behind

6:10 AM: we take off and the first cigarette is lit in the bus

6:11 AM: we are yelled at in some foreign language that we need to sit two in each row…but we are the only passengers in the bus

6:15 AM: i fall asleep

8:13 AM: we pull over on the side of the road

8:13:15 AM: a few of the bus workers jump off the bus and start loading boxes of shoes onto the bus

8:14 AM: we quickly realize that the boxes of shoes are all being stacked under our chairs

8:27 AM: we stop at a bus stop.  we pick up the montenegro national smoking team

8:27:53 AM: i get off the bus to use the bathroom and find that it’s a squatty potty.

8:28 AM: i realize that the last 4 guys that have used the squatty potty before me have poor aim

8:28:05 AM: i decide i don’t have to pee that bad

8:30 AM: i get back on the bus and am overwhelmed by a cloud of cigarette smoke from the MNST (montenegro national smoking team)

8:36 AM: rebecca now looks like michael jackson.  she is wearing a red bandanna over her nose/mouth and has black sunglasses on to protect her from the plume of smoke that has overcome the bus

8:42 AM: i fall asleep

11:13 AM: we stop at a bus stop and the shoes are offloaded.  yeah, we have no idea either

11:37 AM: we stop at another bus stop and change out bus drivers…our driver is no longer purple shirt guy, its brown argyle sweater guy

12:15 PM: lunch time.  i make a PB&J with no utensils while carefully balancing it on my lap the whole time…quite the skill considering brown argyle sweater guy’s driving ability…or lack there of

12:17 PM: i put my sandwich together successfully and smile

12:17:20 PM: my sandwich falls off my leg and rolls down the walkway and i frown

12:17:25 PM: i am able to rescue my sandwich within the five second rule and eat it

12:36 PM: we stop at a bus station and several of the MNST start running around.  they begin loading unknown items which are stashed all around the americans…yeah, sketch

12:42 PM: i begin to drift asleep but am awoken by a cat meowing

12:42:08 PM: perplexed, i begin looking around for the cat

12:47 PM: i confirm that the cat call is coming from purple shirt/blue argyle sweater vest guy after he lets out a gentle meow

6:00:15 PM: i am kicked out of my seat so that big guy has a seat and i cuddle up with patch

6:00:20 PM: big guy lights up his first cigarette which will remain a constant until he falls asleep several hours later

6:00:25 PM: big guy starts passing out cigarettes like they’re candy to his friends on the bus…we are now having an ol’ fashioned smoke-fest

6:01 PM: i decide to ask the bus manager why we have to sit in pairs and no one else does.  as i should have known, the language barrier presents a slight problem and patch and i go back to cuddling
8:09:45 PM: we enter the serbia/bulgaria border checkpoint

8:10 PM: i have to ask holland to take her red bandanna and aviator shades off so we can get through the checkpoint without getting shot

8:25 PM: we make it through customs

8:34 PM: rebecca, still wearing her mask and shades, gets into a standoff with an elderly woman over whether or not the overhead vent will be shut.  the woman is smoking her 42nd cigarette and loses to our MJ look-a-like, the vent stays open

8:39 PM: i fall asleep

9:01 PM: i am awoken by big guy snoring loud enough to wake up an entire bus…literally

10:30 PM: we stop at a gas station for a bathroom break.  i ask adam if it was just my imagination or if the big guy was snoring.  adam kindly reminds me of how i kept the entire mens room up three nights ago with my snoring…and tells me that he didn’t want to hear my complaining

11:00 PM: the bus leaves the gas station suddenly

11:02 PM: bread falls out of the overhead storage compartment.  i take it as a clear sign that i should fashion a piece of bread into a gas mask…but i hold out

11:30 PM: big guy falls over in his sleep and head butts the window.  holland starts laughing uncontrollably.  i have no idea how big guy’s head didn’t go through the window

11:32 PM: big guy starts to lean over into the walkway while sleeping.  he nearly falls into robin’s lap on several occasions

11:32:29 PM: jen shines her headlamp onto big guy in an attempt to keep him from falling over into the walkway and/or robin’s lap.  its successful…big guy leans back into his chair

11:40 PM: we go off-roading in the bus.

11:40:15 PM: we stop in front of a shady shop that sells stuffed animals, barbies, liquor, pastries and cologne so that the guys can offload the second load of smuggled goods

11:48 PM: we leave the SS (shady shop)

12:55 AM: big guy exhales and spits saliva all over as if he is a whale

1:20 AM: we make it to the bulgaria/turkey border checkpoint and park in front of the burger king sign

1:24 AM: the bus manager stares at beks’ foot, which is on the arm rest, until she moves it

1:30 AM: brown argyle sweater driver guy decides he’s tempted the americans long enough and leaves the burger king sign and drives to passport control

2:00 AM: we make it through customs with only one bag being searched, sorry anna

2:10 AM: we drift off to sleep again

2:13 AM: purple shirt/blue argyle sweater guy meows while walking down the isle

2:13:02 AM: jen barks hoping to scare the cat into silence

3:19 AM: i’m jarred awake by brown argyle sweater guy jamming on the brakes, i think it’s because he knew we were all finally asleep

4:10 AM: the lights on the bus come on waking us up

4:10:30 AM: the bus manager tells me that we are in istanbul as the bus stops on the side of the road

4:11 AM: we decide that the side of the road is better then wherever else the bus may take us

4:15 AM: we get off the bus and hear a loud muslim prayer being played over a loud speaker

12:24 PM: after a long day of walking, talking and trying to find a place to sleep we are sitting in the lobby of a hostel that our logistics people found.  it’s super cheap and it’ll get the job done!  god is great!