Spit and Mud

Spit. As we get older we may have lost some of our appreciation for spit. We don't usually think of spit in positive terms. Spit is kind of, well, gross. Nobody wants to be spit on, and parents are continually telling their children not to spit in public. Maybe that's why baseball players spit so much, there is something about being around all that dirt playing a game that makes you just want to spit. And of course your momma isn't going to tell you not to spit when you're playing ball, she just wants you to get a hit regardless of how much you spit.

Spit. Even when parents tell their children to not spit, it's funny how spit is the the parents go to for all in public child cleaning. There have been many times when there has been a mysterious food stain on one of my children's face and my spit has cleaned it up. Even as they have tried to shimmy away from me I have been able to wipe my spit soaked finger across their faces to rub away what shouldn't be there. We have told our children not to spit and then we use our own spit to wipe their face.

Mud. Some of the most fun I had as a child involved mud. From making mud pies and betting a friend a quarter he wouldn't eat them (which he always did, but seeing it was worth losing a quarter bet), to having mud slides in the battles for my little plastic green army men, to soccer and football games in the mud, and transforming my BOX from a dirt bike into a mud bike, mud was always fun. As a parent, mud isn't so much fun anymore. We parents spend more time cleaning up mud than we do enjoying the fun that can be had in the mud. We worry more about the possibility of mud stained carpets than seeing the numerous adventure possibilities that mud possesses.

Spit and mud. Neither glamorous. Both sometimes kind of gross. And both were used by Jesus at times when He healed a physical condition. Now, of course Jesus didn't need to use anything to heal, but for some reason He chose to on a few occasions.

Here they are:

Mark 8:23- Jesus spit in a blind man's eyes, touched him, and the man could see, though not clearly. Then Jesus touched him again and his sight was completely restored.

Mark 7:33- A man that was deaf and had difficulty speaking was brought to Jesus to be healed. Jesus put his fingers in the man's ears, spit, and then touched his tongue and the man could see and speak plainly.

John 9:6- Jesus spit on the ground and then made mud with the dirt and saliva mixture and rubbed in on a blind man's eyes and then told him to go to the pool of Siloam and wash. When he did this he could see.

Spit and mud.

Why did Jesus do things? Why didn't he just heal these men by speaking the word for them to be healed? After all, that's all that it would have taken. It wasn't the spit that healed, it wasn't the mud that healed, it was the touch of Jesus that healed, and it’s that touch that still heals today.

Some biblical scholars think the Jesus used spit because the people of that day believed there were therapeutic healing properties in saliva. There is speculation that the mud was to remind the people watching that God had created man from the dirt if the ground. Maybe. But as I read those passages and the healing that came through the Incarnate Word made flesh in the person of Jesus the Christ, I see Jesus using some ordinary things.

Spit and mud. Not glamorous, not preferred, and not real clean. But when put in the healing hands if Jesus, they serve as an instrument to be used for His glory.

Maybe today we at being called to some spit and mud ministries. Maybe not glamorous, maybe not preferred, and maybe things where we have to get a little dirty. And maybe we are being called to put our simple ordinary efforts into the powerful hands of an almighty God as He uses our spit and mud to bring healing to the hurting, restoration to the broken, sight to the blind, hearing to the deaf, and salvation to anyone who in faith calls on His name.

Spit and mud. Seems ordinary but there is nothing ordinary in hands of our Extraordinary God.

Will there be beaches in heaven?

Will there be beaches in heaven?
My wife asked me this question on the first day of our vacation this year. We sat in our Eagles beach chairs, watching our children jumping the waves, and admiring the treasures that God had blessed us with.
I suppose the question could have been taken with a whimsical air to it. I suppose the easiest, and perhaps the right answer to this question would have been "I don't know".
But my answer was simply "yes".
To be honest, I really don't know for sure. But I do know that my understanding and thoughts about heaven have changed as I have gotten older. And that's probably a good thing. I hope it is a reflection of some small aspect of growth, the fact that I do attempt to think of the things of God even though I readily admit that I can't fully comprehend the things of God. And heaven is surely one of these things.
Much has been written on the topic of heaven. There are numerous biblical accounts of heaven, written with as much detail and explanation as the inspired writers could muster given the limitations of our minds and vocabulary. There have been many accounts of heaven from people who claim that they have been there and have been granted an opportunity to come back to life to share their experiences. Jesus spoke of heaven over 70 times in the words that we have in Scripture today. (I bet He talked about it more than what we have recorded!)
I like to think about heaven. I don't completely understand it. I think about hell too. And I don't completely understand that either. I do believe there is more to heaven (and for that matter more to hell) than the simplistic answers attempt to convey. My thoughts here are not a theological attempt to define heaven and hell, nor are they a simplistic overture that diminishes the reality, finality, and sureness of the existence of either.
I believe that both heaven and hell are very real and very physical places. We should pray for understanding of each.
But are there beaches in heaven? That may not sound too theologically important in light of the grand implications of an eternal heaven and hell. But I think the question helps in a heavenly understanding somewhat.
So, yes, I believe there will be beaches in heaven. I say will be, in a future tense, because heaven as it will be is not yet here, and by here, I really do mean here, as on this planet, planet earth, the third planet from the sun in the Milky Way galaxy.
I know that for some the idea if heaven is somewhere "up there" and the idea of hell is somewhere "down there". But I don't think that God is limited by our navigational directional understandings. I do believe, however, that there is something to the "up there" idea though.
Jesus told his disciples in his last words to them that he would return. Then they saw him ascend up into the clouds. They were told apparently by angelic messengers that Jesus would return the same way they saw him go. So if Jesus "went up", then he would at some point "come back down". We refer to this as Jesus' 2nd coming. I don't know when that will be, and for the record, neither does anyone else. I am positive about that. But more on that topic at another time. Some details of this event have been recorded in the book of Revelation.
But what about the beaches?
"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth ha  passed away. And the sea was also gone" (Revelation 21:1).
No more sea? So surely there can't be beaches if there isn't a sea! Right? I don't think so. As John wrote the words to Revelation he was prisoner on an island that he had been exiled to, the island of Patmos, part of an ancient Alcotraz.  John looked at the sea every day during his imprisonment. The sea wasn't a calm and joyful friend to John. The word "sea" that the writer uses here means more than just a big salty body of H2O. The "sea", for the biblical writer, was a place of fear, a place where ships were lost to unforeseen and unknown forces. The sea ravaged and destroyed villages that were close to it. The sea was a scary, dreadful place with many unknowns lying underneath, a cold, dark, watery tomb.
That "sea" will not be in heaven.
But there are 2 recorded times, also in Revelation, of a "sea of glass". There is a lot of imagery for sure in this "sea", lots of symbolism as this "sea" pictured to be in front of the heavenly throne of God, and lots of metaphorical content here also. But this "sea" is calm, reflecting the Spirit of God in its clear glassy state, and reflecting the purity of those cleansed by Jesus who will come before this throne one day.
From this "sea" the new heaven and earth will be watered. Watered with the very presence and the very Spirit of God. God with and among His people forever.
So will there be beaches in heaven? Yes, and mountains, and rivers, and even buildings in a city.
Because there will be a new earth. Not a different earth, but a new earth. A earth that is recreated in perfection. Re-creation involve  making all things New (as in set back to original state of being), not making all things new (as in making something completely different).
Beaches in heaven won't have on them washed up dead jellyfish or trash from careless boaters. They will be perfect beaches, as they were originally  so they will be once again. One day.
Until then enjoy the beaches we have. They are amazing, beautiful, and just a hint, a dim reflection of beaches that one day we will enjoy.