{"id":639,"date":"2010-05-13T11:34:54","date_gmt":"2010-05-13T11:34:54","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.beliefnet.com\/jazztheologian\/2010\/05\/happy-ascension-day-it-is-for-your-good-that-i-am-going-away.html"},"modified":"2010-05-13T11:34:54","modified_gmt":"2010-05-13T11:34:54","slug":"happy-ascension-day-it-is-for-your-good-that-i-am-going-away","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/2010\/05\/happy-ascension-day-it-is-for-your-good-that-i-am-going-away.html","title":{"rendered":"Happy Ascension Day: It is for your good that I am going away"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today is ascension day.  Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead Christ ascended into the sky as the disciples stood watching with their mouths hanging open.<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/div>\n
Jesus told them that he would be leaving.  He even went so far as to say it would be better for them.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n

But I tell you the truth:  It is for your good that I am going away.<\/i><\/b>  Unless I go away, the Counselor will not come to you; but if I go, I will send him to you. (Jn. 16.7)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

We are to long for the return of Jesus, praying Maranatha and speeding the day of his return.  In the meantime, Jesus says it’s better that he is not here!<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
Can you imagine what it would be like if Jesus were physically on earth right now? It would be like a five-year olds soccer game.  All of the children start the game in their positions but as soon as the game starts they all, en masse, swarm the ball and follow it wherever it goes.  If Jesus were here that’s what we Christians would do.<\/div>\n
<\/div>\n
For now, we have a kingdom to seek…So Christ went up, the Spirit came down and the Church went out. <\/i><\/b> <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today is ascension day.  Forty days after Jesus rose from the dead Christ ascended into the sky as the disciples stood watching with their mouths hanging open. Jesus told them that he would be leaving.  He even went so far as to say it would be better for them. 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Author of Finding the Groove: Composing a Jazz-Shaped Faith (Zondervan) and the upcoming, Strange Fruit: The Cross as a Way of Life (2011). Founder of Project 127, a ministry dedicated to seeing the day when there are no children waiting for homes in Colorado's foster care system. Robert deeply desires to see the body of Christ mobilized to serve the least of these. The poor, the down and out, the disenfranchised and disabled, those deemed unimportant and the unborn. He believes that God loves all people yet he has a special heart for the poor and the poor in spirit, the miserable and the marginalized. A Contributing Editor for Leadership Journal and Urbanfaith.com. He acquired a B.A. in Bibilcal Studies from Colorado Christian University and a Master of Arts in World Christianity (Missiology) from Denver Seminary. Robert is married to the love of his life, Barbara, and they have six energetic children (3 boys & 3 girls--one bio, five adopted--two from Ethiopia). Friend of God...Passionate about the Body of Christ...Lover of this thing called jazz! Please visit Jazztheologian.com for contact info., speaking schedule, videos, Facebook and Twitter.","url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/author\/rgelinas"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/79"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=639"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/639\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=639"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=639"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/jazztheologian\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=639"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}