He Ascended into Heaven Learning to Live an Ascension-Shaped Life

To miss the meaning of the Ascension is to miss what God wants from us today

  “I hope you’ll now join me alongside a group of baffled disciples squinting into the sky trying to make sense of what they have just experienced,” begins Tim Perry in this first-of-its-kind book. Across time and space, Christians have confessed “He ascended into Heaven” in their creeds, these words that state how Jesus returned to the Father in this miraculous way. But what do they actually mean?

Tim Perry offers a close reading of the Ascension moment and doctrine, reflecting on how the Ascension colors perceptions of who Jesus was and is, and challenged Christ’s contemporary disciples. Far from an apologetic defense of the miracle, this innovative book challenges readers that – to understand the truth of Christ’s Ascending into heaven – is to become a person who has prepared to do something remarkably similar.

“Were the angel that spoke to the disciples on Ascension Day to come to one of our churches or faith communities, I can almost hear that angel shout into our endless, aimless busy-ness, “Stop! Look Up!” Why? We’ve lost our words. Unlike the disciples, we have lost the ability to believe in and be changed by the Ascension.”