Retha and Aldo McPherson. Heaven and Hell: From God a Message of Faith. Shippensburg PA: Destiny Image, 2013. E-book.

The title and marketing of Heaven and Hell is a little misleading. Twelve-year-old Aldo McPherson suffered brain damage in an automobile accident in 2004. He was in a coma for a length of time and has gradually recovered. While comatose, he apparently had some visions of both heaven and hell. But this book is not really about that.

In some ways this is a variation on Becoming Starlight. In this case, the boy’s mother starts taking her Christian faith more seriously. Like Becoming Starlight, we get the story of a witness to the suffering. Like that book, the author’s perspective and understanding changes.

For a long time Aldo could not speak. We are told that even now he speaks in a monotone. But he could write after a few months, so he gradually wrote down things that he saw and things that he says Jesus told him.

Most of this book is about those things. It is truly, as the subtitle suggests, a message of faith.

First, Mrs. McPherson tells how she grew in faith, and continues to grow. Aldo repeats many times that Jesus told him that he would be completely healed. His healing has been progressive but gradual. Still both he and his mother are hanging on their belief of this promise.

Much of this is actually Mrs. McPherson’s testimony.

For forty years of my life, I worshiped God from my flesh. God is a spirit, and that is why He says He is looking for a people who will worship Him in spirit and truth. That is why I could never hear His voice. (185 cf. John 4:24)

That really is the focus of this book. Mrs. McPherson began to empty herself and allow the Spirit of God in. She shares what has happened, and how much of her growth came from things that her son Aldo shared.

There are many other pieces of wisdom.

Thank you, Jesus, that walking on water is safer than staying in the boat—because You are waiting for us on the water! (562)

I think there is a great need for pure friendship between boys and girls, where bodies are kept holy and hearts whole. Our heavenly Bridegroom wants our earthy marriages and relationships to reflect his holiness, so that those couples, whom he unites together, can start their lives with whole hearts, not broken pieces. (906)

[M]ost of My children’s vision is held captive. They either complain about the barrenness of the desert, or stand paralyzed by fear of the deep ocean. Murmuring and fear keep My people in bondage. Take a step of faith, put your head under the water, relax, and behold my beauty. (1293)

The road you are walking on is the road of the cross. The moment you bend your knee before Me, I drape the cloak of humility over you, and intimacy follows. Your battles will be won and fought on your knees. (1366)

Do you know that everybody in hell was warned at some stage, but they didn’t want to listen? God says only repent your sin and lay it down. (2078)

The world teaches the ten-step program to victory, but God says, ‘No My child. There is only one step. Let the sinner die to himself and be raised in Christ.’ (2627)

Grace is the victory over sin, not the rug we sweep it under. (3215)

There is more. Occasionally the tone gets a little preachy, but this is a sincere account of someone trying to live for the Lord and follow the leading of the Holy Spirit.

She does give testimonies of a few miracles and healings that she has witnessed. The McPhersons are from South Africa and mostly minister there and in other places around the Indian Ocean. She notes:

In the Western world signs, miracles, and wonders have become a topic of debate rather than a matter of faith. The wisdom of man is trying to explain the power of God, and failing to do so. (3795)

Aldo notes that a few times the Lord spoke of His second coming. He says it is “very, very near” but “His bride is not ready yet.” (3816, cf. Revelation 19:7)

As Aldo and Mrs. McPherson speak of the bride, they use Esther as an example. She took a year, obediently following the directions of her foster father Mordecai and the eunuch Hegai. When she approached the king, she did it his way, even if it meant she would be punished: “Esther thought about the king first and her own desires second.” (3934)

Aldo notes that “the sound of the last trumpet will be heard in the Spirit.” (3840) Are you ready? Am I?

N.B. References are Kindle locations, not page numbers.