131 Christians Everyone Should Know by Mark Galli & Ted Olsen

Author:Mark Galli & Ted Olsen [Galli, Mark & Olsen, Ted]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: B&H Publishing Group
Published: 2010-01-04T22:00:00+00:00

Living in a gospel car

Aimee was born in October 1890, to James and Minnie Kennedy, a Methodist and a Salvation Army devotee respectively, in Ontario, Canada. As a teenager, Aimee was introduced to Pentecostalism through the preaching of Robert Semple, whom she eventually married. When he died two years later, she married young businessman Harold McPherson. For a few years, they shared a hand-to-mouth existence. They lived in a “gospel” car plastered with Bible verses and slogans (like “Where will you spend eternity?”) and loaded with religious tracts. Slowly she began attracting crowds and the attention of the press.

Though Aimee and Harold quietly divorced, Aimee's ministry continued to expand. Using Hebrews 13:8 (“Jesus Christ, the same yesterday, and today, and forever”) as her theme, she preached that the “full menu” of Bible Christianity was available for listeners' firsthand experience. Around the country, she spoke about the lavish feast Christ offered the faithful and summoned people with the words of a familiar gospel song: “Come and dine, the Master calleth, come and dine!”

From Los Angeles in 1919, McPherson launched a series of meetings that catapulted her to national fame. Within a year, America's largest auditoriums could not hold the crowds. She acquiesced to popular demand that she pray for the sick, and “stretcher days” became hallmarks of her campaigns.

Reporters marveled at her oratorical skills: “Never did I hear such language from a human being. Without one moment's intermission, she would talk from an hour to an hour and a half, holding her audience spellbound.” Pastors from many denominations threw their support behind her city-wide campaigns. In 1922 her ministry took her to Australia, the first of a number of trips abroad.

On January 1, 1923, McPherson dedicated Angelus Temple, which held up to 5,300 worshipers. The ceremonies included hundreds of colorfully clad gypsies (who had named her their queen), a roster of prominent Protestant preachers, and thousands of adoring fans. A church-owned radio station was launched in 1924.

While she continued to preach “the four-square Gospel” (Jesus as the Only Savior, the Great Physician, the Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, and the Coming Bridegroom), she become a citizen of note in a burgeoning city. Angelus Temple floats won prizes in Rose Bowl parades, and the Temple itself became a tourist attraction. The comings and goings of “Sister” (as she was affectionately known) from the city's Union Station drew more people than visits of presidents and other dignitaries.

Well-advertised illustrated sermons offered the faithful who shunned nearby Hollywood entertainments a taste of theater. Parades, uniforms, award-winning bands, and catchy music attracted people of all ages. Ambitious programs to feed the hungry and respond to natural disasters gained goodwill.

People responded as well to her motherly qualities. During midnight forays into Denver's red light districts, she promised Denver's outcasts a bright future if they would be true to themselves. She embraced Winnipeg prostitutes with the assurance that she loved them and that there was hope for them in Christ. In San Francisco's Barbary Coast, she walked into

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.