Posted on 06/02/2011 7:21:10 AM PDT by Cronos
When the famous falter, people pay attention. That’s as true today as it was 85 years ago, when the most prominent evangelist of the day suddenly vanished. Aimee Semple McPherson disappeared from Los Angeles on this date in 1926.
The woman at the center of this mystery seemed to have everything – beauty, eloquence, the fame that accompanied one of the first major multimedia ministries. Pentecostal minister Aimee Semple McPherson established the 5,000-seat Angelus Temple based on her Foursquare Gospel.
She built her ministry over years of tent revivals, newspaper columns, radio broadcasts and charismatic flourishes that included faith healing and elaborate costumes. All that collapsed after the celebrity known as “Sister Aimee” went for a swim in the Pacific and didn’t come back.
During the month she was missing, the faithful feared her death, the law deployed men and boats to search for her and the newspapers followed every lead on her whereabouts. When McPherson surfaced, she said someone had kidnapped her for ransom.
But she couldn’t quash rumors that she’d dallied with a radio operator from Angelus Temple who’d also disappeared while she was away. Aimee Semple McPherson may have arisen from the dead, but her evangelical fame never did
We believe that people who have been born again grow in sanctification—which means that they separate themselves from the value system of the world and embrace and live according to the values of the kingdom that Jesus proclaimed. As they do so, they increase in holiness, faith, power, prayer, love and service (2 Corinthians 7:1).
Anything beyond that, I don't know. You hear something different?
well, I didn't want to quote on something I didn't know unless I got it from someone who does (you). Thanks for this. The growth in sanctification is the increase in grace until the final sanctification after we die, when we get a life-flash correct?
The way I understand it...as we grow in Christ and He purges us from worldly things (a SLOW process, most of the time), we grow in sanctification, that is, being more Christ-like in our behavior. Grace has a LOT to do with it, since we can’t grow closer to Him without His grace.
And yes...I think that when we stand in front of Him, we’ll get to see just how much His grace helped us. It will be one more reason to fall flat on my face in front of Him, weeping in worship, knowing that I wouldn’t even be there if it weren’t for His grace and love.
Pretty much everything in this article has been disproven.
At the preliminary hearing in 1926 it was absolutely determined that there was an affair in Carmel and that Aimee Semple McPherson was not involved and had nothing to do with it. In fact, both of the participants made statements to the judge declaring their guilt. Anyone claiming that Aimee had an affair in Carmel is just indicating that they haven't done any serious research.
Aimee left Harold? Nope, didn't happen. They were both holding a campaign in Florida and he left her to become an evangelist on his own. She stayed in Florida and continued the campaign. She didn't "take off", he did.
Died of a "drug overdose"? Ooh, sounds bad. During her last year she caught a tropical disease, her lips became white, and she needed tranfusions regularly. The straight story is that she was very weak physically and suffered an internal organ rupture after taking sleeping pills. Once this happened, her fate was sealed. The ongoing claim that she died of a "drug overdose", is made not to enlighten people, but to make her look as bad as possible using a loaded phrase.
The Berle story is just stupid. Aimee with a crucifix and candles? I guess Uncle Milie thought she was Catholic when he wrote this story.
Kidnapping - The quotes given here are hand-picked out of thousands to give the worst impression. In reality many many people from the Douglas, Arizona area testified in support of her and brought forth evidence indicating a kidnapping. In fact, it was because there was no evidence or witnesses available to indicate that anything other than a kidnapping occurred that the DA was forced to drop the whole case.
Regarding the Foursquare denomination today, it is one of the most respected evangelical denominations. It is pentecostal, which simply means that they take Acts 2:38-39 (along with the rest of scripture) seriously:
"Peter replied, "Repent and be baptized, every one of you, in the name of Jesus Christ for the forgiveness of your sins. And you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.
The promise is for you and your children and for all who are far off--for all whom the Lord our God will call."
Finally, just as there are scriptures cited in support of both Calvinist and Armenian positions, so too there are scriptures cited on both sides of the debate regarding women being in leadership positions. Foursquare's position papers present the argument that women can definitely be leaders, including senior pastors, according to scripture. Others disagree with this. This however is peripheral theology and is not something which should divide the church.
Feel free to make your points, but afterwards let's pray for each other that God will use us to reach a dying world for Him. Cherry-picking inaccurate articles to throw stones at a denomination which is widely respected, has almost ten million members, and reported 2.5 million decisions for Christ last year alone, is probably not "the call" God has for any believer's life.
Oh yes, Gladwyn Nichol's later returned to Foursquare and apologised to Aimee for his behavior, and there is certainly no evidence that she ever drank alcohol in her life.
Aimee Semple McPherson and her extensive—massive—charity work are described in Amity Shlae’s 2007 great book on the Great Depression “The Forgotten Man”. she is included in a list of self-helpers like Father Divine and Bill Wilson (AA).
The foursquare truth is almost no that major Democratic politician since FDR—excepting Harry S Truman and Adlai Ewing Stevenson II—has lacked at all in the charlatan category!
Far better the charlatans be private sector than in government. In government they are indemnified from most civil and criminal actions against them. In the private sector they can and are held accountable.
she was not dehydrated or sunburned; her lips were not parched, cracked, or swollen; her tongue was not swollen; her color was normal; her dress was not torn and bore no dust or perspiration stains. The dress collar and cuffs, though white in color, were barely soiled. Further, she was wearing a watch her mother had given her a watch she had not taken with her to the beach. Aimee told reporters that her ankles were bruised and torn by ropes from her captivity, but there had been no sign of such injuries when she was examined.
A miracle, I tell you, a miracle!
I’ve found most of the aforementioned sects are cults of personality.
So, yes Aimee dear did sleep around. And the pictures are proof for her putting Crucifixes about the place
Could be — even Satya Sai Baba had a lot of charity operations. In fact their methods seem the same
He didn’t publish it until after she was dead. No slander charge was possible. Her family immediately dismissed the story, which is all that they could do. You could publish a book saying Sister Teresa slept around and you wouldn’t get a slander charge either.
And nobody who even remotely knew her would even give this a seconds thought because it is the exact opposite of everything she stood for, modeled and said in her entire life. It is totally inconsistent with her personality—whereas making up crazy stories is totally in line with Milton Berle’s persona.
You have trashed Aimee many times on this forum, and I for one am getting tired of it, especially since you keep repeating points that have already been disproven or refuted. Move on.
The story still does hold water — both Milton Berle’s story and also her running off and feigning a kidnapping. Also, I’m not “keeping on repeating” — this is the first time probably in a couple of years that we’ve had an article on Aimee’s lovers
Though, you are right, most of the theology of the FourSquare group now, post-Aimee seems pretty sound and biblical and doesn't reflect on the shenanigans of its founder.
It is interesting to me, that in the Foursquare Bible College the study of Ms McPherson’s biography is a required class, but they never touch on the alleged adultery or subsequent fall from ministry. Yet, the Foursquare organization treats divorcees as something less desirable than murderers. An entire church organization, founded upon hypocrisy and deception. Hmmm... I wonder how God-honoring that can be?
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