Aimee Semple McPherson needed no introductions in her own time.

• She was greeted by more than multitudes when her train or plane arrived - she was usually given the Key to the City, as was the habit repeated by any number of America's mayors, for her ministry was always deemed a blessing to every town she visited.

• Her meetings packed the largest indoor arenas from New England to the Pacific Coast; her writings were proliferated through magazines, books and printed tracts to the point that "best selling" was discarded as too obvious a term.

• Her celebrity status achieved everything from selling more U.S. War Bonds during WWII than any of the nation's most famous athletes or entertainers, to drawing packed-house crowds to Angelus Temple's 5000 seat auditorium 3-4 times each Sunday.

• Hollywood ceaselessly knocked at her door hoping to capitalize on her "sale-ability," but its lucrative offers were always shunned by a woman who's "star" potential was dedicated to her Creator and His Son - the Bright and Morning Star.

• She was larger than life, and all who knew her personally (and I've met hundreds of them) described her as a lover of life. Her quick wit and charitable spirit, along with her boundless energy and tireless labors, won the hearts of all she touched and gained the respect of those she served and led.

This Is That is an introduction to this unusual, Christ-glorifying woman. Though this book is extensive in content, it is only a beginning summary of someone who, in the terminology of scientists describing a "one-of-a-kind" phenomenon, was indeed a singularity.

"Singularity" is that technical term used by physicists and mathematicians to designate a point in the universe where their equations "break down" - i.e., where the usual rules don't apply. In the most creative sense, "The Big Bang" is called a singularity - that moment the universe began. In the most destructive sense, a "black hole" is one, as everything near it is consumed by its self-feeding force. In contrast, the absolute self-giving nature of Aimee Semple McPherson negates any application of the later example, and her reverence for the Creator Himself would disallow any analogy pretending to parallel God's unique work "in the beginning." But there is a point of comparison to the scientific definition when describing her as a human "singularity." For though "Sister" remained simple and unaffected, preferring to be called by that "one of the family" term than to be dignified with ecclesiastical titles, here ministry was such that the usual words used for assessing or describing remarkable people seemed to become inadequate.

There are two facts that make it difficult to compare spiritual leaders with other distinguished personalities of their time. First, the nature of a true spiritual leader's work is not intended for fanfare or recognition, and thus relatively little is widely noted. Second, what is reported is difficult to assess, because in the end there are no criteria within the scale of human achievement to measure the marvels of the truly miraculous.

Perhaps those two words - "truly miraculous" - best set us forward in anticipation of reading this partial account of the life and ministry of Aimee Semple McPherson. As human, as forthright and as "plain as apple pie" as Aimee in fact was seen to be by those who both knew her and witnessed her ministry, the bottom line nonetheless seem always to produce the same sum: truly miraculous. If there is any one thing which ought to be said about her, it's this: God's gracious hand chose a woman for a task, then he bent His mighty arm to achieve it with a drama and a dynamism that shook the Church in her time and continues to shape it in ours.

It is not a matter of magnifying a person to observe as much: it's simply a matter of giving glory where it is due - and where she would always place it herself - "at the feet of Jesus." Jesus was the focus of this woman's total life, service and action. She was bold to proclaim His Name and His saving grace in any arena of contemporary life - from the corridors of civic power, to the dens of iniquity were she went to preach the love and forgiveness of God to prostitutes. And she was gentle to touch with His hand of power wherever human pain or suffering was present - providing food and clothing for the homeless and hungry or ministering with signs and wonders to the sick, afflicted, deaf, mute, blind or crippled. As Jesus occupied her focus, God sustained His favor - and the truly miraculous flowed like the water-to-wine at Cana for the three full decades of her ministry.

But these facts are often forgotten amid other rumblings. It's an unfortunate fact that the words I offer may at first mystify some readers. They may wonder if the writer is oblivious to the "charges" that have been repeated through the years, or tempted to suppose the accuracy of my view to be compromised by the fact I am a member of the denomination Mrs. McPherson founded. But the truth is - and the evidence of the fruit of her life through the years confirms it - that the fallacies parroted and popularized by the press (both secular and sometime religious) are untrue; that the insatiable lust of the media for sensation, without bothering with the qualifying facts has a way of fashioning inaccurate images. However, even though Aimee was one of the most publicized personalities of her time, her "image" was of little importance to her. Her primary quest was to use her influence and reputation for the sole purpose of evangelizing the lost. And her only defense when attached by opponents was prayer: "You can talk about me all you please, but I'll talk about you on my knees," she relentlessly answered.

As for denomination, Aimee didn't actually mean to begin one. Rather, the International Church of the Foursquare Gospel came about as a providential accident. It simply resulted from her passion to see God's Word preached by trained leaders, and bible-centered churches planted for the spread of the "Foursquare Gospel" - Jesus Christ, (1) our Savior, (2) our Baptizer with the Holy Spirit, (3) our Healer, and (4) our Soon-Coming King!" Since she wasn't preoccupied with "denomination," it's an amazing fact that today (1996) the Foursquare Church is one of evangelical Christianity's most effective missionary agencies (19,000+ congregations in over 72 nations), and one of America's most pace-setting organizations. But like the Savior Whom "Sister" preached, Who refused to publicize Himself (Matthew 12: 18,19), and like their founder who, as a woman preacher, required of herself a slowness to speak in her own interest or defense, the Foursquare Church maintains a relatively low profile. And thus, in maintaining that spirit, I assure every reader - I'm only telling it like it was, not trying to paint a picture of a woman who never existed.

For several years, I was the professor of Foursquare History and Doctrine at LIFE Bible College in Los Angeles. It was during those years that I was literally forced to study the life of Aimee Semple McPherson - to discover the realities of her ministry, and to face up to any of the facts of her life, her weaknesses and her problems. Because I never saw or met her, for she died while I was still a young boy, and because I was not raised in a Foursquare Church (though I received Christ at age 10 in a small congregation born from one of Aimee's revivals), I was completely dependent upon objective study and research. I was pledged to avoid "fluffing" a memory for the sake of denominational acceptance, and I was earnest in interviewing many who knew and worked closely with her - ready to challenge anything I detected of a "halo effect" flavoring their words. But the more facts I discovered or research I pursued, the more convinced I became: "A singularity ... truly miraculous."

So I invite you to read. But before you begin, let me offer one more word - perhaps a word of wisdom. Don't read this book for its mere history. Read it with an eye toward your own destiny - toward being touched and shaped by the Holy Spirit in your own life for God's own purpose.

"THIS IS THAT" takes its title from the opening words of Saint Peter's message on the Day of Pentecost. As he rose to describe the supernatural visitation of the Holy Spirit (which was being broadly mocked and derided by many observers - then as now), he declared" "This is that which was spoken of by the prophet ..." (Acts 2"16). In short, Peter was simply saying what the Holy Spirit is still seeking to remind us today: He's still fulfilling the promises and providing the power revealed in God's Eternal Word. He does this to reveal and glorify Jesus as the Changeless Savior - Whom "Sister" loved to describe in these words more than any:" "Jesus Christ is the same, yesterday and today and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).

"THIS IS THAT" not only discloses how that text was shown true in the singular ministry of Aimee Semple McPherson, but it was written and still published to stir us all again today. Here are pages packed with evidence that Jesus is alive and active today, wherever open hearts welcome the Holy Spirit to shed New Testament revival and miracle grace. THIS miracle grace is THAT which God offers all of us today. However ordinary any of us may seem to ourselves, or however unlike we may be from unusual personalities in the past or the present, our unchanging Jesus is still at work today.