A couple of weeks ago, I shared a few interesting stories that Dorothy and I experienced over the years in life and ministry. People seemed to enjoy them, so here are a few more.

YOU WILL ONLY JUST MAKE IT

Back in 1973, Dorothy and I were stepping out in faith, beginning The Temple Trust, a new ministry, which over the next decade, became the major ministry for Charismatic Renewal in Australia in the 70s. During that time, I received an invitation from Michael Harper of the Fountain Trust to attend a conference in England. I arranged to fly to England for this event, but before I left, I felt that God gave me what I would call a ‘Rhema word,’ a personal word for me. The word was, ‘You will only just make it.’

The day I was to leave, Dorothy took me to the airport. But before the plane could take off, all the passengers were asked to disembark. The co-pilot had taken sick, and no replacement was available. I returned home that day and took a later flight to England.

I attended the conference, where Michael Harper included us in a special offering to support ministries like ours. After the conference, I returned to the London airport, where I slept the night, flying out to Sydney, Australia, the next day. In those days, flights stopped at a number of places along the way. We had a transit stop when we got to New Delhi, India. I remember walking around the airport, praying in tongues. As I prayed, I felt such a strong demonic presence that made me thank that the Devil was up to something.

After reboarding the board, the plane taxied to the runway. As it took off, a flock of birds flew into the engines on one side of the plane, causing them to burst into flame. The aircraft had climbed too far to return to the runway, so the pilot had to complete the take-off of a fully loaded 747 with only two engines. Our flight was diverted to Bombay, where after dumping fuel, we made an emergency landing with fire trucks following alongside us.

I have to say that I wasn’t fearful, as many of the other passengers were because I remembered the word God had given me, ‘You will only just make it.’ I knew I would make it! We were put up in the Taj Mahal Hotel for the night and eventually flew back to Sydney on a different airline.

HAITI ADVENTURE

If you keep up with media reports, you will know that Haiti is a dangerous place to be right now, with the streets run by gangs and regular kidnappings occurring. I have ministered in Haiti several times. It is a needy country with some wonderful people.

My first trip to Haiti was in the early 80s when invited by a ministry there to teach at a Pastor’s Conference. I had been speaking at a conference in Baltimore right before I was to fly to Haiti via Miami. At first, they wouldn’t let me board the plane because, at that time, I was flying on an Australian passport. I persuaded them to let me fly to Miami, where I sorted the problem out at the Haitian Consulate and got a visa that allowed me to fly the next day to Haiti. Arriving in Port au Prince, the minister who was supposed to pick me up was not at the airport. He had instead come to the airport the previous day. However, I had not had a way of contacting him to let him know I would be arriving a day late. So there I was in Port au Prince alone, surrounded by taxi drivers shouting for my business, not even knowing where I needed to go (I have since made sure of such information). I stood there for a while, praying about what to do. Eventually, I decided on a particular taxi and drove around the city looking for the mission. How we eventually found it, I do not know. It must have been God that directed us.

THE WORD OF THE SPIRIT

Doug Stanton was a well-known revivalist here in the Twin Cities. It has been my privilege to call him a friend and, even for some time, be a member of his ministry’s board. On one occasion, when Doug was living for a season back in Brisbane, Australia, where he was pastoring a church, he invited me to come and minister there.

During my time in Australia, I preached a number of times in Doug’s church. Usually, after I preached, Doug would join me to minister to people. But on one occasion, an unusual thing happened just as I finished preaching. A wind blew through the church even though there were no windows. It was a Holy Spirit wind. For some reason, it bypassed me and blew through the congregation. One man told me he was thrown back several rows of seats. Doug himself ended up on the floor. The Holy Spirit was real, and to some extent, we experienced what they did on the day of Pentecost when the Holy Spirit came.

LIFE IN ROME

In 1975, I was invited to attend the International Catholic Charismatic Conference in Rome. The first part was a leadership conference, where I was asked to speak briefly as one of two Protestants. The leadership conference was then followed by the general conference held near the catacombs. At the general conference, there was an unusual experience when the Holy Spirit came like a wave over the people. Standing as we were on the side, we were able to observe it. It came like a wave breaking on the shore. We had another experience at the leaders’ conference, which Dorothy describes in her book, ‘Called Together,’ when we were staying in a small old-fashioned hotel.

Life in Rome wasn’t always so amusing. I made the mistake of drinking several glasses of tap water one night when I was thirsty. I found out the next day just how much of a mistake it was when I developed diarrhea and vomiting. I was still sick by the time we moved to a monastery-like villa for the Leaders’ Conference. I carried a box of crackers and a bottle of pop everywhere I went. My back was painful. The bed was too soft, so we put our suitcases underneath it to hold it up. I was so sick that I had to rest, which was frustrating, seeing I had come all this way to be part of the conference. I was given some pills, but they didn’t help. I was sitting at one meal, feeling nauseous just looking at the oily green beans on my plate, when Brian Smith provided the scriptural remedy. “Why don’t you take a little wine for your stomach’s sake? The doctor in Australia told me wine kills the germs in the food.”

We came from a Methodist temperance background, and alcohol was taboo, but I was so sick I was willing to try anything. So I began to have half an inch of wine at meals. I couldn’t stand the taste—so much for my old fear that I could be a potential alcoholic if I ever drank. Alan took the same remedy for his mildly upset stomach. Much to my relief, I was soon feeling better.

The Lord spoke to Alan through this experience. “You have always expected them to change to be like you, but all of you have to change to be like Me.”

Alan realized that unity would not come through one church conforming to another but all churches changing into the image of Christ. It wasn’t only our upset stomachs that were healed, but our narrow-mindedness. Interestingly enough, on our return to Australia, we discovered that the Methodist Church had revoked its anti-alcohol laws.

THE NAME OF JESUS

One of the most dramatic experiences we ever faced was in regard to a man attempting to kill his wife. Here is the story as told by Dorothy in ‘Called Together.’

Our lives were certainly not boring. There was always something to challenge or test us. One day, however, exceeded anything we could have anticipated.

We were driving our daughter Joy to St. Catherine’s Girls School on the first day of the new school year. As we were coming up the hill toward the school gate, we were flagged down by the mother of one of Joy’s friends. Waving frantically, she cried out, “There is a man over there assaulting a woman!”

We were horrified to see that across the street, in the entryway to a block of apartments, a man with his back toward us had his hands around the throat of a woman. At the same time, he was beginning to bash her head against the brick wall. She was holding a baby in her arms, unable to protect herself. Something had to be done to stop him before he murdered her.

We both quickly realized the man was bigger and stronger than Alan. I knew he had to help, but knew he would be in danger also if he did. I flashed a prayer to the Lord. “What can we do?”

Alan was opening the van door. The Lord’s answer came back strong and clear. “Tell him to use the name of Jesus!”

Everything seemed to be in slow motion as I saw Alan step down from the van. “Use the name of Jesus!” I called out after him.

Alan ran across the road to the sidewalk, then raised his hand and shouted out, “In the name of Jesus, stop!”

Instantly it was as if the man was struck with a bolt of lightning from heaven. He let go of the woman’s throat, staggered back five or six paces, fell over an iron balustrade and landed prostrate on the ground, motionless.

The police soon arrived and, after interrogating the man, arrested him. He did not want to be taken away, and it took all the strength of those two policemen to put him in what Australians call a “paddy wagon.” Still clutching her baby, the woman was rushed off to receive medical help and we never saw her again.

We found out later that she was the man’s wife. About a year earlier, he had bought an Ouija board and had opened himself up to demonic influence. He was practicing what is called automatic writing and was writing a new Bible. That morning an evil spirit told him, “You are to kill your wife because she has Jewish blood in her veins.” After he was released from custody, we tried to help him. Other people tried as well, but he never could make a breakthrough and eventually committed suicide.

Besides saving the life of the woman, this experience taught us that there is amazing power and authority in the name of Jesus.

MORE SHARED STORIES

There are more stories to be shared. Some of them can be found in Dorothy’s book ‘Called Together,’ and others are in Alan’s forthcoming book ‘The Best is Yet to Be.’ Some of the stories are too long to include in a Langstaff Letter, such as the story about the biggest financial decision I ever had to make when I was a member of a Christian foundation and, together with some other people here in the Twin Cities, purchased a bankrupt television station for about 2.5 million and then seven years later sold it for 52.5 million.