Kairos Times – Part 3

by Alan Langstaff

For the last two weeks, we have been looking at three Greek words for “time.” 

Aionios – which I think of as God’s time – eternity.
Chronos – which is man’s time – history.
Kairos – which is when God from eternity, in an anointed and appointed time, meets us in history, and speaks directly to our situation.

This week, I want to share a story from my new book, “The Best Is Yet to Be.” It involves the Kairos time when God called me, my wife Dorothy, and our family to move from Australia to America. Many people did not understand why, at the peak of our ministry in Australia, we should lay it all down and move to another country. It happened in February 1980, involving a trip to Minnesota in America.

“Dr. Morris Vaagenes, Pastor of North Heights Lutheran Church, invited me to come back to Minnesota on the way and speak to his church. It was on that trip that I discovered that Minnesota had another season – winter. I arrived to snow that was feet-deep on the ground, a marked contrast to the weather we had experienced the previous summer. It was cold like I had never experienced in my life, but the fellowship extended to me by everyone was warm.

I spoke at the Sunday services, and on Monday afternoon, I addressed the ministers at the leadership conference on the subject of a leader’s ability to delegate. In the middle of my message, God interrupted me and spoke to me, saying, “You are to delegate the ministry in Australia and move to America.”

I didn’t hear an audible voice, just a word in my spirit, but it was just as impacting. After the session ended, a Lutheran pastor and his wife from South Dakota came up to me and told me that while I was speaking, they felt a burden to pray for me. As they prayed together, they felt God gave them a word for me. When I asked what it was, they replied, “You are to train somebody else to take your place.” In other words, God was replacing me. He was moving me on. My heart leapt with excitement as God so quickly confirmed His word to me.

As soon as I could, adjusting for the time difference between Minneapolis and Australia, I called Dorothy to share with her what I felt God was saying about moving to America. In turn, she told me that on that Sunday morning, she had turned on the TV to watch Robert Schuller’s Hour of Power with our daughters Beth and Joy. The previous program was coming to an end when the words on the screen jumped out at her. “The decision you are about to make will change your life and the lives of your children for many years to come.” It was obvious, although we were half-a-world away from each other, God was preparing both of us for a major change. …

I had a team with me on the trip that included Pastor Gordon Gibbs, Murray Cameron, Syd Polley, Robert Coleman, gospel singer and minister, and a secular TV cameraman who had recently become a Christian, Greg Lowe. Our itinerary took us to a number of cities, including Charlotte, North Carolina.

I had been invited to be a guest on The PTL Club, hosted by Jim Bakker. But while I was still in the Twin Cities, I received a phone call saying that Jim Bakker was taking his leadership team away for a long weekend, and instead of being a guest, he wanted me to host the program on Monday while he was away. Wow, that was a real surprise. After being part of a conference in Lakeland, Florida, we arrived in Charlotte on Sunday night, leaving little time to prepare for the show the next day. C.M. Ward, the longtime Assembly of God revivalist and radio preacher, was the main guest. Gordon Gibbs was also a guest, and Robert Coleman, a gifted singer, shared a song.

Somehow or another, it all came together and was a wonderful experience. After the taping, Bill Gathwate, the executive producer, spoke to me. Knowing that I was pioneering an Australian version of The PTL Club, he raised the question, “Why don’t you produce the Australian version here in these studios?”

Excitedly, I shared how God had called me to move to America, and yes, why not? With all that was available there, it would be just perfect. Within two months, we were producing the Australian programs in Jim Bakker’s studio. For me, it was a major confirmation of the call to move to America and it happened just seven days after God spoke to me at North Heights Lutheran Church. …

In actual fact, God had spoken to Dorothy the previous November, when she went through a time of intense spiritual anguish. Dorothy described it in her book, Called Together.

“One day in November, it was about 6 p.m., and I had laid dinner plates out on the kitchen counter. The family was hovering around, and I could see through the archway into the family room where the table was set and ready. I began to serve the meal, and all of a sudden was overcome by a terrible weight of sorrow and grief. I began to sob.

Alan and the girls were alarmed and wanted to know what was wrong. I didn’t know. All I could think of was I felt like someone I loved had just died. Having previously suffered depression and oppression by the enemy, I thought perhaps this was happening again. Alan prayed for me and took authority over the devil and any oppressing spirits. I felt no relief whatsoever. It was obvious that I couldn’t continue serving the meal, let alone eat anything. I suggested to Alan that he and the girls eat without me while I went to the bedroom to weep and pray. Beth brought me a cup of tea, thinking it might help.

I lay on the bed and couldn’t stop crying. I cried out to God, saying, “What is going on, Lord? I feel as though someone has died and I am grieving over it. Help me, Lord.” After quite some time of continued sobbing, something occurred to me. Maybe God was trying to get my attention to say something in the midst of all this, so I said, “God, if you are trying to say something, please make it clear.”

I have always found at critical times like this it is better to say “yes” to God before you know what He is going to tell you. So, I proceeded by saying tearfully, “I will go wherever You want me to go. I will do whatever You want me to do. I will speak whatever You want me to speak. But I need to know what it is You want. Please make it clear, somehow.”

I noticed Mustard Seeds, the little book I had been reading, lying on the dresser beside my bed. I picked it up and opened it at random and began to read. The words were describing a woman, Betty Pulkingham, in a motel taking a shower and how tears of pain, separation, and grief mingled with the water as it fell on her face. Immediately I identified with her grief. Her words leaped off the page right into my heart. ‘We did it. We really did it. We left the place we love, the people we love, the church we love. We left them all. All thy waves have gone over me, O God.’

My eyes were riveting to the pages of the book. I read on, only to discover that God had asked the Pulkinghams to leave home and kindred and their ministry in America, to move across the ocean to a different part of the world. Instantly, as I read those words, I felt a release from the terrible grief of the last two hours. “That must be it,” I breathed in astonishment. “You want us to leave everything and move to another part of the world.” I lay there and read the words again. This is incredible, I thought. This is what God is saying.

I knew without a doubt in my heart that God had spoken. I knew, also, that in some amazing way I had just gone through two hours of the most intense grief I had ever experienced. It was for the same loss that the woman in the book had described. Those feelings of grief, which only a moment ago were overwhelming me, were now instantly replaced with excitement and anticipation.”

So that was a major Kairos time for us, which changed the rest of our lives.

May God give you those kinds of times, and may you live to fulfill your destiny in God. God has a plan for each of us as individuals.

We have just recently published the book “The Best is Yet to Be,” which tells the story of our life and ministry these last 45 years or so in America.

The first letter I got back from a businessman friend who had just received the book and read it in one night. His comment was “Wow!”

The book is available to be purchased on Amazon. Please send me your responses to the book.

Also, my wife Dorothy’s earlier book “Called Together” is available from Kairos Ministries for $12 including postage. Write to Kairos Ministries – 719 Pleasant St, Excelsior, MN 55331.