Thursday, September 10, 2009
Monday, August 24, 2009
Every Week a New Adventure
The last month has unstable at best. First, Michelle's physical and emotional health has been rough. We have had times, when we did not think we could bare it anymore. It is at those moments when the LORD has come and shown His graciousness. I forget how powerful the cross and resurrection truly are.
It is so easy to build walls in a relationship. We are relearning what it means to stand together. I am convinced the enemy of our soul wants us divided. When there has a been a lack of intimacy, it is also the time when we have felt the most powerless.
The church planting is so fragile too. In the past few weeks, out jam up worship team has gone through major transitions. I've literally shown up on Sunday not knowing who was going lead worship and do our Sunday set. My heart wanted to run to anxiety and stress out, but i have had to preach the gospel to myself that this is His church. In the end all the signs get set out and worship ends up so good. I am so thankful that the Lord has protected me from myself.
Even though there has been real crisis in many of your member's live, I have been able to see and be a part of significant transformation. Growth always comes with giving up our rights and trusting.
Still Living The Dream!
Jim
Thursday, August 20, 2009
Harbor Testimony - Part 2
Testimony of Chad Gray
I hung out on the periphery of Harbor Downtown for a couple years. I had grown up in the church, but when I first came to Harbor I was very cynical about Christianity, Christians and any place where Christians tended to congregate—like church or youth camps or my parents’ house or the Republican Party. For me, Christianity made for a head case of alternating guilt and self-righteousness. It was a confusing mess which I had tried to ditch several times. I could not seem to shake it, and so I was fairly miserable. I checked out Harbor on the recommendation of a friend who knew me well. The place immediately felt different from other gatherings of Christians I had experienced. My first observation was that Pastor Dick pretty much preached the same sermon every week, no matter where he was in the Bible. Pentateuch, Prophecies, Psalms, Gospels, Epistles—each week he somehow ended up at the Cross talking about a love story. It took me a while to grasp the concepts beneath the terminology—grace, righteousness, imputation, propitiation, justification, adoption—but I understood the feel right away. Here was a group of people that was honest about its sin and struggles, but full of joy. The people had a strange mix of humility and confidence that I found very attractive.
I slowly got more involved. I got around to becoming a flaky member of the set-up team. Then I joined a community group and made a few friends. I was in a Harbor class taught by Dick called "Gospel and the Heart" when I first really "got" the Gospel and started to grasp how very good the news is. It felt like a rescue to me, to be gripped by this love story and pulled to safety. Having grown up in the church, I was actually angry that I had never heard this stuff before. When I think about it now, I suspect I had heard the full gospel growing up, but for whatever reason it had never clicked until that class.
So the gospel became sweet to me, but I was still very stand-offish about the church. I guess I knew intellectually that church is important, the way I know vegetables are important. But eating vegetables has never been my favorite part of the meal. If I could get the nutrients some other way I would probably avoid them. I certainly liked Harbor better than other churches I had attended, but I was still pretty freaked out about actually sharing my life with all these strangers.
When Dick came to our community group and asked us to be the launch team for a new Harbor church plant in my neighborhood, I was up for it. After all, I had lots of opinions about how a church should not look and feel. And if I had to be part of a church (like I had to eat vegetables), here was my chance to make it a comfy place full of folks just like me!
So we began meeting together to plan and dream and pray about this new community. We talked about all the different aspects of a functioning church—preaching, music, set-up, childcare, event planning, refreshments, small groups, hospitality, care and mercy. There was a moment during this process when it suddenly hit me that if any of this necessary stuff was actually going to happen, it was someone in that room who was going to do it. That was the first time I grasped the wisdom of team leadership.
We spent a lot of time praying—praying the Lord's Prayer, praying for friends and family, praying for each other and for this church that was being born. It was during that intense time that I felt something shift in my heart's attitude toward the other folks on the launch team. I actually began to care, to really care, about them. We were mixing our lives together in prayer, accountability, encouragement, helping, dreaming, reminding—we were working toward a common purpose—we were discovering together the connection between the tasks that needed doing and this inspiring vision to see the Gospel transform people's lives. We were joined in anticipation to see how God would move. We shared a sense of being part of God's big cosmic plan. We were caught up in how He was shaping eternity. It was a trip. I found myself beginning to love this community, this church.
I think it caught us all by surprise when we finally launched and found out that we were the leadership team of this new church. Somehow I hadn't seen that one coming—that I would end up in charge of something, that God would now be working through my weakness to lead and build His church. I still wrestle with it. I feel like I should be a better man, have my crap more together, be more Jesus-ish. I take comfort in remembering that Christ is the one building His church, not me. He is amazing at drawing straight lines with crooked sticks.
For me, helping to plant Harbor Uptown was a life-changing experience. I learned that the community of believers is the body of Christ, not the individual. Jesus gifted each of us with different aspects of His perfect strength so that only when we come together can we most accurately reflect who He is. I learned that a community of believers is an amazing source of comfort in times of trouble. I learned that one of the best pieces of evidence for the truth of the Gospel is the time when a bunch of broken, selfish, and very different believers are surprised to find that they love each other. I learned that vegetables, lots of different vegetables, are very good -- frustrating, yes; challenging, yes; uncomfortable, yes, yes -- but very good.
In short, I learned to love the church. I highly recommend the lesson.
I hung out on the periphery of Harbor Downtown for a couple years. I had grown up in the church, but when I first came to Harbor I was very cynical about Christianity, Christians and any place where Christians tended to congregate—like church or youth camps or my parents’ house or the Republican Party. For me, Christianity made for a head case of alternating guilt and self-righteousness. It was a confusing mess which I had tried to ditch several times. I could not seem to shake it, and so I was fairly miserable. I checked out Harbor on the recommendation of a friend who knew me well. The place immediately felt different from other gatherings of Christians I had experienced. My first observation was that Pastor Dick pretty much preached the same sermon every week, no matter where he was in the Bible. Pentateuch, Prophecies, Psalms, Gospels, Epistles—each week he somehow ended up at the Cross talking about a love story. It took me a while to grasp the concepts beneath the terminology—grace, righteousness, imputation, propitiation, justification, adoption—but I understood the feel right away. Here was a group of people that was honest about its sin and struggles, but full of joy. The people had a strange mix of humility and confidence that I found very attractive.
I slowly got more involved. I got around to becoming a flaky member of the set-up team. Then I joined a community group and made a few friends. I was in a Harbor class taught by Dick called "Gospel and the Heart" when I first really "got" the Gospel and started to grasp how very good the news is. It felt like a rescue to me, to be gripped by this love story and pulled to safety. Having grown up in the church, I was actually angry that I had never heard this stuff before. When I think about it now, I suspect I had heard the full gospel growing up, but for whatever reason it had never clicked until that class.
So the gospel became sweet to me, but I was still very stand-offish about the church. I guess I knew intellectually that church is important, the way I know vegetables are important. But eating vegetables has never been my favorite part of the meal. If I could get the nutrients some other way I would probably avoid them. I certainly liked Harbor better than other churches I had attended, but I was still pretty freaked out about actually sharing my life with all these strangers.
When Dick came to our community group and asked us to be the launch team for a new Harbor church plant in my neighborhood, I was up for it. After all, I had lots of opinions about how a church should not look and feel. And if I had to be part of a church (like I had to eat vegetables), here was my chance to make it a comfy place full of folks just like me!
So we began meeting together to plan and dream and pray about this new community. We talked about all the different aspects of a functioning church—preaching, music, set-up, childcare, event planning, refreshments, small groups, hospitality, care and mercy. There was a moment during this process when it suddenly hit me that if any of this necessary stuff was actually going to happen, it was someone in that room who was going to do it. That was the first time I grasped the wisdom of team leadership.
We spent a lot of time praying—praying the Lord's Prayer, praying for friends and family, praying for each other and for this church that was being born. It was during that intense time that I felt something shift in my heart's attitude toward the other folks on the launch team. I actually began to care, to really care, about them. We were mixing our lives together in prayer, accountability, encouragement, helping, dreaming, reminding—we were working toward a common purpose—we were discovering together the connection between the tasks that needed doing and this inspiring vision to see the Gospel transform people's lives. We were joined in anticipation to see how God would move. We shared a sense of being part of God's big cosmic plan. We were caught up in how He was shaping eternity. It was a trip. I found myself beginning to love this community, this church.
I think it caught us all by surprise when we finally launched and found out that we were the leadership team of this new church. Somehow I hadn't seen that one coming—that I would end up in charge of something, that God would now be working through my weakness to lead and build His church. I still wrestle with it. I feel like I should be a better man, have my crap more together, be more Jesus-ish. I take comfort in remembering that Christ is the one building His church, not me. He is amazing at drawing straight lines with crooked sticks.
For me, helping to plant Harbor Uptown was a life-changing experience. I learned that the community of believers is the body of Christ, not the individual. Jesus gifted each of us with different aspects of His perfect strength so that only when we come together can we most accurately reflect who He is. I learned that a community of believers is an amazing source of comfort in times of trouble. I learned that one of the best pieces of evidence for the truth of the Gospel is the time when a bunch of broken, selfish, and very different believers are surprised to find that they love each other. I learned that vegetables, lots of different vegetables, are very good -- frustrating, yes; challenging, yes; uncomfortable, yes, yes -- but very good.
In short, I learned to love the church. I highly recommend the lesson.
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
The Miracle of Harbor - Part 1
Testimony of Bill and Dana McCurine
Harbor has profoundly affected our lives. Although there are many ways to explain this impact, we will focus on five primary areas. First, we have both been Christians since approximately 1981. Harbor has given us a profoundly deeper understanding and appreciation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul says he is not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God to save. However, we had thought that once we were saved the Gospel was only important to share with others. We did not appreciate, or understand, the Gospel is responsible for our sanctification as well as for our salvation. We did not appreciate before that we not only had to repent for our sins; we also had to repent of our self-perceived righteousness. Through a deeper understanding of the Gospel we have come to learn we are worse sinners than we had ever imagined, but also that in Christ we are more loved than we had ever imagined possible.
Second, Harbor's approach to the Gospel has resulted in identifying with much greater clarity the idols that exist in our lives. We continue to trust God to identify and destroy those idols.
Third, we were married in August 1971. We know and love each other deeply, but Harbor's approach to the Gospel has radically deepened and enriched our marriage beyond anything we had earlier thought possible.
Fourth, we did not understand how the Gospel figured into developing an enriching community, whether that community is viewed as one’s family, city or church. We now understand that one cannot successfully be a Christian and also a Lone Ranger; God requires us to be intimately involved with our communities on a variety of levels. This learning is exciting, even though it has the tendency to topple our apple carts. But now we would not have it any other way.
Finally, the Gospel has produced more peace and deeper joy. The Christian life is hard, but life without Christ is much harder. The Christian life has many struggles, but God has a way of turning those struggles into stepping stones to a deeper relationship with Him and with others. We worry less and trust God more. We are finding deeper satisfaction in simple things (e.g., dinner with friends, a movie, music). We are not anxious to die but death has lost its sting. We know Christ has done the work for us and has embraced us with a deeper love than we had ever known. He represents in His very being both a present and a future richer than anything we had imagined before.
Harbor has profoundly affected our lives. Although there are many ways to explain this impact, we will focus on five primary areas. First, we have both been Christians since approximately 1981. Harbor has given us a profoundly deeper understanding and appreciation of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul says he is not ashamed of the Gospel for it is the power of God to save. However, we had thought that once we were saved the Gospel was only important to share with others. We did not appreciate, or understand, the Gospel is responsible for our sanctification as well as for our salvation. We did not appreciate before that we not only had to repent for our sins; we also had to repent of our self-perceived righteousness. Through a deeper understanding of the Gospel we have come to learn we are worse sinners than we had ever imagined, but also that in Christ we are more loved than we had ever imagined possible.
Second, Harbor's approach to the Gospel has resulted in identifying with much greater clarity the idols that exist in our lives. We continue to trust God to identify and destroy those idols.
Third, we were married in August 1971. We know and love each other deeply, but Harbor's approach to the Gospel has radically deepened and enriched our marriage beyond anything we had earlier thought possible.
Fourth, we did not understand how the Gospel figured into developing an enriching community, whether that community is viewed as one’s family, city or church. We now understand that one cannot successfully be a Christian and also a Lone Ranger; God requires us to be intimately involved with our communities on a variety of levels. This learning is exciting, even though it has the tendency to topple our apple carts. But now we would not have it any other way.
Finally, the Gospel has produced more peace and deeper joy. The Christian life is hard, but life without Christ is much harder. The Christian life has many struggles, but God has a way of turning those struggles into stepping stones to a deeper relationship with Him and with others. We worry less and trust God more. We are finding deeper satisfaction in simple things (e.g., dinner with friends, a movie, music). We are not anxious to die but death has lost its sting. We know Christ has done the work for us and has embraced us with a deeper love than we had ever known. He represents in His very being both a present and a future richer than anything we had imagined before.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Weddings, Visitors, Memorial Day
Enjoying May days!! It has been a busy month of homework, meetings, and weddings. Our babysitter Desire' got married today and Faith and Isaac were the flower girl and ring bearer. Jim officiated the ceremony that took place in Paradise Island in San Luis Rey. It is a gorgeous place up in the north county about an hour from home.
My parents and Aunt Katie are traveling across country as we speak! I am so exited to have them here. The summer is going to be FULL of wonderful visitors!
My back injury continues to get worse and now my adrenals are in crisis. I will be going to LA to see my specialist on Wed. Please pray for Jim also as his back is giving him a lot a pain. We are just falling apart!!! However, God remains to be so good to us.
Hoping all of you have a wonderful Memorial Day. Thank you to all the men and women who have given their lives that we may have FREEDOM! We honor all of our men and women in uniform today as they continue to fight to maintain our freedom!
Sunday, April 5, 2009
Prayer Needed by M. Huster
I know that it is not polite to brag or be proud but I am foregoing this social faux-pa. I need your prayers. Faith's birthday is April 12th and she has decided what kind of day and party she wants. Last year Faith had a big party with all her school friends at the beach. This year's request blew me away.
Faith came to me with her birthday idea written down on a piece of paper. The paper read,
"My Birthday Adventure with My Mom." (on Saturday since Easter is on my birthday)
1. Out to Breakfast
2. Pedicures
3. Shopping for new shoes
4. Picnic in the Park
5. Shopping for an Easter dress for my mom
6. Go see the new Hannah Montana Movie
7. Go out to dinner.
WOW!!! I couldn't believe it. It just goes to show that my illness has affected my children but yet they still want their "Mommy" and I just cried when I read this. I know that this will probably be the last time my daughter wants to spend her birthday with just me. She is growing up and I know how things change. My prayer is that our relationship will continue to be special no matter how old she is!
OK, NOW FOR THE PRAYER AMO!!!!
My spine specialist reported that I have really injured my hip and left hip joint, my lower back and my neck. I am in so much pain all the time but I need prayer that I can make my little girl's birthday wish come true.
I told her that I may not be able and she said, "That's OK Mom, we can paint our own nails, have a picnic on the front grass, go shopping in your closet for the perfect dress, and rent a movie and eat popcorn." What a peach and what a treasure.
SO PLEASE PRAY!!!! Thank you!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Updates!!!
Sorry it has been so long since I have written. So much has transpired in the last few months. God has been moving in mighty ways and we are so excited and humbled how He continues to provide and draw people unto Him! Here a few updates.
Jim's Ordination!!!!
We had a wonderful service of celebration for
the official ordination of James Richard Huster! Jim's Dad, 
Richard Huster and his mother, Nancy Lees traveled across the country to make this time even more special. Nancy and I were busy with getting a reception ready and Greg, Courtney, and 
Richard all did their part to pitch in. Courtney's parents (Ned and Kathy) were here from Tuscon for the celebration and made a tremendous contribution to our family through all their help and loving on our kids! THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!! Matt D. helps operate a limo business and brought all of our homeless friends to the service in style...I LOVE OB!!!! The service was filled with tears, laughter, hoots, and cheers! It was truly a celebration of what the Lord has done and called our family to do.
The Soul Sisters of Alabama...
Last year around this time, some precious ladies came from Alabama and prayed for me and the Lord delivered me from sickness and oppression. Following such a great time we have also encountered some tough situations. We are so excited to say that the Lord continues to heal and deliver many areas of our lives. The ladies were here this week and many people from our church received healing and encouragement from them once again!
Katrina's Visit...
Our family was blessed two weeks ago to have my best friend come out and be with us. I have suffered for two months with strep throat and I had no idea how I could pull everything together for Jim's or
ordination. Nana to the rescue!!!! We didn't tell Isaac or Faith a
nd Katrina woke them up for school, they were speechless!!!!!!! We went up to Julian which is about an hour away and enjoyed playing in about 2 feet of snow!!!!! It was freezing and we were glad for the fun but thankful that the beach was only a short distance away...we are so blessed to have the mountains and the sea!
Benjamin and Caroline...
We got a frantic call from Ben rushing to Caroline. She is OK but please pray for the healing of her mind and body. She collapsed and has been hospitalized for dehydration and anemia. This is all the news we have received so far. Sometimes no news is good news when it is coming from Africa.
My Dad (Allen Connor)
Finally!!! My dad now has a new pacemaker after many episodes of blacking out totally and feeling so poorly for many months. I am happy to report that he is doing great and "ticking" right along!
Busy Spring...
We are looking forward to a busy spring with lots of visitors and traveling for Jim. He is returning to SC March 20th for the Missions Conference at Covenant Presbyterian. My Aunt Barbara and Uncle Marlin will be visiting in April which we are so excited about! Benjamin will be coming from Rwanda to spend a week with us in May. Jim, Faith, and Isaac are going to be in a wedding of our babysitter, Desire Miksad. We are so thrilled to take part in this wonderful occasion.
Isaac, Faith, and Courtney...
Isaac received 4 stitches yesterday...this is his second time with a flesh wound to the head! He is doing great and back to his old self of climbing and having absolutely no fear!
Faith and Isaac have started soccer with the YMCA and dad coaching and mom cheering them on! Courtney moved out a few weeks ago which was hard for all. She had been here almost a year. She is still very present in our lives and continues to be a huge help to me!
Harbor OB...
Harbor continues to grow and our small flock is growing more and more in the
grace and love of Jesus Christ. We are truly a body that is bonding and sharing our brokenness and triumphs. It is such a special community that God is cultivating. Please keep us in your prayers for the Lord's protection, guidance, discernment and wisdom. We are at His mercy and feel so humbled to be in this pl
ace. Grace and peace to all of you our sweet family and friends. You are so incredibly loved by us!!!
Jim's Ordination!!!!
We had a wonderful service of celebration for
the official ordination of James Richard Huster! Jim's Dad, 
Richard Huster and his mother, Nancy Lees traveled across the country to make this time even more special. Nancy and I were busy with getting a reception ready and Greg, Courtney, and 
Richard all did their part to pitch in. Courtney's parents (Ned and Kathy) were here from Tuscon for the celebration and made a tremendous contribution to our family through all their help and loving on our kids! THANK YOU EVERYONE!!!!!! Matt D. helps operate a limo business and brought all of our homeless friends to the service in style...I LOVE OB!!!! The service was filled with tears, laughter, hoots, and cheers! It was truly a celebration of what the Lord has done and called our family to do.The Soul Sisters of Alabama...
Last year around this time, some precious ladies came from Alabama and prayed for me and the Lord delivered me from sickness and oppression. Following such a great time we have also encountered some tough situations. We are so excited to say that the Lord continues to heal and deliver many areas of our lives. The ladies were here this week and many people from our church received healing and encouragement from them once again!
Katrina's Visit...
Our family was blessed two weeks ago to have my best friend come out and be with us. I have suffered for two months with strep throat and I had no idea how I could pull everything together for Jim's or
ordination. Nana to the rescue!!!! We didn't tell Isaac or Faith a
nd Katrina woke them up for school, they were speechless!!!!!!! We went up to Julian which is about an hour away and enjoyed playing in about 2 feet of snow!!!!! It was freezing and we were glad for the fun but thankful that the beach was only a short distance away...we are so blessed to have the mountains and the sea!Benjamin and Caroline...
We got a frantic call from Ben rushing to Caroline. She is OK but please pray for the healing of her mind and body. She collapsed and has been hospitalized for dehydration and anemia. This is all the news we have received so far. Sometimes no news is good news when it is coming from Africa.
My Dad (Allen Connor)
Finally!!! My dad now has a new pacemaker after many episodes of blacking out totally and feeling so poorly for many months. I am happy to report that he is doing great and "ticking" right along!
Busy Spring...
We are looking forward to a busy spring with lots of visitors and traveling for Jim. He is returning to SC March 20th for the Missions Conference at Covenant Presbyterian. My Aunt Barbara and Uncle Marlin will be visiting in April which we are so excited about! Benjamin will be coming from Rwanda to spend a week with us in May. Jim, Faith, and Isaac are going to be in a wedding of our babysitter, Desire Miksad. We are so thrilled to take part in this wonderful occasion.
Isaac, Faith, and Courtney...
Isaac received 4 stitches yesterday...this is his second time with a flesh wound to the head! He is doing great and back to his old self of climbing and having absolutely no fear!
Faith and Isaac have started soccer with the YMCA and dad coaching and mom cheering them on! Courtney moved out a few weeks ago which was hard for all. She had been here almost a year. She is still very present in our lives and continues to be a huge help to me!Harbor OB...
Harbor continues to grow and our small flock is growing more and more in the
grace and love of Jesus Christ. We are truly a body that is bonding and sharing our brokenness and triumphs. It is such a special community that God is cultivating. Please keep us in your prayers for the Lord's protection, guidance, discernment and wisdom. We are at His mercy and feel so humbled to be in this pl
ace. Grace and peace to all of you our sweet family and friends. You are so incredibly loved by us!!!Thursday, January 22, 2009
Chinese New Year and God's Faithfulness in the heart of Faith
Education...well, that is a topic that we all have opinions and convictions about. When we decided to move to California we were a little nervous about putting our children in public school. You hear so many negative things on the news about "California." However, Jim and I were very convinced that the Lord wanted our children to be in public school. We felt the strong conviction of how are our kids going to be able to live out their faith in the real world if they have never been there? This was hard because we don't want "the world" to "corrupt" our kids. So we had to trust that God knew what He was doing in spite of our reservations.
Today the Lord showed His unfailing faithfulness to me while doing homework with Faith. Her class has been studying the Chinese New Year for the month of January. When I got her homework, it told of their beliefs, gods, and superstitions. I thought, "Oh no...this is the influence that I was so worried about!" As many of you know, we have encountered a lot of spiritual attacks since we have been here. We have seen people truly demonized and it has definitely put a new category in our faith box. We have seen the power and influence of Chinese ritual and worship of their gods manifested in unbelievers and believers and the horrible struggles that they have faced. Now some of you may be thinking we have gone all wacky and such but until you see the enemy for yourself, you cannot comprehend his influence. So, back to the homework. As Faith and I studied about the do's and don'ts of Chinese New Year we began to talk about our faith and what we believed. One thing the Chinese believe is that if you behave properly, then their ancestors and mythical gods will grant them fortune and good luck in the coming year. Faith's first reaction was, "Mommy how sad is it that they think they can "earn" good things by just being good." "I am glad that I know Jesus and I didn't do anything to deserve good things, He just gives them to me because He loves me." Out of the mouths of babes!!!! I was completely blown away at her observation! The other things they do to earn good fortune and good luck seemed to be so silly to her. She felt sad for the Chinese people. It was obvious that she has been processing all of this for a month. She shared that one lady came in to talk about Chinese New Year since she herself was Chinese and grew up in China. Faith said she listened and thought it was all interesting. But before the speaker left, Faith approached her and asked her if she believed in God. The guest responded that she was not sure and Faith told her that she did and that He loves her very much! Wow! My daughter was witnessing right there in her classroom!!!
I cannot tell you how my heart sang out to the Lord in thankfulness and praise. Sometimes all parents wonder if our kids ever "get it" and that it just goes in one ear and out the other. Today the Lord showed me that His hand and favor is on our sweet little Faith and that she is His. I know that as she grows older more and more things will conflict with her faith. We have to continually trust that our Sovereign God will walk with her through all of them.
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