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Date Posted: 15:39:30 08/21/05 Sun
(published in, The Broadcaster, 7/28/05)
Life-altering incident led Calif. man to New Beginning as Nashua pastor
By JOHN COLLINS
The Broadcaster
NASHUA -- It's been a year of milestones for one of the newest members of the local clergy, Pastor Jeff Muster of the New Beginning Fellowship in Nashua.
The church, a branch of the nationwide Assemblies of God ministries, recently celebrated its first year at its 6 Spruce St. location. Also, Muster and his wife, Marilyn, are celebrating 25 years of marriage this year. Muster, who delivers a sermon on topics of current interest at each of his church's weekly Sunday services, paused on the one-year anniversary of New Beginning to reflect on the dramatic new beginning that he and his family made in their own lives six years ago, due to a momentous life-changing event that triggered the Musters' move from the West Coast to New Hampshire.
"When we were first married, and as our children came along, I relied heavily on the Lord to meet our needs," said Jeff, a laser technology salesman who like his wife was raised in California. "But then I began to want more than what the Lord said I needed, so I pursued wealth and all the world had to offer."
Pursuing wealth was something Jeff did well. In the 1990s, Muster's income shot up to more than $200,000 per year. It was in the midst of this time of his greatest financial success that Muster said "God finally got my attention."
On that fateful day in 1998, two Los Angeles County Sheriff's officers knocked on Jeff and Marilyn's door with the news that a woman had run a stop sign, resulting in a head-on collision with a vehicle carrying both their son, Chris, and daughter, Amy.
"Our 14-year-old daughter was being transported by helicopter to one hospital and our 17-year-old son was in the air on his way to another," Jeff recalled. "We were told, 'Your son will not make it through the night.'"
Amy was able to return home a few days after the accident, but their son remained in a coma.
"My son's ICU room became, for me, the belly of Jonah's great fish," Muster said. "The smell, the strange cadence of the respirator, the dim lights -- all of these reminded me of Jonah. God sent Jonah that big ole fish to swallow him whole, so he'd be set apart and given time to think that he would return to obedience. My boy's ICU room affected me the very same way."
In that ICU Jeff said, "I decided to turn back to and follow Jesus again."
By "the grace of God," Muster said their son walked away from a treatment center six months after the accident, but before he did doctors there told Jeff and Marilyn their son needed a new start somewhere else because the same surroundings would be too much for him.
At first, the doctor's advice was difficult for Jeff Muster to accept. "We knew moving would mean leaving my job and that was not possible with a half-a-million dollars of medical bills yet to be paid by our insurance," said Jeff. "(But) we knew the Lord could make sense of things, so we prayed, and then just a day later I received a call out of the blue asking me to come to a company meeting in Massachusetts. Two days later in the meeting, I was being asked to move to the East Coast. Only Marilyn, the Lord and I knew we needed to move! God has done miracle after miracle in our lives, yet I'm still amazed each time."
Two years after the Musters made their move East, the company Jeff was managing was purchased by a competitor. In November 2000, he lost his job. "When it happened, I just got on my knees and cried out 'Lord, I've messed up the first 38 years of my life selfishly following my desires. I now completely surrender myself to you. My life is yours!"
At New Beginning Fellowship, Muster believes his mission is to see the Lord bring a new beginning to numerous lives -- just as He gave a new beginning to theirs.
As for his son, Muster said Chris still struggles from the psychological and physical effects of the head injury. At the same time, the emotional bond between father and son has been strengthened by their frequent discussions about life and the accident that changed their lives. Jeff Muster recently shared the details of those father-son conversations with members of his church.
"I was up kind of late last night," Muster announced to about 30 church members as he began his weekly sermon on June 26. "My son and I were having more conversation. He's really in a hurting place right now. He's struggling with his head injury right now. He's struggling with the fact that he can't do things as easily as he used to. He told me he feels like whenever he goes anywhere, 'There's a sign on my back, and the sign says I'm different.' I said, 'Chris, every one of us feels that way at times -- that we have a big sign on our back that says, I'm different.' I told my son, 'You know, Chris, it's a decision process, that's all it is. How are you going to deal with your difference? How are you gonna do it? Are you gonna grumble and complain about that difference in life? Or are you gonna give that difference to Jesus and say, Use it; use it for your glory, Almighty God!'"
The remainder of Muster's 44-minute sermon that day was devoted to human beings dealing with their imperfections. But for him and his family, the New Beginning Fellowship pastor says they are now living in the perfect place, New Hampshire.
"I would say coming to New England was probably the best thing that happened to myself and my family," said Muster.
For more information, call (603) 889-5907; or visit www.NewInChrist.org
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"God finally got my attention"