A LETTER TO FRIENDS

Dear friends,

Since we were unable to say goodbye in person, I wanted to take a moment and say thank you.

To the people of the Grove City Vineyard… Thank you so very much!

Thank you for being our family when we moved here. Thank you for genuinely loving Donna and me so generously. Thank you for allowing me to serve as your pastor for the past 4 years.

You are wonderful people and I pray that God will send the very best person to be your new associate pastor. I pray for continued growth in the Lord and that love and grace would prevail in your hearts. May God bless you always!

We are staying in town for now, so hopefully we’ll see you at the store or in the town center. Or give us a call, stop by and say hi!

I ask that you pray for us. As we seek God’s will for our lives and his direction for the ministry to which we are called, we covet your intercession.

We wish we could have hugged each of you one more time and said goodbye properly, but sometimes things don’t work out the way we plan.  We love you!

Peace and many blessings,

Tony and Donna

My email address is tonybuxsel@gmail.com

You can email me for other info.

I look forward to hearing from you!

ask...

I love the way God walks us through trials. I love the way He pours our more of Himself just when we need it most.  I love that the Holy Spirit is present and picks us up every time we fall.  He is always there...
Praise be to our Lord!


I believe that the Bible teaches us that God answers every prayer. Sometimes "yes", sometimes "no", sometimes "go" and sometimes "wait". The key is learning how to hear the answer. In John 10, Jesus tells a parable of the Good Shepherd.  This story teaches of a shepherd that knows his sheep and sacrifices to protect them.  It also says that the sheep know him.  Do you know the shepherd?  Can you hear his voice?


As we walk out this journey we call "life", we need all the help we can get.  The moment we forget that is the moment that we lose direction. It funny because I am so ashamed to ask for directions when I'm lost - Thank goodness for GPS!


I remember being in Milan, Italy a few years back. We needed to buy bus tickets to go into town that day.  The hotel where we stayed was outside of the town center and also outside of English-speaking shops.  We went into the tobacco shop - because that's where you buy bus tickets - and asked if anyone spoke English. No one did.  Not one! I was the only one who studied a little Italian so I tried in futility to ask for help. After completely failing our task, we turned around, tail between our legs, and headed back to our hotel to beg for help.  The concierge spoke some English and gave us a small note to give the man at the ticket counter.  When we got to the shop, I was so embarrassed from my previous foible, I wouldn't even go in.


What if I approached God like that?  What if I was embarrassed to send my requests heavenward? What if I fail to confidently enter the throne room with my petitions?  The only one who would lose is me!  If Donna and our friend Kande hadn't gone back in that shop with that note, we would have never seen downtown Milan. We would have been stuck in the suburb of the hotel looking at apartments and factories.  Instead, we saw the grand gallery and the Duomo Milano (cathedral).  


Over the past year, I applied to dozens of churches and para church ministries around the country. I interview with a few.  I am glad my heavenly Father said, "No". I'm glad He told me to wait.  He so lovingly gives us what we need. I'm thankful that He also lovingly withholds what we don't need! Had I taken one of those other positions, I would've missed out on "Great" for the sake of settling for "Good".


Asking God for things is fine. Asking God for His will to be fulfilled in you is awesome!  It's not about getting what you want. It's about getting what He wants for you!


"Until now you have not asked for anything in my name, ask now and receive that your joy may be full" John 16:24

friends...

I am amazed at the faithfulness in prayer displayed by our friends. For over 9 months, we have sent countless emails and have had numerous conversations about our new path in life.  We have had dinners and small group meetings where the conversation seemed to dwell on the prayer needs of this transition. We even had some of our closest friends reading through the book, Listening Hearts with us in an attempt to hear what God was speaking to us.
Our friends have been so faithful!


It's hard to go through a transition in life. Even the exciting ones.  The ambiguity of the future and even of the current situation to which you are surrendering yourself can be draining on you heart, your soul, your mind, your strength.  God has truly made us holistic beings, and every part of us needs to be fed, encouraged, nurtured and loved.  
Our friends are loving!


It seems like only last week that we had a picnic on the deck with several friends gathered - the ones that had read the aforementioned book.  We ate, we shared stories and we laughed a lot!  Then, after dinner, our friends gathered around us, laid hands on us and prayed. We cried.  They cried.  They shared words from the Lord.  They prayed in earnest with heart and love. They showered us with their supplications and we were blessed!  
Our friends are warriors!


So... in just a few days we move to Grove City.  Not leaving our friends, but knowing that it's just a longer commute to have lunch!  We know that our closest friendships will endure. Truly, this is a crucible to refine us and our friendships.  We know that there are already new friends, just waiting to be made - new people that God has placed just for us! It doesn't make it easy to leave the ones we love, just a little more safe. Our door is always open - come visit for a while. 


All in all, we are thankful to an awesome God - who knows us and our needs, and surrounds with amazing friends!  

awake and ready...

It's funny how God begins to prepare you for something, before you're even thinking about it.  Lately, I've been getting very tired around 10:00pm - consistently and without reason. I've not been doing any crazy work to exhaust myself, nor have I been exercising to any extent.  But it seems every night these past few weeks, the nods begin to happen!

The flip-side of that coin is that every morning, I've been awaken between 6:00 and 6:30 - And I mean wide-awake!  I lay in bed and my brain starts revving for the day.  It reminds me of the old movies when the characters go into a massive building or warehouse and flip the breaker and all of those huge mercury lights flicker and hum as the come to life with radiant light. 

All of a sudden, I'm running through my checklist for the day (and sometimes the week).  I think about the people I need to see and interact with and what we need to talk about. I think analyze the dog stirring at the end of the bed, looking up to check if anyone is awake yet to pet his chin.  But the one thing that alluded me, the one question that seemed to go unanswered was "Why?"  "Why am I so wide awake?"  And "Why can't I stay up past 10:00 anymore?" The answer is found in 1 & 2 Samuel.
We find the answer in the account of King David's life.  We see a young shepherd boy, anointed as king of Israel, for no other reason (not height nor strength, nor affluence of family), than the fact that God said so.  This humble young man saw the Goliath opposing the Armies of Israel as he took provisions to his brothers. He saw the giant taunting the army, asking for worthy champion - Israel's finest warrior - to come forth and meet him in one-on-one combat. But he also heard that 9-foot behemoth curse God's people, then curse the God of those people. That was enough!

This "chosen one" hearkened back to his meager days of shepherding - Days spent in the fields, alone with his sheep and his harp and his simple sling.  He remembered in an instant how he learned to peel the bark of of a tree with a small stone hurled at great speeds - The type of speed and precision that could kill an on-coming bear, or an offending giant!
You see, God had a plan!  God was preparing that boy, 8th in the line of Jesse, for great things!  It was that shepherd/musician who slayed the champion of the Philistines that day. Not a king, or a great warrior. Simply an obedient teenager that listened to God, and was prepared by God to do great things!


No... I am not planning on slaying giants - At least in the literal sense, but God is preparing me! I have been gently forced to awaken at an early hour and fall to slumber earlier that usual... All because God has a plan.  I have been enjoying more time with Him in the morning.  I have been able to see my wife before she heads to work. I have been getting the work done around the house that needs to be done...soon!  And I am being prepared to get back into the swing of full-time work.


I am a morning person!  I love the mornings! My thinking is clear and my focus is acute. In fact, I began writing this post at 6:30am!  I may miss-out on some of my favorite TV series, but who really needs them? 
God is omniscient, and He knows what He's doing. Thank you, Lord, for that gentle nudge that I have needed to prepare me for what's next!
In summary: I am being prepared, I am awake, and I am ready!

prayer...

And we are confident that he hears us whenever we ask for anything that pleases him. And since we know he hears us when we make our requests, we also know that he will give us what we ask for. 1 John 5:14-15


I love this scripture! And not because is a promise to give us everything, but because it is a promise to give us everything we need that is asked for in His will and His time.  So many scriptures like this are pulled out of context and used to assert our Santa Claus or Grandpa-like visions of God. We see an old, long haired, bearded man, usually sporting a shiny white tunic or robe, glowing with a golden serving platter behind his head. And we dare to call this image God. We step in the queue, and prepare our wish list with expectation and enthusiasm, giddy like a child waiting in the line at Macy's on December 23rd. We approach God and ask - as if He owes us something or at worse, as if we deserve it.


I worked with a guy named Tommy years ago in one of many restaurant jobs I had. One day he asked me about my faith and what I thought about prayer.  After my feeble attempt at explaining what I thought prayer was, he told me what he believed it to be...
     "Prayers are like magic wishes. You only get so many of them during your life.  When they are all gone, that's it. No more!"


That made me sad, and no matter how much I tried to let him know that prayers were not limited and that prayer was a wonderful conversation with God, he could not shake the misguided understanding that God was a magic genie and that he limited the amount of requests.  He had it deeply ingrained that: God didn't care, that prayer was one way - just about asking for things, and that there was no method to receiving - Just luck.


Scriptures teach us that God loves us and wants the best for us. That doesn't always mean that He says yes to our requests, but it does mean that He will say yes sometimes (and no  other times).  But the one thing we really miss in all of these discussions is this: Are we asking in "God's will"?  Are we asking for things that we want or are we asking for the things that God wants for us?  And remember... God will only give us good things!


There is such hope in praying in Jesus' name and for his will.  It frees us from having to worry about our own desires and needs. It allows us to focus on Christ and obeying His commands. It allows us to look to serving others and loving people with the love of our eternal, heavenly Father.  Praying in The name of Christ brings wonderful results. And yes... sometimes the answer is "no".  Sometimes the answer is wait.  Yet other times the answer is a resounding, "yes"; and the abundance of God's grace and provision flows out like a rushing river - white-capped and uncontrollable!  It's wonderful! It's scary! and it is such a blessing!


"Until now, you have asked for nothing in my name. Ask and receive and your joy may be complete"  John 16:24

a breakthrough...

Yesterday, I took the day to pray and fast.  I put the day's "stuff" on hold and just sought the Father.  It's important what went into that - It wasn't just a "wake up in the morning and decide to fast" moment. For me, it had to be planned. I put it on my calendar and prayed about it and prepared my heart and my physical self for it.

What a day it was. I had so many breakthroughs!  Paul writes, in several of his epistles, to be "in a constant attitude of prayer" or "to pray without ceasing". Yesterday, I was able to experience that in a new way.  This was not the first time I've fasted, nor was it the first time I devoted a large chunk of time to prayer; but for some reason, God showed up!  Now, I know know God is always there and that He is always at work. But yesterday was special.  I think it had less to do with God "showing up" and was more about God removing the "stuff" that was in the way of me seeing him.  It was like the earplugs had been pulled-out, and my eyes were opened.

With all of that being said, there were no major revelations, no discernibly path.  What there was, was a tangible presence - a peace that wrapped around me like a winter fog. It was intense and it was refreshing! It was scary and it was freeing!  God is so good!

There are still many decision to be made. There is a move in the future - whether it be a physical move or just a spiritual move is still up in the air.  There are still many prayers to pray and songs to sing! But there is God... and He is with me!

how great is our God...

I love to worship! I love the fact that God loves when we worship Him!
God is great and worthy to be praised!  I love that the God of the universe, the Lord of all, The King of kings chooses to "inhabit the praise of his people".
Inhabit me, oh God! You are welcome here!

Psalm 150 (NLT)

 Praise the Lord!

Praise God in his sanctuary;

    praise him in his mighty heaven!

Praise him for his mighty works;

    praise his unequaled greatness!

Praise him with a blast of the ram’s horn;

    praise him with the lyre and harp!

Praise him with the tambourine and dancing;

    praise him with strings and flutes!

Praise him with a clash of cymbals;

    praise him with loud clanging cymbals.

Let everything that breathes sing praises to the Lord!

Praise the Lord!