ezekiel 37:1-3 The valley of DRY BONES
“The hand of the LORD was upon me, and He brought me out by the Spirit of the LORD and set me down in the middle of the valley, and it was full of bones. He had me pass among them all around, and behold, there were very many on the surface of the valley and behold, they were very dry. Then He said to me, “Son of man, can these bones live?” And I answered, “Lord GOD, You Yourself know.” (NASB)
There is a place deep in western Nebraska where there is not a single lake, river, creek, or stream in the whole county. Annual rainfall totals hover around fifteen inches per year. The coyotes survive by drinking water out of the here-today-gone-tomorrow puddles left in the wheel tracks of the irrigation systems. It is an exceedingly dry place.
But out of this place of dryness, the Lord GOD is raising up an army.
Shannon and Teresa Malmkar and their family raise popcorn in the midst of this dry and dusty land. Shannon struggled with rejection since birth. Teresa had been sexually abused.
Their pain was deep and real.
They had deep emotional pain and serious physical symptoms. Shannon suffered from severe celiac disease. He couldn’t even touch a wheat-based product without becoming physically ill. Teresa could only eat four or five foods without becoming ill. Her weight dropped from 124 pounds to 97 pounds.
They tried numerous doctors, remedies, and counselors but nothing seemed to work.
Briana Busenitz, a friend of the family since childhood, became a counselor after dealing with the pain of sexual harassment while serving as a missionary in a Muslim country. That pain and the resulting disappointment and anger with God eventually led to six years of struggling with depression. The LORD healed that depression and she was led to become a counselor herself.
Busenitz tried counseling the Malmkars but had little success. She recommended other counselors she trusted, but there was no breakthrough until the Holy Spirit stepped in. That was when Teresa truly accepted Jesus Christ as Savior, Lord, and King.
From there, the Holy Spirit moved in mighty and powerful ways to heal Shannon and Teresa, but it was all new to them.
Shortly thereafter, Busenitz met Terry Baxter of GoServ Global and told the Malmkars, “You have got to meet this guy!”
Baxter had dealt with the pain and rejection of a learning disability early in his life in addition to being drawn into the occult. It all nearly drove him to suicide, but the LORD stepped in and saved him. Since then, he’d spent fifty years dealing with spiritual battles like Shannon and Teresa were facing.
The Malmkars and Terry Baxter hit it off right away. Shannon and Teresa had never experienced the power of the Holy Spirit like they were experiencing at that time, but Baxter had seen it before and was able to affirm and encourage what was happening in their lives. A fast friendship grew and developed between Busenitz, Baxter, and the Malmkars.
They knew that people all around them were struggling with the same kinds of pain, rejection, and evil; the lies of Satan attempting to steal, kill, and destroy all around them – but nobody ever really talked about it.
The Malmkars fasted and prayed, and the Holy Spirit literally opened the doors to a former school in Madrid, Nebraska, where an event could be held. They walked and prayed around that school for seven days to pull down the Jericho walls that stood between their friends and neighbors and the healing the LORD wanted all of them to have.
They got the word out that an event, they called it a Real Life Workshop on emotional and spiritual healing, would be held on September 28 and 29 with Busenitz and Baxter speaking, food and beverages provided – all for a free-will offering.
Somewhere around 55 people showed up the first night.
Busenitz started with a description of what it was like to be a missionary doing God’s work and confronting the stark realization that being a servant of God didn’t mean she would never have bad things – even really bad things – happen to her.
Join TEAMHOPE! A group of monthly givers that believe hope is essential. These funds go to where most needed and to support any gaps in giving ministries might have, or if they have an emergency come up and need funds immediately. You can help break the cycle and provide essentials to vulnerable communities.
Was she being punished? Did God really love her? If He didn’t love her, wasn’t she alone, helpless, and powerless in this wretched world? The enemy of her soul used those times to speak lies of anger, bitterness, death, and endless evil into her life.
But there is freedom from all of that in confronting those lies through the power of Jesus Christ and the Holy Spirit because forgiveness is meant to free us. God is a God of justice and He can and will deal with what harms us.
Baxter told about the struggles in his young life with rejection, mockery, rebellion, and the occult. Just as he was about to kill himself, a Bible given to him by a classmate fell open to 2 Corinthians 5:17: “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. “
Terry wanted to be a new creation. He wanted to stop being the person who he was and be made new. God honored that request and as Baxter started memorizing Scripture and living his life according to what it said, he went from being last in his class to graduating as an honor student.
He went to Moody Bible School, became an ordained minister, and over the course of fifty years, co-founded GoServ Global, served in the Iowa State Legislature for eight years, and has been all over the world telling people about the Good News of Jesus Christ and doing spiritual battle with Satan and his minions.
Baxter told about understanding salvation and the ministry of the Holy Spirit, then moved into an introduction to spiritual warfare and freedom in Christ. While Satan’s schemes deceive many, he really has no power that he has not stolen through lies. In the end, he is no match for the name, blood, and power of Jesus. As Christians, we are given the authority of Jesus to rebuke and bind him through that same name, blood, and power.
On the second night of the workshop, Busenitz used a skit to illustrate how Satan traps us with deception, lies, loneliness, and mockery on islands of pain. In the end, Jesus is the answer as His truth destroys and casts out the lies, restoring us into relationship with Him.
When we compare the qualities of the Holy Spirit’s voice with the voice of the enemy, there is a sharp contrast and we can tell the difference. We can indeed hear the master’s voice because He will never contradict Scripture.
We have an inheritance and an identity in Christ and it is indeed glorious!
Baxter talked about Exodus and how it really only took a day to get the Israelites out of Egypt but it took 40 years to get the Egypt out of the Israelites. They were eventually led to freedom, but not without a lot of wandering in the wilderness.
He quoted Colossians 2: 8: “ See to it that there is no one who takes you captive through philosophy and empty deception in accordance with human tradition, in accordance with the elementary principles of the world, rather than in accordance with Christ.”
He explained that when the verse talks about being taken captive, it means to be “looted.” That means to be led away as a captive and everything, including our freedom, being taken away from us.
That led to a detailed discussion of strongholds Satan can have in our lives, spiritual bondage, and the five levels of demonic activity people can experience.
The night ended with group prayer and a song.
As we sat and talked about all that happened on Monday morning, we noticed that God had answered every prayer we had lifted to the Lord.
There had been healing for Debby’s elbow [Baxter’s wife] and an increase in joy in Busenitz’s life. The local pastor had given a beautiful sermon steeped in the Holy Spirit and in love. People had been attentive, open, and moved. All had gone well and the enemy had been cast out and down.
Shannon said that the previous night truly had been “a Jericho moment.” Walls had come down. Both Shannon and Teresa agreed that people had opened up to the Holy Spirit and they were excited about continuing a journey of wholeness and healing. People showed a deep desire for the Word of God.
Teresa said the weekend had been, “a culmination of their journey.”
Shannon said they had been a group wandering in the wilderness, but now he sensed an army being raised up, “coalescing together to go and proclaim Jesus.”
And at that moment, I could not help but think of Ezekiel 37: 4-10:
Again He said to me, “Prophesy over these bones and say to them, ‘You dry bones, hear the word of the LORD.’ This is what the Lord GOD says to these bones: ‘Behold, I am going to make breath enter you so that you may come to life. And I will attach tendons to you, make flesh grow back on you, cover you with skin, and put breath in you so that you may come to life; and you will know that I am the LORD.’”
So I prophesied as I was commanded; and as I prophesied, there was a loud noise, and behold, a rattling; and the bones came together, bone to its bone. And I looked, and behold, tendons were on them, and flesh grew and skin covered them; but there was no breath in them. Then He said to me, “Prophesy to the breath, prophesy, son of man, and say to the breath, ‘The Lord GOD says this: “Come from the four winds, breath, and breathe on these slain, so that they come to life.”’” So I prophesied as He commanded me, and the breath entered them, and they came to life and stood on their feet, an exceedingly great army. (emphasis added.)
–Dan Jones
Freedom Quest Workshops are solid biblical seminars on Spiritual Warfare taught worldwide by Terry Baxter over the past thirty-five years. They are designed to equip Pastors, Missionaries, and Christian workers for practical intervention on behalf of tormented people while helping Christians break the grip of sinful bondage in their lives. It is a great format for both counseling and discipleship.
Freedom Quest Workshops can be hosted live by churches or camps in the United States.
