dry bones dancing

Not only was that the title of one of the first worship cds that really caught my heart (hello 1997), it’s a reminder I heard today about what is possible in Happy Valley.

Let’s face it–we live in a community that prides itself on our academic standing, on our football team, on our Party-School-Ranking…but the spiritual climate is not usually on the list of Penn State Proud. It’s not that there aren’t flashes of a breakthrough. There are loads of campus ministries that are going strong, doing good things, and seeing students show an interest in the spiritual life. But conservative estimates show about 2.5% of the PSU population involved in a local church.

2.5% of 45,000 comes out to be 1125 students. That’s not insignificant, I suppose, for those 1125 students. However, I have to believe that God wants to connect with more students, to see broken people healed, to see people find true life and hope.

I read the passage in Ezekiel today where God takes the prophet Ezekiel (I call him Zeke; I don’t think he minds) to a valley filled with dry bones, probably the remnants of a battle lost, bodies left unburied in a valley for the birds to clean. It’s a freaky, eerie place. God asks Ezekiel: Can these bones live again? The obvious answer is No. Zeke pulls out the God-answer: O Sovereign Lord, only you know…

The long and short of it is that God then proceeds to put flesh and muscles and skin on the bones, then fills the lifeless bodies with breath (his spirit) and the once-dead bodies are filled with life–they stood up!

We’ve been praying for the PSU campus for about 16 days in a row now. Groups from Calvary are meeting everyday to walk the beautiful tree-lined streets, asking God to move, to bring an awakening on campus. Is it likely? Is it possible? Has it ever happened before? Can a culture be changed?

That’s the beauty of the Valley of Dry Bones. If God can bring to life the bodies of those long-dead, is there anything too difficult for him? Can he bring life to the Penn State campus?

O Sovereign Lord, only you know. But what God has done other places, he can do here. What God has done for other people, he can do for us.

This weekend Calvary will be meeting at the Eisenhower Auditorium for a time of worship and teaching. Dan Nold will be preaching, Stefen Wisniewski will be sharing his story of how he came to faith, and our band will be leading us in worship. It starts at 10:30 (coffee on the patio by 10!) and will finish at noon. Children (through 5th grade) will be meeting at 1250 University Drive for a special presentation by Brett A Myers, a Christian illusionist.

I hope that you’ll join us, and that you’ll bring your friends. Let’s see what God can do here, now.