Why We Chose the Buffalo
I recently released a new song called “DRY BONES.” I wrote the song in about 25 minutes before leading worship in a tiny little town in Montana with a population of 642 people. It was one of those places that makes you think, "Nothing big will ever happen here—after all, it never has before." But God spoke to my heart directly with the familiar words of Ezekiel 37, "Can these dry bones live?" I knew the story of Ezekiel 37 where God raised up an entire living, breathing army from a valley full of dry bones. And I knew God was showing me that He wanted to do the same thing in that little, forgotten town. So in faith I wrote this song and sang it over the town and the believers who lived there. My team and I have gone on to sing this song all around Montana, and we were thrilled to record it so people could keep listening and letting the words sink deep into their hearts and minds.
The album cover art for the “Dry Bones” song features a lone buffalo—the American bison. This was a very deliberate choice. You see, this song is more than just another song; it’s a prophecy to all the forgotten corners of the earth, including my corner—Montana.
One of the symbols for Montana is a dead buffalo skull. It’s seen on road signs, tshirts, artwork, license plates, and even the 25 cent coin which represents our state. (Several other states also have a buffalo on their quarters, but only Montana’s is a skull.) In the 1800s, the herds of mighty bison spread across Montana. But the bison became commercially exploited and were slaughtered for their valuable hides and their tongues, while the rest of the animal was left to rot. In 1881, approximately 180,000 buffalo hides were reportedly shipped from the Miles City, MT area, and by the time Montana became a state in 1889, there were 541 known buffalo left on the Norther American continent. The symbol of a bison skull seems fitting—because the memory is all that’s left.*
The spiritual climate has been just as dead as the buffalo herds. There have been small pockets of good things, but most have been short-lived, while the rest of the state just languishes and waits. The cry has been, “When will God move in our town?” And some brave, pioneer-spirited leaders have tried. “It’s hard ground,” say many of the burnt out pastors, leaders, and prayer warriors. The identity of a dead buffalo skull seems fitting spiritually also.
But I live in the grip of a powerful prophecy from Ezekiel 37. God brought Ezekiel to a valley that was full of dry bones. And God told Ezekiel to prophesy to the dry bones and to prophesy to the winds. What an utterly weird and foolish thing to do! But Ezekiel obeyed. And afterward, it says that there was a sound—the sound of rattling bones coming together, standing on their feet and becoming covered with flesh again. The wind came and brought breath back into the fallen ones, and they stood there as a vast army for the Lord God.
The lyrics, the artwork, and the music are all part of delivering the same message. My home church, The River, and I believe that a powerful move of God will sweep through Montana and ultimately impact the whole world. People will say, “a river runs through it”—a river of the Spirit of God. Instead of identifying with a dead buffalo skull, we prophesy that we will be represented by the LIVING buffalo. Because If God can take a Bethlehem or a Nazareth—small, insignificant towns—to shake the entire world, He can do it in my town. “But you, Bethlehem Ephrathah, though you are small among the clans of Judah, out of you will come for me one who will be ruler over Israel, whose origins are from of old, from ancient times” (Micah 5:2, NIV). He can do it in all of the small towns of Montana. He can do it in the place where you live.
Shortly after recording the album, one of our band members was out enjoying our beautiful state when he encountered something incredible: not just a buffalo, but a stampeding herd of wild bison, shaking the earth underneath them as they ran with their young. We believe this is a sign of what God is getting ready to do in Montana and many other small, forgotten, and insignificant places around the world. He caught it on film, and it is an incredible sight.
I mentioned earlier that bison were exploited not only for their hides but also for their tongues. Spiritually, I think that represents the voice of the prophetic. And God wants to restore the voice of the fallen to once again declare His glory and His wonders. And it all has to start somewhere. It may start with one lone buffalo. Sometimes it starts with a lone believer, “a voice of one calling in the wilderness, ‘Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him’” (Matthew 3:3, NIV). But it will not just be one for long. Soon it will be the whole herd, the many herds, the army of the Lord.
Will you join us in prophesying? Romans 8:19 says, “creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed” (NIV). Lift your voice and start to speak what Heaven is speaking. Your town, the place where you live—it might look dead or it might look beyond hope. But we serve a God who raises the dead. Begin to ask God for the words He wants you to speak, and speak them with all of your might. Don’t change the subject until it comes to pass. Even if it feels like nobody around you gets it or is listening, creation itself is listening, and the spiritual realm is listening. And when we speak God’s words, they don’t return void (Isaiah 55).
We hope DRY BONES will speak into the depths of your spirit as you listen. Enjoy our lyric video below, and share it for all those who need to hear the message. Please stay in touch with us! We would love to come and worship in your town.
*Please note, this is not an anti-hunting post. I am a Montanan who enjoys our rich hunting heritage—but practiced with the principles of “fair chase” ethics and wildlife conservation goals that were put into motion by Theodore Roosevelt, who became President in 1901. Because of his efforts and the hard work of American hunters, there are now over half a million bison in the United States.