The Return

My Junior year of high school, in the early 80’s, I transferred from a small Christian school (Cincinnati Christian) to a much larger public school (Princeton High School) with several thousand students. It was a big transition, but a good one, made easier by the relationships found on the varsity soccer team, and by getting involved with a high school ministry called “Primetime,” later called Student Venture, and affiliated with Campus Crusade for Christ, now called Cru. Boy, if you live long enough everything changes its name. 

I didn’t know it then, but it was to be a season of God drawing near to many on our campus. Especially among the growing group of friends in our weekly “Primetime” meetings. We were all excited and hungry for God. We were helped along by a handful of staff who discipled and encouraged us throughout the week. It was really exciting to see our friends come to know Jesus. The meetings were full of energy, fun and loud. I think we had a couple of hundred students coming regularly at its height. Parents and staff alike knew something special was visiting us in those years. Many of us who were leaders in those days stepped into some form of Christian ministry in the years to come. It was a uniquely formative moment, but most of us didn’t even notice; it felt normal and we enjoyed it.

One of our staff workers was named Russ Banister. Our common name meant I liked him right off. During one of our many hangout times, he shared that he’d once been on the cover of a magazine. “Seriously?” I asked, expecting a joke. “No, really,” he said. Ever heard of Life Magazine?” “Yeah, of course,” I said. He went to his room and returned with an old copy of Life Magazine from 1972. The title read, The Great Jesus Rally in Dallas.

“Anyone look familiar on the cover?” There were three guys who were on each other’s shoulders with arms outstretched. The wavy red-haired guy on top was Russ. He had a t-shirt printed with the ubiquitous statement of the Jesus movement at the time: “One Way.”

“No way, that’s you?” I asked. “Yes, way, One way!” he said. I could tell he was pretty proud of it, as I would be, too. Who would have ever guessed that that snapshot moment would become iconic over time.

I had seen that magazine on coffee tables, and didn’t understand it at the time, but now, hearing the story from the source made it so much more interesting. “I was about your age when a guy from the Associated Press took that random photo,” Russ said. My friends and I were at rally in Dallas called Expo 72, when we decided to lead a “Jesus shout.” To make my voice heard, we decided to triple up on the shoulders.”

How many people get their picture on a magazine? This was some serious swag.

These days feel vastly different than those. In this season of Covid and 2020 politics, we’ve all seen the best and the worst parade across our screens and in our streets. I know God is allowing the exposure of many things, but so much volume and voice feels conflated at times. It makes me tired. One can almost sense the collective exhaustion upon the nation, amidst of all the intensity. So, when something different appeared, yet something familiar, it caught my attention. 

I was scrolling through my Instagram feed a few weeks ago and came across a photograph of a worship leader named Sean Feucht. I couldn’t believe my eyes. I had been loosely following Sean for years, having been impressed with his conviction and passion for Jesus, and more recently his efforts to take worship to the streets. He’s been traveling the nation leading worship events in some of the cities in the news, responding with worship rather than unrest. He calls these gatherings #LetUSWorship while some describe them as “worship protests.” 

In the post, he was wearing the very same t-shirt that Russ wore on the cover of Life magazine. In fact, Sean was holding a copy of the same magazine that Russ had shown me years before. Incredible! Apparently, some friends recreated the t-shirt in an effort to link the desire for a move of God in the days of the “Jesus movement” and bring it forward into ours. Wow, that’s amazing, I thought.

My memory was sparked back to that high school conversation with Russ, who I hadn’t spoken with for decades. But through the miracle of social media, I found him and passed along greetings and the photo. Russ was grateful for the reconnect, and amazed at the photo of Sean holding the magazine and wearing the shirt. “I’m blown away that he has my Life Magazine photo.”

All moments matter to God. He records them all, Psalms 139 tells us, but sometimes He gives us snapshots along the way.

We are in those days again, I think. Perhaps another “Jesus movement” is bubbling up and we don’t perceive it. (Isa 43:19) One day we will realize that we were living in the middle of a move of God, but we didn’t sense it that way. We’ll wake up like Jacob did in Genesis 28, saying, “Surely God was here and I didn’t know it."

An iconic magazine cover marked a moment for a generation and highlighted what God was doing. That random snapshot is still working to inspire a new generation to celebrate Jesus in a different day and in different ways. Are you in the midst of a move of God today? How would you know?