Radical Life Support

When we think of old, we think of diminishing qualities of health, strength, and mental capacity. God is none of those things, nothing in Him diminishes. He has all of His attributes in full measure all the time and in everlasting newness. God is not old. God is eternal. He does not age. He is not like an aged man with a white beard sitting on a throne in heaven. The bible says He is Spirit. So, when I say God is New, Ever New I am saying He is perpetually and continually new, fresh, vital, and alive for forever.

Job 29:20 – “My glory will not fade; the bow will be ever new in My hand.” His glory doesn’t regenerate, it is ever new. Lam 3:23 – “His compassions never fail, they are new every morning.” You can count on His newness each day.

Is 43:18-19 – “Forget the former things; do not dwell on the past. See, I am doing a new thing! ” God is a God of bringing you out of the former and bringing you into the new. Don’t stay in the past. Let it go. God wants to do a new thing in your life.

God inspires the new. Ps 40:3 – “He put a new song in my mouth, a hymn of praise to our God." God moves His people to write new praise songs. They are being inspired by God now just as God has inspired the songs of old. This will continue through the generations to come until the end of the world. Rev. 5:9 - And they sang a new song, saying: "You are worthy to take the scroll and to open its seals, because you were slain, and with your blood you purchased for God.

Jer 31:22 – "The Lord will create a new thing on earth." In the beginning the world was created by God and it was all brand new. There is newness all throughout the created world. New crops, new sprouts, and new buds and flowers. A newborn baby of any kind of animal, is so adorable. When God displays the new to us, it really is one of the great joys and pleasures in this world to observe.

But because of sin and the fall of man, there is decay. Decay in creation is not what God initially intended. Rom 8:20-21 says, “creation itself will be liberated from its bondage to decay and brought into the freedom and glory of the children of God. 

There is a life-cycle for created things. We grow from infants up to a certain point and then we age for the rest of our days. If you have ever experienced the death of a person’s body before, we know it is not what it is supposed to be. Here is the good news.  I Cor 15:44 says, “the body is sown a natural body, but it is raised a spiritual body.” God will take our temporary, perishable, dishonorable, natural body, and make it a permanent, imperishable, perfect spiritual body. It will be similar to Christ’s resurrected, glorified physical body.

Is 65:17-19 - "See, I will create new heavens and a new earth. The former things will not be remembered, nor will they come to mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in what I will create, for I will create Jerusalem to be a delight and its people a joy...the sound of weeping and of crying will be heard in it no more.

Only God as creator can make all things new or create anything new. It is believing that God is able to and will make all things new again and He will keep His promise to do so. He is the God of the new. That gives us hope for tomorrow and helps us to live today knowing we have such a great future ahead.

As the blood of sacrificial animals cleansed people from sin in the OT, so the blood of Jesus Christ would cleanse people from their sin in the NT. Jesus ushered in the new covenant through his shed blood. Jesus is the center of the transition between old and new. II Cor 5:17 - Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! What God loves to do is transform lives. No life is beyond God’s ability to make something new from it. 

Visions ignite a fire that leads to action. You begin to implement your vision and share it with others. Vision in the natural is something that you see but the vision we want to talk about is something not seen in the natural. Vision can often times be interchangeable with dreams. Dreams are desirable and maybe no one else is envisioning. You may be the only one onboard to carry out your vision but you have to make your plan, set your course, and go for it! 

At the age of 25, Rick received a word from David Wilkerson after a conference. All Mr. Wilkerson, said, “Go for it, son.” It was simple and all Rick needed to move forward with a vision God had given him. He had asked the Lord, where should I go and where should I be to reach out more to young people. Something in him had been brewing in this area for a while. He had already been reaching out as a youth pastor but hadn’t yet spoken in any high schools. 

When you think of evangelism and impacting a group of people, a lot of times we are given the analogy of fishing, being fishers of men. So, when Rick asked the Lord where should I go? The Lord simply told him, “you should go to the schools.” Like schools of fish. Where are the fish? They are in the schools.  You can look for individuals sure but if you want to evangelize, look for the groups of people. Rick started visiting schools and interacting with students in parking lots and school cafeterias.

One time Rick was invited in to come into a school by the Vice Principal to hang out with kids in the hallways to talk and help them and encourage them any time he wanted. At this point, he thought God was really working to be given this opportunity. The next time he goes to the school, he had a meeting with the Principal who asked, “What are you doing in my school?” Rick explained he had a heart for kids and wanted to help those who might be going through some tough times like peer pressure, drugs, or alcohol.  He replied by saying he had none of those issues at his school and even though the Vice Principal had given him permission, the Principal never wanted to see him on their campus again.

Rick could have been discouraged that he had this vision and he was moving forward and then got kicked out of a school. But Rick didn’t let it stop him. Interestingly enough the Principal said to him in that meeting something that gave Rick direction. He said, “You can do anything you want across the street but I just don’t want you here in my school.” So, Rick took that as a word and went across the street to Augsburg Park across from Richfield High School. He brought groups of people to the park where they would share Jesus with the young people and many of those started coming to his home bible study.

This was in the spring of 1980, 40 years ago. And during that time parents became touched and inspired and wanted to be a part of the ministry Rick was doing because they were seeing undeniable changes in their children’s lives. Look for God to bring in the encouragers. Don’t be afraid to ask questions. Many people don’t have a vision but are willing to help others who have one.

At the age of 16, Rick had a vision to start a ministry group with a band, skits, traveling, and testimonies. So, he shared the vision with a group of 12 friends. Afterwards, only 6 were left. One especially said it would never work. There are many stories of mentors discouraging a vision but the person keeps going and lives out the dream and the mentor has to come back and apologize. They could have initially been the greatest help; but their absence causes a person to rely on God instead of the mentor. 

Be advised and don’t be shaken when discouragers come. Keep stirring the embers to flame the fire of your vision. Under a pile of ashes are hot embers. It is the fire that stirs up people. Don’t be afraid of being on fire. People need it so much right now. Don’t give up. Keep going. 

Mercy means not getting from God what we do deserve. Grace means getting from God what we do not deserve or receiving unmerited favor. In both we deserve hell due to our hard hearts, yet God does offers us life if we reach out in faith and accept it. We have to start with a correct acceptance of our position before God as unholy sinners. From there we can understand that how God treats us is not what we deserve but just the opposite.

In both cases, we see the goodness and love of God. Tozer says that mercy and grace are actually one attribute but expressed toward us in two different ways. Identical yet seen as separate. He gives His goodness and love even though we are guilty of sin and have done absolutely nothing to earn or merit it. He looks on our miserable condition and decides to show love, favor, compassion, and pardon despite our ability to deserve it. Remember the song, Amazing Grace how sweet the sound, that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost but now I’m found, was blind but now I see. 

Let’s remember that mercy and grace flow through all of God’s divine nature and attributes. They are all interconnected, so God’s mercy and grace are infinite, boundless, and eternal. There is no beginning and it will never cease to be, forever His mercy stands. They are continuously active and inexhaustibly flowing with love and compassion. There will never be more mercy or less grace coming from God. God doesn’t use up an attribute and have to recharge, there is always a sufficient supply or every person. Just as nothing can separate us from His love, nothing can change or extinguish the tender mercy and grace of God. When we rightly understand this attribute of God, we see our unworthiness and God’s overflowing mercy and grace and that should bring us to a place of thankfulness for all He is and all He give to us.

God's word proclaims this attribute. [Dan 9:9] The Lord our God is MERCIFUL and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him.  [Is 63:9b] In His love and MERCY He redeemed them; He lifted them up and carried them all the days of old. [Ps 78:38] Yet he was merciful; he forgave their iniquities and did not destroy them. Time after time he restrained his anger and did not stir up his full wrath.

God’s mercy and grace in the world often goes unseen and is taken for granted. You might not know about His mercy and grace if He didn’t put you in a position or a particular circumstance where He can extend it to you. [Luke 1:50] His MERCY extends to those who fear Him. We almost always see His mercy best when we are at our worst or are in misery and pain. He picks us up again and again when we fail and He leads us into right living. 

God’s mercy remains constant, it is not a temporary disposition. God’s mercy is boundless, free and, through Jesus Christ our Lord, available to us now in our present situation. In Paul’s teachings when he talked about grace, he always associated God’s grace with God’s crucified Son. The two are found together like one thought embracing both, inseparable. God’s grace flows out to man through Jesus Christ who was crucified, died, and then rose from the dead. When man encounters grace, it is always by Jesus.  

God’s mercy comes after the payment of sin and Jesus Christ completed and paid for the sins of the whole world on the cross. The bible says, “where sin abounded, grace did much more abound.” This is the ultimate act of mercy and grace by a good God through His Son. It was such a high penalty that God says, no one can be saved other than by all that My Son. 

How are we to respond? [Rom 12:1] In view of God’s mercy, offer your bodies as living sacrifices, holy and pleasing to God—this is your spiritual act of worship. [Luke 6:36] Be merciful, just as your Father is merciful. 

There is a joke going around that the craziest purchase made in 2019 was to buy a 2020 planner because no one was able to plan anything in 2020. The bible says that man can plan his schedule but God directs his steps. Rick tells Robin that he can tell that she is attempting to present the attributes of God in her podcasts in an accurate, correct, and truthful way.  The bible talks about rightly handling God’s word (2 Timothy 2:15). Paul warned Timothy about this because it can be very easily to mishandle God’s word, not to appropriately manage it. It is easy to come up with mistruths. 

Satan does not want the word of God handled correctly. He wants it warped and twisted. So, he will try to influence and manipulate us. He will slightly twist God’s word as he did with Jesus in the desert and Eve in the garden to get us to take truth and mishandle it. He will put doubts in our mind about God’s word.

Rick finds in his daily travels as he is meeting with folks, that many people turn the conversation to something of a spiritual nature. We live in a very spiritual world. Man is used to natural. God is seen as supernatural. And somewhere the two meet. He often hears people make a bold statement about something and he knows they do not know God’s truth. Take the adage: Cleanliness is next to godliness. Although a nice saying, it is not in the bible and people believe it as a part of their lives. It seems harmless on the surface but you might judge someone who does not have a clean house and think they are ungodly or you might believe that if you don’t have a clean house, then you are not a good person. It can become a harmful thing to live by because it is not God’s truth. It can be so ingrained that if you try to correct them, they will take great offense and the bible says it is easier to become friends with an enemy then to win back a brother who has been offended.

Robin states that the main statement of Radical Life Support's podcasts on the ABC’s of the attributes of God comes from A.W. Tozer which says: How you view God is the most important thing about you. How you view God will affect how you live. If you think God is harsh then it will affect how you communicate with God. You must apply that same principal to biblical truth. You need to study God’s word so you know what is really true and then live your life accordingly. If you get it wrong, then you could live in condemnation and when you could live in peace. 

In reverse, a saying like you reap what you sow is a common saying but most people don’t even know that they are speaking words straight out of the bible. Think about what you believe and do some research to see if it is Myth or Fact. Clever sayings can be useful in communicating ideas but check to see if they hold real biblical truth. 

In today’s media you have to be doubly careful what you read because everything seems to have a slant. You will read about someone dying and then you find out they aren’t really dead. So, be careful and be on your guard. You have got to know the bible or you can really be taken in by sales people, scammers, and people speaking half-truths. 

You need to live what you believe. True belief should produce action. What comes out of your mouth will come from what you believe. Be sure you are speaking truth. If you want people to believe what you say, live it. Our actions need to match our words.

Live positively. If you live negatively, with you head hanging low, you are not living in truth. You can live 30 days without food, you can live 3 days without water, you can live 3 minutes without air, but you can’t live 30 seconds without hope. This is why you need to know the bible, because it is filled with Jesus’ hope, love, and peace for you. If you are a dealer of dope, ask Jesus into your heart and become a dealer of hope!

Longsuffering means patient endurance and steadfastness under provocation, offense, hardship, suffering, abuse, insult, mistreatment, and in the face of adversity. The word is made up of two Greek words meaning long and temper so long-tempered. God has a long fuse when He is stirred to anger. God is patient with sinners and He uses tremendous self-restraint. He does not fly off the handle and immediately retaliates based solely on emotions and without forethought. We should never think of God as succumbing to or being reckless in His anger. God’s attributes of mercy and love are an intertwining part of God’s longsuffering nature. 

[Ex 34:6] The Lord, the compassionate and gracious God, slow to anger, abounding in love and faithfulness, maintaining love to thousands and forgiving wickedness, rebellion and sin.  NIV says many verses like this with similar wording are the great self-characterization of God which runs like a golden thread through the OT.

 [II Peter 3:8-9] “But do not forget this one thing, dear friends: With the Lord a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years are like a day. The Lord is not slow in keeping His promise, as some understand slowness.  He is patient with you, not wanting anyone to perish, but everyone to come to repentance.” Because God lives in eternity, He waits patiently. His delay is not because He doesn’t care or is indifferent. Quite the contrary, verse 15 says, “bear in mind that our Lord’s patience means salvation.” 

James 5:7-8 Be patient, therefore brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and late rains. You also be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Here James is using creation, farming in particular to show how we should patiently wait for the Lord’s return.

Jesus definitely demonstrated longsuffering. He was persecuted, mocked, insulted, scorned, blasphemed, rejected, betrayed, attacked, arrested, falsely accused, beaten, and murdered. Why did it have to be that way? Why did He have to suffer so to bring us salvation. When Jesus was in the Garden of Gethsemane, He asked the Father if there was another way, he know nothing was impossible with God. But He said not my will but yours. That is a longsuffering statement. Heb 2:9, He suffered death, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone. He endured it all gracefully, without retaliation, for you and for me. And on that cross after all the mistreatment, He said Father forgive them for they know not what they do. I Pt says, because Christ suffered for you, leaving you an example, that you should follow in His steps.

Rom 5:3-4 – More than that, we rejoice in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope. It is a process and an order. It appears that character is produced after suffering and endurance takes place. We want to just skip to good character and not go through the prior.

Longsuffering and patience are fruits of the Holy Spirit. He wants it so much produced in you. They are His qualities. There is a famous funny saying that goes: God, I want patience and I want it right now! But fruit is not grown over night. To have the fruit of patience you must learn it through experiences and exercise it through situations and circumstances. It is like a muscle you use to become stronger; it takes time.

Our second interview with Spencer Thury (former band member from the mid-1980s), recorded in Austin, Minnesota at our property in an abandoned house. Wait until you hear the birds singing and the cars driving by. 

The discussion starts with Rick and Spencer talking about the kids the RLS band was reaching. Spencer was with the band three straight years and traveled all over the Midwest and even went to Toronto, Canada. At one church in Oregon, people vandalized and wrote vulgar graffiti on the side of the house where the band was staying. It was a protest against the band coming to the town to preach about Jesus. 

The public schools that had the most impacting memories were when the band performed in the high schools on the Indian reservations. Not many groups were asked to come to these schools and it was an honor. One specific memory for Spencer was the school in Eagle Bute, South Dakota. He saw a little girl who looked him in the eyes and he wondered what she was thinking about. He wrote a song about her and sings it for us during the interview. A beautiful song of longing to be loved by God and others. Spencer would play this song with the band from the moment he wrote it until the last time he performed with RLS. 

At Eagle Bute, the first assembly started out rough and Rick remembers making a stupid reference to “cowboys and Indians.” He thought their time to perform was over but instead, they ended up inviting them back 8 times. One of the kids joined the Teen Rescue team and traveled with them for a time. Also, the Chief gave the band a special license to fish on the Reservation.

The band never turned down an invitation and it led them to perform in many unique settings. One memory was going to Rapid City, South Dakota to a group called Job Corp. Rick and Spencer remember that the crowd was rough and it was like performing in a juvenile detention center.

The band always handed out comment cards after the workshops to see what the kids were thinking about, what they heard from the assembly, and if they had any questions. The band would come together later and read the cards. Personal follow up with the kids was hard so hundreds of letters were sent to the kids over the years.

Spencer shares that when he did a workshop, he would talk about goals and how important it is to follow the innate dreams that God places in your heart. One girl was inspired by his message and was able to be bold enough to not only tell her friends that she wanted to design clothes but she also wore one of her outfits to the evening concert and she was glad to see that her classmates were impressed. Teen Rescue had created an encouraging environment for the kids in the workshops.

After Teen Rescue, Spencer was hired as a youth pastor and created a CD of his music. He knew the band was going more heavy metal and he was more of a blues bass guy. Spencer married his lovely wife and is still married after 28 years. And then went to bible college for four years. After college he returned to Iowa and served as a lead pastor in a Pentecostal church and a Quaker church. Following that he received an opportunity to be the chaplain at William Penn University for 10 years until it changed ownership. Spencer said he would take a group of students to Bourbon street each year. He would hear people say that they usually hate Christians but their message either saved their life or made them rethink everything they thought about Christianity.  

Rick reconnected with Spencer and he had Rick speak at William Penn about 20 years later and they have been doing stuff together ever since.

The interview ends with Spencer sharing one more song he wrote about “Seeds Sown in Stories.” Thank you Spencer for coming to speak at on our podcast! 

God is Keeper. In Hebrew shamar means to keep, to guard, to watch. When keeper is used as a noun in the bible it is mainly to describe an occupation, for example, you can say shepherd or a keeper of sheep.

A king in the OT was one appointed by God to be keeper of God’s people, Israel. It wasn’t to be just a position to reign over but God set it up so that they should keep, guard, and watch over His people. Much more personal. God wanted to occupy that position over His people but they demanded a king. Unfortunately, no human king would truly keep His people as God wanted to keep His people. They rejected His care over them.

Prov 24:12 – The Keeper of my soul is He who knoweth. Is 27:3 – I, Jehovah, am [my people’s] Keeper, every moment I water it, lest any lay a charge against it, night and day I keep it. Ps 121:7-8 “The Lord will KEEP you from all harm—He will watch over your life; the Lord will watch over (and guard) your coming and going both now and forevermore. The Lord will protect you from all evil; He will keep your soul.”

When God says that He will keep your soul, that is a promise. God is a Promise Keeper. [II Chron 6:14] “O Lord, God of Israel...you who KEEP your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in Your way.” There are literally thousands of promises like this in the bible and God keeps every single one of them without fail.

When you feel weak, the bible says [II Chron 16:9] His eyes look to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to Him. When you feel alone, you can count on God for He says He will never leave you. When you are afraid, God says He will fight for you. When you cannot manage, God says I will supply all your needs. When you feel you are not smart enough, His word says I generously give wisdom, just ask. When you confess your sins, God promises to forgive every time. When you cannot figure life out, God promises to direct your steps. When you feel temptation at your door, He will provide a way of escape. When you are weary, He promises to give you rest. When you think you cannot go on, God says you can do all things through Him. When you feel no one loves you, God says I love you more than you know. He never fails in keeping His promises. 

God is described as the Shepherd or Keeper of Sheep.  Is 40:11, “He tends His flock like a shepherd; He gathers the lambs in His arms and carries them close to His heart.” Jesus is the Good Shepherd who lays down His life for His sheep. God's followers are described as the sheep and His flock.

The shepherd would build a corral. The shepherd would then guard over the flock and the corral would be a hedge of protection around them. They hear it and follow Him. They won’t listen to or follow a stranger’s voice. The Shepherd knows them and they know Him.

Matt 25:32 – But when He [Jesus] saw all the people, He was moved with pity for them, because they were troubled and wandering like sheep without a keeper/shepherd. Jesus came to seek and save what was lost. Jesus told a parable where a shepherd left 99 sheep in open country to go and find one lost sheep. Jesus says, “in the same way there will be more rejoicing in heaven over one sinner who repents than over 99 righteous persons who do not need to repent.” 

Allow God to be your Keeper because that is what Jesus did. In John 15:1 – Jesus says, I am the true vine, and My Father is the Vineyard Keeper. He yielded to the Vineyard Keeper to do the pruning and maintaining so the branches would be more fruitful. God wants to keep us all our days if we let Him, but always through Jesus. I Cor 1:8 - God will keep you strong to the end, so that you will be blameless on the day of our Lord Jesus Christ’s return. 

Here is a blessing from Num 6:24-26, “The Lord bless you and KEEP you; the Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace.” 

The first Radical Life Support interview with former band member Spencer Thury who was with Teen Rescue for three years during the early years. He first saw Rick at a Sunshine Festival. While worshipping with 13,000 people, he heard God say, “be a pastor.” He told God he wasn’t a shirt and tie type of guy standing behind a pulpit; but God responded saying He had enough of those and needed something completely different. The next day he saw Rick on stage again, dressed with unmatching clothes, playing air guitar, and acting crazy. And God told him, that is a pastor and Spencer said that he could do that. 

His first meeting with Rick was at a Burger King and they discussed doing drama pieces from skits Spencer had wrote. God put two misfits together who didn’t belong in a traditional church setting. The day Rick found out Spencer was musical was on a drive to a youth retreat. Spencer got out his harmonica and was driving the car with his knee. Rick then asked him to play the harmonica at the youth retreat while Rick played some rock tunes.

Spencer played saxophone, harmonica, ukulele, guitar, piano, and keyboard with Teen Rescue. Rick gives credit alone to Spencer for being the only band member to do jumps, cartwheels, backflips, and splits on stage. He was basically a back up singer and hype man and the kids loved him.

Spencer wrote many songs and would play them solo on the ukulele at the beginning as the first warm up act and then he would introduce the band. Eventually the band started the tourists playing the song, “We Don’t Belong Here.”

One thing Spencer appreciated about the Teen Rescue band was he remembers that the band wasn’t always super close friends with each other because they had diverse interests and they traveled in a van without a radio. So, when they arrived at a school, they would spread out and search of kids similar to each of their own interests. When the concert was ready, kids for all walks of life and different interests would come together and there was a crowd to hear the group play.

Spencer remembers one time when he was so thirsty and they stopped and a guy in a truck filled with water bottles walked over and asked if he wanted a drink. He also remembers God telling him to build a case for his guitar because he was going to need it, so he did and then Rick called him up to go with him to Toronto for a youth retreat and the case was ready ahead of time to bring on the plane.

Since Spencer is a lefty, he remembers trading in three guitars he had plus $40 to get a lefty guitar. He didn’t think the guitar was worth much but found out later that it was his dream guitar that he always wanted and he still has it today 30 years later. God cares for His children and He provides good gifts.

Spencer recalls one story about an angry kid who didn’t want to speak to Spencer but only to Rick so he got in line for his autograph. Spencer knew in his hear that something crazy spiritual was about to happen so he started praying. As it became the kids turn, Rick asked him why he hated his dad so much. Before you knew it, Rick had his arm around the kid leading him to ask Jesus into his heart. 

Spencer remembers at his first gig with Teen Rescue at Aberdeen, South Dakota, a kid was following him around and he ended up leading him through the If You Could Ask God Three Questions track. He took a step for faith and asked the kid if he wanted to give his life to the Lord and he did.

After Spencer’s time with Teen Rescue, he went on to be a pastor just as God told him he would be at the Sunshine Festival. Crazy means to be extremely enthusiastic. En theo is a part of the word enthusiastic and it means In God. Walk in the spirit, be passionate, and crazily trust in the Lord and it will all work out. Let others see God in you. Do something for the Lord, don’t do nothing. Be crazy and do something.

As A.W. Tozer says, God reigns in equity. In God’s society His standards for morality are perfectly right and fair and very clearly laid out in the bible. There is no moral standard or set of rules that God must comply to. That would imply that those standards are higher than Him and that He must act in a certain way in accordance to them. He is the highest moral standard and nothing is superior to or outside of Him that He should be obedient to it. Nothing can cause Him to add anything to Himself or remove anything. Nothing can change Him to act in any other way than who He is. 

We would not think an earthly judge is a good judge if He let everyone who committed a crime go free. The defendant might think he's a good judge because he's getting away with bad behavior. But the prosecution and the offended would not think justice was served. A good God administers justice. Deut 32:4 – All His ways are just and true. A faithful God who does no wrong, upright and just is He. 

Ps 94:2 Appeal to “rise up O Judge of the earth” to address the wrongs perpetrated against the weak by arrogant and wicked men who occupy seats of power.” We should be glad, especially for many who have been wronged on earth that the perfect judge of the world will have His final say. God says do not deny or withhold justice to the weak, poor, fatherless, and the alien. 

We want instant justice, but that is not always how God administers justice. There will eventually be true justice but He decides when. He will often times, in His mercy, delay justice so give a person time to choose to come to Him and give their heart to Him. 

All nations set up some type of legal system to decide what to do when injustices are done. An absence of law would only create chaos. If there are no consequences for wrong action, people will just do what their wicked heart’s desire. In Noah’s days, “every inclination of the thoughts of man’s heart was only evil all the time.” Justice is good, necessary, and beneficial for everyone in any culture. The bible says, by justice a king gives a country stability. When justice is done, it brings joy to the people.

In God’s courtroom there are no hidden truths or any additional facts to be found out. Lies are exposed and motives are revealed before a holy God. God’s administers perfect wisdom. The Jewish leaders broke many laws and brought false accusations against Jesus in order to murder Him. Jesus knows all about injustice. Jesus knew how unjust his accusers were and didn’t defend Himself. He faced injustice to save the world. 

Rom 3:26. “God...justifies those who have faith in Jesus.” Justified can be explained as, "just as if I had never sinned." As in an earthly courtroom, there are penalties for wrong behavior in God’s courtroom. Our sin places us under the sentence of death. The bible says no one is righteous and all have sinned, no one can declare themselves to be righteous and no one can make themselves righteous. When our iniquity comes in contact with a just holy God who has pure infinite equity, He must be just. He cannot be persuaded to be less just. Our only plea can be placed upon having put our faith in Jesus and “if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Justification means although we deserve to be declared guilty, because we put our trust in Jesus, God cancels the guilt of our sin and credits righteousness to us. 

God doesn’t disregard justice when He spares a person from the required legal penalties. God’s shows his mercy only after justice has been satisfied. The penalty was paid when Jesus died on the cross. He was the Substitute, He died in our place. He died so we wouldn’t have to die. Understanding this deep in our hearts over what Jesus did for us has transformed many lives in an offering of thankfulness to receive such a wonderful free gift from God. 

This is the story of the bus owned by Radical Life Support and Teen Rescue. Although it may have seemed that Teen Rescue traveled on the bus for years, the journey of the bus lasted a short 18 months. Over the years, Teen Rescue traveled in so many different vehicles. Rented, borrowed, and owned. One year they traveled in seven different vehicles.  But the bus really had a lasting impact. Still today people ask about the bus.

It was a 1956 GMC Scenic Cruiser. Once owned by Greyhound and seen in many movies during that time period. It has a very unique shape with a tiered look. The bus was found by the Teen Rescue sound man, Jeremy Sell, back in 1991 in Fargo, North Dakota. Compared to how the band was traveling, this was very comfortable, with reclining seats, bedrooms and a bathroom. Another band had owned it prior to Teen Rescue acquiring it. 

The Teen Rescue team worked together to clean, paint, and put on the logo and “Rocking a Generation” wording on the side of the bus. It was a moving billboard as they traveled on the road. And it was a “wow” factor for the students when this big tour bus pulled up in front of a school. The kids would gather around and want to go inside and go for a ride. It really gave a grand impression and impressed the students.

Because of its age though, there were a fair share of breakdowns and there is never a cheap fix on a bus. You have to find someone who is willing to work on it. The parts aren’t always readily available. Miles per gallon is not optimal on a bus like that. When it broke down, it was always out in the middle of nowhere while traveling in rural areas from school to school.

An interesting characteristic of the bus is that it would list greatly to the right as the air bags deflated after the engine was turned off. It leaned so much that people would often ask in fear if the bus was going to tip over. Toward the end of owning the bus, Rick had a dream that the bus tipped over and all three of his kids were under the bus. It was a nightmare.

When the bus finally broke down for the last time while they were traveling to Spearfish, South Dakota, it was a sign of relief. As nice as it was to travel down the road, it was a lot of work. The bus had to be towed and everyone reloaded into an RV to finish the 10-day tour. A decision was made not to fix it and it was sold for the price of the tires. 

Rick wondered for years what became of the bus. One day, a young man was at his home looking at the Teen Rescue DVD and he mentioned that he had seen the bus and knew where it was located. It turned out it was 25 miles away. Rick and Robin traveled to visit the bus and took some pictures on June of 2014. The owner has a collection of vehicles on his property and the Teen Rescue bus is parked there in memorial to days gone by.

Rick remembers during the season of owning the bus that it was the busiest time for Teen Rescue ever. Not because of the bus but it was an incredible time of requests from schools for the message Teen Rescue was providing. They had 264 dates on their calendar that year, the average was usually 150 dates.  

On a personal note, being that busy and consumed, Rick remembers how it brought out a lot of emotion in a person. He had a continual intense desire to be with his family and would call whenever he could to stay in touch. It was heartbreaking to be away and miss so much of his children’s upbringing and home life. All the band members too felt the intensity of emotion and were constantly writing letters to friends and family while they traveled. 

There was a definite tradeoff to do the ministry work. It was great and horrible at the same time, but you wouldn’t trade it for anything, The bus was an interesting chapter in the story of Teen Rescue.