The Pastor’s Piece – Pastor Kevin Cernek, FCFI Chaplain

FCFI

November 8, 2026

“Camping Is Biblical”

There is a great recurring theme throughout Scripture where God commands His people to remember His faithfulness. We are studying the Book of Nehemiah in our ongoing Sunday morning sermon series and this week it’s about how God instructed the Children of Israel to build little shacks on top of their homes every year out of sticks and twigs they had picked up. They were to camp out in those shacks (also called booths) for seven days, once a year. This was called the Festival of Booths and was one of the most joyful celebrations they had all year. The booths were a physical reminder of their ancestors’ wilderness experience and how God provided for them and brought them through. From then on, the Scriptures remind us of the overarching principle to remember God’ s past faithfulness so that we will trust Him in our present circumstances and remain faithful to Him in the future. For the most part, we’ve picked up that principle in our society for many things, mainly our veterans.

Yesterday was Veterans Day. Every year on November 11, we remember and honor those who were willing to put their lives on the line, sacrifice their comforts, and serve our county in defense of the freedoms we enjoy. We are deeply grateful to them. But most of the veterans I know, would not choose camping as their preferred way of celebrating.

When I was a kid, my parents would borrow my uncles’ pop up camper and take us wilderness camping once a year. We’d head to a state park where we’d travel deep into the woods to a remote site with no electricity or water. In the night when we had to go, we’d hike the trail to the smelly outhouse. (Mom wouldn’t let us go in the woods – it might attract wild animals). Mom cooked all our meals on a giant griddle over an open fire. Those were the best meals ever! Camping was one of the highlights of the year for us.

In between our family camping fun, us boys and our cousins, on occasion, would set up a primitive camp site down by the creek in the pasture. We didn’t have tents so we’d sleep out under the stars wrapped up in big, heavy, musty wool blankets we’d taken from the storage closet in the basement. Generally the older kids had one camp and us younger ones would make camp nearby, but far enough away from them so as not to be harassed for being too close. The older ones planned ahead. They pounded stakes into the ground and made a makeshift tent out of dad’s old canvas tarp that he’d gotten from the Army Surplus store. He used it for farm purposes. It was a heavy tarp full of random mouse holes, but it was a cover over their heads. They would cut and stack firewood so they had enough to keep the fire burning throughout the night. Us younger ones sleeping outside, would get cold and sneak over to their woodpile during the night and steal their wood for our fire. We’d leave a couple logs for them when they woke up. And when they woke up, they would not be happy with us.

Usually, around 2:00 am, after we had burned all our wood and theirs and attempted to shiver ourselves to sleep, we’d head back to the house and our own warm beds. When dad got up for chores, we’d get up, do our chores, then head back to the campsite for breakfast. Breakfast was always bacon, scrambled eggs, and toast cooked over the fire. There is nothing like it to this day.

So, recreational camping was first invented as a way of remembering God’s faithfulness. Remembering is important to God. This week, as we recognize Veteran’s Day, with gratitude and thankfulness, we remember those who served our country. And also, we remember God’s faithfulness and the comforts of life we so enjoy.

I know it’s getting late in the year, but whatever means of camping you choose – I know you will enjoy it because camping is Biblical.

(Kevin Cernek is Pastor of Martintown Community Church, Martintown, Wisconsin)