After a great Fathers' Day weekend at Our Savior, Day Camp began today. This is one of the noisiest, most energetic weeks of the year at Our Savior. About 70 kids from Our Savior and our community gather for a week of singing, activities, games, praying and all kinds of fun. College age counselors, along with our wonderful teenage helpers and AAA adults (Available, Authentic and Affirming) who are support staff (feeding and helping in all kinds of ways) make for a terrific week for our campers and for everyone involved. On Thursday night at 7pm our campers will share some of the songs and other things they've learned this week followed by an ice cream social. Everyone is welcome!

Also, this is kind of the 'kick off' week for camps this summer at Our Savior. This coming Sunday afternoon 8 of our confirmation students will be off to Luther Springs, our church camp east of Gainesville, for a week of confirmation camp. Then later this summer another group of younger campers will be off to Luther Springs and high school campers off to Lutherock, in North Carolina, on Sugar Mountain.

These camping experiences have always been formative, wonderful experiences for our young people. But in today's world, where our young people are so bombarded by electronic media (not just TV, but also ipods, DVDs, cell phones, computers, Facebook, Twitter, and the list goes on) these kind of camp experiences, where our young people get to "unplug" and experience nature and real face to face community, are all the more necessary and valuable. Many thanks to all who support these efforts through your volunteering and financial support. As Garrison Keillor (of the Prarie Home Companion) says, "Whatever you do for a child is never wasted."

God's work; our hands.
Have a blessed week.
Pastor A.C.'Jack' Diehl III

One of the most amazing tools we have available to us today is the Internet. The other day I was listening to an old rock n' roll song from my teenage years and always wondered what one of the phrases was in that song. So I "googled" the name of the song, hit "enter" and there came up the lyrics. I know that for our younger generation that is pretty much taken for granted, but I’m still amazed at what kinds of information is available at the click of a button. (By the way, the song was "Devil with the Blue Dress" by Mitch Rider and the Detroit Wheels and the hard to understand phrase was, "…she's a real humdinger…". :-) For years we tried to decipher what that phrase was, but with a couple of clicks of the computer, there it was. Makes me smile, because I remember my Dad using that term often.)

Anyhow, for all of the useless information available, such as that, and all of the bad stuff available out there on the Internet, there are also some wonderful resources there as well. When the Bible, written thousands of years ago, meets the Internet, we have some wonderful tools available to help us understand what God was and is saying to us in the Bible.

In particular, I refer you to two sites: www.elca.org/bookoffaith and www.enterthebible.org . Both the "Book of Faith" initiative in the ELCA and the "Enter the Bible" resource from Luther Seminary in St. Paul MN, came about to help us understand what God is saying to us through these ancient, yet always new, Scriptures. And it's good to have help like this, because, as you know, over the years the Bible has been used and abused for all kinds of purposes. Christians of all stripes look to the Bible as the place where God speaks to us. Even the Jehovah's Witnesses use the Bible, and the Jehovah's Witnesses aren't even what you could call a branch of the Christian church. So, how do we navigate through the Bible today?

Through the two sites mentioned above, we are given a Gospel centered perspective from which we come to hear and understand what God is saying to us through these ancient Scriptures. In the "Book of Faith" and "Enter the Bible" resources, some of the churche's best teachers and theologians help us read and understand what God was saying to his people then and what God is saying to us today. In addition to those sources, you can receive a daily on-line devotion trough "God Pause", another offering from Luther Seminary. (Google "God Pause, Luther Seminary" for more info.)

So, as this summer unfolds, and as you have the opportunity, check out these websites, with Bible in hand, and be open to what God would say to you today. Our faith is a living faith and God really does continue to speak to us and to our world. Are you listening?

See you in church!

Pastor A.C. 'Jack' Diehl III

www.oursaviorelca.com