This week I went to Surfside camp at Twin Rocks and the big thing we looked at overall that week was passions and how passions can help us get closer to God, and how some passions may distance us from God. For example, let's say you have a passion for music and you play on your church's worship team, or you play a sport and you use that sport to get closer to God through prayer. Those are good passions that help us get closer to God! But let's say you have a passion for drugs, or a passion for facebook and twitter and you can't go one second without it… and you are constantly doing these things sooo much that you kind of put God on the back burner and your passion has nothing to do with God. That is an example of a bad passion. Now I am not saying that those are the only passions out there in the world… there are soo many other things to be passionant about!  But for a moment, think about your passion or something that consumes a lot of your day….now think…. is this passion helping me grow closer to God, or is this passion standing inbetween God and me? If your passion is helping you stay close to God… then great! Keep it up! But some of us have a passion that is distancing us from God, and that isn't what God wants from us. Maybe your passion isn't nessicarily bad, but it is not helping you grow closer to God… if that is the case, maybe the problem is that your just spending too much time with that passion. Like me! Before i went to camp, I was constantly thinking about this new band I found out about and every waking moment i was listening to their music and watching videos of this band on youtube and I just couldn't get enough of this band. Now is that a bad passion? Not really.. I was just spending too much time thinking about this band when i could've been thinking about God and praying to him or reading my bible. Maybe your passion is bad… maybe your passion is drugs, alcohal, porn, something that could harm you or you know is not right, but you still do it anyway…. Those passions are very hard to overcome… and i am not gonna sit here and tell you how to overcome this, because i am no expert on how to overcome those types of things. But what i will say is that God loves you very much and has soo much more things instore for you than what you are involved with right now. Anyway, this week at camp may not have helped me grow spiritually, but it has helped me get back on track with God, and now I feel more passionant for God than I have for a while. I hope your having a great summer!!! =D

This weeks song is What Faith Can Do by Kutless. This song is what you will see when you believe in God and have faith from him. For example-Answers to prayers, happiness, wisdom, hope. When you put God at the center of your life and trust in him you will see so many unbeliveable things happening in your life that it will be breath taking. This song shows it.http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WTNBWv33-QI

What Faith Can Do-Kutless-It Is Well

Surfside Camp-August 5th-11th. Campers need to be at MFC by 8:30 a.m. with $20 to help cover the cost of gas, their personal gear, a sack lunch for the trip up and money for lunch on the way home. Thank You to Annella Pechon for volunteering your time and energy to take our youth to and from camps this year!

Coffee and Connection– A time of getting into the word and fellowship 11 a.m. each Tuesday in August.

Tuesday Special!!- August 14th, 5-8p.m. Meet at the Family Fun Center. Cost is $12 for 1 Go Kart ride, 1 Bumper Boat and Unlimited Mini Golf.

Water Works Park in Redding-Thursday August 23rd. Meet at MFC at 7:30 a.m. Cost is $20 for Unlimited rides plus money for lunch @ In-N-Out. Sign up in Ross Chapel.

This week's song is Hold Me by Jamie Grace featuring Tobymac. When this song first came out i really didn't think much about it but now… I love it! It is such a happy, relaxing song. This song is about how all day we are too busy to think about God and at the end of the day the person singing talks to him and tells him how much she needs him, cause we all do! Even when we are busy. Summer can get pretty hectic at times, like with the fourth of July, and going hanging out with friends, camping, doing extra chores that our parents decide we need to do… Our visions of a relaxing summer can be crushed very fast, I can't even believe it is July already! But at the end of the day, we really should focus on God and even though that can sometimes be a challenge, in the long run, he is the one who leads your life, so if you stray too far off the path he has for you, it isn't going to end well. So here is the song Hold Me by Jami Grace…http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zWPobcJ19Og

Hold Me-Jamie Grace-Hold Me ep