How low can you go?

Think about your personal life. You're dating and things are going great when suddenly your boyfriend or girlfriend breaks up with you. Your family has just gotten out of debt and you're looking forward to a little financial margin when the car breaks down and needs major repair. You're getting into shape and feeling great when a routine physical uncovers a health crisis.

Or what about your professional life? You're a business owner and your new business seems to be booming but before you know it, it goes bust. You're a sales associate and sales one month are great but the next month no one is buying and your next commission check won't look much like the last one. You're self-employed and you've got so much work you have to turn jobs down but soon after you're looking through the classifieds because no one's calling.

Or what about your spiritual life? You attend a worship gathering and you're feeling the love as you make your way into the parking lot but on your way home, someone cuts you off and you lose the whole love vibe in a split second. You go to the greatest weekend retreat ever but return home to discover that, while you were gone, your house flooded. You volunteer in some capacity and feel like you're making a difference but then someone you trusted stabs you in the back.

Sometimes it feels like life is one long on-again, off again limbo dance. "How low . . . can you go?" What does stuff that mean? Why does that happen? Why are the highest highs followed by the lowest lows? What is it with the peaks and valleys in life? If you've ever wondered why God allows the lows or what is the true meaning of the highs when they sometimes seem so few and far between, the message I'll share this weekend - Dynamic Range - is for you! Join us at one of our four weekend gatherings. We gather on Saturday and Sunday and we meet in Austin, Cedar Park, and Round Rock. Pick the day, location, and time that works best for you and then come connect with us. We want to connect with you!

The week after Easter

Easter was awesome! Over 1,300 people attended Calvary Austin last weekend and, for many, it was life-changing. The cool thing is that God is present with life-changing power every time we gather. That means we don't have to wait until next Easter to take another step toward God. We can take small steps in His direction every week.

One way you can do that is to join us this weekend. Last week we talked about Jesus' death on the cross and His resurrection [watch or listen]. Starting this week we rewind the story six months to explore Jesus' journey to Jerusalem and the climactic events of His life. The Bible verses that we're going to unpack this weekend give us insight into His true identity.

There are a lot of questions swirling around about Jesus' identity. Millions have read Dan Brown's book The DaVinci Code and millions more will see the movie when it opens next month. To help you sort fact from fiction, we'll talk some about that this weekend, too. Plus everyone who attends will recieve a free copy of Josh McDowell's new book The DaVinci Code: A Quest for Answers.

To die for

From the National Confectioners Association website:

• 90 million chocolate Easter bunnies are made for Easter each year.
• 16 billion jelly beans are made for Easter
• Each day, five million marshmellow chicks and bunnies are produced in preparation for Easter.

The chocolate bunnies? Seventy-six percent eat the ears first. I'm totally an ears-first guy. The jelly beans? Red are kid's favorite. The marshmellow chicks? I am all about the marshmellow chicks - I've been eating them for weeks. The marshmellow chicks are to die for!

Isn't that funny how we say things are "to die for"? I mean no one would die for the things we say that about. I suppose if I ate enough Easter candy it might shave some time off the end of my life. But there's no way I'd die for marshmellow chicks!

What would you die for? Would you die for your country? Thankfully many Americans have been willing to make the "ultimate sacrifice" to protect our freedom. Would you die to protect your family? I think most people would lay down their life for their spouse or for their kids. What else do you consider truly "to die for"?

While you ponder that, let me throw out another question. What do you think God would consider "to die for"? That's what we're talking about Easter weekend. We've got five gatherings at three sites starting Friday evening. Join us Friday or Sunday in Austin and join us Saturday in Cedar Park or Round Rock. Attend once or come several times! Use our e-invite feature to send a postcard to a friend inviting them to join you. Don't forget to stock up on marshmellow chicks and we'll see you this weekend!

In memory of

Last week our missionaries in Honduras, Jason and Patty Mulla, lost their first child, Brisa. Brisa was born prematurely and never left the hospital. Just as we prayed diligently for Brisa, we now turn our prayers to Jason and Patty. Here is an excerpt from Jason's email.

We undersand very little as to the "why" question right now. However, Jesus is revealing his truth to us little by little, putting healing balsam on our wounds. For example, the doctors commented to us how strong Brisa was and how valiently she fought. We remembered that two weeks ago we might have given up ship as missionaries if Brisa would have died . But in these last weeks, through your prayers, God has brought us to the point that we are MORE determined to serve our Savior Jesus because of this tragedy. God sustained Brisa long enough for us to come around.

We never knew that the sacrifices of being a missionary would go as far as loosing our only child. But in the service of Him who gave His all for us, how can we give up? Please keep us in your prayers, as we present our broken pieces to Jesus, and ask Him to put us back together again.