Can't You See What Love Has Done?

Window In The Skies

The shackles are undone
The bullets quit the gun
The heat that's in the sun
Will keep us when there's none
The rule has been disproved
The stone it has been moved
The grave is now a groove
All debts are removed

Oh can't you see what love has done?
Oh can't you see what love has done?
Oh can't you see what love has done?
What it's done to me?

Love makes strange enemies
Makes love where love may please
The soul and its striptease
Hate brought to its knees
The sky over our head
We can reach it from our bed
You let me in your heart
And out of my head, head

Oh can't you see what love has done?
Oh can't you see what love has done?
Oh can't you see what love has done?
What it's done to me?

Oh, oh, oh, oh
Oh, oh, oh, oh
Please don't ever let me out of you

I've got no shame, oh no, oh no

Oh can't you see what love has done?
Oh can't you see?
Oh can't you see what love has done?
What it's doing to me?

I know I hurt you and I made you cry
Did everything but murder you and I
But love left a window in the skies
And to love I rhapsodize
To every broken heart
For every heart that cries
Love left a window in the skies
And to love I rhapsodize

Oh can't you see what love has done?
Oh can't you see?
Oh can't you see what love has done?
What it's doing to me?

lyrics by U2

be God's!

Brian O

Lead Pastor dude
ECHO

The Price Is Right?

Its funny, as I write this my kids are watching the Price is Right. Man, that show has been on TV forever. I remember watching it as a kid. My parents watched it. Now the Price is Right has been handed to a new generation...my kids. It's not the most elaborate show...no special effects or CGI graphics...but people like it. The games are kinda dorky and stupid...but people like them. But its the winning stuff part that draws people in...especially the "new car"...or the "vacation to Hawaii". I guess we all like to get stuff... especially for free...even better if we won it! It's kinda like fate smiled on us...so now we're special...kinda of feeling. I read an interesting article that in Eugene/Springfield only 30% of the people living here were planning on attending an Easter service. Now 99% of them have heard of Easter. 95% of them will have Easter eggs, candy hunts, and a special dinner. 90% know that Easter is a Christian holiday. 82% know it celebrates the resurrection of Jesus. But only 30% of the population have been impacted by that truth to such a degree that an Easter service would need to be on their calendar. I wonder why? Most parts of the country probably have over half the community in church on Easter...but not us? In the bible belt that percentage is probably even higher. Now church folks will tend to blame the people who don't show up, like it's their fault. But I wonder if it maybe because a generation of churches that have pushed so hard for the "big Sunday" on Easter, that our community in general feels like it is just a number on someone's stat sheet...and in this case, Easter is the BIG one! Maybe people have caught on...that Easter is a big numbers push...and the local church has their sites set on them...uh, their number? Maybe that is why the "meaning" is lost to them, from their perspective? Maybe, it is because the meaning is lost from the church's perspective also? Maybe us church folks have focused on the wrong stuff for so long...its become obvious to those we are trying to attract? Churches go to great lengths to draw crowds on Easter... mass marketing blitzes announcing...free brunches...free candy... people dressed as the Easter bunny for photos with the kids...free carnivals...free giveaways... even free cars...free TV's...free vacations! What are you crazy? No, seriously...a church in Corpus Christi, Texas gave away cars...flat screen TV's...vacations...on Easter! Everyone attending got a shot to win some of the million dollars in prizes they were giving away! It was like some kinda churchey Price is Right! Where's Bob Barker? Where's Drew Carey? Seriously, the whole thing drew HUGE crowds... as you might suspect...but it was only for 1 weekend... Easter. It looks good in the newspaper...it looks good on your denominational reports...it makes your church folks excited for a week or two...but what did it really accomplish? In all our efforts to "pack the place" on Easter...have we done anything that lasts? Is a big crowd for one day the goal? More importantly, is it the goal in Jesus eyes? Has Easter been reduced to some kind of church production to "get out the vote" so we feel better for a day...a week...? At ECHO, we strive to remind ourselves constantly, that getting a crowd by any means, isn't God's goal. Life transformation is Jesus' goal...changed lives for the better...for eternity! Free pizza and beer will get a crowd...but change no one...except maybe add to their weight problem or alcoholic tendency's...but I digress. A crowd gathered without them experiencing the transforming love of God is wasteful. Now did crowds follow Jesus? Of course, at times they did. But not for free cars or candy...it was because of His reputation as a man who taught about the Kingdom of God in such a way, that people were "amazed". It was because Jesus had so much compassion and love that word spread, "you gotta check this guy out...He's for real". It was because His healing touch on the sick and his grace on the downtrodden sinner, screamed LOVE. People didn't just hear about the Kingdom of God...they experienced it...they got a taste of it, when they were with Jesus. Maybe our churches could learn a bit more from Jesus? Maybe His ways are better than our ways? Maybe His ways draw a crowd... not just any crowd...but a crowd for a lasting purpose? Crowds are not bad in and of themselves...but a crowd gathered is one thing...what you allow them to experience when you have them gathered...is quite another! I can hear the conversation now..."but Lord, we had thousands at Easter"... and God will say, "but they never knew Me...and you didn't get to know them either!" Sadly Jesus will say, "It was quite a show, but I wasn't invited." At ECHO we don't want to miss the point. At ECHO we strive toward Jesus' ways and we recognize that we need to learn His way of reaching people. To often, they are forgotten. Maybe if we are more like Him...maybe then the crowds will come...and be transformed...forever...just maybe...

be God's!

Brian O

Lead Pastor dude, ECHO

Missing The Point?

Sometimes I wonder if we miss the point. It seems quite common in our culture to focus on the "less significant" detail and miss the "big point". I wonder if we do that at Easter too. Usually Easter is a time we focus on Jesus dying on the cross for our sins and then rising from the dead in victory 3 days later. Quite a powerful story indeed. Lets face it...that rising from the dead thing hasn't been pulled off by any other great religious leader or philosopher. So that alone should cause us to pay attention. And for some we do...well at least one day a year...Easter. What makes Easter difficult...is not the eggs, candy and bunny thing...but our tendency to focus on the Friday. Jesus dying on the cross for our sins. It conjours up horrible images ala Passion of the Christ. In reality the Passion doesn't show it as bad as it was...the bible says Jesus was beaten so bad you couldn't tell He was a human! Wow, now that's bad. Horrible really. And most of us weigh heavy the consequence of our sins and the cost Jesus paid. We must really suck bad for Jesus to have to innocently take that on. The guilt, shame & heaviness breaks us. The images horrify us. But are we missing the main point here? Is Easter about this horror? Is it about how much we suck and how much Jesus had to pay...because of our selfishness and sin? Is Easter just a final victory lap by God after all we put Him through? Now don't get me wrong...Jesus dying our sins is a huge thing...and His victory over sin and death sealed the deal...but is there something bigger in play here? I'd like to suggest this. This ancient story of betrayal, sin, torture, death and victory is way more than we often think...it is about God's deep desire for us to be in relationship with Him. God craves relationship with us. He knew our sin destroys relationship with Him...and each other. He knew we can't live sinless. Damaged relationships were a part of the imperfect human condition, God knew that. And it tore the very people God loves away from Him...bit by bit...sin by sin...slowly...selfishly. God's deep love for us is "why" He went to the extreme tactic of sending Jesus, knowing full well the death He awaited. He knew sin had to be dealt with for relationships to have an opportunity to be restored. The "Good News" is not that Jesus died for our sins...but that everyone has the opportunity to have relationship with God! It is available to all. God desires us so much that He actually took away any barrier that would keep us away from Him. The opportunity for relationship is available...if you want it. That's the Good News! That's what we often don't share...enough. That's what we often don't make clear...enough. That's what makes Easter such a great celebration. At ECHO we rejoice in the Good News, and simply want to proclaim God's crazy about you! Jesus said, "There is no greater love than this, that a man would lay his life down for another." Enough said! Enough done!
be God's!
Brian O
Lead Pastor dude, ECHO

Foolish Ways

The fool wonders, the wise man asks.
Benjamin Disraeli

The fool says in his heart, "There is no God."

Psalm 14:1

The best way to convince a fool that he is wrong

is to let him have his own way.
Josh Billings

The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge,

but fools despise wisdom and discipline.

Proverbs 1:7

A fool thinks himself to be wise,

but a wise man knows himself to be a fool.
William Shakespeare

But everyone who hears these words of mine

and does not put them into practice

is like a foolish man who built his house on sand.

Matthew 7:26

Any fool can criticize, condemn and complain and most fools do.
Benjamin Franklin

Fools talk way too much,
Chattering stuff they know nothing about.

Ecclesiastes 10:14

Any intelligent fool can make things bigger and more complex...

It takes a touch of genius -

and a lot of courage to move in the opposite direction.
Albert Einstein

Where is the wise man? Where is the scholar?

Where is the philosopher of this age?

Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

1 Corinthians 1:20

Showing off is the fool's idea of glory.
Bruce Lee

Extortion turns a wise man into a fool, and a bribe corrupts the heart.
Ecclesiastes 7:7

A fool and his money are soon elected.
Will Rogers

Answer a fool in simple terms
so he doesn't get a swelled head.

Proverbs 26:5

A fellow who is always declaring he's no fool

usually has his suspicions.
Wilson Mizner

Wise men store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.

Proverbs 10:14

The serpent, the king, the tiger, the stinging wasp, the small child, the dog owned by other people, and the fool:

these seven ought not to be awakened from sleep.
Chanakya

Fools have short fuses and explode all too quickly;
the prudent quietly shrug off insults.

Proverbs 12:16

Every man is a damn fool for at least five minutes every day;

wisdom consists in not exceeding the limit.
Elbert Hubbard

The way of a fool seems right to him, but a wise man listens to advice.

Proverbs 12:15

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep

to gain what he cannot lose.
Jim Elliot

Are you so foolish?

After beginning with the Spirit,

are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort?

Galatians 3:3

Any man is liable to err, only a fool persists in error.
Marcus Tullius Cicero

As a dog returns to its vomit, so a fool repeats his folly.

Proverbs 26:11

A fool's brain digests philosophy into folly,

science into superstition, and art into pedantry.

Hence University education.
George Bernard Shaw

Become wise by walking with the wise;
hang out with fools and watch your life fall to pieces.

Proverbs 13:20

A fool is wise in his eyes.
King Solomon

A poor youngster with some wisdom is better off than

an old but foolish king who doesn't know which end is up.

Ecclesiastes 4:13

A mother takes twenty years to make a man of her boy,

and another woman makes a fool of him in twenty minutes.
Robert Frost

The perceptive find wisdom in their own front yard;
fools look for it everywhere but right here.

Proverbs 17:24

Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish.
Euripides

What's this? Fools out shopping for wisdom!
They wouldn't recognize it if they saw it!

Proverbs 17:16

It is the peculiar quality of a fool to perceive the faults of others

and to forget his own.
Marcus Tullius Cicero

The fool sits back and takes it easy,
His sloth is slow suicide.

Ecclesiastes 4:5

I pity da fool.
Mr.T

be God's!

Brian O

Lead Pastor dude, ECHO