Colossians 1:27 (NIV) To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.
Greg Zanis is a carpenter from Aurora, Illinois, whose father-in-law taught him the trade. In the process the two became best friends. In 1996 Greg's father-in-law was robbed by two men and murdered. In an attempt to express his deep grief and personal sense of loss, Greg built an eight-foot wooden cross and planted it at the scene of the crime. From that act, his ministry "Crosses for Losses" was born. Greg began building eight-foot wooden crosses and erecting them at the scenes of fatal crimes or accidents. The crosses are made of natural wood, with the knotholes and wood grain showing. "The lumber looks like the type of cross that Jesus would have been crucified on, a rough cross," he said. He constructed the crosses standing in honor of the victims at Columbine High School. He has been receiving a lot of invitations to take the Columbine crosses to youth rallies and gatherings across the country. "Wherever I go, the crosses are reaching kids. They are crying and coming to the Lord. In some places, they come down by the hundreds to accept the Lord." Greg estimates he has made more than 3,000 crosses, personally delivering over 2,000, covering practically every state.
Peter Kennedy, Preaching Illustrations Vol 1., WORDsearch CROSS e-book, 16.
