1. God’s Cedar Cross Ministry
Mission Statement
This is a Holy Spirit-led “show and tell” ministry spreading The Good News of salvation through
Jesus Christ, Messiah, King of kings & Lord of lords, and The Holy Living Word. God’s Cross,
containing the entire Book of Revelation, stands as a testimonial and is a visual tool used to
graphically depict how God can raise-up anyone and tap their hidden talents to help reach the lost
and encourage the saved via The Father, The Son, & The Holy Spirit. This ministry is considered an
extended-arm of the church. Ephesians 4 calls us to ONE body of which Christ is The Head;
therefore, denominational gaps are to be bridged via The Holy Blood of Jesus. I never ask to take
God’s Cross anywhere. I humbly, fearfully, & obediently share its existence, and when
asked, I go wherever God leads to give a Spirit-filled message, because the risen Jesus,
Messiah, said, “. . .go, . . .teach all nations, . . .baptize in The Name of The Father, The
Son, & The Holy Spirit, . . . for I AM with you always.” Matthew 28: 19 - 20
Contact Joe Brazil @ 662-524-0777 humblefearobey@gmail.com
Hebrews 13: 20 - 21 De Colores!
Note: While fees are not requested for services / presentations, prayerfully considered love-offerings are frequently
given and certainly help offset expenses. This is strictly between The Lord, the body, and of course, the body’s
leadership. I praise Adonai Jira, God our Provider, for the opportunity to serve in this capacity. Matthew 7: 7-8
Address to: God’s Cedar Cross Ministry, PO Box 75, West Point, MS 39773

2. God’s Cedar Cross: FACTS
1. At the top is the "fish" symbol used to depict "fishers of men" as spoken by Jesus (Matthew 4:19). Remember, this symbol was used as a means of silent communication by
Christians in the days of the first church. Believers at this time were persecuted, even to death. The Greek acrostic "IXOYE" (within the fish symbol) means, Jesus Christ, God's
Son, Savior. These letters together spell the word "fish" in Greek.
2. At the ends of the crossbar are large, Greek Alpha and Omega letters, representing our Lord, the first and the last, the beginning and the end (Revelation 1, 21 and 22)".
The Alpha is on the right hand side, just as our Lord sits on the right hand of God (Colossians 3:1).
3. There are three spike holes on His Cross representing the horrible, tremendous suffering of the Sacrificial Lamb. Jesus was beaten and scourged (using a whip with bits of
metal tied to it) almost beyond recognition before He was forced to carry His own crossbar to Golgotha. There He was nailed to the tree. I wept while making the holes. Imagine
the poor, wretched, misguided, callous soul who could possibly wield a hammer and drive spikes into anyone's flesh to hang them on a tree (Matthew 27, Mark 15, Luke 23, John 19).
4. At the bottom is a descending dove representing the Holy Ghost or Holy Spirit (in bodily form) descending on Jesus upon His baptism (Luke 3:21-22). This dove is outlined
and can appear to be "flaming". In Luke 3:16 John the Baptist says Jesus comes to baptize us in the Holy Spirit and with fire.
5. "MARANATHA" IS IN LARGE LETTERS BELOW THE DOVE AND IT MEANS "Our Lord, come!" found in 1 Corinthians 16:22. This literal translation is used by many
denominations to proclaim Christ's Second Coming.
6. At the very bottom is Hebrews 13: 20-21 which says, "May the God of Peace, who through the blood of the eternal covenant brought back from the dead our Lord
Jesus, that great Shepard of the sheep, equip you with everything good for doing His will, and may He work in us what is pleasing to Him, through Jesus Christ, to whom
be glory forever and ever, Amen. Next to the scripture reference I wrote "For His Glory", and signed my name. I prayed fervently about putting my name, a sinner
saved by the blood of Jesus, on His work. God gave me peace about this, as He wants people to know they are all His instruments when they allow the Holy Spirit to
work in their lives.
7. More facts: The entire Book of Revelation (NIV) is wood-burned on His Cross (11,484 words). The backside of His Cross is unfinished wood. It's ugly, but the
front is beautiful. This contrast parallels the dichotomy and mystery of our salvation through Christ. The backside, the old covenant: the whole idea of "crucifixion" and
immeasurable suffering Jesus experienced as a man far exceeds "ugly, but was proper and fitting for the sins of the world. The front side, the new covenant: yet the
beauty of God's ultimate sacrifice as prophesied was:
a. God sending His Son born of a virgin
b. God's covenant by the blood of the Sacrificial lamb for everlasting life
c. His Son's return
d. Satan's defeat
I know that I know that God has something very special planned for His Cedar Cross, perhaps now, perhaps lifetimes and generations away, prior to The Messiah’s return.
Praise and thanks be to God! O give to us the victory over death, the grave and sin through our Lord Jesus Christ! (1 Corinthians 15:55-57)
Joe Brazil humblefearobey@gmail.com 662-524-0777 PO Box 75, West Point, MS 39773

3. GOD'S CEDAR CROSS (G'sCC)
THE STORY
In May of 1991, God's Cedar Cross was completed. It's "one of a kind" as it has the entire Book of Revelation, all 22
chapters, all 11,484 words (NIV), wood-burned on it.
When did it begin, this treasure I can scarcely believe God made me his instrument to create?
Was it 1984 in Taegu, South Korea when I visited a leprosarium and witnessed an old, blind, white-haired woman, with no
fingers or toes laughing aloud and praising the Lord? Was it visiting the Taegu, Love and Hope Orphanage for handicapped
children where a two-year-old child (hardly larger than a new infant) with "water on the brain" would grasp and squeeze my
finger? These visits were significant emotional events I would only later realize help shape my character and attitude, but only
after I grew enough in the Lord to accept them.
Only God can say what leads us to the roads we take and the ideas we have, but our past from birth becomes a whole; thus
influencing who we are and how we act and react.
In 1985 we had just moved to Omaha, Nebraska after four and one half years overseas. We took our family to Mississippi to
visit grandparents who lived in the country. My mother kept urging me to haul some odds and ends back to Omaha on a rusty old
trailer setting in a pasture. It was while I was going to get the trailer that the pile of old cedar logs near the barn caught my
attention. I found myself examining the logs, thinking I could make something out of one, even though I had no particular
woodworking skills, much less any carpentry tools. I must have spent at least an hour selecting one log from the pile.
We hauled the log back to Omaha, but it stayed on the trailer for nearly two years while I contemplated my goal. After
deciding on an outdoor bench, I cut the log in half lengthwise with a chainsaw. Countless hours were spent sanding the ragged
surfaces. It was during this process that other possibilities were racing through my mind.
At Overland Hills Church, Papillion, Nebraska, I attended a “School of Christian Living” in 1986. Pastor Carl Spence had us
read Elizabeth O'Connor's, Eighth Day of Creation. This book and Dietrich Bonhoeffer's Cost of Discipleship, helped awaken
within me, a long-dormant creativeness.
My carpentry expertise was practically nil, so I felt quite unworthy of creating a cross, since I knew in my heart, God had a
specific purpose for it. Anyway, (I rationalized) I could always make something else if I botched the job.
God taught me much about patience and better understanding myself during this trial. Making the cross yielded many
burdens, as well as blessings. I fussed and fumed about the tedious job of sanding and preparing the surfaces. I kept seeking
advice and buying more equipment and supplies.

4. One day while working on the cross, the idea sprang up to write on it. I was jubilant! How would I do it? Wood burning! But it
had been 25 years since I wood burned cork patterns with a beginner's kit. Writing small had always been easy for me and
initially I thought I could fit the entire four Gospels on it. Frustration soon overcame excitement as I realized the obstacles
involved with such an undertaking. Countless hours of work preparing the wood were required before I could write the first
words. It required much prayer and calculation to finally realize the entire Book of Revelation was to be wood burned on God's
Cross; not "my" cross or "the " cross, but "His" Cross. Yes, God's Cedar Cross.
As we approached our third year at Omaha, I knew the Air Force would soon require us to move. I wanted to finish His Cross
prior to the move, but it became apparent this project was bigger than I had dreamed. If I had realized the enormity of the
work required from the beginning, I probably would have made something else. So, September 1989, we moved to Tucson,
Arizona. Another year passed before I started working on the Cross again.
During 1990, we moved (again) from town to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base housing. I had an unexpected job change, our
daughter left home prematurely, and family relations were strained. Sometimes, it seems the only relief was working on His
Cross. But these obstacles were nothing compared to what happened in February 1991.
Our son, Joshua, was accidentally shot in the upper right leg by another child who was playing with a shotgun. Josh almost
bled to death, but God was watching over him and he fully recovered after much suffering. Each time I gazed on God's half-
finished Cross in the carport, I knew He had intervened. Josh required constant care for a while and after he stabilized, a
painful skin graft was accomplished. Oddly enough, all the writing on God's Cross was done over a three-month period (Joshua's
primary healing time) and it was finished May 1991, just before we had to move to Japan.
People who saw God's Cedar Cross for the first time while it was under construction always asked what I was going to do with
it. I had no idea. That was the least of my concerns. I turned that problem over to God. I figured since He got me started, He
should easily find a home for it.
I ran a simple ad in one of the prominent Tucson newspapers. I had one response from a small church that wanted to put His
Cross in an isolated mission on a hill, and it would have been partially exposed to the elements. The pastor only called me once and
was willing to take it "sight unseen". I prayed about it, but this location didn't seem right.
The Davis-Monthan Air Force Base Chapel took it, but later on, when they couldn't fit it into their renovation plans, they
started looking for another home. Folks from the Vista Bible Church, Rock Springs, Wyoming, visited Chaplain Lee Walters as a
prospective pastor, saw God's Cedar Cross, and a need was filled. Two years later, Pastor Walters was called to Calvary
Community Church, Lancaster, Wisconsin, and took God's Cross with him. But their church was too small to accommodate it.
Our family moved from Japan to Edmond, Oklahoma in 1993. I stayed in touch with Pastor Walters and knew God wanted me
to find a new home for His Cross, although I had no idea where that would be. Then in 1995, God called me to His Cedar Cross
ministry. He stirred my heart with a message and I knew I would deliver it with His Cross, wherever God directed. God's Cedar
Cross came to our home in Edmond in December 1995.

5. You see, I never created His Cross to be artwork, to be involved in a ministry, or “to be” anything else. I just created God’s
Cross at His urging. I surrendered it upon completion, and The Lord brought it back to me. His Cross ministry has been
presented in ten different states: Arizona, Wyoming, Wisconsin, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Missouri, Iowa, Mississippi, Alabama
& Virginia.
So, God can use you too in ways you never expected. Trust in Him, come low, abide in Him, and simply ask Him to show
you what HE wants you to do, to say, or how to serve.
Even I am amazed at His Cross' beauty and sometimes it almost seems as though someone else crafted it. I think of
King Solomon building the Temple for the Ark of the Lord's Covenant, his Palace of the Forest of Lebanon, and his Hall of
Justice made with vast quantities of cedar from the Forest of Lebanon (see 1 Kings 5.6. and 7). All this pales in comparison (2
Corinthians 3:3-11) to what God's Cedar Cross symbolizes: the birth, life, death, and resurrection of our Lord Jesus, His
second coming, eternal life and everlasting defeat of Satan.
God urges me to be His instrument. He showed me talents I wasn't even aware of and somehow encouraged me when
my confidence dwindled. Now He is using His Cross with a message to minister to others.
If just one person reading this might discover or pursue some small portion of their creativity or talents to glorify
God and serve others, regardless how unusual they may seem, then my purpose in writing this is fulfilled
I share God’s Cedar Cross with many people, but I never ask to take it anywhere. That must be prayerfully
considered. When asked, I go. There is no fee, however; should a “love offering” be presented, I’ll accept it for God’s
Cedar Cross Ministry expenses.
Should The Lord move you to contribute toward HIS ministry, please send to the address below.
Thank you! Jude 24, 25
Joe Brazil humblefearobey@gmail.com 662-524-0777
God’s Cedar Cross Ministry
PO Box 75
West Point, MS 39773