{"id":2157,"date":"2018-12-05T12:41:30","date_gmt":"2018-12-05T17:41:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/hedgerow\/?p=2157"},"modified":"2020-01-16T09:33:34","modified_gmt":"2020-01-16T14:33:34","slug":"wooden-cross-of-our-savior-lutheran-church-remained-untouched-amidst-blazing-california-fires","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/hedgerow\/2018\/12\/wooden-cross-of-our-savior-lutheran-church-remained-untouched-amidst-blazing-california-fires\/","title":{"rendered":"Wooden cross of Our Savior Lutheran Church remained untouched amidst blazing California fires"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

Roughly 95 percent of the northern California community located 90 miles north of Sacramento was burned to the ground by the raging Camp Fire in Paradise, California. Amidst the inferno and destruction a wooden cross remained untouched.\u00a0Pastor Brandon Merrick of\u00a0Our Savior Lutheran Church posted a picture of the cross on Facebook showing the cross still standing while the fires burned.<\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/brandon.merrick.77\/posts\/10218264566070734<\/p>\n

\u201cI hate this picture.\u00a0However, I also love this picture,\u201d\u00a0Merrick wrote on\u00a0Facebook<\/a>. \u201cOver the past 48 hours I have seen both the worst this world has to offer and best things found in this world. I have been scared for my life and lifted to a place only God can reach.\u201d<\/p>\n

He wrote:<\/p>\n

\u201cFor me, this picture is not just a heartbreaking reminder of what can happen to the things and people of this world, this is our one true hope in the midst of tragedy that cannot be destroyed by anything.<\/p>\n

\u201cGod is with us. God is holding you right now as you read this note and He wants nothing more than for you to see Him through the cross where He draws us to the only place His mercy and forgiveness are found. In this picture I understand how in the cross we see both the ultimate consequence of our sin in death and the new life we have with Jesus.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

In an interview with\u00a0Fox News<\/a>\u00a0, Merrick said, \u201cI told our church I really hope that that picture can be used as the picture for the fire, because, as the church, everything that man builds with our hands is perishable, but what God does for us through the cross is imperishable and cannot be taken away or burned up.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Roughly 95 percent of the northern California community located 90 miles north of Sacramento was burned to the ground by the raging Camp Fire in Paradise, California. Amidst the inferno and destruction a wooden cross remained untouched.\u00a0Pastor Brandon Merrick of\u00a0Our Savior Lutheran Church posted a picture of the cross on Facebook showing the cross still […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1910,"featured_media":2169,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[972],"tags":[1662,1668,1665,1671],"class_list":["post-2157","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-christianity","tag-brandon-merrick","tag-camp-fire","tag-our-savior-lutheran-church","tag-wooden-cross"],"yoast_head":"\nWooden cross of Our Savior Lutheran Church remained untouched amidst blazing California fires<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Roughly 95 percent of the northern California community located 90 miles north of Sacramento was burned to the ground by the raging Camp Fire in Paradise,\" \/>\n<meta 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