Cairn-age: The god of this age

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers, so that they cannot see the light of the gospel that displays the glory of Christ, who is the image of God.”
— 2 Corinthians 4:4

What is the god of this age?

From generation to generation the god of this age has morphed from one thing to another. It sidetracks humanity from pursuing Christ by offering a poor substitute with the emotional appeal of fulfillment. It blinds people and hides their true identity, which can only be found in Christ, by offering up a socially acceptable temporal identity in the world in which they live.

A cairn is a human-made pile of stones. They are traditionally raised as boundary markers, for memorial markers or (in more modern applications) markers for people trekking through the wilderness to guide the way.

Cairns are featured in the Bible several times. Most notable is the cairn erected by Joshua at the command of the Lord after the children of Israel crossed the Jordan. Joshua commanded the tribes to each gather a stone from the river bed God had stopped from flowing and set them up in Gilgal. Joshua 4:21-22 tells us why, “When your children ask their fathers in time to come, saying ‘What are these stones?’ Then you shall let your children know saying, ‘Israel crossed over this Jordan on dry land;…”

Today, cairns are appearing all over our National Parks much to the chagrin of the US National Park Service. Within the parks they are used to guide visitors along the trail. However, people are erecting unauthorized cairns. They are not being erected as memorials of a significant event, boundary markers or guide points for a trail. But as graffiti. They are efforts by visitors to make the statement, “I was here!”

The US National Park Service (USNPS) is warning people against this practice. It leads to “habitat destruction, soil erosion, and confusion for other hikers” who may rely on cairns for navigation. The USNPS is actively working to remove all unauthorized cairns to address the problem.

But what does this have to do with anything? Everything. Why are they being built? They are being built in a effort to establish a simple fact, “I was here.” They have been featured on social posts across platforms. It is an extension of the “selfie” world in which we live. They attempt to proclaim simply this spot matters because I was here.

The god of this age is self-promotion. We curate our image on social media and in life. We are addicted to “views”, “likes” and “comments". Our era has established personal experience as an idol of worship. I had a thought. I had this or that experience. I was here. I… I… I… and it is important because I was there.

We have greatly deviated from the usage of cairns in times past. Cairns that guided the way. Ones serving as memorials for God’s work on earth; crossing the Jordan, Jacob wrestling with God, alters to God, and many more. Cairns that established boundaries between the tribes of Israel. In other words, miraculous singular moments in history, or things that communicated a shared message for the benefit of all.

The question I am faced with today is simple. Are the cairns in my life (not literal, but figuratively) built to honor God and the work He is doing in my life? Or are they monuments to myself and my experiences?

It is vital we memorialize all that God has done. For those moments serve as guide posts to how He will work in our lives in the future. They serve as a witness to what is to come. As Hebrews 12:1-2 states, “Therefore we also, since we are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith,…”

Cairns become carnage (or cairn-age) when they point people to us instead of our Lord. May the memorials and markers we build and share guide people to Christ. He is the only ROCK worth worshiping in our lives. No others stack up. All others lead to destruction, erosion, and confusion.

The challenge for me today: what do people see when they look at the life I’ve stacked up? May it only point people to Christ! And if not, may it be knocked down and built again by Christ for His purpose.

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.

Help!

“Help, Lord”
— Psalm 12:1

“Hello darkness, my old friend.”

The first line of Simon and Garfunkel’s song The Sound of Silence (1964) is haunting and familiar. The song has become a staple of Americana. I believe it holds such sway because we can all relate to the emotional tug of loneliness, abandonment, isolation and darkness.

I know not of a person who hasn’t walked in the depths of darkness at some point in their life. Betrayed. Abused. Abandoned. Scorned. Left reeling in the depths of a cold abyss while surrounded by scores of people who only make the loneliness more profound. Shut out from participating in the warmth of humanity. Pushed aside due to depravity, carelessness, jealousy or neglect to the point of invisibility. Ostracized by pride, accomplishment, success, position and purpose. Darkness overwhelms by a sundry of means.

Yet, it always begins the same. It begins in our own minds, by our own consent.

As the song states, “Hello darkness, my old friend / I’ve come to talk with you again / Because a vision softly creeping / Left its seeds while I was sleeping / And the vision that was planted in my brain / Still remains / Within the sound of silence.”

There is no doubt the Evil One desires to draw us into darkness. He longs to cast a vision, plant a seed and watch it overwhelm us. It is in these moments our first and only response should be to cry out as the psalmist did, “Help, Lord!”

Help me know Your love! Help me see your will! Help me walk in You! Help, Lord!

However, “help” is an interesting word. The word itself doesn’t apply when you do nothing. You can only help those who are active in an effort. You can’t help someone who has no desire to change. There has to be an aspect of desire and effort towards a goal for someone to receive help.

Sure, we use the word “help” often in other ways. I’m going to go help the homeless, my kids, my co-worker, etc. But it is really only accurate when those other parties are active in the effort. If that is not the case, it is simply charity, a gift or wasted effort. Not help.

This is important to understand when we find ourselves in the depths of darkness. It begins with a deceptive thought (vision, seed) in our minds. While dwelling upon it, we nurture its growth to our own demise.

Help comes from the Lord. But help only comes when there is a desire to change. A openness to grow. A willingness to refocus our minds.

As Paul states in Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things.”

Darkness begins in the mind, but so does help!

God does not require you to begin solving the issues for Him to help! But you do have to be active in refocusing on Him. Looking to Him for your hope and resolve. He can only help those who are active in changing…and that change is from staring into the abyss of darkness to lifting our eyes to Lord! Then let your cry be heard. Help, Lord!

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.

I Can't Live!

“I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.”
— Galatians 2:20

It never ceases to amaze me, the many ways God speaks to us. A flower. A sunset. A quiet moment. A busy street. A grand accomplishment. A heart-wrenching tragedy. The warm embrace of true love and the loss of the same. A word from a friend. The kindness of a stranger. Children at play. Men at war. A painting. A book. A song. In every moment, the Lord is speaking to us. But are we listening?

I was driving down the road, flipping through the radio stations, when I heard an old familiar song. The song is “With or Without You” by U2. It is not a “Christian” song, and I have never understood the lyrics. I decided to listen carefully to the lyrics and try to figure out the song’s meaning once and for all. I listened and I thought. Listened and thought. And when my thinker was tired, I knew two things: I had no idea what the song meant, but I knew the message that God was sharing with me.

The lyrics state: “And you give yourself away / With or without you / With or without you / I can’t live / With or without you.”

Those words captured me. I quickly grasped the first of the message – “And you give yourself away.” “For God so loved the world that he gave His one and only Son…” (John 3:16, NIV) I just as readily grasped the end of the message – “I can’t live . . . without you." ". . . at that time you were without Christ . . . having no hope without God in the world.” Ephesians 2:12)

It was that middle part that had me stumped. I knew God was sharing a message with me. I readily accepted the fact that He gave Himself for me, and I cannot truly live without Christ. Which means I would have to live with Him, right? But the song God was using to share with me His message says, “I can’t live. . .WITH or without you.” As I pondered these thoughts, God began to share with me His truth. It was overwhelming.

God has not established partnership with us. He has not created a co-op. He has not asked us to come and live with Him. He has asked us to ABIDE. We are to find our life IN Him. We cannot co-exist with Him, because we have no life to add to the relationship. We cannot live WITH Him, we can only live IN Him.

The bible makes this clear in Galatians 2:20, “I have been crucified with Christ, it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me.” In Romans 12:1, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice.” And again in Philippians 1:21, “for to me, to live is Christ.”

How contrary that is to our modern way of thinking. We run around with bumper stickers that read, “God is my co-pilot.” Bracelets that ask, “What would Jesus do?” Both reduce Christ to the role of acting advisor and deny the reality of His life in us. Both are saying, “I am willing to consult with God before I act.” Yet, the real question is, “Am I willing submit and allow Christ to live through me in this moment?”

Beauty is truly in the eye of the beholder. What does U2’s song mean? I don’t know and don’t really care. In the moment I heard the song, the Lord had a message for me. He was sharing with me that He gave Himself for me, because I could not live without Him, and I cannot live with Him. I can only live IN Him. True life is His life pouring through me.

It was a timely message for me. How about you? Are you trying to “live with Christ”? Or are you resting IN Him? Are you allowing His life to pour through you?

“Now may the God of peace. . . make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight.” (Hebrews 13:20-21)

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.

Let Your Freak Flag Fly

“You shall not follow a crowd to do evil;…” — Exodus 23:2

I’m simple guy that can be inspired by the simplest of things. Sitting in a restaurant, the waitress put a drink coaster in front of me with this quote on it: “Remember, you are unique, just like everyone else!” I laughed and then mentally dove headfirst down the following rabbit hole.

You are unique just like everyone else. Do you realize you are the only you? There has never been another you before you. There will never be another you after you. You are the only you that will ever exist on this earth! The greatest advantage you have to impact this world is in the fact that you are YOU! A truly unique individual.

What a tragedy most of us spend our entire lives trying to be like other people. To follow the crowd. To fit in. To suppress the one thing we were created to share…our uniqueness.

Let’s say you admired me and (God forbid) wanted to be just like me. You read what I read. Learn to speak and talk like me. Learn to do things the way I do them. You become a perfect mimic of me. Do you know what is the best you could hope for? It is to be a second-rate me! Because I’m the only one that can be me.

However, the greatest tragedy of that scenario is the entire world would miss out on YOU… a unique expression of humanity it will never again see in anyone else. As you will see, that is truly evil.

The term “freak flag” reportedly originated from song lyrics for “If 6 was 9” (1967) by Jimi Hendrix. It has since been popularized by numerous artists, films and cultural references. It is a statement meant to encourage the unsuppressed exhibition of your unique, eccentric, creative, adventurous and unconventional personage. My favorite utilization of the concept is from DC Talk’s [see note below] song “Jesus Freak” (1995) which says, “What will people think when they hear that I’m a Jesus freak? What will people do when they find that it’s true? I don’t really care if they label me a Jesus freak, There ain’t no disguisin’ the truth.”

The Bible is clear, when you become a Christian, you are a participant of the divine nature (2 Peter 1:3-4). We have the Holy Spirit within us. We abide in Christ and He in us. We have the living Lord who desires to live through us. As Hebrews 13:20-21 says, God will… “make you complete in every good work to do His will, working in you what is well pleasing in His sight, through Jesus Christ…”. Jesus said in John 14:5, “I am the vine, you are the branches. He who abides in Me, and I in him, bears much fruit; for without me you can do nothing.”

Do you realize what this is saying? You are a unique creation that the world will never again see in anyone else. You have the living Lord who desires to live through you in your uniqueness. In other words, you were created to be a unique expression of Christ in this world that it will never again see in anyone else!

Let your freak flag fly…HIGH! Be who you were created to be in Christ. Don’t follow the crowd. Don’t emulate others. Be the unique expression of Christ you were created to be! Anything else is evil.

I see the challenge before me today. I am challenged to seek the Lord and who He created me to be. I am challenged to trust Him to live through me today. I am challenged to be a unique expression of Him in this world! I am challenged to let my freak flag fly. Because, “I don’t really care if they label me a Jesus freak, there ain’t no disguisin’ the truth.”

—————

NOTE: I honestly struggled over whether or not to utilize the lyrics from DC Talk’s “Jesus Freak” due to the controversy surrounding member(s) of the band recently. I will not comment on the controversy in any way. Honestly, I don’t know enough about any of it to have an opinion. I just know the lyrics of this song spoke to me at a time in my life when people thought I was crazy for raising a family with very little income and ministering in some very dangerous places. I related to and found comfort in the concept of a Jesus freak. And no man’s actions can change how God spoke to me through those lyrics at that time. I included the quote because God included it in my life and spoke to me through it. If a man says, “God is love”, and then succumbs to a life of sin, it does not change that GOD IS LOVE. And no other man’s actions can change the fact that I’m truly weird, eccentric, strange and a Jesus freak!

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.

Follow Your _________!

“Jesus said to him, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.’” — Matthew 22:37

Fill in the blank: Follow your _________!

For many, the answer would naturally be your heart. We live in a world that encourages us to follow our hearts. Be true to yourself. Trust your gut. Do what you feel you should do.

Let me ask you, how’s that working out for you? It has never worked very well for me. In fact, that logic is what has placed me in some of the worst circumstances of my life.

The heart of a person is their core. It encompasses their emotions, perspectives, thinking patterns and will. It is who we are in and of ourselves. Do you see the problem?

Jeremiah 17:9 tells us, “The heart is deceitful above all things. / And desperately wicked; / Who can know it?”

The problem is man’s heart is shaped by the world in which we live. Morals change. Ethics change. What was acceptable fifty years ago is repulsive now. And what was repulsive is now accepted. We, whether we admit it or not, are shaped by the world in which we live to some degree. Some less, some more, but all are skewed.

Jesus never told us to follow our hearts!

In fact, He said the exact opposite. He told the Pharisee lawyer, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind. This is the first and great commandment.” (Matthew 22:37-38)

Think about it a minute. Don’t gloss over it because it is a familiar verse. What Jesus is saying is all encompassing. He is telling us to bring our hearts into subjection to Him. To put our souls into His hands. And to be renewed in the way we think.

Jesus’ simple call to all is, “Follow Me!”

Ezekiel 36:26-27 prophesied how our hearts and souls move from death (stone) to life, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

And Paul shows how the inward change is lived out, “I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service. And do not be confirmed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you my prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God.” (Romans 12:1-2)

In other words:

1. Don’t follow your heart! Follow your LORD!

2. Be born again in your soul and come alive to who He created you to be.

3. And be transformed in the way you live by renewing your mind.

We were never meant to live in and of ourselves. We were not created to follow our heart. Our hearts, souls and minds were created to be directed by our Savior.

Lord, I pray this day that you would show me the areas of my life where I am following my own heart. Give me the strength and courage to trust You to live through me; to lead my heart and soul and mind in those moments. Amen.

© 2025 Warren Martin. All rights Reserved.