ANOTHER 5 STAR REVIEW

russell tamicka
Aug 16, 2026

Interesting book! It’s a bold, unique look at history through a spiritual lens

When I first picked up Why The White Man Rules (An Apology) by Nathaniel Leonard Jackson Jr., I wasn't quite sure what I was getting into. The title definitely catches your attention, but it tackles a huge, heavy question: why have Western and European nations held so much global power and wealth throughout history? Instead of giving a standard history lesson or political breakdown, Jackson approaches everything from a completely biblical angle. He argues that Western dominance isn't an accident or a matter of racial superiority, but rather God fulfilling His ancient promises to the lost tribes of Israel. The book is split into eight chapters, and Jackson walks you through his thoughts step by step. Right away in Chapter 1, "The Unsettling Truth," he clears up a big detail: he’s using the word "apology" in the old-school literary sense, meaning a formal defence rather than actually apologising for anything. The middle of the book really digs into scripture. "Promises, Promises...", was the part that kept me reading. Jackson traces the birthright blessings from Abraham, down through Isaac and Jacob, and eventually to Joseph’s sons, Ephraim and Manasseh. He points to passages like Deuteronomy 33, which describes Joseph's descendants as a "fruitful bough" pushed out to the ends of the earth. Seeing how he connects those Old Testament lines about becoming a "great nation" and a "multitude of nations" to the rise of modern Western powers was definitely a perspective I hadn't come across before. Toward the end, in chapters like "Nothing but the Blood" and "The Two Camps," he shifts to the New Testament, looking at how Jesus's sacrifice ties into all of this and asking the reader to focus on spiritual faith rather than worldly drama. Even if you don't agree with every conclusion he draws, Jackson puts a lot of detail into his scripture study. It’s a bold, unique look at history through a spiritual lens that gives you plenty to think about after you put it down.

The Sin Paradox offers a fresh perspective, challenging the traditional narrative while engaging readers in an intriguing examination of theological history. It presents a unique opportunity to dissect, analyze, and contemplate the origins of humankind’s moral fabric.
In this compelling work, I delve into an unprecedented inquiry, treating the ancient tale as a criminal case—examining the motives, means, and elusive truth behind the guilt of Adam, Eve, and the Serpent. Their culpability is not in question; what remains shrouded in mystery is the specific act that transgressed the divine commands, birthing mankind’s first sin.
The repercussions of their actions reverberate throughout history, shaping humanity and all of creation; but what could two individuals with nothing, not even garments, have committed that would cascade into an epoch-defining transgression impacting the entirety of existence?

Now when Jesus was at Bethany in the house of Simon the leper, a woman came up to him with an alabaster flask of very expensive ointment, and she poured it on his head as he reclined at table. Matthew 26:6-7
Truly, I say to you , wherever this gospel is proclaimed in the whole world, what she has done will also be told in memory of her. Matthew 26:13.
For proper context Read Matthew 26: 6-13.
Brings me to two question. What am I doing with the anointing placed in me, and what are doing with yours?

IS FORNICATION A SIN?

Fornication isn't designed to destroy people. The desire for sexual intimacy is a real part of human nature, created by God and designed for a purpose. Sexual attraction is natural. Sexual desire is natural. The longing to be loved, wanted, touched, and intimately connected with another person is not, by itself, a strange or evil thing.

When a young man and a young woman fall in love, their attraction toward each other can feel powerful. They may genuinely care about each other. They may intend to marry someday. They may tell themselves that because they love each other, sleeping together is simply an expression of that love.

Sometimes they may even convince themselves that nothing is wrong because they are not hurting anyone, they are faithful to each other, and they have already promised themselves that they belong together.

You see how you now feel sympathy, understanding, and even justification for the two lovers?

You see how fornication now begins to look less like sin and more like love?

And the interesting thing is that many of the reasons people give are not completely false. The attraction is real. The feelings are real. The love may even be real. But something can feel real and still be outside the will of God.

This is where deception becomes dangerous.

One of the easiest ways to make sin acceptable is not to deny what God said, but to reframe the situation until disobedience begins to look reasonable.

Fornication can be presented as love.

Compromise can be presented as maturity.

Lust can be presented as affection.

Disobedience can be presented as personal freedom.

Temptation can be presented as something you deserve because you have been waiting for marriage for so long.

‍ My God, reframing is such a powerful tool. It can make sin feel like wisdom.

But the question is not simply whether you love the person.

The question is whether you are honouring God with that love.

The question is not whether the desire is natural.

The question is whether you are allowing that desire to rule you outside the boundaries God established for it.

God did not create sexual intimacy because He wanted to deprive you of pleasure. God created it with purpose, dignity, responsibility, and covenant. The problem is not that sex exists. The problem is taking something God designed for marriage and using it outside the covenant for which He designed it.

You must therefore be careful when your emotions begin to write your theology.

You can love someone and still need to say no.

You can be deeply attracted to someone and still walk away from the bed. ‍‍

You can intend to marry someone and still refuse to sleep with them before marriage.

You can be lonely without becoming sexually immoral.

You can be tempted without becoming a fornicator.

You can have sexual desires without allowing those desires to become your master.

The fact that you have a reason does not automatically make your decision right.

Everyone has a story that explains why they did what they did. But as a Christian, your standard cannot be your feelings, your circumstances, your friends, your relationship, or the way society defines normal.

Your standard is the Word of God.

Do not allow someone to manipulate you with the language of love when what they are asking you to do is disobedience.

Do not let anyone tell you that if you truly love them, you must prove it sexually.

Real love does not demand that you sin to prove your commitment.

Real love can wait.

Real love can respect boundaries.

Real love can honour God.

Real love can say, We will not destroy our future because of what we feel today.

Always be on your guard.

Fornication does not always arrive looking dirty and dangerous. Sometimes it arrives looking like romance. Sometimes it arrives through loneliness. Sometimes through emotional attachment. Sometimes through a person you genuinely love.

That is why you need more than feelings.

You need conviction.

You need boundaries.

You need self control.

And above all, you need the fear of God.

Do not allow your emotions to become the lawyer defending what your conscience already knows is wrong.

Choose obedience, even when disobedience feels easier.

Choose holiness, even when temptation feels powerful.

Choose God's purpose over temporary pleasure.

BE INTENTIONAL.

Anthony Ijere (Author & Revivalist)

Get books/novels
https://t.me/anthonyijere

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THE FIRE OF ELIJAH IS RETURNING: ARE YOU READY TO BE CLEANSED OR CONSUMED?

We often forget that the Church will not prepare herself alone for the encounter with the Lamb. Just as the eunuch in the desert needed Philip to guide him (Acts 8:31), we also need the prophetic guides that God has established for the end times!
In our days, the Lord will raise up His Two Olive Trees — the ministry in the spirit of Elijah and Moses. They come with a clear mission: to straighten the paths, restore the truth, and present the Bride perfectly cleansed to Jesus Christ.
But beware: the ministry of Elijah also brings the fire of confrontation and judgment against sin. Those who refuse to repent, those who practice witchcraft, idolatry, lies, and live in spiritual falsehood will be severely confronted, just as Elijah did in the past with the prophets of Baal! There will be no room for half-truths. The prophetic ministry will shut the heavens and bring the weight of God's justice upon rebellion.
Look at what the Word of God reveals to us about this time of separation:
Revelation 11:3-6 — "And I will give power to my two witnesses... These are the two olive trees... And if anyone wants to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies..."

Malachi 4:5 — "Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord."
Revelation 22:15 — "But outside are dogs and sorcerers and sexually immoral and murderers and idolaters, and whoever loves and practices a lie."

Do not fall asleep spiritually and do not play with sin. God is raising up His messengers to cleanse His house. It is time for deep repentance, to abandon the practices and witchcraft of this world, and to let ourselves be guided by the truth for the Marriage Supper of the Lamb.
In the face of the approaching fire, what will your choice be? To be cleansed by repentance or consumed by judgment?
Share this warning message with someone who needs to wake up today!

#Revelation #TheTwoOliveTrees #ElijahAndMoses #JudgmentAndAwakening #Repentance #JesusIsComingBack

You’re Always on His Mind

Psalms 115:12 YHWH hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.

No one cares about your life more than YHWH does. In fact, he cares about your life more than you do.

There’s an old Willie Nelson song, “You Were Always on My Mind.” But the idea behind that song just isn’t true. No matter how much you love someone, they can’t be on your mind all the time.

But I want to tell you this: You are always on YHWH’s mind. He is never not thinking about you. He’s thinking about you right now.

The Scriptures teach this over and over.

Psalms 115:12 YHWH hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron. And 1 Peter 5:7 says…

1 Peter 5:7 Casting all your care upon him; for he careth for you.

Whatever concerns you concerns YHWH - all the things you’re worried about or afraid about. There is nothing in your life you’re concerned about that YHWH isn’t concerned about, because you are always on his mind.

Because you’re always on YHWH’s mind, he’s always looking out for you. And that means you can always trust his plan for your life.

Before Messiah was born, Mary accepted YHWH’s destiny for her life because she knew YHWH was always looking out for her. After the angel told her that YHWH had chosen her as the mother of his Son, she said the following…

Luke 1:48 For he hath regarded the low estate of his handmaiden: for, behold, from henceforth all generations shall call me blessed.

What does “mindful” mean? That means YHWH is alert. He’s attentive. He’s aware. He’s focused. He’s paying attention. When nobody else is paying attention to you, YHWH’s paying attention to you. He notices everything. In fact, Messiah said this about your life…

Matthew 10:29-30 Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered.

I like the cross reference for that scripture…

Luke 12:6-7 Are not five sparrows sold for two farthings, and not one of them is forgotten before YHWH? But even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not therefore: ye are of more value than many sparrows.

You don’t know the number of hairs on your head—but YHWH does. That’s how much attention he pays to your life!

YHWH’s mindfulness—his attention, his concern—made Mary trust YHWH with her destiny. Will you trust him with your destiny too?

He cared for the disciples when the where in the boat and it was about to sink…

Mark 4:38-39 And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Rabbi, carest thou not that we perish? And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.

Psalms 8:4 What is man, that thou art mindful of him? and the son of man, that thou visitest him?

Job 7:17 What is man, that thou shouldest magnify him? and that thou shouldest set thine heart upon him?

Psalms 144:3 YHWH, what is man, that thou takest knowledge of him! or the son of man, that thou makest account of him!

Psalms 115:12 YHWH hath been mindful of us: he will bless us; he will bless the house of Israel; he will bless the house of Aaron.

Psalms 40:17 But I am poor and needy; yet YHWH thinketh upon me: thou art my help and my deliverer; make no tarrying, O my Elohim.

Psalms 31:7-8 (7) I will be glad and rejoice in thy mercy: for thou hast considered my trouble; thou hast known my soul in adversities; (8) And hast not shut me up into the hand of the enemy: thou hast set my feet in a large room.

Think about this…

Psalms 139:7-16 (7) Whither shall I go from thy spirit? or whither shall I flee from thy presence? (8) If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there. (9) If I take the wings of the morning, and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea; (10) Even there shall thy hand lead me, and thy right hand shall hold me. (11) If I say, Surely the darkness shall cover me; even the night shall be light about me. (12) Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee. (13) For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. (14) I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. (15) My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. (16) Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.

It is a common plover (a type of bird ) about the size of a robin. It is easily recognized by its wailing noise and two black breast bands. They are usually found in the United States and Central America. They are called Killdeer because of the wailing noise they make that actually sounds like "kill-deer". The most interesting thing about this bird however is that,it is a master of distraction. When it lays eggs or has chicks and you go near the nest, it jumps away from the nest and pretends to have a broken wing 🪽. When you think it is vulnerable and decide to go after it, it will move a little further on. It will continue to do that until you are far away from the nest. The Killdeer will then suddenly have a healthy wing 🪽 and will fly away. Interestingly, that is how the enemy behaves. Anytime you go close to what God has for you,he finds a way to distract you. Suddenly, everything looks like it is going against you. Friends and family turn against you and finances are not forthcoming. The proverbial "all hell breaking loose". Successful people however know that this is rather an indication of being close to the breakthrough. It shows something good is about to happen for you. So when distraction comes, it is time to dig in your heels,stand firm and push 🫸 on. When Tobiah and Sanballat tried to distract Nehemiah he said "I am doing a great work and I cannot come down "(Nehemiah 6:3). Don't allow anyone or anything to distract you from your purpose. Have a lovely day .

Good morning to everyone. Grace and Peace be with you.

It is early this morning. My eyes are barely open. However, that usually makes for a very entertaining post with the wrong word choices, punctuation, and overall topic.

Have you ever gotten an idea in your head that you could accomplish something in a certain way or amount of time and were determined to prove it could happen? You knew that all you had to do was stay focused, keep pressing on, and not allow a little thing like… oh, let’s say… nightfall stop you. That was me yesterday. The gent that I borrowed the mower from to mow my yard brought it back yesterday and I jumped on the opportunity to get the rental yard done and part of mine. In my mind, after I returned home from the rental, I had enough time to mow the back-back yard. Oh, let me tell you, I was really cooking too. I was getting her done. UNTIL. Yep, the sun was going down faster than I could push that mower. Yet, me … being me … said to myself, “Self, you can still see the last set of tire tracks for the return run … keep going.” I did this until I could barely see to get back to the house. Haha. Final verdict: NO, I did not finish that part of the yard, but I did get 98 percent of it done. The 2 percent that is still there, uncut … in the covering of trees and there was absolutely no light.

As I am racing the sinking sun ball, I am thinking to myself two thoughts … 1. You should have known it was too late to get this done, and 2. I am going to get it and show everyone it was possible. Bouncing through the rough patches of the yard, moving as quickly and safely as possible, and still making the yard look good. I was determined. The closer I got to the finish line, the more excited I got that I would actually accomplish this particular task. I even mowed some of the tree-capped lane out of sequence because I knew it would be difficult to see. Hindsight, I should have done both sections of the tree-capped area; however, I did not. Thus, there is a small tree-capped area I need to finish today.

When I finally gave up and put the mower away, I was actually excited to tell my little story of ‘how close’ I came. Then listen to everyone’s bets on whether I would keep going after the moon was fully in bloom in the sky. It made for a great story and giggle fest.

Have you ever been in a situation when, though the time frame in which you really have to get something done is not as long as you thought, but you are determined to complete the task in that allotted time anyway? Did you make it and celebrate or did you fall a little short? If you fell short, how did you defeat? Myself, I made fun of the race I had with the sun and moon and created a fun story and memory.

When we fall short of a goal, whether it's realistically capable or sketchy at best, how we handle the end result is the true prize. If success is in the air, do we boast to the point of arrogance, or do we boast to the satisfaction of a job well done? But if it is not success, do we sulk and find excuses or problems that were clouding the path to success … or … do we see the accomplishment and celebrate what we did accomplish? The result in our hearts is completely our choice.

I did not look at the clock last night, when I returned from the rental property. If I had, I may have thought against the attempt to mow in the back part of the property. Why? I know how long it takes; I know when the sun is going to disappear, and I know the odds. However, I rolled the dice on a beautiful night’s temperature and chose to swing for the fences. The result: a nearly complete mowed back portion with only 5-10 minutes left.

Today, as you go about your daily routines, think about how you are looking at your to-do list. Is it overwhelming or is it just a staircase that you will succeed at one step at a time … until you reach the top landing? When your day comes to an end today, how will you look at your to-do list? Was it a grand slam and everything got accomplished? Was it a triple down the first base line in the corner and nearly everything got accomplished? Was it a triple down the left-field line, nearly everything got accomplished, but it was a close play at the bag? Was it a bunt for a single or a sacrifice? In any one of these scenarios, you choose how you view the outcome. I suggest you view them all as victories and keep the overwhelming Light of Love in full view of your day.

Be blessed.

**Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

Dear Father,

I love the teaching style of Jesus, particularly because He used parables to make illustrations, and from these parables, so much can be deduced. Today, I pondered the Parable of the Talents, which says: “The kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his servants and entrusted his goods unto them. He gave one five talents, another two, and another one. The one with five talents traded and gained five more talents, and he that had received two also gained two more. The last one did nothing with what he was given…”

However, between the periods of receiving the talents and the reward lies a season of struggle. Such great conversions are not instantaneous; if they were, they would all have brought back returns. And perhaps the five talents measured as returns for the five given were not a literal representation of how his harvest was without losses. Perhaps, in the process of conversion, he gained some harvests and some lessons. And perhaps both the lessons and the fruits are counted as gains in this kingdom.

In seamlessly telling the story, He had no intention of bypassing the struggle; He left us to discern the various ways in which it applies: that both the fruits and the lessons are counted as gains in this kingdom, so long as we proceed-- not to bury what has been entrusted to us, but to put it to use.

I’d like to write You about the struggles and the lessons I’ve encountered, and how all people see are the fruits. But do I need to? When most of all, You see how in the midst of all these, I’ve grown.

Translations;
Slide 1: English
Slide 2: French
Slide 3: Bengali
Slide 4: Hindi
Slide 5: Urdu

#LettertoGod
#stewardship
#purpose
#gifts
#talents

# Psalms were the original spoken word
That's exactly right, and it's why they still hit so hard on a phone screen today.

Psalms were never meant to be quietly read. They were lyrics, prayers, protest songs performed out loud. Ancient Hebrew culture didn't have books everywhere, so poetry was memory technology. Over a third of the Old Testament is poetry for that reason — Job, Proverbs, Psalms, most of the prophets.

And Hebrew poetry doesn't work like English poetry. It doesn't rhyme. It uses parallelism, where the second line echoes, contrasts, or expands the first.

Like "The heavens declare the glory of God; the skies proclaim the work of his hands." That's synonymous parallelism — same idea, said twice, bigger the second time.

You get antithetic too — "The wicked borrow and do not repay, but the righteous give generously." Or synthetic, where the second line completes the first.

That A-then-B expansion is literally what modern faith spoken word does. When someone says "from storms to raindrops" or "from scarlet sins to snow-white grace" — that's straight out of Isaiah 1:18 and Psalm structure. Terseness, vivid image, repetition. C.S. Lewis nailed it when he said the Psalms must be read as poems, as lyrics, with emotional rather than logical connections.

It's also why they work on Reels. Psalm 25:4 is three Hebrew words then two. No intro, no fluff. Psalms were sung with just a voice, no production — same as a one-take spoken word video today.