Satan is sometimes called the accuser of the brethren (Rev. 12:10), but I’ve discovered he’s also an accuser of almighty God.

Satan will do anything he can to drive a wedge between you and your loving Creator. He points a finger at God when tragedy—or even just circumstances you don’t like—strikes. He suggests God doesn’t care about your problems. He blames God for not healing your sick loved one.

All of these accusations come as subtle suggestions—whispers to your soul that intend to make you bitter toward God because you feel disappointed, disillusioned or deceived. Nothing is ever God’s fault, but the devil can surely introduce doubt, ask a well-timed question or arrange circumstantial evidence to set God up.

Don’t fall for it. Satan is trying to get you to turn your back on the One who can help you through the disappointment, disillusionment and deception. And if you are holding a grudge against God, He is ready to deliver you from the gall of bitterness. He’s not mad at you, even though you’ve been mad at Him. Let’s take a look at some examples in Scripture of how the devil accuses God.

God Does Not Lie

“Now the serpent was more cunning than any beast of the field which the Lord God had made. And he said to the woman, ‘Has God indeed said, ‘You shall not eat of every tree of the garden’?” (Gen. 3:1)

This accusation against God, slight as it is, ultimately led to the fall of man. You know the story. Eve told the serpent, “We may eat the fruit of the trees of the garden; but of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the garden, God has said, ‘You shall not eat it, nor shall you touch it, lest you die.’ 

 “Then the serpent said to the woman, “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil” (vv. 2-5).

The devil accused God of lying to Adam. We know that God is not a man that He should lie (Num. 23:19). More than that, the devil accused God of withholding something good to oppress His creation. When God arrived on the scene and asked Adam what he had done, Adam blamed Eve. Eve blamed the serpent. But it all started with the serpent accusing God. The rest is human history. Mankind has lived in corrupted, sinful flesh ever since—because Eve believed a lie about God.

Curse God and Die!

“Curse God and die!” That’s what Job’s wife told him when he was going through an especially painful trial that saw him lose just about everything he had: his children and his property. His wife, probably struck with grief and seemingly blaming God for not protecting the children, lashed out at Job and God in one sentence: “Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9).

Job didn’t fall for it: “He said to her, ‘You speak as one of the foolish women speaks. Shall we indeed accept good from God, and shall we not accept adversity?’” (v. 10). In all this, the Bible says, Job did not sin with his lips. That’s a noteworthy verse because one of the first things we do when bad things happen is sin with our lips. One of the next things we do is look for someone to blame. The devil is right there to accuse God.

Are You Angry With God?

Although God never does anything wrong and never needs forgiving, we can sometimes feel like God has betrayed our trust. We stood on His Word, believed with all our heart and still didn’t see good come to pass. That can leave us resentful, bitter and unforgiving.

So what are you supposed to do? Well, what would you do if you were mad at your spouse or a family member? Hopefully you’ll get it out in the open. I’ve shaken my fist at God once and been furiously angry with Him at least one other time. I can tell you this: He would much prefer you talk to Him about it than shut Him out. If you communicate with God, even if you are angry, He can reach you, help you and heal you.

Ultimately, we need to repent for buying into the devil’s lies and accusations against God. But often that repentance won’t come at a heart level until we’ve wrestled with God through the feelings of disappointment, disillusionment and deception. So, if you are mad at God, be honest with Him. It’s not like He doesn’t already know it. Give Him your anger, and He will turn that anger into peace and a greater revelation of His sovereignty if you will let Him. Amen.

Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including The Spiritual Warrior’s Guide to Defeating Jezebel. You can email Jennifer at @ or visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter. 

While many in America are watching The Bachelor this winter, a Christian version is set to hit the airwaves this summer with a twist on the popular reality TV show.

It Takes a Church, with 2014 Grammy Award nominee Natalie Grant, is set to debut on GSN midyear. GSN is now casting for what it calls “an exciting, family-friendly dating show that takes place in the best community churches in America.”

If you “belong to an amazing church filled with a lively, fun congregation” or if you “have a dynamic pastor who inspires you every single day,” GSN wants to hear from you. Your church could be part of the latest 60-minute Christian reality TV program that will document efforts to find a “romantic partner” for the show’s star. At each church, the pastor will ask members to play matchmaker.

According to the Los Angeles Times, at the end of the competition, the single person in question will have to choose his or her favorite romantic partner, and the member of the congregation who recommended the match will win a donation for the church.

“I’m so excited to host It Takes a Church and have the opportunity to interact with churches all across America to bring a family-friendly show based on Christian faith and values,” Grant says. “Church has been such an anchor and source of hope in my own life, and I look forward to showing the sense of community that can be found in the local church.”

I’m certainly not blasting Grant or GSN for this endeavor. But I won’t say the concept of what is essentially a Christian dating game doesn’t bother me. Why should churches get sucked into spending their time matchmaking on prime-time TV for the promise of a financial prize? I’m not saying the show is inherently evil in any way. But I am concerned the church is getting distracted from its purpose—saving the lost and making disciples—by the glaring lights of Hollywood. As I’ve said before, I was once invited to star in a reality TV show. I declined. I could not find any redeeming value in the broadcast.

Of course, not all Christian reality shows are created equal. Some do have redeeming value, like The Way of the Master or even Duck Dynasty, and not all of them are as blatantly troubling as Preachers of LA. But the continued push to drive the reality TV phenomenon into the church—we’re seeing everything from Church Rescue to Thicker Than Water to ex-Mormon shows like My Five Wives and Snake Salvation, which features snake-handling Pentecostals—gives me pause.

Just think about it for a minute. Do we really need a Christian version of The Bachelor that goes into actual churches and enlists stay-at-home moms and grannies to select a romantic partner for a handsome guinea pig? Is this God’s plan for finding a mate? Does this make a mockery out of Christian courtship at a time when marriage is already under attack? Should we really model the world’s methods of finding love?

I don’t believe the concept of It Takes a Church is particularly edifying to anyone. I believe it’s a distraction from true discipleship and outreach programs. I believe it brings Hollywood into the church with glim and glamour more than it takes the church into Hollywood with the gospel of salvation. Sure, God is likely to work some good out of it because He’s God. But is this the best we can do? What do you think?

Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including The Making of a Prophet. You can email Jennifer at @ or visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.

For many years I’ve heard prophecies proclaiming, “Whatever can be shaken will be shaken.” Indeed, I’m sure I’ve prophesied along those lines in years past. These types of prophecies are in line with Hebrews 12:27, which promises “the removal of those things that are being shaken, as of things that are made, that the things which cannot be shaken may remain.”

To be sure, the shaking is underway. There have been more earthquakes, famines, wars and volcanoes in the first 13 years of this century than the entire 20th century. At the same time, we’ve seen economic collapses, rising turmoil in the Middle East, the redefinition of marriage in a growing number of U.S. states and foreign nations, and a decline in church attendance. Clearly, the shaking is intensifying, just as many have prophesied.

A Mighty Promise From God

But there is yet good news. The Lord spoke these words to my heart: “The righteous will never be shaken.” This is in line with a mighty promise in Psalm 112:

“Praise the Lord!

“Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, who delights greatly in His commandments.

“His descendants will be mighty on earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed. Wealth and riches will be in his house, and his righteousness endures forever. Unto the upright there arises light in the darkness; he is gracious, and full of compassion, and righteous. A good man deals graciously and lends; he will guide his affairs with discretion. Surely he will never be shaken; the righteous will be in everlasting remembrance. He will not be afraid of evil tidings; his heart is steadfast, trusting in the Lord. His heart is established; he will not be afraid, until he sees his desire upon his enemies.

“He has dispersed abroad, he has given to the poor; his righteousness endures forever; his horn will be exalted with honor. The wicked will see it and be grieved; he will gnash his teeth and melt away; the desire of the wicked shall perish.”

You Are the Righteousness of God

This promise is for you: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Cor. 5:21).

Now, this is your legal position. Your living condition may not line up with your legal position. In other words, you may not fear the Lord or delight greatly in His commandments as you should. You may need to come up higher in trusting the Lord to battle the fearful imaginations that come against your mind. You may not be giving to the poor—or giving at all. You may need to cooperate a little more with the grace of God so that your living condition matches your legal position.

I beseech you by the mercies of God to come up higher this year. Yes, we are the righteousness of God in Christ Jesus. But we still live in these fleshly tents. God wants to change us from glory to glory to reflect the image of Christ (2 Cor. 3:18). Press into the gospel, “for in it the righteousness of God is revealed from faith to faith” (Rom. 1:17). As you pursue gospel truths, you’ll receive revelation of God’s righteousness in you that will spark faith to walk in His Word.

Vows to the Consistently Righteous

In the days and years ahead, you’ll want to tap into the promises to the righteous. The New King James version of Proverbs alone mentions the “righteous”—what the Amplified Version calls the “consistently righteous”— or “righteousness” 75 times. The righteous are promised:

• Sound wisdom (Prov. 2:7)
• God as their buckler (Prov. 2:7)
• His secret (Prov. 3:32)
• Deliverance from death (Prov. 10:2)
• Avoiding famines (Prov. 10:3)
• Granted desires (Prov. 10:24)
• Gladness (Prov. 10:28)
• Immovability (Prov. 10:30)
• Direction (Prov. 11:5)
• Deliverance for family (Prov. 11:21)
• Flourishing (Prov. 11:28)
• Recompense in the earth (Prov. 11:31)
• Right thoughts (Prov. 12:5)
• Excellence (Prov. 12:26)
• Life (Prov. 12:28)
• Favor (Prov. 14:9)
• Hope in death (Prov. 14:32)
• Treasure (Prov. 15:6)
• Heard prayers (Prov. 15:29)
• Safety (Prov. 18:10)
• Honor (Prov. 21:21)
• Boldness (Prov. 28:1)
• Rejoicing (Prov. 29:6)

Yes, there is a shaking going on. But the Lord wants you to know this: “The righteous will never be shaken.” Those things you put your trust in apart from God—people, money, positions or something else—may be shaken, but God won’t be shaken and you won’t be shaken if your rely completely on Him. So ask the Holy Spirit if your living condition lacks His righteousness in any way, and then work with His grace to pursue righteousness. Jesus put it this way: “But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you” (Matt. 6:33). Amen.

Jennifer LeClaire is news editor at Charisma. She is also the author of several books, including The Making of a Prophet. You can email Jennifer at @ or visit her website here. You can also join Jennifer on Facebook or follow her on Twitter.

After an announcement that rocked the International Pentecostal Holiness Church congregation last year, Ron Carpenter is now offering hope for reconciliation with his wife.

Carpenter, the pastor of Redemption World Outreach Center (RWOC) in Greenville, S.C., told his church he is working with Bishop T.D. Jakes to bring restoration to his marriage. The news comes less than four months after he stood before RWOC and shared his painful journey that led his wife to check herself into a psychiatric treatment facility.

“I know many of you are waiting for updates. Thank you for your patience. Thank you for giving Hope her privacy as she needed intense ministry as well as a place and a time to heal,” Carpenter wrote on his Facebook page.

“Today we turn our attention to reconciling our marriage. We believe that God has a miracle for us. I ask you to pray as we realize we have not chosen the easy route. Our desire is that somehow God receive glory out of our most difficult times. Thank you all and we love you dearly.”

When Carpenter announced his wife’s condition in October, he said their relationship began to deteriorate in 2004. After he dedicated their church’s new facility on Easter Sunday that year, he discovered a “very different woman.”

Carpenter disclosed that he and his wife went through two years of “grueling therapy” and that he was believing for a miracle even while she withdrew herself from ministry and stopped coming to church most weekends. He admitted he didn’t know where she was most of those Sundays.

Carpenter also reveled his wife had multiple affairs and said he was no longer seeking reconciliation. Now he has renewed hope for his marriage to Hope. And his followers are cheering.

“I have been praying for this since day one,” wrote Virginia D Feliciano on Carpenter’s Facebook page. “Even when you said at the altar not to pray for a reconciliation because you were done. You may have been done but God wasn’t. … God is not in the business of destroying marriages. He is restoring what the devil is working overtime to destroy but in the name of Jesus I declare Gods plans will prevail!!!!”

Duck Dynasty is not only under fire from gay activists, but the Robertson family’s patriarch has been suspended from the smash hit show that has brought A&E plenty of publicity and profits.

The network has suspended Phil Robertson from Duck Dynasty because he expressed disagreement with gays in a GQ interview. In the January issue, he called homosexuality a sin and used the words bestiality and promiscuity in the same breath.

“It seems like, to me, a vagina—as a man—would be more desirable than a man’s anus,” he told GQ. “That’s just me. I’m just thinking: There’s more there! She’s got more to offer. I mean, come on, dudes! You know what I’m saying? But hey, sin: It’s not logical, my man. It’s just not logical.”

Asked he if thought homosexuality was sinful, he said, “Start with homosexual behavior and just morph out from there. Bestiality, sleeping around with this woman and that woman and that woman and those men.”

Of course, Robertson didn’t single out gays. He also stressed, “Neither the adulterers, the idolaters, the male prostitutes, the homosexual offenders, the greedy, the drunkards, the slanderers, the swindlers—they won’t inherit the kingdom of God. Don’t deceive yourself. It’s not right.”

But A&E is not standing behind the Duck Dynasty star.

“We are extremely disappointed to have read Phil Robertson’s comments in GQ, which are based on his own personal beliefs and are not reflected in the series Duck Dynasty,” the network said in a statement. “His personal views in no way reflect those of A&E Networks, who have always been strong supporters and champions of the LGBT community. The network has placed Phil under hiatus from filming indefinitely.”

Gov. Sarah Palin defended Robertson, saying, “Free speech is an endangered species. Those ‘intolerants’ hatin’ and taking on the Duck Dynasty patriarch for voicing his personal opinion are taking on all of us.”

Is this the end of Duck Dynasty? Or, more importantly, does this mark the end of free speech in America?

Paul Crouch, who co-founded the Trinity Broadcast Network (TBN) with his wife, Jan, 40 years ago, passed away Saturday at 2:32 a.m. at the age of 79 after more than a decade of chronic heart problems.

Under his direction, TBN has become the most-watched faith network in the U.S. TBN reaches every major continent via 84 satellite channels and more than 18,000 television and cable affiliates around the world.

Christian leaders across denominations are offering their condolences to the family and honoring the memory of the Christian television pioneer.

Billy Wilson, Oral Roberts University

“I am deeply thankful for life of Paul Crouch Sr. and his passionate work sharing the gospel around the world through media. I am confident that his contribution to the growth of the global Spirit-empowered movement will continue to bear fruit as TBN continues into the 21st century. Our prayers are with the entire Crouch family during this time of loss.”

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association

“Everyone at the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association extends our condolences to the family of Paul Crouch Sr., who, along with his wife, Jan, founded the Trinity Broadcast Network in 1973. … He and the TBN family have been longtime friends and supporters of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse.”

Military Bible Association

Dr. Crouch had a passion for missions to the military, such that he visited the troops in Baghdad and invited military personnel on the air at TBN, which encompasses 26 global networks and affiliates around the world.

One such guest was retired U.S. Army Chaplain (Maj.) Jim Linzey, who recalls the honor of being with Dr. Crouch on Behind the Scenes and when singing on TBN with the Vanguard Chorale when he was a student at Southern California College:

“Dr. Crouch was a deeply spiritual man and extremely professional. He was absolutely a delight to be with and discuss anything in front of the camera. I appreciated the opportunity to talk about military ministry in the Middle East.”

Linzey also opened the Praise the Lord program with prayer at Dr. Crouch’s invitation.

GEB America

“The ministry of Paul Crouch Sr. is truly remarkable,” says GEB America President Ossie Mills. “GEB America founder and chancellor of the university that bears his name, Oral Roberts, was a pioneer in Christian television. Without a doubt, Paul Sr. took that concept to the next level and beyond.

“The entire family of networks of TBN throughout the world has and continues to impact the entire world for Jesus Christ. We are so deeply grateful for Paul Sr. allowing God to use his life to send His message of hope into homes everywhere. The GEB America family is praying for Jan, Paul Jr., Matt and their entire family and celebrates his life with them.”

The story of the Duck Dynasty Robertson family is told through the eyes of three generations in a new 30-minute film released today on .

The I am Second film features Phil and Miss Kay, son Jep and grandson Reed sharing honestly and openly about the ups and downs of the family and life before fame, fortune and faith—from their humble beginnings to the struggles that nearly tore their family apart.

“I owned a beer joint when some guy came in with a Bible, and he wanted to introduce me to Jesus. I ran him away,” family patriarch Phil Robertson says in the film. “You can only run the ol’ ‘sex, drugs and rock ‘n’ roll’ so far.”

“I would say the low point is when I ran Miss Kay and the kids off,” Robertson recalls. “You’re all alone, no hope, miserable. That’s when I began to contemplate, ‘Is there a way out of all this?’”

While the Robertsons have been praised for their family friendliness, in the I am Second film, each shares the raw details of their past, from alcoholism and run-ins with the law to drugs and thoughts of suicide.

The Robertson’s A&E reality show, Duck Dynasty, premiered its third season in August with 11.8 million viewers, becoming the No. 1 nonfiction series telecast in cable history and solidifying the popularity of all things Duck Dynasty. The family members have tried to remain true to themselves both on and off camera but are honest about their struggle with unexpected fame.

“I thought I was better than everyone else because of who my family was,” Reed Robertson says in the I am Second film. “Twelve million people watch us every week. That’s part of the pressure that’s on me.”

To see the full film, visit

Anything the gay agenda can do, the atheists can do better. That seems to be the unbeliever’s mantra for 2013 as godless radicals rise up not only for recognition—and not only to tear down all things Christian in the public square—but to actually woo born-again Bible believers to the dark side.

Call it reverse evangelism. A growing number of atheist activists are no longer content with “freedom from religion” campaigns that seek to keep the local football stars from wearing John 3:16 on their helmets or to stop Christmas caroling on elementary school campuses. This new breed of atheist activism wants to inject doubt into your doctrine with its own brand of Christless charisma.

Consider Peter Boghossian, a philosophy instructor and author of a hot new book dubbed A Manual for Creating Atheists. Yes, it’s actually a book that aims to equip nonbelievers with the skills they need to talk believers into willfully turning their back on Christ. This atheist is hoping to drive Christians into full-blown apostasy.

“Faith is an unreliable reasoning process,” Boghossian told Religion News Service. “It will not take you to reality. So we need to help people value processes of reasoning that will lead them to the truth.”

Jesus is the truth. He’s also the way and the life. (See John 14:6.)

Nevertheless, Boghossian’s book offers specific reverse-evangelism techniques, such as avoiding facts and working instead to get someone to question what they believe, avoiding any show of frustration because so-called “de-conversion” takes longer than conversion, and avoiding politics because they sidetrack the discussion.

Meanwhile, there are bona fide atheist megachurches springing up across the U.S. These groups reportedly look like any other Sunday morning worship service—except that God is not in the mix. It’s a godless church. According to CBN, British comedians Sanderson Jones and Pippa Evans founded the movement and plan to kick-start more anti-God assemblies in the U.S.

“I think the image that we have put forward in a lot of ways has been a scary, mean, we want to tear down the walls, we want to do destructive things kind of image is what a lot of people have of us,” atheist Elijah Senn told CBN. “I’m really excited to be able to come together and show that it’s not about destruction. It’s about making things and making things better.”

Except that the radical atheist agenda is about destruction. It’s about destroying the faith of others. And it was Jesus who said, “He who is not with Me is against Me, and he who does not gather with Me scatters abroad” (Matt. 12:30). Building atheist megachurches is drawing people—whether they are already atheists, agnostic or just don’t know what they believe—away from true worship. We’re now competing with aggressive atheists to win the hearts and minds of lost souls on Sunday mornings.

Some atheists are taking another approach: infiltrating the church to plant seeds of doubt. I wrote about that in a recent column, “Wolves in Sheep’s Clothing Actively Working in Pentecostal Church.” An unbeliever I call “Wolf” because he won’t reveal his true identity details his plans to integrate with a friend into a “highly conservative religious community without informing the community that [they] are skeptics,” then look for opportunities to minister and serve before his planned apostasy takes place about a year later. Wolf’s self-proclaimed personal Lord and Savior is named “Doubt.”

All of this was in November alone, as was the revelation that atheists are using the YouVersion of the Bible to evangelize unbelief. Some atheists are trying to position themselves as “friendly,” like Hemant Mehta, author of the Friendly Atheist blog who offered to raise money to cover the medical bills of a pastor who was attacked by a militant atheist.

But some atheists are still angry, including long-distance swimmer Diana Nyad who got up in arms against Oprah because she wouldn’t acknowledge Nyad’s atheism. Oprah’s October Super Soul Sunday program sparked a firestorm in the atheist community, which refuses to be marginalized in its year of momentum.

It goes on and on and on. I’ve just offered a few examples from October and November. So here’s the question: Could an atheist talk you out of your faith? Don’t answer too quickly.

Gay activists have already succeeded in getting many Christians—even pastors and bishops—to compromise the Word of God for the sake of inclusion, unity and perhaps fear of persecution. If the gay agenda can convince Christian leaders to pervert the gospel, then is it so far-fetched to think the atheist agenda could cause believers to doubt what they believe?

I don’t think so. I believe all of these forces—the gay agenda, the atheist agenda and other humanist agendas—are converging on the church in this hour. Peter warned us that the “adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (1 Pet. 5:8). That devil doesn’t always look like a devil or sound like a roaring lion. More often he sounds like tolerance or doubt. Much of the battle still rests in the minds of the believer. What will we ultimately believe? Will we take the Word of God literally, or will we look at it through the eyes of the spirit of the world?

I urge you not to compromise the Word of God for any agenda. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again: The great falling away isn’t too far away (2 Thess. 2:1-4). Those who endure to the end shall be saved (Matt. 24:13). That said, don’t fear these devilish agendas. Remember, Jesus said, “I will build My church, and the gates of Hades shall not prevail against it” (Matt. 16:18).