Get-rich-quick schemes, er, programs are a dime a dozen—but they’ll leave you with empty pockets and plenty of useless products if you buy into them. And the get-rich-quick gospel may cost you a little more.

You may remember the question-mark-suit-wearing Matthew Lesko, the infomercial icon that peddled many books, including Free Money to Pay Your Bills. The New York State Consumer Protection Board exposed him for misleading advertisements, but not before he sold countless books at $40 a pop that he admittedly plagiarized. Get-rich-quick gospel gainsayers are a little more difficult to expose but not hard to discern.

Then there was the “Greatest Vitamin in the World” heist from Don Lapre. All you had to do was shell out $35 for a chance to make millions selling the vitamins, which promise to help with everything from diabetes to cancer. There’s no telling how much Lapre raked in before the FDA warned the public about Lapre’s false advertising. Likewise, there’s no telling how much the get-rich-quick gospel preachers will stuff in their pockets before truth catches up with them.

Spiritual warfare against churches that are making an impact for God can be fierce—sometimes discouraging and sometimes even deadly. I’ve known some pastors who quit and other pastors who died premature deaths in the face of the intense battle.

Yes, the spiritual warfare is all too real at times. But can we really blame spirits like Jezebel, witchcraft and religion for all our warfare? Yes, principalities and powers surely attack, but too often the leadership is willfully opening the front door to every kind of evil.

Indeed, too often the enemy has plenty of help from offended believers. Too often discernment is lacking, and the onslaughts continue unabated—or even increase as spiritual sleuths go on a witch hunt for the Jezebels, Ahabs, Absaloms or other demons that carry rock-star status in the spiritual warfare culture. And too often these religious sleuths label certain members of the congregation troublemakers and seek to shut them out when those members aren’t the problem at all.

No, I’m not exaggerating. This is a sad but true reality in some churches. I lived it.