It has often been said that "you cannot squeeze blood out of a turnip". Nevertheless, this does not always stop people from trying.
Some people think of other people as mere "vegetables", to harvest some "green stuff" from whenever they need some more money. This is "Mafia mentality" -- the idea that other people are there for your own good, that they don't really count other than for your good, that you can try to extort money out of them whenever you want to because somehow that is your right to do so.
Some religious people, even preachers and their assistants think that they are so much higher than "the people" are there to be "fleeced". They really believe that "the end justifies the means", so forcing extra offerings out of poor people is a very good thing. After all, the more money they give, the more rewards they will receive at the Bema won't they?
Therefore, some preachers think that taking away money from the people in their congregations through personal "force"-- (i.e. cornering them and asking them, "and how much can you give today, brother?"), is both good for the church and also for the people. So, they make a practice of "squeezing" them, and telling the poor people that it is "more blessed to give than to receive".
Some people take turnip-squeezing even further, telling people to "borrow it" if they do not have enough money to give. They persist in squeezing them, telling them that giving is not optional. (It is like the mafia's "offer that you can't refuse". After all, "God will provide for your needs. Don't you trust Him? Then cough up!" The idea is to tell the people to put God first in their giving, even if they do not have anything to give. Because, after all, can't we just squeeze just a little more blood out of those "turnips" in the pews?
It gets worse from here. Some preachers think that such turnip squeezing, (better known as "extortion"), is justified by the end obtained. This is the wicked Machiavellian doctrine of "the end justifies the means", the evil doctrine used by such men as Adolph Hitler, Joseph Stalin and Chairman Mao to justify their mass murders and other wicked deeds.
Now, there are two problems here: The first is that this definitely is not a Bible doctrine. The other is that often such extorted money goes to evil purposes, such as trying to bribe other preachers, "wine and dine" them, (well, make that non-alcoholic wine!), or perhaps to perform "dog and pony shows" before them to impress them; and then try to get something out of them. If the purpose of such "turnip squeezing" is to corrupt other preachers through "a gift" or to use this extorted money in some other way, then can it be said that the end justified the means; when both the end and the means are very, very wicked?
But how about you? Are you wicked? Are you satisfied with your ability to avoid sin, or do you sin whenever you get the chance because that is what your wicked heart really wants to do? Since you probably think that your doing good will get you to Heaven, do you try to do good? Are you even able to do good? Can you squeeze spiritual blood out of your wicked, totally depraved heart that wants to do evil? Can an evil tree produce good fruit?
And what about after you die? God will still send you to Hell when you die, no matter how much you try to do good works, no matter how hard you try to be good, no matter how much you continue to bang your head against God's wall, no matter how much you try to squeeze blood from a turnip.
Your problem is that, no matter how hard you try, you will still be a sinner when it is all over and done with. Your sins will still be written up there in Heaven in God's books. Even if you never sin another sin for the rest of your life, the sins that you have already committed are plenty enough to send you to Hell for all Eternity. Your good works can never save you, no matter how hard you try.
Why keep trying to squeeze blood out of a turnip? Why keep banging your head against the wall? Jesus has already paid for all of your sins on the cross. Jesus paid it all. Why not trust Jesus to pay for your sins? If you trust Jesus, you will not have to go to Hell when you die. You will spend Eternity in Heaven with Jesus instead. Eternity in Heaven with Jesus is so much better than Eternity in the flames of Hell with the Devil and his Demons!
Trust Jesus today to pay for your sins. He will forgive your sins if you will trust Him. Trust Jesus today. Then get into a good Fundamentalist Baptist church and live for Christ. You will never regret it, either in this life, or throughout all of Eternity!
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