Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

John Wesley and his brother Charles were part of the Great Awakening that shook both England and America in a mighty move of God. In part because of their effectiveness, they faced a great deal of opposition to their preaching.

Hecklers disrupted their sermons, and on at least one occasion a bull was released into the field to break up an open air meeting. Yet they continued on undaunted, despite the obstacles they faced.

John Wesley wrote, “Give me one hundred men who fear nothing but sin and desire nothing but God,…they alone will shake the gates of Hell and set up the kingdom of Heaven upon the earth.”

One of the greatest needs of our day is men and women who are not afraid to take a clear, firm, unapologetic, and open stand for Jesus Christ. Only those who stand firm will receive the reward of faithful servants.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

While Dr. J. Vernon McGee was out with a group of pastors, He noticed a carhop that wore the largest cross he had ever seen. He asked her, why she was wearing the cross? Her reply was that she thought it was pretty and wore it as an ornament.

Dr. McGee was then able to share with her the truth of the cross and the Saviour that laid down his life for her salvation.

The great tragedy in our day is that some who profess to be Christians are downplaying the message we are commanded to proclaim to the world in order to be more acceptable to society. Let us never be ashamed to publicly declare the message of salvation in Jesus Christ alone.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

While God sometimes answers our prayers immediately, there are other times we must keep praying until the answer comes.

Evangelist D.L. Moody told the story of vile man in Scotland that attended his meetings. Moody asked if he could pray for the man, and the infidel just laughed, saying that prayer did not work because God was not real. He heard Moody preach a few times, but did not respond to the gospel.

So, Moody had his team pray for the man. A few more weeks passed and the infidel attended a service in his hometown and told the preacher, “I am troubled. I don’t have peace and I want you to pray for me.”

God had worked through the prayers of Moody and his group, and the man put his trust in Jesus Christ.

God has never yet failed to keep His promises. Our faith is not based on what we see around us but on what He has declared He will do. Don’t let the circumstances you face make you doubt that God will keep his promises.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

The story is told of an old New England preacher who found that the clock in the back of his church would not keep correct time. Even worse, it was not consistent. Sometimes it ran too fast and other times it was too slow. After his attempts to reset the clock failed, the preacher hung a sign over the clock that read, “Don’t blame my hands — the problem is deeper than that.”

Human nature is such that we tend to look at the surface level problems in a life instead of going to the heart of the matter. At the heart of many of our problems is pride. It is pride that causes us to resist the Lord, to rebel against a parent, or to ignore the plight of those around us.

Rather than focusing on the hands, God is concerned with the heart. When you give your heart to Christ, He begins a work of cleaning you up and making you tick in His rhythm. Perhaps it is time for you to surrender your heart to the Lord today.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

The Scottish preacher Alexander Whyte recounted the story of a visit he paid to a prominent lawyer in Glasgow. He said that when he entered the office, the lawyer asked, “Do you have a message for an old sinner?”

Whyte responded by sharing Micah 7:8, “Who is a God like unto thee, that pardoneth iniquity, and passeth by the transgression of the remnant of his heritage? he retaineth not his anger for ever, because he delighteth in mercy.”

God would have every right to delight in justice. Sin is an awful thing in his eyes and deserves punishment. Yet, instead, God’s love and grace are so wonderful that He delights in extending mercy to us. And He calls for us to do the same in our dealings with others.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

When the Berlin Wall was erected in 1961, it divided the capital city of Germany. West Germany remained part of the free world while East Germany was under the domination of the Soviet Union. There was a great division that remained until the wall was brought down in 1989.

At the height of the tensions, residents of East Germany began to throw bags of garbage over the wall to protest against the West. In response, citizens of West Germany filled bags with food and medical supplies and flung them over the wall with a simple note, “Each gives what he has.”

If we only extend love to a select few, we are not obeying the command of God, and we are not showing His love to a world that so desperately needs to see it. If we are to live as children of the King, then we must love as He loves. “Love thy neighbor as thyself.”

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

Charles Gordon went to China as a volunteer to help lead the fight against the Taiping Rebellion. His great success won the gratitude of the Chinese government. They gave Gordon a special gold medal in honor of his service.

When Gordon returned to England, there was a great famine throughout the land. He was burdened to help his own people, but being a poor man, the only thing of real value was his gold medal. He took the medal and hammered out the inscription carved into it and gave it to the treasurer with this note, “This is the secret of bliss — to give away your medal!”

When we give without any expectation in return, that is when we are most blessed. If we are giving to get in return, you aren’t giving, you are trading. When we invest the resources God has entrusted to us in His work to help others, we are giving the way that God commands.

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

Charles Spurgeon was the most famous preacher in the world during his lifetime. At one point, Spurgeon ran a large orphanage to take care of children. Another pastor, Joseph Parker, made a remark about the awful lives those children faced. The remark was reported publicly as a criticism of the orphanages.

So the next Sunday, a furious Spurgeon went to the pulpit and criticized Parker. Again, the press printed the retort in the papers. The following Sunday, Pastor Parker showed grace when he announced that they were going to take a special offering for Spurgeon’s orphanages.

Later that week, Spurgeon arrived at Parker’s office and said, “Parker, you have practiced grace on me. You have given me not what I deserved, you have given me what I needed.”

When we interact with others, we face a choice of how we will treat them. Will we be kind to our attackers, or will we respond in hate? Will we defer to our anger, or will we allow God to settle any scores that need to be made right?

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

In Luke, Christ told the crowds, “The Son of man is Lord also of the Sabbath.” Then, He proceeded to heal and demonstrate his power on the Sabbath.

The Pharisees knew the law inside and out. But they missed the point behind God’s command for the Sabbath. The Sabbath is all about building relationship with God. Instead of focusing on worshipping God, they focused on outward conformity.

Alfred Edersheim wrote, “The Sabbath law was not one merely of rest, but of rest for worship. The service of the Lord was the object of the Sabbath.”

God is not interested in just outward conformity to His Word. He is looking for the heart to be in joyful obedience. The goal of God’s law is to help us be devoted to Him above all else!

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham.

Charles Spurgeon had a powerful and effective ministry that began while he was still a teenager. There is no question that his incredible gifts and the enormous growth the church that he pastored were testimony to the work that God did in and through his life.

Yet for most of his ministry, Spurgeon suffered greatly from enormous physical pain. He could allowed that pain to drive him to question and doubt God, but instead it led Spurgeon to trust Him more. He said, “I am certain that I never did grow in grace one-half so much anywhere as I have upon the bed of pain.”

While hardship, affliction, and suffering are not pleasant, they are often the necessary tools God uses to shape us into the men and women He needs us to be for His Work. Each trial offers us an opportunity to learn more of God’s grace and depend more fully on Him for our needs to be met.