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

Charles Lindbergh was one of the most famous and admired men in the world. Following his solo flight across the Atlantic in 1927, he gained world renowned. People looked up to Lindbergh and admired him as a man of virtue and character. What they did not know was that Lindbergh had seven illegitimate children scattered across Europe.

The temptation to hide and cover our sins rather than dealing with it goes all the way back to the fig leaves Adam and Eve wore as they hid from God in the Garden of Eden. We will try almost anything to avoid having to admit that we have done wrong.

God does not always immediately bring to light what we have done and punish us like we deserve. Sometimes He gives us grace and forbearance to see if we will return to Him on our own. The only way to deal with sin is not to hide it, but to repent and confess and forsake it quickly.

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

The early church father Tertullian wrote, “The blood of martyrs is the seed of the church.” Throughout the history of God’s work, there have been men and women who have been willing to take a stand for the truth even at the cost of their own lives. They would not deny the Lord even in the face of death, but remained faithful. In fact, the English word for martyr comes from the Greek word for witness — signifying those who were willing to give everything in witness of the truth.

Though America has enjoyed religious freedom, there are thousands of Christians that are dying for their faith around the world These are choosing to join the line of heroes who have stood for Christ.

We need to be firm in our commitment to Christ regardless of what consequences may come as a result. He is worth of our all — even of our very lives.

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

Christopher Wren was the premiere English architect of the seventeenth century. In 1688 he was commissioned to design a building and devoted his considerable skill to the task. His design was stunning as it used a series of columns that left a large open space on the first floor to conduct business.

The city leaders, though, feared the columns would not be sufficient to support the structure of the upper floors, and they insisted he include four more pillars in the design. However, he intentionally had them constructed too short, so that they did not reach the ceiling above. They looked like other columns, but bore no actual weight.

God’s design for the church doesn’t include any decorative columns. Each one of us is called to be a part of God’s design in helping one another in the church.

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

I read about a little boy who was preparing to leave for his piano lesson. Before they left the house his mother wanted to make sure he was presentable when he got to his teacher.

“Did you wash your hands?”She asked

“yes, Mother,” he replied

“Did you wash your face?”

Yes, Mother,” he said once more.

“And did you wash behind your ears?” she continued.

He hesitated for a moment and then said, “On her side I did.”

It is possible to outwardly conform to the commands of Scripture for a time without truly desiring to love and follow God, but eventually what is on the inside will show up in our lives. If we want our conduct to be pleasing to God, we should begin by focusing on the heart. For what is made right inwardly shows on the outside.

The cleansing of our lives begins when we align our hearts with the things God wants us to love.

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

In the work Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice was confused as to which way she should journey when she encountered the Cheshire Cat.

Alice asked, “Would you tell me, Please, which way I ought to go from here?”

“That depends a good deal on where you want to get to” said the Cat.

“I don’t much care where —” said Alice.

“Then it doesn’t matter which way you go,” Said the Cat.

Life can be filled with activity that leads us no where.

These urgent activities can easily drown out the most important things in life. When we run all over town to get the kids to the next activity, but never sit down together at dinner together, we have missed the most important for the urgent.

Christ came with a singular purpose and stayed dedicated to that purpose no matter how much activity filled his life. May we follow His example.

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

Any one who has done gardening knows the importance of getting the ground ready before you plant. If you simply chop holes into a grassy field and plant some seeds, your harvest is going to be puny — if there is any production at all. Instead you have to break up the ground, take out the rocks, and remove the weeds.

Preparing the ground is only the first step. If you just prepare the ground and leave it you will mostly grow weeds and not garden. Those pesky weeds will move in and take over the whole plot. You must sow the right seeds!

A vital part of breaking a bad habit is replacing it with a good one. It is easy to focus on just removing the old way, but we must also focus on investing in a new way to live for Christ. If your life is filled with the Spirit of God, the devil will find he has little room to operate.

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

One truth we must wrestle with is the reality of Satan and his power in this world. He defeated man in the Garden and has continued to reign over this world as a tyrant.

Yet, despite his ability over man, Christ Himself is greater! When Christ died on the cross, Satan thought he had won. That moment was not a defeat for Christ, for He laid down His life in our place. Three days later, we saw death defeated forever by Christ! What started in defeat, ended in victory for all that trust in Jesus.

Sometimes we look at our weakness and feel discouraged. The truth is, we are weaker than Satan. But it is also true that our God is Greater! “Greater is He that is in YOU than he that is in the world.”

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

In 1858, accepting his nomination as a candidate for the U.S. Senate, Abraham Lincoln sounded a theme that two years later would see him elected to the White House-- the pressing need for national unity.

Lincoln said, “‘A house divided against itself cannot stand.’ I believe this government cannot endure, permanently half slave and half free. I do not expect the Union to be dissolved — I do not expect the house to fall — but I do expect it will cease to be divided. It will become all one thing or all the other.”

What is true for nations is true for churches and families as well. If we allow ourselves to be divided, the future is dark. Since we know that a house divided cannot stand, we should be diligent in working to keep a spirit of unity.

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

Many years ago, a man left home and turned his back on his family and the God they loved. For eighteen years he lived life his own way and eventually he found himself as a beggar on the streets.

While begging at the Philadelphia train depot he unexpectedly asked money from his own father. When the father saw his son, cried out, “I have found you! I have found you! All that I have is yours!”

He said, “I stood there a tramp, begging my father for ten cents when for eighteen years he had been looking for me to give me all he was worth.”

At the moment of salvation, God places us in His family and gives us access to all of the privileges and benefits that come with being a child of God. Faith rests on the foundation of God’s love for us. He will never abandon His children.

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

Despite all the evidence available from astronomy, the space program, and history, the Flat Earth Society still exists, claiming hundreds of members.

No matter how many astronauts they talk to, no matter how many moon rocks they see, no matter how many pictures taken from space they are shown, they deny the reality in favor of clinging to their beliefs.

Many people in our world take the same approach to God. Despite the evidence of God’s existence, they refuse to believe in Him, because if He exists, they will be accountable to Him. So instead, they cling to any theory that excludes god, no matter how far fetched it may be.

As Christians, we have experienced the reality of God at work in our lives, and we should not be just telling but also showing those around us that He is real.