Daily Growth Point

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. As a junior at Mississippi State, Quarterback Will Rogers received extra attention in the fall of 22’ when he broke the pass completion records. Yet, he would later use this time in the spotlight to highlight the work of God in his life. He said, “I feel that the good Lord is blessing me to be in the position that I’m in…I’m not in this posit...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. Today, I want to wish you Happy Thanksgiving. This day has been set aside for our nation to remember the many blessings and provisions of God upon us and to give Him thanks. Thanksgiving can be traced back to the 1621 harvest feast shared by the Plymouth colonists and the native people. Yet, thanksgiving has long been a part of God’s people....

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. During China’s Boxer Rebellion of 1900, soldiers captured a mission station, and in front of the gate placed a cross flat on the ground. Those inside were told if they would trample the cross, they would be freed. Those that refused would be shot. Terribly frightened, the first seven students walked on the cross to their freedom. But the eigh...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. Do you remember watching Harrison Ford in the movie, “Indiana Jones”? This fictional but adventurous archeologist would often go on fantastic adventures in search of a lost treasure. Some christians believe that God’s will is a lot like seeking a lost treasure, where you have to follow the clues to find God’s will. Yet, God has laid out His g...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. In 2 Samuel, David’s desire to finish well was recorded for us. He knew that faithfulness was an area he needed help from God. He requested that God would make his feet like “hinds’ feet.” In other words, he wanted God to direct his steps, to lead him on to a sure footing and to not wander away from God’s will for his life. In other words, He...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. There have been many times when I felt under qualified for a job. When Solomon was anointed King over Israel, he felt same way. His father had been one of Israel’s greatest kings. Knowing his own inability, Solomon asked God for an “understanding heart to judge thy people…” In short, He asked God for wisdom. God fulfilled Solomon’s desire for...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. Have you ever had something strange happen to you? I’ve had some pretty weird days, but I’ve never had a donkey talk to me. In a moment when Balaam was not listening to the Lord, God opened the mouth of the donkey so he could get his attention! In Numbers 22, you will find the ruler Balak came to Balaam and asked him to curse Israel. Yet, ins...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. Nearly everyday Christ astounded the people with his doctrine or with his deeds. One of the things that Christ did was to visit the lepers in their affliction. The leper was an outcast. People were afraid of touching the leper for fear that they too might get the dreaded disease. How lonely that existence must’ve been for these dear souls con...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. Have you ever thought about who is follows you?  When my children were young we would often take a hike in the woods and on the tricky parts of the trail, I would tell them to step where I step so they wouldn’t get hurt. For their safety, it was important that they would follow me.   When Abram was called out of the Ur of the Chaldees, he too...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. When I am traveling, I often look for the shortest route to where I am headed. I also look for any short cuts so that I may arrive with time to spare. Yet, there are times when shortcuts are not really shortcuts at all and can cost you in time, energy, and money.   Just as shortcuts in traveling can be costly, some people try to shortcut the...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. Dwight Morrow, the father of Anne, once held a dinner party to which Calvin Coolidge had been invited. After Coolidge left, Morrow told the remaining guests that Coolidge would make a good president. The others disagreed. They felt Coolidge was too quiet, that he lacked color and personality. They stated that no one would like him.  Anne, the...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. What are you afraid of? As a child, I distinctly remember being afraid of the dark. One particular night, I was walking through the field when a pack of coyotes started to howl in the creek bottom. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up, and every shadow suddenly became an imminent threat. And I found myself running for the house! On...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. Years ago, a pastor stood at the Vietnam Veterans Memorial and watched as a man in tears lay a wreath at the base of the memorial. He slowly fingered the name of a fallen comrade in arms, and he watched him whisper quietly, “Thank you.” As he approached, he asked him the significance of the man he had just honored. He said, “25 years ago, he...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. One of the early explorers of South Africa’s ocean waters experienced terrible storms, that were so severe that he nearly lost his ship. He called the place, the Cape of Storms. But Vasco da Gama, who came later, changed the name to the Cape of Good Hope, because he saw ahead of him the jewels and treasures of India. The Bible never promises...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. In April of 1931 work started on one of the largest construction projects ever attempted up to that time. The Hoover Dam would prevent flooding, provide water to growing communities, and produce electricity. The Hoover Dam was completed in 1936, and it remains one of the largest dams in the world. Over the five years of its construction, more...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. In ancient pottery making, at times a potter would have a vase that would crack when exposed to the heat of the kiln. The potter could either destroy the vessel, or try to hide the flaw. Those deceitful potters would use wax to hide the crack, then paint the vessel to hide its defect. This led craftsmen who had vessels without flaws to put ab...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. Daniel Whittle enlisted in the Illinois Infantry to fight in the Civil War. Yet, he had been severely wounded in the fighting at Vicksburg,, and captured by the Confederates. In his POW camp, Whittle began reading the New Testament. One night he was awakened and asked to pray with another prisoner who was about to die. He said, “I dropped on...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. On a clear fall night, my dad would get out a ladder and help us children to climb on the roof of our home. There above the lights of man’s design, we were able to see more clearly the beauty of the stars.  As we lay there, dad would try to help us find different constellations, and then he would use the opportunity to teach us about the fait...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. During his term as President of the U.S., Lyndon Johnson was somewhat overweight. One day his wife challenged him with this blunt assertion: “You can’t run the country if you can’t run yourself.” Under the weight of conviction, the President chose to honor his wife’s observation and disciplined his life to lose 23 pounds.    When the Bible ta...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. Has someone ever done you wrong? Our initial response is to seek revenge for the hurt that we have suffered. The Russian Czar, Peter the Great, was fascinated with medicine. One day one of his servants asked the monarch to pull his wife’s tooth. With eagerness, he pulled her tooth despite her cries of protest. Later he learned, his servant ha...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. One of the key virtues of Christ was meekness. Peter wrote of Jesus that, “when He was reviled, he reviled not again.” Many suppose that this kind of response demonstrates a weakness. Yet, no one could honestly say that Jesus was weak. There are not many men who could endure the torture that Christ suffered at the hands of evil men and then p...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. When William McKinley was President of the United States, he was called upon to appoint an ambassador to a foreign country. As he was considering which man to appoint, he recalled an incident that helped him to decide.  Years previously, he had boarded a streetcar during rush hour, and an elderly woman got on, carrying a heavy basket. No one...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. Have you ever said something harsh or condescending toward someone only later, to wish you could take back your words? James says, “Let every man be slow to speak.” Mary Davies wrote: If I had known what trouble you were bearing, What griefs were in the silence of your face; I would have been more gentle and more caring, And tried to give you...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. Some of the greatest missionaries of history devotedly spread the seed of God’s Word and yet had to wait long periods before seeing the fruit of their efforts. William Carey, for example, labored 7 years before the first Hindu convert was brought to Christ in Burma. Adoniram Judson toiled 7 years before his faithful preaching was rewarded. In...

Welcome to Daily Growth Point, I’m Pastor John Bingham. In the Old Testament, the most prominent Hebrew word for peace is “Shalom.” It is used as a common greeting for many Hebrews. Yet, this word is wide in its application. But no matter the situation, the presence of “shalom” was not considered an outcome of human endeavor, but as a gift or blessing of God. God said in Isaiah, “I make peace.” Th...