Dr. Jim Richards

God provided a testimony of His Son, the Messiah. Some of it was through types and shadows, some were written in detail, and of course, there were prophecies that gave graphic details of things He would do. He has gone to incredible lengths to make Himself known to us, prepare us to recognize Jesus when He comes the first and second time, and understand how we should live if we want to have the be...

God has very specific goals for everything He has ever said or done. Those goals never change. They were established before the foundations of the world! When we align ourselves with His goals, life becomes effortless. This is what Jesus described as “taking His yoke.” Paul described it as getting in step with the Holy Spirit. Join me this week to discover God’s Goal for Your Life and how He has m...

Since we know the law is good unless we use it unlawfully, maybe before we declare our opinion about it, we should discover what God says is “unlawful use!” When we use the law unlawfully, we exalt our works above the works of the Lord Jesus. We reject what He did for what we can do. This may well be one of the most blasphemous actions well-meaning Christians ignorantly engage in! Once we understa...

There is one final source to whom we must go to evaluate all our beliefs, doctrines, and personal opinions: the Lord Jesus Christ! He is the only person qualified to help us understand God’s true intentions. When He becomes our source, confusion evaporates; the veil is removed from our minds. We see clearly! Join me this week in CyberChurch as we consider the final authority on all things. This wi...

No one looks at anything and sees it exactly as it is. We don’t actually see with our eyes; we see with our brain. It might be better said, our brain interprets what we see, hear, and experience. Jesus actually identified this very issue as one of the few things that could make the Word of God completely powerless in our lives. Join me this week in CyberChurch as we discover how our views concerni...

The cancer to our faith is what the Bible calls condemnation. When we feel condemned, we expect punishment. Sometimes we experience guilt because of our behavior, and sometimes we have no clue. It doesn’t matter what the source is, condemnation is crippling. Join me this week as we discuss the work of the Holy Spirit Who witnesses to our hearts to pull us out of these times of guilt and shame!

One of the greatest lies religion has ever told us is how hard it is to win our family and friends to Jesus. That is absolutely not true. In fact, they may be the people that will be the easiest to reach. The problem is that we don’t know how to reach them. Join me this week and we’ll discuss Have the Right Answers. I can promise you, if you have the right answers, anyone is easy to reach. But the...

The world needs to see Jesus but they can’t unless we show them. We are called to love people the same way Jesus loved them. When they experience God’s love from God’s people, we won’t have to ask them if they want to know God, they will ask us to tell them about the God we know. Join me this week as we discuss how experiencing God’s perfect love makes us love like Jesus!

Jesus said, “It is more blessed to give than to receive!” Evidently, we don’t really believe that. When faced with crisis or hardship our first thought is, “God needs to do something. He needs to give me what I need!” If we believed it is better to give than receive, we might actually pray, “Father, help me to freely give that which I need to others who are in need.” When Jesus was in need, He alw...

How is it possible that anyone could confuse love with narcissism? It’s something that probably happens every day in millions of marriages, when someone looks into the eyes of their spouse and says, “If you love me you’ll do……!” In our corrupt world, we have somehow come to believe that love is when someone does something for us and we are not expected to respond. This is the way far too many beli...

God has a goal in everything He does for us. That goal is to draw us into a deep personal connection with Him through the Lord Jesus so that we can have heaven on earth. He also has a motive for everything He does. His motive is to express the incredible value He has for you. The word “love” in the original language means to value, to hold in high regard, and to consider precious. That is what He...

God is The God of Truth! His truth is eternal; it doesn't change with time or circumstances. Knowing the dependability of God’s truth gives us confidence in times of trouble. It shines light into the mysteries of life. Hidden in the Hebrew language are secrets that help us understand the depth and riches of God’s truth. Join me this week as we discuss the Eternal Nature of God’s Truth.

I often hear great messages about love driving out all fear. But that’s not what the Scripture actually says. It says that PERFECT love casts out fear! It seems the one thing that is seldom clarified in these messages is, “What is perfect love?” Join me this week as I begin a new series entitled, The Power of Perfect Love. This series will affect every area of your walk with God and your relations...

Sometimes it seems that our faith has been reduced to intellectual assent. We are not opposed to the Word of God, yet it isn’t producing power in our lives! Even when our mind agrees with the Word of God we find that our faith isn’t alive and powerful. The Apostle Paul tells us that our faith must be activated to be effective. Join me this week in CyberChurch and discover the secret to activating...

We cannot fully grasp or exercise faith for what Jesus did on the cross beyond our understanding of the Feasts of Israel. The Bible says Jesus is our Passover Lamb. So what does that mean? Understanding Jesus as our Passover Lamb is the starting place for our entire journey with God. Everything about walking with God hinges on our knowledge of Jesus as our Passover. Join me this week in CyberChurc...

Is the Bible contradicting itself when it tells me there is no fear in God’s perfect love, but then tells me all the benefits of having the fear of the Lord? So, am I supposed to be afraid of God or not? Religion has always used fear as a means of coercing believers into serving God. But it never produces the kind of peace and joy promised to the believer. In the original language of the Bible, it...

The Bible describes Six Sources of Fear; each one has its own deceptive, destructive properties. More than one source of fear can happen without us even realizing that we are initiating it, yet the consequences are equally destructive. To discover the Six Sources of Fear and the one solution that can overcome them, join me this week in CyberChurch.

Sometimes we are simply afraid to trust God. We are afraid He’ll let us down; we’re afraid of His rejection; we’re afraid we are not worthy. The list is endless. How did we get so afraid of God? It’s all pretty easy. We believed a lie! Join me this week in CyberChurch as we consider the freedom to let God know we are afraid in “Help, I’m Afraid.” Then we can take the crucial first step in moving p...

The Bible tells us to draw near to God with boldness in our time of need. For most of us, our time of need is when we’re about to “mess up,” or we have just “messed up.” In these times, we need to know how to recover our peace with God, and move our hearts back into our legal standing “in Jesus.” The Bible calls this drawing near to God. But, incredibly, He shows us how to do that in a way that fr...

God has promised He will never leave us, never fail us, and never forsake us. This means when we feel distant from God, it is never Him who has drawn back from us. When we feel distance, it is always us that have drawn away from God. We don’t need to grovel or beg to reconnect with God. Join me this week in CyberChurch as we discuss Loving God, and I will help you discover God’s prescription for c...

Religion has led us to believe that God required offerings in the Old Testament, but that is not true. If that were the case, He would have been no different than the pagan gods. The Hebrew word translated as offerings actually means to draw near. The worshiper of Jehovah was not attempting to appease Him so He would come close to them. Their offerings were designed to influence their hearts, in o...

We were created to be intimately joined to God. In fact, we cannot be “normal” if that connection is lost. In this fast-paced world, filled with distractions, we often feel distant from God. But we know that can’t be real because we are with Him and in Him. But like any relationship, we often experience distance. God has provided clear instructions for how to close that gap and discover our connec...

Jesus said we are the light of the world. We make it possible for people to see God and discover His great goodness. Few people discover how easy it is to use their influence to help others. Join me this week in CyberChurch for “The Power of a Righteous Life,” and discover how you can eternally enrich and influence others.

Religion has led us into a codependent relationship with God, where our every involvement with Him is about trying to get what we need. We are taught to pray about our needs as if He doesn’t see them and needs to be coerced into providing for us! Jesus told us we didn’t need to pray about our needs. He assured us that God deeply desires to meet all our needs. Join me this week in CyberChurch as we...

Righteousness is given to us through a promise. This promise was not given to us individually. It was given to the Lord Jesus Christ by God the Father. We are not recipients of personal righteousness; we are recipients of the righteousness of God, given to Jesus, as part of His inheritance. In fact, we don’t have a personal covenant with God. If we did, we would have to live a perfect life to main...