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Cornerstone Communications
USA
June 06, 2005

Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Glen Rose, Texas! You'll recall in my last letter we had just performed a show in Arlington, Texas. That was two weeks ago. Well, this weekend, we opened "The Promise" here in Glen Rose, and what a two weeks it has been! Two shows OPENED, ONE MORE TO GO! I begin a July 4th patriotic production this week.

Production Update

"The Promise" in Glen Rose is the beautiful story of a grandfather telling his two grandchildren about Jesus Christ, when suddenly; the story comes to life behind him. The production is filled with beautiful costumes, beautiful sets, wonderful lights, and great special effects. The cast is made up of some very godly, and very talented artists. I'm privileged to be the director for this, our 17th season.

We have been in rehearsals, but as we rehearsed, some disgruntled cast members dropped out of the show just a few days before the show, leaving us having to replace them at the last minute. We didn't have anyone to play the role of Jesus, so I invited my friend from Port Elizabeth, South Africa, Herman Potgieter to come and be a part of the production. He has graciously stepped in and has done a beautiful job just TWO DAYS before Opening Night!

Curtain Call on Friday- Opening Nite of "The Promise"

Unseemingly... A Miracle!

Opening Night we had serious sound problems, and of course, there is no way to view this except negatively. However, this would turn out to be a praise report! The sound was so severe, that on Opening Night, I made the decision to stop the show in the middle of Act I to fix whatever the problem was. The crowd was very kind, and showed their support. One lady came and stood by the sound board, but when she was asked how she could be helped, she simply said she had come to pray, and then went and got a group of people together to pray!

As we searched for the problem, we found that it was in fact a faulty air conditioner which cooled the dimmer packs for the theatrical lighting. The air conditioner had frozen over, and wasn't cooling the dimmer packs, which overheated to a dangerous level, and was affecting the reception of the microphones.

Had we not had the mic problems, we would have continued with the show, and the dimmers would have "blown", leaving us without any lights for the remainder of the evening, the next show on Saturday and even the next week! We would have had to replace them, which is very, very expensive, and have to re-wire the entire lighting system.

In rehearsals last week, doing last minute staging for The Promise.

So, God was trying to get our attention! I praise the Lord for that sound fiasco on Opening Night, which turned out to be a blessing indeed! Best of all, the audience rallied to our side, and were gracious in their comments. There's something in human nature that cheers when they see someone trying to overcome a serious problem and succeed. After the show, many people came and exclaimed how much they loved the show, inspire of the sound problems! Praise the Lord for a great audience, who ministered to us more than we ministered to them!

Be Real!

We are living in a very real world: filled with very real problems and very real anxieties. How can we be a blessing to those around us? The world is looking for authentic Christians living in this same world, and look to us to see how they should also cope. Does that obligate us to be perfect? Well, yes, as we strive to be like Jesus, but at the same time, we must be who we are…. OURSELVES.

There are two kinds of Christians: Those who are so excited to know Jesus Christ that the only people they know are others who go to the same church, believe in the same things, and who listen to the same type of music as they do. They don't want to mix with the world around them.

One of the scenes from Final Dress of "The Promise", the Triumphal Entry of Jesus into Jerusalem.

Then there are those who have become so comfortable with the world around them, that they never tell their co-workers and friends about their relationship with Jesus, and thus miss an opportunity to share their faith with some people in their hour of desperation. We are unable to be real and authentic.

If we could take "existence" and boil it down to one concept, it would be this: There are two kingdoms — the kingdom of light and the kingdom of darkness. Everyday the kingdom of darkness tries to take people from the kingdom of light, and bring them into the kingdom of darkness. Simultaneously, the kingdom of light is trying to take people from the kingdom of darkness and bring them into the kingdom of light.

The real world is where God's people live and work and is very different from church. The world is simply being itself! It wants to live in darkness, and destroy the foundations of the kingdom of light: prayer, morals, ethics, family, etc. Psalms 11:3 says, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" In other words, it's being ITSELF. It's being "Anti-Christian". We Christians get so mad at Hollywood for what they promote. Yet, we diligently go to see every movie under the marquee! They're just being who they were made to be, the kingdom of darkness.

Laying the master track for the show, Randy Davis (Pilate), me, Peter Weisenburger (Grandfather) and Herman Potgieter (Jesus) lay a few vocal tracks to "fill" some songs.

My question is: Are we doing OUR PART? The world is expanding the kingdom of darkness. Are we as Born Again Believers expanding the Kingdom of Light? Are we sharing our faith with others? Are we telling people about our relationship with Jesus Christ? It's okay to curse the darkness, but it's better to light a candle!

This is our greatest moment as Christians! The values of this world have failed, and many people are hurting. The truth is: many unsaved desperately need an answer from God, yet they have no one who can share that with them. So, they feel alone. Ironically, right beside them is a Born Again Christian with answers, but scared to death to "offend" someone, so they don't share their faith. How sad. They're working and living together, but yet a huge gap keeps them spiritually apart.

One person recently told me when we talked about sharing our faith, "Well, that's just not me. I would be a hypocrite to be anything other that what I am. I'm not a perfect Christian." Of course you're not! Who said you had to be perfect to share your faith? As I thought about this, this thought came to my mind, "A hypocrite is someone who pretends to be something they're not. So if we're children of God, then we should act as His children and tell the world about our Daddy. That is to BE REAL. To not share Christ is to be a hypocrite." 1 Peter 2:9 says, "But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people; that you should SHOW FORTH the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into his marvelous light."

If this is what the Lord says of us, then we are being hypocrites if we DON'T tell people about Jesus and declare His praise! So, the best thing you can do is to be REAL. Be yourself, as God sees you, and tell real people in a real world about the REAL TRUTH! Let's lead authentic Christian lives and be guided by the Holy Spirit, so that we can be real in a real world of hurts.

See Y'all Later!

I praise the Lord for you my friends! In my last letter, I was overwhelmed with all of the responses! I am grateful to have so many friends who love and support this ministry, as we minister around the world, and yes, I even try to minister HERE in the good ol' U.S. of A.! God bless you, my friends!

For the Kingdom,
Richard Montez