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Cornerstone Communications
Korea
March 18, 2008

Newsletter Contents

1. Greetings
2. VIDEO
3. Teaching for March…GET REAL!
4. Text from the Video (for those who’d rather read)
5. Closing

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Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Seoul, Korea! I have been here for 10 days, and this has been a call to the wilderness. The production here was cancelled, due to budgetary constraints, leaving me without a purpose to be here, and worse, without a place to live. However, God has been faithful. I have met an assortment of ministry leaders and pastors who, had the show NOT been cancelled, I would never have gotten contacts (and thus, invitations) to China, North Korea, Vietnam and India. Indeed, God is Good!

VIDEO MESSAGE

MARCH TEACHING

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 see how they 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.

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.

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? Many Christians 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, “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, a 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, a 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.

VIDEO TEXT

Coming to Brazil was a dream come true. I had always wanted to visit this beautiful South American country, and here was my chance.

Carnival was just gearing up, the people and the entire country were in a party mood, and so costumes and festivities were everywhere.

Brazil is charming, but it’s also very poor. Much poorer than I expected. The promised support from the host never materialized, leaving me with the responsibility of financially carrying the production, something that is the job of the local church. The question was, “Do I continue alone? Or do I give up and take a one month holiday?”

The answer was clear. Brazil needs Jesus. So, I would proceed forward.. alone, with the help of a few very poor local pastors.

I got to work with some very eager actors, and they were excited to be involved in such a project.

Many of my actors had not only been in a theatrical production before, they had never even been to a theatre before!

That didn’t hold them back. I found my actors to be funny and very dramatic in the way they presented themselves. Brazilians are good actors!

The Lord had heard our prayer and had provided us with a beautiful theatre, the convention center theatre of Recife, but how would we pay for it? The Lord would have to make a way.

Rehearsals continued, and I pushed my actors beyond their comfort level. They were used to small church skits.

This was a huge full scale theatrical production. But they came through, and did a remarkable job.

Soon, the word was out, and there were posters everywhere, radio interviews and advertisements were heard daily.newspapers were doing articles, and even television interviews ensued. No doubt about it, there was a large theatrical event in town!

With sets being built, it was time to move into the theatre. The actors lent a helping hand to get the truck loaded.

The theatre would only allow us to set up during the night, so at midnight, the actors worked from midnight to 6 a.m. and they worked hard. We worked all the next day too, as it was the day of the show.

We had one run through late in the afternoon, and now it was almost time for the curtain to go up! Were we ready? Everyone was nervous.

But when the curtain went up, the audience was shocked at the professionalism and beauty of the sets, the curtains, the costumes, and yes, even the actors! I enjoy watching the audience’s reaction, but I think I was too caught up in the miracle of the moment. The Lord has transformed these poor people from the poorest parts of Brazil into a group of beautiful actors. The audience was spellbound, and got caught up in the story. More importantly, the Holy Spirit was at work, touching the hearts of those in attendance. Suddenly, all the funds spent on this production were all worth it. The actors were proud of the sets they had built, and were part of something great. God came through once again.

After the production, we had an altar call and I spoke to the audience, challenging them. We saw hundreds of people whose lives were impacted after the show.

The Holy Spirit is no respecter of men, and the audience loved the show and the actors. Who could believe these were just simple everyday people?

Afterwards, the cast posed for pictures, like usual, but this time, I could feel that they would never be the same. What a miracle.

I posed with friends, and thanked everyone for their hard work, especially Pastor Jonas, an amazing man, who although he has little, he pours his heart into the work of the ministry.

It was time for me to leave Recife. I don’t know when I’ll be back, but I look forward to seeing the work that the Lord began on this trip.

I am thankful to many people who made this show possible, but truly there was one that I praise the Lord for, Pastor Jonas for his untiring effort. Without him, this show would’ve never materialized.

I flew out of Brazil, and landed in Atlanta, then on to Dallas. It was great to be home!

From here, I went straight into auditions for the Military show we’ll be taking to Korea in August. I was tired, but happy. We did preliminary casting, and then met with the new actors, and talked about “our mission” to Korea to bless our military men and women. We were all excited to see what the Lord would do through us.

The next day, I left for Seoul. I found out the show in Korea has been cancelled, due to budgetary constraints. I had prayed, and felt I should go anyway. To what, I don’t know, but the Lord does. I was met by dear friends, David and Gretle and Sasha from Ukraine. We immediately went into prayer, trusting God for what He’s going to do here in Korea.

Chuk Bok Hamnida!

That is Korean for “God Bless You!” I praise the Lord for those of you that the Lord has called to pray for me and for this ministry. It’s tremendously fruitful, but with that come an assortment of attacks that the enemy uses to discourage me. However, God is faithful, and when we trust and follow Him, we’ll ultimately gain the victory, because He is the Champion of the World! Whatever you’re going through, remember, “If God is for you, who dare be against you?” God bless you!

For the Kingdom,
Richard Montez