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Cornerstone Communications
Korea
November 14, 2009

Newsletter Contents

1. Greetings
2. VIDEO
3. Teaching for November - Running the Race
4. Text from the Video (for those who would rather read)
5. Closing

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Dear Friends and Family,

Greetings from Anson City, South Korea! In the short three weeks I have been here, I have watched the trees go from lush green, to multi-colored, and finally, as I'm preparing to leave (no pun intended) , I see the trees raining glorious colors. Korea is a beautiful place to be, especially in the fall. In that same amount of time, we've been working pretty hard getting the actors ready, the production crews ready, and promotion ready for Christmas. We have to. I leave for Dallas, and have to have everything ready for them, so that they can work while I'm in Dallas for the next 3 weeks preparing the Americans! Watch the short 4 minute video report.

VIDEO MESSAGE

NOVEMBER TEACHING

Running the Race

Recently my good friend and accountability partner, Pastor Tim Holland, asked me how I was doing spiritually. I told him that I was doing well. Many Christians, however, are having a tough time keeping their thoughts focused on the things of God. I have found a solution that works for me, and that is to always keep before me a project that I simply could not achieve without God’s intervention. Suddenly I find myself careful to give God praise, and staying absolutely pure before Him!

As I have traveled around and done shows in many countries recently, I have seen God mightily at work. I also realize that this is only the beginning. God is going to start doing so much more to bring in the Harvest in these last days. However, before He can give us greater responsibility, there is something we believers must do. We must deal with the sin in our lives. Our society downplays sin. Sadly, the church has done the same. Over the years, we have allowed ourselves to become casual about sin. We have treated it lightly. But now, we must realize that sin is not a trivial thing. Sin is serious. Why? Because it causes death.

Some reading this will probably think, “He is not talking about me. I am born again and filled with the Holy Spirit.” You, my friend, are the very one I am talking to. I am not talking about huge sins, such as sexual sins, drugs, murder, etc. I am talking about our tongue. Our tongue is behind the small lies, or our temper, or compromise. Most Christians do not usually fall into sin in one day. They allow themselves to harden their heart and thus to stagnate in their walk with the Lord. Oh, they still go to church and know the right time to say amen or hallelujah, but inside they have grown cold because of what these little sins have done to their heart. This coldness of heart then opens the door to more sin.

When you realize how serious sin actually is, you will see how crucial it is that we stop tolerating it and start ridding ourselves of it completely. How? First of all, by getting honest. By putting away all our excuses and calling sin exactly what it is �" SIN. We do not like to associate that word with our holy walk. We will instead substitute the term with I have this problem. This phrase actually means, I cannot help myself. I am a victim of circumstance. That is not true! Whenever we sin, we do so by choice. Otherwise it would not be fair of God to require us to repent.

Our flesh is our biggest enemy. It, not the devil, is the only thing that can keep us from experiencing a victorious life in Jesus. Galatians 5:16 tells us how we can conquer this enemy of the flesh, But I say, walk and live in the Holy Spirit, then you will certainly not gratify the cravings and desires of the flesh. Some people think to walk in the spirit means to have some kind of mystical lifestyle and float around in spiritual la-la land. No, rather, to walk in the spirit simply means to yield yourself to and obey the promptings of your heart instead of the pressure of your flesh.

When your spirit tells your flesh to pray for the one who wronged you, your flesh will scream, Pray? I want to punch his lights out! That is because our flesh is not born again! It is ungodly. And no matter how many scriptures you can quote or how long you can pray, it is still going to be in conflict with your spirit. So, everyday, you will have to choose which one to yield to: the spirit of the flesh?

One of your greatest allies in helping you make the right decision is Discipline. That is not a very popular topic with anyone! Most of us want to do whatever we want whenever we want to do it. But a large part of being a spiritual person is being a disciplined person. When the Bible says, Crucify the flesh (Galatians 5:24) and Putting to death the evil deeds prompted by the body (Romans 8:13) , it is saying, Discipline yourself. Do not let your flesh do what it wants to.

There is no lazy way to live in victory over sin. Walking in the spirit is a disciplined lifestyle! Paul likens it to training for athletic competition. In I Corinthians 9:24-27 he says …. All the runners compete, but only one gets the prize… There is no doubt about it, this is a strenuous race we are running. Every day we face conflicts, times when our spirit tells us to obey God and our flesh is screaming at us to sin. It does not matter how many people are praying for you, or how much you love God…. If you want to win the prize, you will have to learn to make the right choices. You can turn your back on sin and live a holy life, according to His Word. You can choose to walk with God every day of your life, by living according to His Holy Spirit. Then, at the end, you will receive an eternal crown of glory that will make your race worth every step. And even better than that, you will enjoy a life of Victory today!

VIDEO TEXT

I flew back to my home away from home, South Korea. I am in dual preparation for a Christmas show in Anson, South Korea, and one in Colleyville, Texas in the United States. I arrived in Seoul, and my Korean actors hugged me, and took me out for a welcome home dinner. They are wonderful!

It would be a busy 3 weeks, so we went into serious rehearsals, and the actors were ready. They had learned their music while I was gone, and so they were prepared to work. We do not just prepare artistically, we also prepare spiritually, as we know that the production will yield souls. Koreans are well known for their ability to pray, and they do!

Korea is a land of extravagance, from the wide variety of stores to the huge variety of shoes. Women would love this place! Just look at the selection! Rehearsals continued and I taught the actors their blocking, or staging. On Sundays, I attended my home church away from home, Yoido Full Gospel church. I feel the presence of the Lord in this Sea of Believers. Afterwards, I met my old friend, Mrs. Cho, wife of Yonggi Cho. Also pictured is friend and producer for our production, David Cho. I also met the new pastor taking Pastor Yonggi Chos place, Senior Pastor Yonghoon Lee. He has seen past productions, so he knew me already, and we'll continue to work together in the future as Dr. Cho and I have worked these past 5 years.

While in Korea, I had a little leisure time to go and see old parts of Korea with my friends, as well as see the newer parts of Korea, and the toys that Koreans know so well that we in the west have seldom or have never seen. I spent time with my actors, who have a penchant for staging the most mundane things! What a bunch of hams! I also had dinner with my host pastor from Ukraine, Pastor Constantin Maximov, his assistant and my friend, Alexander, and their wives. They are here for CGI, the Church Growth Institute, which trains pastors around the world to be more effective.

More rehearsals, and also, we began our promotions. Posters were printed, and began going up around the city, as well as radio interviews and television interviews. By night, we were in rehearsals with the actors, learning dances and movements, but by day, we were spending time at the theatre, the Anson Arts and Cultural Center. It is a brand new, spectacular center, with a huge stage that raises and lowers, and state-of-the-art lighting and sound. The inside of the theatre boasts some 1300 luxury seats and 2 balconies. It is a dream place to do a production.

I began working with the dancers of the show. There are special numbers for the actors to move, but then there are the more technical numbers which requires real dancers, and the dancers were just great. Korea is full of very talented young people eager to use their skills for the Lord.

I am so grateful to my hosts and producers, friends Yang Jung Won and Cho Il Hwan who are doing a great job producing this huge effort. We had finished staging and choreography, now the cast and crew can work with out me while I fly home to begin working with the American cast. I have to start all over again! Pray for me! I hugged everyone here in Korea goodbye and flew on to the U.S.

Chuk Bok Hamnida

That is Korean for God bless you. I am happy to be back in the U.S., but I already miss my Korean family. They are wonderful. Right now we are busy in Dallas preparing the actors for a beautiful show that's going to reach thousands upon thousands with the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Please pray that the Lord will favor us to bring His word to so many lost. Oh, and to my American friends: Happy Thanksgiving! God bless you!

For the Kingdom,
Richard Montez