Religion Today: Corinthian Leather
Guest Writer Spotlight: Richard Lewis
Jesse brought his tall and impressive sons to Samuel and the God told Samuel:
1st Samuel 16:7 “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.'”
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Those of us that are old enough to remember back to the 1970s remember that in that era Chrysler introduced a new smaller luxury model called the Cordoba. To promote the car, Chrysler’s created television ads featuring the prominent Latin Actor Ricardo Montalban. In the ads Montalban boasted about the Cordoba’s many luxurious features including the “soft Corinthian leather” seats. The way it rolled off his tongue sounded so wonderful it made the car seem like it literally dripped with luxury, comfort and prestige. Consequently, Chrysler dealers had customers lined up to buy the car and almost every buyer ordered the optional “Corinthian leather” seats. From 1975 through to 1990 Corinthian leather was available on a number of Chrysler models.
The history of the term “Corinthian leather” gets a bit cloudy. Some believe that the term was originally coined by Montalban himself who loved to ad lib his lines. Another story has it that the Chrysler advertising execs came up with the term. The bottom line was that the leather did not come from the Greek city of Corinth, or anywhere else in Europe but it reportedly came from a plant in Newark, New Jersey. However, this little deception didn’t prevent the Leather and the Cordoba from becoming a huge marketing hit. Nobody knew or cared what Corinthian Leather was but that it literally dripped of luxury and they wanted a car equipped with it!
I guess that we all want to have a life that has substance – something that is more than a clever marketing ploy. Are we men and women of integrity and spiritual depth or is it all a marketing facade like Corinthian Leather. Does our public image we cloth ourselves in really align with who we are in private before God? This is really what growth is all about. We become on the outside what God is building up in on the inside and not the other way around. We concentrate on taking little baby steps of going in the right direction towards our loving Savior and concentrating on growth in Him.
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We reach a point where we realize that we will never be a Nobel Peace Prize winner, a millionaire, a famous heart surgeon or a famous race car driver. The reality sets in that our most worthy goal must be to become more like the one who gave Himself for us on the cross. Yes, we are flawed and we will never be perfect but we can seek to allow God to grow us so that we are not the same tomorrow as we were today. The beauty of that is we can encourage others in their growth at the same time that God helps us to grow. We are called to a higher calling than the surgeon or the millionaire. We are called to point others to God and help them be more than just Corinthian Leather but instead whole and faithful servants of the Living God.
Ephesians 4:1 “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.”
Richard Lewis is a graduate of Arizona State University (Advertising) and California Baptist University (Computer Information Systems). Richard and his wife Sue met while they served as staff members at Campus Crusade for Christ for 8 years in the 1970’s. Richard served in the Campus Ministry at University of Texas at El Paso, Louisiana Tech and at the International Headquarters in San Bernardino, California.
Following their ministry in Campus Crusade Richard was the owner and manager of a bicycle shop in Riverside California for 19 years. After retraining in the computer field at California Baptist University, Richard worked as a Information Systems contractor and employee at Boeing for 17 years. Richard has written over 150 published articles in Information Systems and Computing publications including Windows Magazine and Windows Scripting Solutions. Richard has served in a leadership role as a Deacon and Elder in several churches as well as being a meditation presenter and Men’s Ministry coordinator.
Richard has written hundreds of meditations and devotionals that have been used in church and small group meetings. Many of these have been published in The Upper Room and Racers For Christ publications and on their web sites.
In 2021 Richard published a collection of his devotionals. These are available in a Kindle and paperback format on Amazon (ISBN 979-8705738878) “Life Stories to Uplift and Encourage”.
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Trevor Montgomery, 49, moved in 2017 to the Intermountain area of Shasta County from Riverside County and runs Riverside County News Source (RCNS) and Shasta County News Source (SCNS).
Additionally, he writes or has written for several other news organizations; including Riverside County-based newspapers Valley News, Valley Chronicle, Anza Valley Outlook, and Hemet & San Jacinto Chronicle; the Bonsall/Fallbrook Village News in San Diego County; and Mountain Echo in Shasta County. He is also a regular contributor to Thin Blue Line TV and Law Enforcement News Network and has had his stories featured on news stations throughout the Southern California and North State regions.
Trevor spent 10 years in the U.S. Army as an Orthopedic Specialist before joining the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department in 1998. He was medically retired after losing his leg, breaking his back, and suffering both spinal cord and brain injuries in an off-duty accident. (Click here to see segment of Discovery Channel documentary of Trevor’s accident.)
During his time with the sheriff’s department, Trevor worked at several different stations; including Robert Presley Detention Center, Southwest Station in Temecula, Hemet/Valle Vista Station, Ben Clark Public Safety Training Center, and Lake Elsinore Station; along with other locations.
Trevor’s assignments included Corrections, Patrol, DUI Enforcement, Boat and Personal Water-Craft based Lake Patrol, Off-Road Vehicle Enforcement, Problem Oriented Policing Team, and Personnel/Background Investigations. He finished his career while working as a Sex Crimes and Child Abuse Investigator and was a court-designated expert in child abuse and child sex-related crimes.
Trevor has been married for more than 30 years and was a foster parent to more than 60 children over 13 years. He is now an adoptive parent and his “fluid family” includes 13 children and 18 grandchildren.