Anointed in Business: R.G. LeTourneau

Business 101

Preconceived Notions will KEEP You From the Promised Land

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!" 2 Cor 5:17 "We have the mind of Christ." 1 Cor 2:16

As long as we "think" things have to "be" a certain way- we are limiting God's ability to do GREAT THINGS.

"Yesterday is history, tomorrow a mystery... TODAY is a gift and that is why we call it the Present."

I am sure that you have heard the above statement before. The whole quote reads: "The clock is running. Make the most of today. Time waits for no man. Yesterday is history. Tomorrow is a mystery. Today is a gift. That's why it is called the present." It was written by Alice Morse Earle in the year 1902.

Today, in prayer the thought came to me: "Preconceived notions will keep you from The Promised Land." What a concept, what a truth! As long as we "think" things have to "be" a certain way- we are limiting God's ability to do GREAT THINGS.

America Will NEVER Be the Same

After the September 11 attack to America in 2001, America PERMANENTLY changed. Our policies, our families, our memories, our ideas, our Government-even our travel. Where would we be today as a Nation, if we would have "just ignored the incident" and held on to a preconceived notion that America had not changed at all? I tell you where we would be! We would be severely handicapped, prideful, and ignorant! Things permanently changed, and thankfully-rather than bury our heads in the sand "remembering the good ole days", we adapted to a new way of doing things. Many people began to walk in a new confidence, a new faith, a new determination, a new pride, and a new kind of grief-a grief of compassion over complete strangers.

What is America's "Promise Land"? A land full of HOPE, COMPASSION and UNDERSTANDING. I believe we came closer to this after 2001, due to the fact that the administration at the time-gave up on any and all preconceived notions, and began to "usher in a new era".

R.G. LeTourneau's machines represented nearly 70 percent of the earthmoving equipment and Engineering vehicles used during World War II, and he was responsible for nearly 300 patents.

R.G. LeTourneau..."God's Businessman"...

Robert Gilmour LeTourneau (November 30, 1888–June 1, 1969), born in Richford, Vermont, was a prolific inventor of earth moving machinery. His machines represented nearly 70 percent of the earthmoving equipment and Engineering vehicles used during World War II, and he was responsible for nearly 300 patents. With the help of his wife, the former Evelyn Peterson (1900-1987), he founded what became a private, Christian university, LeTourneau University, in Longview, Texas, and was known as a devoted Christian and generous philanthropist to Christian causes, including to a camp and conference grounds that carry his name, "LeTourneau Christian Center." He was sometimes called, "God's businessman."

Traditional education held little interest for R.G. LeTourneau, and in 1902, at the age of fourteen, he left school, with the blessing, but concern, of his Christian parents. He moved from Vermont to Duluth, Minnesota, then to Portland,Oregon, where he began to work as an apprentice ironmonger at the East Portland Iron Works. While learning the foundry and machinist trades, he studied mechanics from an International Correspondence Schools course that had been given to him, though he never completed any course assignments. He later moved to San Francisco, where he was employed at the Yerba Buena Power Plant and learned welding skills and became familiar with the application of electricity. In 1909, he moved toStockton, California. During this time, LeTourneau worked at a number of jobs including wood cutter, farm hand, miner and carpenter’s laborer, acquiring a sound knowledge of the manual trades that would prove invaluable in later life.

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Letourneau held many respected positions throughout his life as a Christian layman, including as a leader in the Christian & Missionary Alliance Church, president of the Christian Business Men's Committee (CBMC) and president of the Gideons International. Being a man of great Christian commitment and dedication, for 30 years he flew thousands of miles each week to maintain Christian speaking engagements around the United States and overseas.

LeTourneau was a firm believer in the effectiveness of practical instruction combined with classroom studies; and, in 1946, he purchased an unused military hospital, accompanying land and buildings in Longview. There he established the LeTourneau Technical Institute at the site of the former Harmon General Hospital to provide sound technical and mechanical training, traditional college courses, and training for missionary technicians, based on the philosophy of combining work, education and Christian testimony. The LeTourneau Technical Institute became a college in its own right, in 1961, and eventually gained "university" status to become LeTourneau University. Today, the university is a busy and growing institution, offering degrees in engineering, aeronautical sciences and liberal arts, along with a strong Christian influence, including three times weekly compulsory chapel attendance for students.

Throughout his career, he was the recipient of more than 30 awards and honors related to engineering, manufacturing and the development of heavy equipment. In 1936, he was presented with the "Appreciation of Service Achievement 1931-1935," by Six Companies Incorporated for supplying earthmoving equipment to the "Boulder Dam" project. Recognition of service to the earthmoving industry later came from many other contractors in the industry, and, in February 1958, LeTourneau was presented with the "Beavers Award" at the third-annual awards dinner of the Beavers, an association of leaders in the heavy construction industry. In presenting the award to LeTourneau, Beaver president George H. Atkinson, of the highly respected U.S. contractors, Guy F. Atkinson Company, of San Francisco, said, "There is hardly any place in the vast industry that has not benefited through the products of Mr. LeTourneau's inventive genius."

In 1953, LeTourneau began a development project in the country of Liberia, West Africa, with the diverse goals of colonization, land development, agricultural development, livestock introduction, evangelism and philanthropic activities. In 1954, a colonization project with similar objectives to those in Liberia was established in the country of Peru, South America.

He was awarded the Frank P. Brown Medal in 1956.

LeTourneau Could Not Have Come Up With 300 Patents By Thinking About "The Way Things USED to Be" He DOMINATED His Field With the MIND OF CHRIST

Just about EVERY earth moving vehicle you see today was originally developed by R.G. LeTourneau. If the ENTIRE mover wasn't invented by him-some system ON IT was. How do we operate in the marketplace like LeTourneau or Rockefeller? WE FOLLOW GOD AND HIS INSTRUCTION, AND WE ELIMINATE ALL PREVIOUS NOTIONS. PREVIOUS NOTIONS WILL K E E P US FROM THE PROMISED LAND.

May God continue to bless you with witty inventions and new and creative ideas!

 

 

Jessica Heilman is the Founder of Wholehearted Ministries and is also mom to The Cookie Boys. Jessica has been a student of Psychology, Philosophy and Theology for nearly 25 years. Jessica founded WHM in 2008 while in Bible College. Jessica and her husband Jeff have been married 21 years. Jeff and Jessica live in the Silicon Valley with their seven children and their dog Kennedy.


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