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Mover Of Men and Mountains
More than 100,000 in print Despite early failures, R. G. LeTourneau rose to eminence in the competitive world of manufacturing and construction. Although his competitors thought him insane, history has proved that his inventive genius was decades ahead of its time. His combination of enterprise and Christian commitment led to his sponsoring many works involving missions and education, including LeTourneau College, a Christian liberal arts and technical school in Longview, Texas. Through a lifetime of business ventures, this engineering genius put faith into action and reaped big rewards. Movers of Men and Mountains is the story of how an engineering genius put faith into action and reaped big rewards.
320 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 1967
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
January 16, 2024
Loved it. His ups and downs were way up and way down, but he kept marching forward - ever trying to put God first. Inspiring.
September 30, 2018
"Yet I never got past the seventh grade in school. At the age of 30 my garage had failed and I was $5,000 in debt [2018 equivalent ~$80,000]. At the age of 44 I lost so heavily on contracts that my employees, with more faith in me than I had in myself, took up a collection to get me back on my feet. That was me, working on my own.
If there is no logical explanation of my development of the digger, there is a theological one, available to all of us, includeing the weakest. By accepting God as your partner, no limit can be placed on what can be achieved." (2)
"As one preacher put it, 'God will forgive your sins, all right, but I wouldn't make a policy of going to Heaven raising Hell on the way.'" (3)
"In their [Caterpillar, General Motors, International Harvester, Allis Chalmers, etc.] midst I am the hick from the backwoods of Duluth, but during World War II it was our organization that built over fifty per cent of the earth-moving equipment used in combat." (3)
"Reporters have often asked me, 'Did you start from scratch?' My answer to that is, 'Every time.' . . . Yes, I started from scratch, all right, and was still starting from scratch at the age of fourty-four. And the One who picked me up and started me over with my strength and ambition fully restored is the same Lord and Savior available to all for the asking." (4)
"I can't say I had a wretched childhood, but it could have been a lot happier if I had let it." (10)
"I had one odd experience when I was in the fifth grade. Before that I had always had just enough black marks to overcome the red ones and get me 'passed' from one grade to the next. In my fifith year I suddenly discovered arithmetic made sense. Geography was not just some pink, green, and yellow areas on a map, but real places, perhaps with palm trees instead of snow. And reading - if you read from one paragraph to the next instead of spelling out one word at a time, you could get a lot of fascinating information from books. I was so amazed at this sudden awakening that I read through all the books in the fifth grade and most of the sixth grade's books too." (11) [emphasis added]
"What a lesson that has been to me all my life. Discovering my father's love changed my whole attitude, and chores that I had hated and fought against resentfully, I now did cheerfully because I wanted to serve him. It's like that, only more so, when you discover the Lord." (17)
"The beards didn't deceive me because it was common knowledge among boys that the beards saved the cost of shaving, stiff collars, and neckties while being a great relief to the neck." (23)
"'But better a poor steam engine that runs than a good one never finished.' . . . Mindful of the old German's warning that an unfinished machine never works, I started contruction on the scraper that night, not even delaying to draw up plans. With my welding torch and plenty of scrap iron I could build a machine faster than I could draw one on paper anyway." (36)
"Which reminds me of the comment of another graduate of the School of Hard Knocks. 'Our school colors are black and blue,' he said grimly, 'and our school yell is "Ouch!"'" (40)
"Twelve years later I was to learn how smug I had been in thinking God was on my side. Ever since then, with His help, I have tried hard to be on His side." (41) // *truth.*
"Folks ask me what difference a man's religion makes as long as he is sincere, and I say it makes a big difference. The Bible says there is no other name under heaven whereby we can be saved but the name of Jesus. Uncle Bob was just as sincere as he could be, and he wouldn't have hurt me, his namesake, for the world, but his sincerity couldn't stop that gas from exploding, nor save me from being in the midst of the explosion . . . Other factors, too, were advanced to account for my unharmed state, but when I was on my knees that night I was not thanking a freak combination of physical laws for my deliverance. I knew I had been saved by the Lord Jesus, and all my thanks were directed to Him." (73) // being both entirely sincere and completely wrong is commonly understood as being sincerely wrong, as many people in the world often are
"Instead of being happy about his [Elmer Jones, a friend of R.G. in the early 1910s] success, however, he felt more and more the urge to do something to improve the living standards of the Chinese, and being a devout Christian, he had felt strongly that the biggest gift he could give them was the Word of God.
'I couldn't lift them up all by myself,' he told us, 'but I knew that if they knew God, He would give them the strength to lift themselves.'" (87) // the only way to do any type of humanitarian work. victims will remain victims if not actively involved in their own recovery.
"Or as I sometimes put it more bluntly, 'It's all right to give God credit, but He can use cash, too.' You know, they say you can't take it with you, but I say you can send it on ahead, and have it waiting to your credit when you get there." (90)
"We [R.G. and Evelyn] took our problem to the Lord, and felt better about it. You know, a lot of people take their problems to the Lord, and get up and walk away, carrying their problems back with them. LIke those who pray for rain, and then go out without an umbrella. If that's all the faith there is, there is not much point in praying. The Lord can't help you if you insist on carrying your problems with you. Leave them with Him, and they are no longer yours but His." (103)
"So I should have been happy. The more hours the job took, the more money I made.
SOmehow I'm not made to think that way. I've heard it called both efficiency and laziness, but when I start a job I instinctively hunt first for the easiest way and then, mindful of Mr. Hill in Portland, the fastest way. 'Don't work hard; just fast.'" (114)
"It may sound like an exaggeration, but I was in my business for five years before I noticed it had started. It was that small." (121)
"You could buy them [the 1922 Fresno automobile] for a song, even with my voice." (124)
"When a man loafs, you can't be sure if he's an idler, a dreamer, or a deep thinkier; when a machine loafs you can be sure the inefficiency is not its fault." (128)
"Both at the start lacked, among other things, the contributions from the other fields of science needed for their development." (131)
"In the end, I was forced to build my own machines to build my own machines, something I still have to do." (136) // lathe wasn't long enough for the axles he was working on.
"You will never improve unless you blame yourself for the troubles you have. Then when you realize your troubles are your own, you can take them to the Lord, and He will give you guidance. Just don't make the mistake of asking Him to believe the other fellow was to blame." (147) // lesson extrapolated from a conversation with Kaiser, of construction fame
"He [Kaiser] was a demon driver, always trying to coax 100 miles an hour out of a boat designed to do half that." (157)
"Back when I was building Kaiser's factory and he was getting ready for the job at Eureka, we had tried to interest a tractor company in building a machine with Diesel power. The amount of interest we aroused was notable for its absence." (158)
"In designing the cable-controlled scraper, I began a practice of working with my engineers that is still in effect. I drew up a plan for the cable controls, and handed it to them. They got out their slide rules and figured out why it wouldn't work. I got my pencil, figured out why it would, and handed it back. I liken it to a chess game in which my engineers will checkmate my moves with every technical trick at their command, or I'l checkmate them with a few moves that aren't always in the books. Back and forth we go, give a little and tak a little. When I've got a good design, I can win in a week. When I've got a poor design, they win, but it takes them longer. That's what makes us unique. We've got the only engineering department in the country where the president of the firm wears out as many erasers in the drafting room as his engineers." (159)
"The only job in sight like that was too big, but I wanted it anyway." (161)
"But I've always been of the opinion that there is no harm in hiring relatives as long as they work twice as hard as anyone else. Another important factor was that in my uncertain progress, with chicken one day and feathers the next, my relatives would go without salary a lot longer than I dared ask of others." (162) // exactly how my parents hired my bro and i to our first jobs at their business
"I was seeing the point, but I had to add, 'But how can he call himself a Christian, and serve as the senior member of the church, and still take the money when it's rightfully mine?'
'Going to church doesn't make a Christian.' I heard, 'unless he goes there with an open heart to seek God.' Then He seemed to say, 'You may take your choice. You may place the case in the hands of your attorney, or you may leave it in My hands.'" (167)
"That night I got down on my knees and gave due thanks to God for His bounty, and for sparing us from the business depression that was sweeping the country. 'And now that the new factory is finished, we'll really do some business. So instead of giving You Your share now, I'll put it all into expanding the busienss, and next year You will get a share to be proud of.'
To what foolish lengths man will let his pride drive him. God does not do business that way. He keeps His promises. When you ask His help, He doesn't answer that He has a lot of pressing things to attend to, so come back next year. His time is now. In the early days the true Chrisitans gave God His share from the first fruits of the crops. They had faith. They didn't wait around to see if the later crops were to be destroyed by locusts or drought. Let God's will be done, and the rewards will be so great there won't be room to store them. But start to hedge, and wait to see how the whole crop turns out before giving God His share, and He knows you as a man of little faith. He sure spotted my flase reasoning in a hurry." (173) // 1 Sam 15:22 - ...to obey is better than sacrifice...
"With a little luck and no floods, I stood to clear better than a half-million dollars for a year's work.
With a little luck! What a false goddess that is for a Christian to call upon when he can know with absolute certainty where he stands when he stands right with God. My trouble was that I hadn't done right with our Lord." (175)
! :D (177-178)
"I won't go so far as to say that the Lord is sending me here, or the Lord is sending me there, or telling me to do this and that. I think we need to walk softly before the Lord, and be sure it isn't our own desires that we mistake for the Lord's voice. But I do firmly believe the Lord can lead us when our hearts are right and receptive to His will." (188)
"When I presented them [big tire companies in the early 1930s] with their own theories on low-pressure tires [R.G. wanted some for his earth movers rather than the traditional steel wheels] as applied to my business, they gave me the usual verdict. I was crazy." (198)
"What could I tell a Chamber of Commerce meeting? I knew also that they thought I was something of a crackpot, with wild ideas about manufacturing with a welding torch, and even wilder ones about being in some kind of partnership with God.
'It's bad enough to have to talk,' I told myself, 'without being pegged as a looney before you open your mouth.'" (202) // if i had read this while attending LU, it might've changed my major
"'We claim to be in partnership with God,' I began, 'but we aren't really. We have a good year, and we give Him a tithe as his share. In the old days a tithe was forced on people, and they had to give ten per cent of their income to God whether they wanted to or not. Now we aren't compelled to give to God. It's all voluntary. The only thing is, when you consier what God has done for us, we ought to do better for Him out of gratitutde than the doubters had to do by law. You get right down to it, and we believers aren't doing a bit more than the doubters had to do in the old days.'" (203)
"'When the Lord has a job for you to do, He'll give you the strength and the ability to do it.'" (206)
"In the meantime, the few brief testimonies I ahd given in Peoria had brought in invitations to speak in adjacent cities. The fact that my own business was growing so fast that I was spending up to 18 hours a day at the shop made it all the more important that I accept the invitations. With the Lord bringing prosperity to my side of the business, certainly I ahd to do all in my power to carry on His work." (211)
"...all I had done was obey one of the first principles of engineering. I had eliminated all unnecessary parts, and produced a machine that was stark in its simplicity." (215) // elegance is minimalist. it is simplicity. the necessary done beautifully.
"I've carried that on ever since. In my business the best is none too good. I know in mnay instances I can buy mass produced electric motors, relay switches, gears, and even steel plate and steel cable cheaper than I can make it myself, but in every instance I would have to sacrifice something of my machine to make it conform to the limitations of the mass-produced item. . . . Either I limited the size and scope of my machines to the mass-produced parts I could buy cheaply, in whih case we became an assembly plant of other firms' products, or I built my machines the way I wanted them built, and backed them up with component parts built by myself to my own specifications." (217)
"Friction, as I often point out in my talks, is the chief enemy of the mechanic. It destroys more than half a machine's power while at the same time destroying the machine itself. But if friction is bad in a machine, it is worse between man and man. The wrost form of all, bar none, is friction between man and God." (223)
"There, in what had once been a warehouse back by the pond, Evelyn had made a completely modern home which she refused to let me see until the last wall was papered and the last curtain hung. There we still live, and though our grandchildren now number seventeen, the time hasn't been when we didn't have room for everybody." (243) [emphasis added] // just like my family. also, i think that's by the current fraternities??
"In the three million or so miles that I've flown, I've been able to carry the Lord's message to more people than I could have met in three lifetimes of land and sea travel. God didn't have to give us wings to fly. He gave us the mechanical genius to fly further and faster than any winged creature in His realm, and as a mechanic, that is good enough for me. . . . The air is God's, too, as well as the land and the sea, and His Will will be done no matter wher you are. It's a nice thing to know. You are never out of His reach." (244)
"I didn't even know where Liberia was.
I was enlightened immediately. Liberia, on the western bulge of Africa just north of the equator, was a republic put together more than 100 years ago [from 1959] largely for the purpose of providing a homeland for hundreds of freed American slaves. In spite of the fact that the original colonists were of African descent, they had faced the hardships of colonists everywhere. The native tribesmen resented them as English speaking turncoats, and refused to accept htem or their Christian way of life. The result was that the Liberians of American ancestry banded togheter in such coastal cities as Monrovia and Cape Palmas while the interior remained the doman of savage tribes, some of which practiced cannibalism.
Not until the 20th century did Christian missionaries get into the interior in strength enough to produce lasting results. And the results they did produce were pitifully small. They were doing good for the natives, in itself such a full-time job that only rarely could they teach the natives to do good for themselves." (247) // I never knew this about Liberia.
"Before you can substitute a new way of life for the old, you have to prove that the new way of life is better." (249) // the more i look into humanitarian efforts, the more i find this concept... and the true-er i find it to be.
"...I wanted the natives to see the power of God at work in their own lives. Once they had seen His power in better housing, food, and medical care, the spiritual rewards of knowing Christ would be eagerly sought. Maybe a lot of heathens have been converted to Christianity while slowly starving to death, but my own idea is that God, as the great Creator and Producer, would like to have that side of Him shown, too. If our missionaries since the time of Christ had to suffer and starve with their converts, I am sure it was not from choice. If they had had the machines to improve living standards, they would have welcomed them. It would have been un-Christian to keep their converts starving when there was a better way out, and now that we have the machines, it would be un-Christian not to use them for the betterment of humanity." (250) // AMEN!
"No one has ever measured the inventiveness that Christ awakens in a man's soul because it is beyond measurement." (254) // E. W. Kenyon makes a similar argument in Two Kinds of Knowledge about the connection between Christ/the Holy Spirit and innovation
"In 1953, too, I began my second big Four-point program [Tournavista] at the headwaters of the Amazon in Peru." (257) // the first being Tournata in Liberia
"...all the restrictions in the world cannot stop a man from thinking, and I had had some might big thoughts." (264)
"I have learned that God is love, and love wants to be loved. That is why He made us with His attributes, and so gave us the power to love and to hate, the power to choose between good and evil and say 'I will' or 'I will not.' God loves the sinner, but He hates sin. He made the universe, and all living things in it, and pronounced it god, but He wasn't satisfied yet. He said, 'Let us make man in Our own image and in Our own likeness.' So He breathed into man the breath of life, and man became a living soul. I believe with all the living soul that He gave me that God wanted a creature so like Himself that He could always be in fellowship with him.
That privilege of fellowship with Him is a reward beyond comprehension, but He does not stop there. When you come to love Him and serve Him, then all else is yours, now and forevermore. I believe that when I have done what I can for Him down here, He will change this body of mine 'that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.' Philippians 3:21. Not because I was so good, but because the Lord Jesus Christ was good enough to die for me, and I accepted His offer of salvation and have been born again into the family of God. John 3:16. That same offer is open to all. No greater can ever be made. Try it. And as I always end my testimonies, 'God bless you. Amen.'" (275) // beautiful
"'If you waste dollars for me, it's not too serious - I can make that up. But don't waste my time - it can't be recalled.'" [R. G. LeTourneau] (278)
If there is no logical explanation of my development of the digger, there is a theological one, available to all of us, includeing the weakest. By accepting God as your partner, no limit can be placed on what can be achieved." (2)
"As one preacher put it, 'God will forgive your sins, all right, but I wouldn't make a policy of going to Heaven raising Hell on the way.'" (3)
"In their [Caterpillar, General Motors, International Harvester, Allis Chalmers, etc.] midst I am the hick from the backwoods of Duluth, but during World War II it was our organization that built over fifty per cent of the earth-moving equipment used in combat." (3)
"Reporters have often asked me, 'Did you start from scratch?' My answer to that is, 'Every time.' . . . Yes, I started from scratch, all right, and was still starting from scratch at the age of fourty-four. And the One who picked me up and started me over with my strength and ambition fully restored is the same Lord and Savior available to all for the asking." (4)
"I can't say I had a wretched childhood, but it could have been a lot happier if I had let it." (10)
"I had one odd experience when I was in the fifth grade. Before that I had always had just enough black marks to overcome the red ones and get me 'passed' from one grade to the next. In my fifith year I suddenly discovered arithmetic made sense. Geography was not just some pink, green, and yellow areas on a map, but real places, perhaps with palm trees instead of snow. And reading - if you read from one paragraph to the next instead of spelling out one word at a time, you could get a lot of fascinating information from books. I was so amazed at this sudden awakening that I read through all the books in the fifth grade and most of the sixth grade's books too." (11) [emphasis added]
"What a lesson that has been to me all my life. Discovering my father's love changed my whole attitude, and chores that I had hated and fought against resentfully, I now did cheerfully because I wanted to serve him. It's like that, only more so, when you discover the Lord." (17)
"The beards didn't deceive me because it was common knowledge among boys that the beards saved the cost of shaving, stiff collars, and neckties while being a great relief to the neck." (23)
"'But better a poor steam engine that runs than a good one never finished.' . . . Mindful of the old German's warning that an unfinished machine never works, I started contruction on the scraper that night, not even delaying to draw up plans. With my welding torch and plenty of scrap iron I could build a machine faster than I could draw one on paper anyway." (36)
"Which reminds me of the comment of another graduate of the School of Hard Knocks. 'Our school colors are black and blue,' he said grimly, 'and our school yell is "Ouch!"'" (40)
"Twelve years later I was to learn how smug I had been in thinking God was on my side. Ever since then, with His help, I have tried hard to be on His side." (41) // *truth.*
"Folks ask me what difference a man's religion makes as long as he is sincere, and I say it makes a big difference. The Bible says there is no other name under heaven whereby we can be saved but the name of Jesus. Uncle Bob was just as sincere as he could be, and he wouldn't have hurt me, his namesake, for the world, but his sincerity couldn't stop that gas from exploding, nor save me from being in the midst of the explosion . . . Other factors, too, were advanced to account for my unharmed state, but when I was on my knees that night I was not thanking a freak combination of physical laws for my deliverance. I knew I had been saved by the Lord Jesus, and all my thanks were directed to Him." (73) // being both entirely sincere and completely wrong is commonly understood as being sincerely wrong, as many people in the world often are
"Instead of being happy about his [Elmer Jones, a friend of R.G. in the early 1910s] success, however, he felt more and more the urge to do something to improve the living standards of the Chinese, and being a devout Christian, he had felt strongly that the biggest gift he could give them was the Word of God.
'I couldn't lift them up all by myself,' he told us, 'but I knew that if they knew God, He would give them the strength to lift themselves.'" (87) // the only way to do any type of humanitarian work. victims will remain victims if not actively involved in their own recovery.
"Or as I sometimes put it more bluntly, 'It's all right to give God credit, but He can use cash, too.' You know, they say you can't take it with you, but I say you can send it on ahead, and have it waiting to your credit when you get there." (90)
"We [R.G. and Evelyn] took our problem to the Lord, and felt better about it. You know, a lot of people take their problems to the Lord, and get up and walk away, carrying their problems back with them. LIke those who pray for rain, and then go out without an umbrella. If that's all the faith there is, there is not much point in praying. The Lord can't help you if you insist on carrying your problems with you. Leave them with Him, and they are no longer yours but His." (103)
"So I should have been happy. The more hours the job took, the more money I made.
SOmehow I'm not made to think that way. I've heard it called both efficiency and laziness, but when I start a job I instinctively hunt first for the easiest way and then, mindful of Mr. Hill in Portland, the fastest way. 'Don't work hard; just fast.'" (114)
"It may sound like an exaggeration, but I was in my business for five years before I noticed it had started. It was that small." (121)
"You could buy them [the 1922 Fresno automobile] for a song, even with my voice." (124)
"When a man loafs, you can't be sure if he's an idler, a dreamer, or a deep thinkier; when a machine loafs you can be sure the inefficiency is not its fault." (128)
"Both at the start lacked, among other things, the contributions from the other fields of science needed for their development." (131)
"In the end, I was forced to build my own machines to build my own machines, something I still have to do." (136) // lathe wasn't long enough for the axles he was working on.
"You will never improve unless you blame yourself for the troubles you have. Then when you realize your troubles are your own, you can take them to the Lord, and He will give you guidance. Just don't make the mistake of asking Him to believe the other fellow was to blame." (147) // lesson extrapolated from a conversation with Kaiser, of construction fame
"He [Kaiser] was a demon driver, always trying to coax 100 miles an hour out of a boat designed to do half that." (157)
"Back when I was building Kaiser's factory and he was getting ready for the job at Eureka, we had tried to interest a tractor company in building a machine with Diesel power. The amount of interest we aroused was notable for its absence." (158)
"In designing the cable-controlled scraper, I began a practice of working with my engineers that is still in effect. I drew up a plan for the cable controls, and handed it to them. They got out their slide rules and figured out why it wouldn't work. I got my pencil, figured out why it would, and handed it back. I liken it to a chess game in which my engineers will checkmate my moves with every technical trick at their command, or I'l checkmate them with a few moves that aren't always in the books. Back and forth we go, give a little and tak a little. When I've got a good design, I can win in a week. When I've got a poor design, they win, but it takes them longer. That's what makes us unique. We've got the only engineering department in the country where the president of the firm wears out as many erasers in the drafting room as his engineers." (159)
"The only job in sight like that was too big, but I wanted it anyway." (161)
"But I've always been of the opinion that there is no harm in hiring relatives as long as they work twice as hard as anyone else. Another important factor was that in my uncertain progress, with chicken one day and feathers the next, my relatives would go without salary a lot longer than I dared ask of others." (162) // exactly how my parents hired my bro and i to our first jobs at their business
"I was seeing the point, but I had to add, 'But how can he call himself a Christian, and serve as the senior member of the church, and still take the money when it's rightfully mine?'
'Going to church doesn't make a Christian.' I heard, 'unless he goes there with an open heart to seek God.' Then He seemed to say, 'You may take your choice. You may place the case in the hands of your attorney, or you may leave it in My hands.'" (167)
"That night I got down on my knees and gave due thanks to God for His bounty, and for sparing us from the business depression that was sweeping the country. 'And now that the new factory is finished, we'll really do some business. So instead of giving You Your share now, I'll put it all into expanding the busienss, and next year You will get a share to be proud of.'
To what foolish lengths man will let his pride drive him. God does not do business that way. He keeps His promises. When you ask His help, He doesn't answer that He has a lot of pressing things to attend to, so come back next year. His time is now. In the early days the true Chrisitans gave God His share from the first fruits of the crops. They had faith. They didn't wait around to see if the later crops were to be destroyed by locusts or drought. Let God's will be done, and the rewards will be so great there won't be room to store them. But start to hedge, and wait to see how the whole crop turns out before giving God His share, and He knows you as a man of little faith. He sure spotted my flase reasoning in a hurry." (173) // 1 Sam 15:22 - ...to obey is better than sacrifice...
"With a little luck and no floods, I stood to clear better than a half-million dollars for a year's work.
With a little luck! What a false goddess that is for a Christian to call upon when he can know with absolute certainty where he stands when he stands right with God. My trouble was that I hadn't done right with our Lord." (175)
! :D (177-178)
"I won't go so far as to say that the Lord is sending me here, or the Lord is sending me there, or telling me to do this and that. I think we need to walk softly before the Lord, and be sure it isn't our own desires that we mistake for the Lord's voice. But I do firmly believe the Lord can lead us when our hearts are right and receptive to His will." (188)
"When I presented them [big tire companies in the early 1930s] with their own theories on low-pressure tires [R.G. wanted some for his earth movers rather than the traditional steel wheels] as applied to my business, they gave me the usual verdict. I was crazy." (198)
"What could I tell a Chamber of Commerce meeting? I knew also that they thought I was something of a crackpot, with wild ideas about manufacturing with a welding torch, and even wilder ones about being in some kind of partnership with God.
'It's bad enough to have to talk,' I told myself, 'without being pegged as a looney before you open your mouth.'" (202) // if i had read this while attending LU, it might've changed my major
"'We claim to be in partnership with God,' I began, 'but we aren't really. We have a good year, and we give Him a tithe as his share. In the old days a tithe was forced on people, and they had to give ten per cent of their income to God whether they wanted to or not. Now we aren't compelled to give to God. It's all voluntary. The only thing is, when you consier what God has done for us, we ought to do better for Him out of gratitutde than the doubters had to do by law. You get right down to it, and we believers aren't doing a bit more than the doubters had to do in the old days.'" (203)
"'When the Lord has a job for you to do, He'll give you the strength and the ability to do it.'" (206)
"In the meantime, the few brief testimonies I ahd given in Peoria had brought in invitations to speak in adjacent cities. The fact that my own business was growing so fast that I was spending up to 18 hours a day at the shop made it all the more important that I accept the invitations. With the Lord bringing prosperity to my side of the business, certainly I ahd to do all in my power to carry on His work." (211)
"...all I had done was obey one of the first principles of engineering. I had eliminated all unnecessary parts, and produced a machine that was stark in its simplicity." (215) // elegance is minimalist. it is simplicity. the necessary done beautifully.
"I've carried that on ever since. In my business the best is none too good. I know in mnay instances I can buy mass produced electric motors, relay switches, gears, and even steel plate and steel cable cheaper than I can make it myself, but in every instance I would have to sacrifice something of my machine to make it conform to the limitations of the mass-produced item. . . . Either I limited the size and scope of my machines to the mass-produced parts I could buy cheaply, in whih case we became an assembly plant of other firms' products, or I built my machines the way I wanted them built, and backed them up with component parts built by myself to my own specifications." (217)
"Friction, as I often point out in my talks, is the chief enemy of the mechanic. It destroys more than half a machine's power while at the same time destroying the machine itself. But if friction is bad in a machine, it is worse between man and man. The wrost form of all, bar none, is friction between man and God." (223)
"There, in what had once been a warehouse back by the pond, Evelyn had made a completely modern home which she refused to let me see until the last wall was papered and the last curtain hung. There we still live, and though our grandchildren now number seventeen, the time hasn't been when we didn't have room for everybody." (243) [emphasis added] // just like my family. also, i think that's by the current fraternities??
"In the three million or so miles that I've flown, I've been able to carry the Lord's message to more people than I could have met in three lifetimes of land and sea travel. God didn't have to give us wings to fly. He gave us the mechanical genius to fly further and faster than any winged creature in His realm, and as a mechanic, that is good enough for me. . . . The air is God's, too, as well as the land and the sea, and His Will will be done no matter wher you are. It's a nice thing to know. You are never out of His reach." (244)
"I didn't even know where Liberia was.
I was enlightened immediately. Liberia, on the western bulge of Africa just north of the equator, was a republic put together more than 100 years ago [from 1959] largely for the purpose of providing a homeland for hundreds of freed American slaves. In spite of the fact that the original colonists were of African descent, they had faced the hardships of colonists everywhere. The native tribesmen resented them as English speaking turncoats, and refused to accept htem or their Christian way of life. The result was that the Liberians of American ancestry banded togheter in such coastal cities as Monrovia and Cape Palmas while the interior remained the doman of savage tribes, some of which practiced cannibalism.
Not until the 20th century did Christian missionaries get into the interior in strength enough to produce lasting results. And the results they did produce were pitifully small. They were doing good for the natives, in itself such a full-time job that only rarely could they teach the natives to do good for themselves." (247) // I never knew this about Liberia.
"Before you can substitute a new way of life for the old, you have to prove that the new way of life is better." (249) // the more i look into humanitarian efforts, the more i find this concept... and the true-er i find it to be.
"...I wanted the natives to see the power of God at work in their own lives. Once they had seen His power in better housing, food, and medical care, the spiritual rewards of knowing Christ would be eagerly sought. Maybe a lot of heathens have been converted to Christianity while slowly starving to death, but my own idea is that God, as the great Creator and Producer, would like to have that side of Him shown, too. If our missionaries since the time of Christ had to suffer and starve with their converts, I am sure it was not from choice. If they had had the machines to improve living standards, they would have welcomed them. It would have been un-Christian to keep their converts starving when there was a better way out, and now that we have the machines, it would be un-Christian not to use them for the betterment of humanity." (250) // AMEN!
"No one has ever measured the inventiveness that Christ awakens in a man's soul because it is beyond measurement." (254) // E. W. Kenyon makes a similar argument in Two Kinds of Knowledge about the connection between Christ/the Holy Spirit and innovation
"In 1953, too, I began my second big Four-point program [Tournavista] at the headwaters of the Amazon in Peru." (257) // the first being Tournata in Liberia
"...all the restrictions in the world cannot stop a man from thinking, and I had had some might big thoughts." (264)
"I have learned that God is love, and love wants to be loved. That is why He made us with His attributes, and so gave us the power to love and to hate, the power to choose between good and evil and say 'I will' or 'I will not.' God loves the sinner, but He hates sin. He made the universe, and all living things in it, and pronounced it god, but He wasn't satisfied yet. He said, 'Let us make man in Our own image and in Our own likeness.' So He breathed into man the breath of life, and man became a living soul. I believe with all the living soul that He gave me that God wanted a creature so like Himself that He could always be in fellowship with him.
That privilege of fellowship with Him is a reward beyond comprehension, but He does not stop there. When you come to love Him and serve Him, then all else is yours, now and forevermore. I believe that when I have done what I can for Him down here, He will change this body of mine 'that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.' Philippians 3:21. Not because I was so good, but because the Lord Jesus Christ was good enough to die for me, and I accepted His offer of salvation and have been born again into the family of God. John 3:16. That same offer is open to all. No greater can ever be made. Try it. And as I always end my testimonies, 'God bless you. Amen.'" (275) // beautiful
"'If you waste dollars for me, it's not too serious - I can make that up. But don't waste my time - it can't be recalled.'" [R. G. LeTourneau] (278)
February 2, 2022
I’ve read this book probably 5 or 6 times. I even read it to my young daughters as a read aloud years ago.
I love the machinery of course, it’s part of my life story as I’ve always been involved in machinery since a young bloke on the farm through to road and bridge construction work.
But I love the story of RG’s walk with God through his amazing life.
Every man should read this book, whether or not he likes the machinery aspect.
I love the machinery of course, it’s part of my life story as I’ve always been involved in machinery since a young bloke on the farm through to road and bridge construction work.
But I love the story of RG’s walk with God through his amazing life.
Every man should read this book, whether or not he likes the machinery aspect.
October 2, 2019
"Oh you dreamer," they say, but they have it wrong. My faith is not in dreams but in God.
WOW. How inspiring. This book, although perhaps just a bit technical, was wonderful! I loved the writing style, and there were a lot of great quotes. Completely clean, and I think I'll pass it on to my 13-year-old brother.
WOW. How inspiring. This book, although perhaps just a bit technical, was wonderful! I loved the writing style, and there were a lot of great quotes. Completely clean, and I think I'll pass it on to my 13-year-old brother.
May 28, 2015
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might…” Letourneau never mentioned this verse in his autobiography, but on every page his life showed his utter dedication to serving God with all his might in the task before him. How far short of that mark do we fall (especially while in front of our computers)!
Letourneau presents himself (yes, the reader might remember now and then that it is an AUTObiography, and whatever difference between book and reality there may be is between the author and the true Author, and besides, it’s an awesome story) as a man who was always looking for a better way to do things, for a method or tool that would make his labor faster. He succeeded in marvelous fashion again and again. He seems to have never slowed down his rate of invention, from completing earthmoving projects with mule power to selling 150-ton haulers, and inventing giant machines for forestry, mining, oil-drilling, bridge-building, and on and on.
What’s more remarkable is his vision of doing God’s work with every part of his business. The purpose of his business wasn’t to make a profit (though it did, and he gave most of that profit to support others doing God’s work), but he saw the very act of building and selling a piece of heavy equipment as furthering the gospel. He could see the better living conditions he brought to a town when he built a factory nearby: that was the influence of the gospel. He could see the benefits to the nation of the infrastructure his machines built: that was the influence of the gospel. He also hosted preachers in his factory and published a widely-circulated Christian paper: that was also the influence of the gospel.
Then he took all this abroad. His missionary colonies represent some of the most holistic visions of the gospel that I’ve ever read. With his jungle-crushing and road-building machines, he helped Africans and South Americans to plow in hope, to increase their capacity to cultivate and produce, to develop the Christian work ethic and respond to the Christian message.
I don’t know if his church taught the doctrine of Christian vocation, or proclaimed a victorious vision of Christ's kingdom (actually I’m pretty sure it didn’t), but in some wonderful way his faithfulness to the task before him gave him these beliefs. His testimony is in itself a better explanation of these doctrines than most of what I've heard from learned men. Read this book to understand the Christian meaning of vocation. Read this book to see what the spread of Christ's kingdom looks like in real life. Read this book to be challenged by a man who saw endless opportunity in whatever situation he was placed, worked faithfully, and poured out every bit of his life as a living sacrifice to his God.
Letourneau presents himself (yes, the reader might remember now and then that it is an AUTObiography, and whatever difference between book and reality there may be is between the author and the true Author, and besides, it’s an awesome story) as a man who was always looking for a better way to do things, for a method or tool that would make his labor faster. He succeeded in marvelous fashion again and again. He seems to have never slowed down his rate of invention, from completing earthmoving projects with mule power to selling 150-ton haulers, and inventing giant machines for forestry, mining, oil-drilling, bridge-building, and on and on.
What’s more remarkable is his vision of doing God’s work with every part of his business. The purpose of his business wasn’t to make a profit (though it did, and he gave most of that profit to support others doing God’s work), but he saw the very act of building and selling a piece of heavy equipment as furthering the gospel. He could see the better living conditions he brought to a town when he built a factory nearby: that was the influence of the gospel. He could see the benefits to the nation of the infrastructure his machines built: that was the influence of the gospel. He also hosted preachers in his factory and published a widely-circulated Christian paper: that was also the influence of the gospel.
Then he took all this abroad. His missionary colonies represent some of the most holistic visions of the gospel that I’ve ever read. With his jungle-crushing and road-building machines, he helped Africans and South Americans to plow in hope, to increase their capacity to cultivate and produce, to develop the Christian work ethic and respond to the Christian message.
I don’t know if his church taught the doctrine of Christian vocation, or proclaimed a victorious vision of Christ's kingdom (actually I’m pretty sure it didn’t), but in some wonderful way his faithfulness to the task before him gave him these beliefs. His testimony is in itself a better explanation of these doctrines than most of what I've heard from learned men. Read this book to understand the Christian meaning of vocation. Read this book to see what the spread of Christ's kingdom looks like in real life. Read this book to be challenged by a man who saw endless opportunity in whatever situation he was placed, worked faithfully, and poured out every bit of his life as a living sacrifice to his God.
September 18, 2017
I grew up in Longview, TX which is the home of LeTourneau University and LeTourneau's surviving company - I always knew he had been a very successful businessman growing up, but like most kids it really didn't register. I always heard it was the perseverance of the American people, East Texas oil, and LeTourneau's earth moving equipment that helped win World War II, but that was just something people said - or so I thought at the time. Upon hearing a commercial on the radio for LeTourneau University's Houston campus, I did a series of web clicking until I stumbled upon a reference for this book. Luckily, it is also available for my Kindle so I immediately downloaded it - I am glad I did!
LeTourneau died in the late 60's, but the story chronicles his life starting at the turn of the century and his working out in California during an exciting time in American manufacturing history: you wouldn't think designing and building earth moving equipment as "sexy," but LeTourneau was truly an inspiration as he thought outside of the box in patenting new ways of doing things. It chronicles how when he formed a partnership with God, things worked out unbelievingly well but when he tried to do it on his own, things fell to the bottom. I always knew LeTourneau left a lot of money to various charities that are still benefitting 40+ years after his death, but I never knew until I read this book he gave away 90% of his personal and business income. Reading this book, I have a better appreciation of this influential resident of my hometown as well as a better perspective on living life.
While there is certainly a religious message in this book, no matter your beliefs (or not) I believe it is a fascinating story of invention and perseverance. You may also find a few pearls of wisdom to assist you in your professional and personal walks of life, also!
LeTourneau died in the late 60's, but the story chronicles his life starting at the turn of the century and his working out in California during an exciting time in American manufacturing history: you wouldn't think designing and building earth moving equipment as "sexy," but LeTourneau was truly an inspiration as he thought outside of the box in patenting new ways of doing things. It chronicles how when he formed a partnership with God, things worked out unbelievingly well but when he tried to do it on his own, things fell to the bottom. I always knew LeTourneau left a lot of money to various charities that are still benefitting 40+ years after his death, but I never knew until I read this book he gave away 90% of his personal and business income. Reading this book, I have a better appreciation of this influential resident of my hometown as well as a better perspective on living life.
While there is certainly a religious message in this book, no matter your beliefs (or not) I believe it is a fascinating story of invention and perseverance. You may also find a few pearls of wisdom to assist you in your professional and personal walks of life, also!
October 12, 2019
R. G. LeTourneau was an amazing inventor and man of God. Since my dad went to LeTourneau University, he had encouraged me to read this book (about 15 years ago, when I didn't want to listen). Now that I have read it, I'm glad I did and greatly encouraged by this man's testimony. Through his hardships of bankruptcy and losing both his firstborn as an infant and his next oldest son many years later in a plane crash when the son was in his early 20's, his belief in God remained unwavering. And he also was very outspoken in his Christian faith. Not just in the church and in starting mission works, but also among his often-unsaved employees and others that his work brought him in contact with. The millions of dollars that he made in this life were turned back to God, and for the second half of his life, LeTourneau and his wife came to give 90% of their personal income and his company's income and kept only 10% for themselves. Despite how crazy this sounded then (and how crazy it sounds to me now), LeTourneau is quoted as saying, "I shovel out the money, and God shovels it back to me - but God has a bigger shovel." This was a man that we all can learn from and one that I look forward to meeting someday in heaven.
July 1, 2022
Great testimony, great outlook on life. It was just so tough for me to envision what this incredible man actually designed, how much time they took to build, how much space they took up, and how they actually completed the jobs they were intended to accomplish. In fact, I'm pretty sure I failed miserably at understanding these aspects, even with the photos. I think LeTourneau glossed over a lot of details, as if readers are as smart as he. For the lay reader, it's easy to get lost, but at the same time, an engineer-reader who would be able to envision such construction contraptions (not to mention the problems the equipment solves) might be in want of details. So I suppose it might be a good balance between the two?
Also, this supports my feeling that formal, classroom education is really not all that important. Take your kids out of crappy schools, people.
Also, this supports my feeling that formal, classroom education is really not all that important. Take your kids out of crappy schools, people.
May 10, 2022
An amazing story of a fascinating man whose huge machines changed life and times
His belief in God and the empowerment he felt when working on God’s side and with God’s blessing allowed the construction of huge and innovative machines to tame the harshest land, jungle, and desert. The job was never to big. The real problem was the need for bigger machines. He was an amazing man and great leader who was frequently self-conscious about speaking to groups. A superb recounting of a truly unique man and his machines. Well worth the time
His belief in God and the empowerment he felt when working on God’s side and with God’s blessing allowed the construction of huge and innovative machines to tame the harshest land, jungle, and desert. The job was never to big. The real problem was the need for bigger machines. He was an amazing man and great leader who was frequently self-conscious about speaking to groups. A superb recounting of a truly unique man and his machines. Well worth the time
May 10, 2013
I picked this up on the Kindle in the days before my recent interivew at LeTourneau University. I really enjoyed this read! An autobiography that is certainly a product of its time, LeTourneau's straight-talking style and his creative, ambitious energy come through. A wonderful read of how a man's Christian faith played out in his business life. And a read full of wise words and insight anyone could benefit from.
October 3, 2021
RG LeTourneau (November 30, 1888 – June 1, 1969)
Great Book & Amazing Person - Just a few excerpts that I liked but these don't begin to scratch the surface of his accomplishments.
12 years later I was to learn how smug I had been in thinking God was on my side. Ever since then, with His help, I have tried hard to be on His side.
Little things, too small to be seen, can stop a motor just as effectively as a rod through a crankcase. And it’s the little things that get into our lives--a small lie, a snubbing of our neighbor, a thoughtless taking the name of our Lord in vain--that can stop your Christian way of life as surely as the big sins. Yet the Lord is willing to cleanse you of all sins, large and small, if you will only ask Him. And when that happens, you will find everything running smoothly again.
Example of being sincere but sincerely wrong
When a fire broke out on some oil-soaked floor boards I shouted to Uncle Bob to douse it a little. Unfortunately he grabbed a bucket of clear gasoline intended for use in cleaning automobile parts. Boom! The whole pit was filled with a sheet of flame. Uncle Bob was just as sincere as he could be, and he wouldn’t have hurt me for the world, but his sincerity couldn’t stop that gas from exploding, nor save me from being in the midst of the explosion. How I got out from under that car I have never been able to figure out.
We can be God’s instruments but only God can work the wonders. It is for this reason I contribute not only my voice but 90% of my personal and company income to the cause of Christ. It’s not how much of my money I give to God but how much of His money I keep for myself. Or I sometimes put it more bluntly… It’s all right to give God credit, but He can use cash too.
The value of experience
Where did you get your good judgement… from experience.
Where did you get your experience… from bad judgment.
God is my partner
I do not refer lightly to God as my partner. He is my Lord & Savior, and I am His servant. But by His grace He has made us members of His family and we can refer to Him as our Father. More than that, the Bible says we are “workers, together with Him” (II Cor. 6:1). So it is that sense that I mean we are partners, remembering always that partners don’t try to see how much one can get from the other. They work for the good of the partnership. They try to help each other.
One night, deeply worried about all the contracts I couldn’t fulfill, I got down on my knees and prayed, “Don’t let me down now, Lord. I’ve got all this work, and if You let me down, I’m ruined.” Right there I saw my mistake. “Strike that out Lord. I didn’t mean that. I’m not asking You not to let me down. I’m asking You to help me not let You down. I’m not asking to use You. I’m asking You to use me.” That had been my trouble all along. All wrapped up in my own petty problems, I had once more begun to think I was working for myself instead of the Lord.
On failing to share with the Lord after a good year and waiting to see what the next year brings
To what foolish lengths man will let his pride drive him. In the early days the true Christians gave God His share from the first fruits of the crops. They had faith. They didn’t wait around to see if the later crops were to be destroyed by locusts or drought. Let God’s will be done, and the rewards will be so great there won’t be room to store them. But start to hedge, and wait to see how the whole crop turns out before giving God His share, and He knows you as a man of little faith. He sure spotted my false reasoning in a hurry.
I won’t go so far as to say the Lord is sending me here, or the Lord is sending me there, or telling me to do this or that. I think we need to walk softly before the Lord, and be sure it isn’t our own desires that we mistake for the Lord’s voice. But I do firmly believe the Lord can lead us when our hearts are right and receptive to His will.
Conclusion
Everything considered, I’ve had my share of ups and downs, but thus far my life has been a miracle of God’s grace all the way through. I have learned that God is love, and love wants to be loved. That is why He made us with His attributes, and so gave us the power to love and to hate, the power to choose between good and evil and say “I will” or “I will not.” The privilege of fellowship with Him is a reward beyond comprehension, but He does not stop there. When you come to love Him and serve Him, then all else is yours, now and forevermore. I believe that when I have done what I can for Him down here, He will change this body of mine “that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.” (Phil. 3:21) Not because I was good, but because the Lord Jesus Christ was good enough to die for me, and I accepted His offer of salvation and have been born again into the family of God. That same offer is open to all.
More info & research on places mentioned in the book / started by RG Letourneau
“Now” Publication Archives - https://archive.org/details/letournea...
Camp Bethany - Winona Lake - https://digital.library.in.gov/Record...
LeTourneau Technical Institute - https://www.letu.edu/about/history.html
Great Book & Amazing Person - Just a few excerpts that I liked but these don't begin to scratch the surface of his accomplishments.
12 years later I was to learn how smug I had been in thinking God was on my side. Ever since then, with His help, I have tried hard to be on His side.
Little things, too small to be seen, can stop a motor just as effectively as a rod through a crankcase. And it’s the little things that get into our lives--a small lie, a snubbing of our neighbor, a thoughtless taking the name of our Lord in vain--that can stop your Christian way of life as surely as the big sins. Yet the Lord is willing to cleanse you of all sins, large and small, if you will only ask Him. And when that happens, you will find everything running smoothly again.
Example of being sincere but sincerely wrong
When a fire broke out on some oil-soaked floor boards I shouted to Uncle Bob to douse it a little. Unfortunately he grabbed a bucket of clear gasoline intended for use in cleaning automobile parts. Boom! The whole pit was filled with a sheet of flame. Uncle Bob was just as sincere as he could be, and he wouldn’t have hurt me for the world, but his sincerity couldn’t stop that gas from exploding, nor save me from being in the midst of the explosion. How I got out from under that car I have never been able to figure out.
We can be God’s instruments but only God can work the wonders. It is for this reason I contribute not only my voice but 90% of my personal and company income to the cause of Christ. It’s not how much of my money I give to God but how much of His money I keep for myself. Or I sometimes put it more bluntly… It’s all right to give God credit, but He can use cash too.
The value of experience
Where did you get your good judgement… from experience.
Where did you get your experience… from bad judgment.
God is my partner
I do not refer lightly to God as my partner. He is my Lord & Savior, and I am His servant. But by His grace He has made us members of His family and we can refer to Him as our Father. More than that, the Bible says we are “workers, together with Him” (II Cor. 6:1). So it is that sense that I mean we are partners, remembering always that partners don’t try to see how much one can get from the other. They work for the good of the partnership. They try to help each other.
One night, deeply worried about all the contracts I couldn’t fulfill, I got down on my knees and prayed, “Don’t let me down now, Lord. I’ve got all this work, and if You let me down, I’m ruined.” Right there I saw my mistake. “Strike that out Lord. I didn’t mean that. I’m not asking You not to let me down. I’m asking You to help me not let You down. I’m not asking to use You. I’m asking You to use me.” That had been my trouble all along. All wrapped up in my own petty problems, I had once more begun to think I was working for myself instead of the Lord.
On failing to share with the Lord after a good year and waiting to see what the next year brings
To what foolish lengths man will let his pride drive him. In the early days the true Christians gave God His share from the first fruits of the crops. They had faith. They didn’t wait around to see if the later crops were to be destroyed by locusts or drought. Let God’s will be done, and the rewards will be so great there won’t be room to store them. But start to hedge, and wait to see how the whole crop turns out before giving God His share, and He knows you as a man of little faith. He sure spotted my false reasoning in a hurry.
I won’t go so far as to say the Lord is sending me here, or the Lord is sending me there, or telling me to do this or that. I think we need to walk softly before the Lord, and be sure it isn’t our own desires that we mistake for the Lord’s voice. But I do firmly believe the Lord can lead us when our hearts are right and receptive to His will.
Conclusion
Everything considered, I’ve had my share of ups and downs, but thus far my life has been a miracle of God’s grace all the way through. I have learned that God is love, and love wants to be loved. That is why He made us with His attributes, and so gave us the power to love and to hate, the power to choose between good and evil and say “I will” or “I will not.” The privilege of fellowship with Him is a reward beyond comprehension, but He does not stop there. When you come to love Him and serve Him, then all else is yours, now and forevermore. I believe that when I have done what I can for Him down here, He will change this body of mine “that it may be fashioned like unto His glorious body.” (Phil. 3:21) Not because I was good, but because the Lord Jesus Christ was good enough to die for me, and I accepted His offer of salvation and have been born again into the family of God. That same offer is open to all.
More info & research on places mentioned in the book / started by RG Letourneau
“Now” Publication Archives - https://archive.org/details/letournea...
Camp Bethany - Winona Lake - https://digital.library.in.gov/Record...
LeTourneau Technical Institute - https://www.letu.edu/about/history.html
November 25, 2018
I read this autobiography as research for a book I am writing about Spiritual gifts. R.G. LeTourneau is a fantastic example of someone who has a gift of giving.
Although he started out as a rebellious, rather lazy ne'er-do-well, LeTourneau grew to be a hard-working businessman who used everything he had to honor God and help others. This book tells how the high school drop-out became a skilled iron worker, machinist, mechanic, welder, inventor and businessman. Believing God was his partner, he invested not only in his company and his employees, but also in Christian ministries and other philanthropic ventures.
The book describes and includes photographs of many of LeTourneau's inventions, from the earth-moving machines that got him started, to cranes, lumbering equipment, oil rigs and other innovations. With each new thing he came up with, people said he was out of his mind, yet Bob--or R.G., as he was later called--almost always showed them they were wrong. His inventions were instrumental in the allied war effort and won him the respect and admiration of people all over the world.
What's most remarkable, though, is how the man--despite frequent challenges and setbacks, bankruptcy, indebtedness, flops, missteps and other hardships--managed to build a multi-million dollar business, but gave 90% of his profits away. He also became a motivational speaker in high demand. Nevertheless, he and his wife raised exemplary children who became leaders and successful businesspersons in their own right.
If you are looking for an interesting story about how God can use an ordinary, barely educated man and make him into someone extraordinary, then this is a good choice. Learn for yourself what God can do with someone who gives everything he is and has to the Lord--maybe even you!
Although he started out as a rebellious, rather lazy ne'er-do-well, LeTourneau grew to be a hard-working businessman who used everything he had to honor God and help others. This book tells how the high school drop-out became a skilled iron worker, machinist, mechanic, welder, inventor and businessman. Believing God was his partner, he invested not only in his company and his employees, but also in Christian ministries and other philanthropic ventures.
The book describes and includes photographs of many of LeTourneau's inventions, from the earth-moving machines that got him started, to cranes, lumbering equipment, oil rigs and other innovations. With each new thing he came up with, people said he was out of his mind, yet Bob--or R.G., as he was later called--almost always showed them they were wrong. His inventions were instrumental in the allied war effort and won him the respect and admiration of people all over the world.
What's most remarkable, though, is how the man--despite frequent challenges and setbacks, bankruptcy, indebtedness, flops, missteps and other hardships--managed to build a multi-million dollar business, but gave 90% of his profits away. He also became a motivational speaker in high demand. Nevertheless, he and his wife raised exemplary children who became leaders and successful businesspersons in their own right.
If you are looking for an interesting story about how God can use an ordinary, barely educated man and make him into someone extraordinary, then this is a good choice. Learn for yourself what God can do with someone who gives everything he is and has to the Lord--maybe even you!
June 29, 2019
The autobiography of R.G. LeTourneau interested me because of my work in Peru with a ministry group, Corazones Unidos con las Personas con las Discapacidad. The group has worked with Christian Missionary Alliance churches for many years. Knowing that A.W. Tozer last century and Ravi Zacharias, a contemporary, both have been members of this denomination, it was intriguing to know that LeTourneau and his son had worked in Peru and had helped ministries in Peru in the 1950s, and 1960s. The influence continues through a number of para-church ministries as well.
LeTourneau's growing and large ministry involvement was not high-lighted to a great extent in this book but it was mentioned and the major events in his spiritual life were recorded.
What stood out to me in this autobiography was LeTourneau's strong will and entrepreneurial mindset. He was a student of his work, figured things out and gambled quite a bit on projects especially in the early years of the 1920s and 1930s. Yet his big ideas paid off and he was known to be a problem solver and inventor.
In WWII LeTourneau's company had something like 70% of the market for the countries large machines and vehicles. That is where he made his money.
Especially during his early growing years, it seemed like Le Tourneau would somehow 'come to his senses' and realize that he had forgotten the Lord and his relationship with the Lord. That changed quite a bit in the middle and later years, as seen in his speaking schedule and Christian ministry all over the country and later internationally.
The book was interesting yet it seemed that it was more of a boast about himself and somewhat about the Lord and His blessing.
LeTourneau's growing and large ministry involvement was not high-lighted to a great extent in this book but it was mentioned and the major events in his spiritual life were recorded.
What stood out to me in this autobiography was LeTourneau's strong will and entrepreneurial mindset. He was a student of his work, figured things out and gambled quite a bit on projects especially in the early years of the 1920s and 1930s. Yet his big ideas paid off and he was known to be a problem solver and inventor.
In WWII LeTourneau's company had something like 70% of the market for the countries large machines and vehicles. That is where he made his money.
Especially during his early growing years, it seemed like Le Tourneau would somehow 'come to his senses' and realize that he had forgotten the Lord and his relationship with the Lord. That changed quite a bit in the middle and later years, as seen in his speaking schedule and Christian ministry all over the country and later internationally.
The book was interesting yet it seemed that it was more of a boast about himself and somewhat about the Lord and His blessing.
February 7, 2024
The book Mover of Men and Mountains, the autobiography written by R.G. LeTourneau. This book shows the life of R.G. LeTourneau is a spiritually driven businessman through God. The inspiring entrepreneur creates, modifies and repairs heavy equipment. He is known for his ability to come up with new ideas and ways to do things efficiently and effectively. The problem he finds is crippling debt beyond what he can do by himself. Him and his Co-worker decide to start a business. They are very successful but they don’t know how to manage it. As they dig themselves into bigger problems and continue to plummet financially. Will they break even or continue into bankruptcy.
This 290 page book got its copyright on June 1, 1967 and was published by Moody Publishers. ISBN 9780802438188 and a price of $9.99 for the paper copy or $7.99 for the online version. This book for the price is well worth reading, having 290 pages. But I give this book a 3 star because there is good information but a lot is repeated. The characters don’t really seem to develop.
I would recommend this book to people who like real stories or like the business side of money. This book does have very small print and wouldn’t recommend it if you don’t like reading in smaller print. Additionally any personal finance books that are written by a business owner should read this book for the inside knowledge of money.
This 290 page book got its copyright on June 1, 1967 and was published by Moody Publishers. ISBN 9780802438188 and a price of $9.99 for the paper copy or $7.99 for the online version. This book for the price is well worth reading, having 290 pages. But I give this book a 3 star because there is good information but a lot is repeated. The characters don’t really seem to develop.
I would recommend this book to people who like real stories or like the business side of money. This book does have very small print and wouldn’t recommend it if you don’t like reading in smaller print. Additionally any personal finance books that are written by a business owner should read this book for the inside knowledge of money.
August 22, 2021
I enjoyed reading this after reading God Runs My Business a while back. Bob (RG) is one of the humblest people I've read about, and extremely wise. As a Christian who is seeking to own a business, LeTourneau is a company that I admire. They not only pledged money to the church, but also developed their business into serving God through ventures into other countries, and Godly business ethics. Also, after reading LeTourneau's story, I am motivated because he failed many times yet nobody would consider him a failure. A quote I liked from the book is, "I had to sell everything and chalk up a half-million loss to that expensive item called experience. Of course costly experience, if it doesn't wipe you out, turns around and becomes invaluable."
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 21, 2018
RG LeTourneau: Mover of Men & Mountains is one of my favorite and most-often recommended books.
It has everything that I like. RG LeTourneau tells his fascinating life story, from boyhood to old age, and he doesn't gloss over his faults and failures. He lived his life with zest, ingenuity, courage and faith. He accomplished huge things and he never stopped as he got older; but changed his approach to teaching others, and building into the lives of his employees, his community, and the world.
This book will tickle your brain and inspire your heart, with the challenges LeTourneau faced during his life and peering inside his heart to see how he found life's answers.
It has everything that I like. RG LeTourneau tells his fascinating life story, from boyhood to old age, and he doesn't gloss over his faults and failures. He lived his life with zest, ingenuity, courage and faith. He accomplished huge things and he never stopped as he got older; but changed his approach to teaching others, and building into the lives of his employees, his community, and the world.
This book will tickle your brain and inspire your heart, with the challenges LeTourneau faced during his life and peering inside his heart to see how he found life's answers.
December 6, 2020
This is an amazing story of God working in the life of an ordinary man who was willing to let God take control. LeTourneau challenges the ordinary perspective of a businessman by doing business according to God's rules.
The grammar isn't always the best, but that makes sense considering his education. The stories feel like they came right from R. G. himself.
My greatest appreciation is for his focus on God throughout the book. Even when describing some large scale digger or scraper, he points all the glory back to the one who made it possible.
The grammar isn't always the best, but that makes sense considering his education. The stories feel like they came right from R. G. himself.
My greatest appreciation is for his focus on God throughout the book. Even when describing some large scale digger or scraper, he points all the glory back to the one who made it possible.
January 8, 2022
Excellent book.
This book tells the remarkable story of a man who learned to have great faith in the God of the Bible. God blessed him with success in business and ministry. As a result many lives were changed for the better, and many people came to saving faith in Jesus Christ. I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs encouragement. God is not too small for our problems. Instead there is no problem too big to handle when a person trusts and obeys God.
This book tells the remarkable story of a man who learned to have great faith in the God of the Bible. God blessed him with success in business and ministry. As a result many lives were changed for the better, and many people came to saving faith in Jesus Christ. I highly recommend this book to anyone who needs encouragement. God is not too small for our problems. Instead there is no problem too big to handle when a person trusts and obeys God.
July 6, 2023
A great testimony of how God can use anyone for His glory and of how God can use our worldly failures as well as our successes to teach us and to guide us. Reading about the development of his philosophy on life and how we can endure and use life circumstances for God's kingdom was time well spent. Parent note: No content in the book would be considered inappropriate for readers of any age group.
May 1, 2020
This book was given to me by a former boss who said "every young man like you should read this" it took me 5 years to get around to it and I couldnt put it down. This is so far my favorite book of all time. I feel so inspired by Mr. Letourneaus life. He was an amazing man with an amazing mind . He build amazing machines and had an amazing love for God. Truly one my heros!
May 13, 2019
This is an amazing book! Even though it often gets technical, this adds flavour to the story since Mr. Letourneau loved God first of all and then his "big toys"! Highly recomended to all those who would like to read about the life of one of the most important businessmen of the 20th century.
June 29, 2023
I heard about Mr.LeTourneau’s concepts many years ago and his premise that ‘God is my partner’ in business. Now reading the book I understand it even better. Great businessman and ahead of his time. Good read.
September 30, 2023
My Business Partner is God!
What a fabulous story of RG LeTourneau’s path to partnership with the Creator, God himself. Father God, thank you for leading me to this story.
In Jesus name, Amen.
What a fabulous story of RG LeTourneau’s path to partnership with the Creator, God himself. Father God, thank you for leading me to this story.
In Jesus name, Amen.
July 20, 2017
Amazing story!
To overcome such odds is truly a faith builder! Left me examining how to step up my labors and giving!
To overcome such odds is truly a faith builder! Left me examining how to step up my labors and giving!
December 11, 2017
Very nice biography. It is possible to move mountains in business if you trust God and dare to go the unpaved roads, or, in this case, create new roads altogether.
March 2, 2018
Loved this book - very inspiring.
February 18, 2019
Really fun story about a guy that basically started the modern earthmoving business with a welding torch.
May 15, 2019
Fascinating!
September 25, 2019
This book is wonderful. I can not believe I did not learn about Mr. LeTourneau and his work during my history classes.
December 5, 2019
I have been trying to read this bookon this platform but don't know how. Clicking The "want to read" icon isn't bringing any result. I desperately need help. Thanks
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