Starting Right
Starting Right is a 5 minute Day Starter to help keep you motivated, encouraged, and focused throughout your day. DannyMac is a pastor, teacher, motivational speaker, husband, and father. His years of leading and training people have given him vast experience in helping individuals to accomplish change in their lives and meet their goals. He can help you set the course for your day by offering practical advice from God's Word in a positive and fun way. There is no better way to begin your day than by Starting Right with DannyMac.
Starting Right
Becoming Kings for God's Kingdom
What does it truly mean to be part of building God's kingdom? The answer might surprise you. This episode challenges the common misconception that God sits on His throne magically answering prayers at our demand. Instead, we explore how God works through people—His people—to accomplish His purposes.
The heart of today's message centers on the extraordinary life of R.G. LeTourneau, a 14-year-old school dropout who became one of history's most prolific inventors. With over 300 inventions including the bulldozer, scrapers, and the electric wheel, LeTourneau revolutionized construction worldwide. But what made him truly remarkable wasn't his mechanical genius—it was his unwavering commitment to being "a businessman for God." With Matthew 6:33 as his life verse, LeTourneau considered God the "chairman of the board" of his enterprises and channeled an astonishing 90% of his income into Christian ministry worldwide.
LeTourneau's story challenges us to reconsider our unique roles in God's kingdom. Not everyone is called to be a pastor or missionary, but we can all participate in kingdom-building through our support. Whether you contribute time, talent, or treasure, you become the fuel that empowers ministry to continue. As LeTourneau often said, "You will never know what you can accomplish until you say a great big yes to the Lord." What might happen if you said yes today?
Join us tomorrow as we continue exploring practical ways to start your day right with biblical wisdom for everyday living. Subscribe now to never miss an episode of Starting Right with Denny Mac.
Good morning and welcome to Starting Right. I am Danny Mac and I'm going to be here every Monday to Friday to help you get a great start to your day. So grab your cup of coffee, sit back and relax for the next five minutes as I help you start your day by starting right. Hey, good morning everyone. It's good to have you here with us again today. I spent some time reading this weekend and I came across this statement. Weekend and I came across this statement.
Speaker 1:Every Christian at some point must come to the full realization that God does not sit on his throne to magically answer prayers at our demand. God often chooses to work through people, his people, to build his kingdom. Well, in the Old Testament, there were two specific groups who God chose to help lead the people. One group was the prophets, or the priests. It was their job to lead the people in what God's word said and in obedience with what he was directing them to. The other group was the kings. The kings were not only in charge of overseeing the governance of the people, but part of their job also included supplying the finances to the priests and the prophets so that God's work could be done. And those two roles still exist the people who are doing the ministry and those who are helping to support that ministry so the ministry can be done. Both are still very important.
Speaker 1:Often here, on Starting Right, I've said that God has a plan for each of our lives. There's a purpose for each one of us, and I know that sometimes people assume that what I'm talking about is God wanting and having a plan for each of our lives. There's a purpose for each one of us, and I know that sometimes people assume that what I'm talking about is God wanting and having a plan for you to be a Bible school teacher or a Sunday school teacher or a pastor or a missionary, and that's really only part of what I'm talking about. We need to have some of the aspects of all of that happening in our lives, but that may not be your calling. Your calling may be in something totally different.
Speaker 1:Let me tell you about a man by the name of RG Letourneau. He was born back in 1888 and lived a very remarkable life. At the age of 14, he dropped out of school and began to work in an iron foundry, and over the next few years he developed a sincere passion for machinery, beginning with his love for cars. After serving in the Navy in World War I, he found himself with $5,000 worth of debt and no job opportunities. When a farmer offered to pay him to level some land that he owned, letourneau said this was the turning point in his life. Working on clearing that land, he realized that machines could do the job far more effectively than could be done by hand. And up to this point in time, there were no machines doing this job. Roads were built by road gangs working hard with picks and shovels and wheelbarrows. That's how they built the roads. But Letourneau said there's got to be a better way. Well, he found a better way. He found many different and better ways. Over the next 50 years he would be responsible for over 300 inventions, including the bulldozer, scrapers of all kinds, dredgers, portable cranes, rollers, dump wagons, bridge spans, logging equipment, mobile sea platforms for oil exploration, the electric wheel and many others. Exploration, the electric wheel and many others.
Speaker 1:And when World War II came along, no-transcript, not bad for a kid that dropped out of school at 14, huh. And you may wonder how could one young man come up with all of those ideas? Well, he gives credit where credit really is due. You see, he had a Bible verse for his life. It's one that we've talked about. It's Matthew 6.33. Seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these other things shall be added to you.
Speaker 1:From that foundation, he felt that he was clearly called to be a businessman for God, and he often spoke of God. As the chairman of the board. He began to create so many inventions that he had trouble keeping up with them all, and the money was coming in in huge quantities. He once said you will never know what you can accomplish until you say a great big yes to the Lord, and he certainly proved those words true. His business efforts, although incredibly successful, never deterred him from what he felt was his reason to exist, and that was to glorify God and spread the gospel message. He shared his faith with millions of people during his life. He founded missionary efforts in Liberia and Peru. Millions of people.
Speaker 1:During his life he founded missionary efforts in Liberia and Peru. He and his wife founded Laterno University in Longview, texas, which has a long-standing spiritual legacy, and it continues to hold to those foundations today, producing more than 10,000 alumni who are serving the Lord in 55 different nations. His attitude was always positive, looking towards the ultimate accomplishment, and he was known to say that the only difference between can and can't is a little extra effort. He was truly an amazing man. Oh, by the way, just one more thing Very early on in his business he established something called the Laterno Foundation.
Speaker 1:That foundation was used to take 90% of his salary to give to Christian work around the world. He was completely convinced that he could not outgive God. Letourneau is a man who knows what it meant to be a king in God's kingdom, not as a ruler, but as a supplier to the people who are doing the work of ministry. Now he gave away 90% of his salary. That's not what I'm suggesting for anybody, but what I am saying is that every time we give to the ministry of God, we are the fuel behind the ministry, and God uses people people like you and me to become kings for the kingdom by providing those finances so the ministries can continue. Be blessed, my friends. Have a great day and we will talk again tomorrow. Thank you for listening today and I invite you to join me Monday to Friday, right here on Starting Right with Denny Mac.
