R.G. LeTourneau and the Reverse Tithe

In 1935, Robert Gilmour LeTourneau stood in his Peoria, Illinois factory surrounded by earthmoving machines of his own design. He had nearly lost everything during the Depression — creditors circling, contracts evaporating, his company teetering on the edge of bankruptcy. But LeTourneau had made a commitment years earlier that he refused to abandon: he would give generously to God's work, even when the numbers made no sense.…