BIG BOX RETAILERS DROP LIKE FLIES AS MIKE LINDELL CONTINUES CRUSADE

Efforts to cancel pillow purveyor Mike Lindell reach a fevered pitch, with CVS and Dollar General the latest retailers to jump on the “bash Lindell bandwagon.”  The MyPillow guy is harmless as long as he stays tucked in his pillowcase.  But once he starts speaking truths, the claws come out.  It’s apparent that the haters have mistaken him for a flighty commodity without a clearly defined agenda beyond his bedding empire.  

Don’t misunderstand me – Mike Lindell loves MyPillow, the strong affinity he holds for the company birthed in spite of a raging crack cocaine addiction is evident – but he has a lot more to say and a serious crusade to fight.  Since the day I met him, I’ve heard his battle cry that the pillow operation is just a vehicle for a higher calling: a platform to lead people from the wasteland of addiction to the Promised Land of Jesus Christ.

I’ve seen the businessman, the entrepreneur, the visionary, the budding politician. Mike Lindell is multi-faceted, and his most profound enterprise is perhaps the least attractive to the secular world – leading addicted people to Jesus Christ.  Mike isn’t interested in offering connections to the hottest therapy approach, the latest medication, or the right self-help book.  No, the answer to what ails the addict in his eyes is simple.  JESUS.  Jesus plus nothing equals everything.

Lately, Mike Lindell has been chewed up and spit out by the Liberal left and the never-Trumpers, and I anticipate that soon the scholarly addiction medicine experts will join the list.  “But addiction is a brain disease,” they claim, in spite of murky research.  In some ways, Mike remains delightfully in the dark about people’s scorn. Their nastiness does nothing to derail his mission.  

People should love Mike Lindell for his trademark Minnesota relatability, but instead they read the headlines and wish he’d jump back in bed and pull his Giza sheets over his head.  Hearing him speak the truth pains them, because the truth hurts. Many suspect a hidden agenda to his various causes, unaware of the reality – Mike Lindell doesn’t know how to be fake.  If he did, he might be more controlled.  Instead he does everything full speed ahead but with discernment.  He does what God tells him to do!  What a novel idea.  

Mike’s mission field is to help people escape addiction.  Over the years I’ve worked for him, he has shared bursts of insight, visions from God, divine appointments.  One night, God offered another epiphany to Mike – meeting people in their pain instead of preaching – something no treatment center ever does.  Most programs are busy telling redemption stories that may be difficult for someone deep in the throes of their addiction to grasp; rolling out the inspiration before it’s time.  Mike’s experience with being set free involved a friend who came to visit him while he was still deep in his crack addiction.  The friend had recovered, and Mike was astonished and drilled him with questions: “What is it like being clean?  Is it boring?  How did you do it?”  

There is nothing more powerful than one addict throwing a lifeline to another.  

The main page of the Lindell Recovery Network features hundreds of short video clips from people who’ve been set free of various addictions. We’re reaching people in a novel way – initially, the video subjects describe only what they disliked about their particular addiction – their restoration is implied.  This provides a powerful human connection that is often lost within other approaches.  Addicted people don’t need “more information.”  If information and education worked, they would’ve quit by now. What they need is transformation.

The journey to freedom via the LRN platform begins with TRUST – the people who’ve recorded the basic, no-nonsense videos are just like those searching the site. This produces an instant connection. Once inside the platform, browsers can view full testimonials from the same people telling the rest of the story – how they were set free.  No one is preaching or evangelizing – just simply explaining how Jesus met them in their pain and restored them.

The platform also offers search capabilities for Christian treatment centers in every state, links to Christian counselors, and powerful online content including Paul Lavelle’s Operation Restoration program and Biblical counseling Keys by June Hunt which address wounds and strongholds commonly found embedded in addictions.

The world has a tired old prescription for “recovery,” aka “Treatment as Usual” which includes the latest evidence-based practice, the most recent happy-faced SSRI drug featured in the television commercials, and heaps of 12-step meetings in order to white-knuckle it through another day.

This sounds like bondage to me.  Mike Lindell and I found freedom through a simple prayer of surrender, coupled with a sincere desire for God to come in, remove our addictions, and set us onto a new path. When you’ve been restored by Jesus, He shows you every next step, effectively opening up the way before you.

When I tell people this is how I found absolute sobriety – and that for the past almost 18 years I have had ZERO desire to pick up a drink or a drug, they give me an incredulous look as though I’ve just been beamed back from the dead.  “What about meetings? What about meds?  What about treatment?” After all, Minnesota features the best treatment centers in the world, no? 

Addiction treatment is a 35 billion dollar industry that fails many people and their families.  That said, it’s not ‘wrong’ to go to treatment, it can be a helpful catalyst that makes the worst withdrawal bearable and removes the person from problematic environments.  But unless it includes Christ-centered restoration, it’s just a band-aid.  I know many skilled and gifted therapists who believe deeply in the work they’re doing and desperately want to help addicted people.  Therapy, treatment, and medication can offer assistance, but they are not the end of the story – nor should they be the beginning. Sadly, many people seek out therapists, psychiatrists, and other professionals with a certain desperation: Please help me!  What we must remember is that every human, every doctor, every therapist – is fallible.

God is the ONLY ONE who will never fail!

People who place their faith and trust wholly in professionals for deliverance are still in chains. They are wrestling against themselves, living in fear.  “What if I miss a meeting? What if my sponsor isn’t available when I call? What if my therapist cancels our appointment?” They are forever at the mercy of external fixes instead of tapping into the Power of Jesus Christ – a power that never runs out, goes dead, or fails to show up in time of need.

So if God places useful therapy approaches in your path – more power to you.  But if you’re one of the millions who can’t or won’t go to a traditional treatment program, have been failed by therapists or medications, or are tired of being tethered to a support group meeting – then the Lindell Recovery Network is the answer for you.

The platform is completely self-directed.  Research shows us that people who feel actively engaged in treatment have the best outcomes.  The LRN enables people to chart the course of their own recovery.  

The online content (books and videos) is powerful, anointed, and developed by individuals who’ve been inspired by God.

Mike’s vision for the Lindell Recovery Network is an innovative approach to freedom from addiction that the devil does not want people to know about.  Of the 23 million addicts in the U.S, less than 20% ever go to treatment. Many recover on their own, but many more are stuck in the endless loop of relapse and remission.

The LRN won’t be squashed because of the current cancel culture climate, or because stores decide to punish Mike Lindell by refusing to sell his patented pillow.  The Lindell Recovery Network is a growing force – a movement God has blessed to accomplish something great – to end the revolving door of addiction treatment, restore hearts, and lead people to Jesus.  

Recently while worshipping in church, God gave me the verse Acts 5:38: “if it is from God, you will not be able to overthrow them (the Apostles).”  I know this to be true for this platform.  God will offer protection from the forces of darkness trying to destroy Mike and his vision, and through it millions will be restored by Jesus Christ.  Only when the Son sets you free, are you truly free!

Melissa Huray is the executive director of the Lindell Recovery Network.