Mike Lindell - Liberty University Convocation

ask together for what a great way to start the year I know that wherever you've been around the world God has used you to be a bright light I heard all summer long from so many of you about how God used you at the summer camps you volunteered at the summer jobs that you had everywhere you went you're an ambassador for Christ thank you for being the light and the salt that you were now we're gonna be here together this semester hopefully God will just rekindle that light even brighter in and through your life and so we're excited about what God has in store for us this year this summer we have several groups that went out with Lu sin now that served to be bright light in in moments of darkness one of those trips was our Tulsa Oklahoma partnership with the church had Broken Arrow we went there and we served people who had lost their homes or lost just about everything they owned in their homes because of the flooding that happened in that state and it was an amazing opportunity for us to go and serve a lot of times when we served we just simply put our head down serve and leave and plant a seed but during that week we actually got to lead several people to the Lord so do we give God a hand for the opportunity that was given to us at the end at the end of that trip the very last day of that trip I got to be with the students that had served all week long and I got to give them the good news that the President of the United States had heard about their good work during that week and wanted to spotlight them at a gathering at a Ballroom in Washington DC so they were invited to sit on the front row and be recognized by President Trump himself I've got a 10-second video to show you about that moment let's watch this together today we are excited to be joined by hundreds of college students including eight students from Liberty University great school who just got back from a mission trip to Oklahoma where are you stand up please well [Applause] in that amazing come on you guys are making such an impact such a bright light for God praise the Lord later on in July we actually had about seventeen of our students and faculty go out on a trip to the Mexico Texas border where so many refugees are just faced with a lot of distraught in their life and just so proud of our students there that week they saw dozens of people come to Christ in that moment of crisis and so isn't it great how God can use tragedy to create testimony we have a video for that moment let's watch this video together [Music] we're here on an Lu send now trip working alongside iglesia Bautista and West Browns note and we're working to serve the immigrants as they come in we are here helping them get them in their medicine take showers eat and teach them about Jesus we take showers it's been a long journey for these people and we're getting to help serve them with the in partnership with the church they already serve over 2,100 - here more than 1,000 people already made a decision for Christ the whole process is about showing Christ's blood from the moment they get to the shower even when they go inside get their food or take a short nap which is all about Christ's love and so the goal is to serve with dignity and compassion and to present the gospel of Jesus Christ both in Word and in action I'm very proud of these kids now how they've stepped up to be a helping hand from checking people in to providing them clothes providing day care for the children and also providing the place of sleep thank you for sending us at this beautiful this tremendous this exceptional team from Liberty University and base for Virginia thank you for sending the ball they've done a tremendous job they done superb job importance is important they both deserve us he may put a dummy [Music] for the New York [Music] I love what our students were saying over and over again there at the end that's up because you're valuable to God you're valuable to me in that amazing and that the good news of the gospel that God so loves all people that he gave his one and only Son that if we believe in him we will not perish but have eternal life and we want to think about a faithful God who's faithful even when we're not faithful amen and so we stand together and I let's just prepare our hearts for worship let me pray for us father we thank you for the opportunity you've given us in this moment to look back at the summer and thank you God for the opportunity you gave us to say if the light of the world Jesus lives in us then we can be a reflection of that light and be a light in darkness and I know that in the moments of June July and August so many of our students God saw the very thing we're gonna sing about come about we saw your faithfulness God through your service and so Lord we know about the Tulsa trip we know about Brownsville but every student here all 10,000 could tell a different story could could testify about how God you use them so many times even despite who they are not because of who they are and so we thank you for that we celebrate who you are God and we come together now and we sing these songs as a as a reflection of who you are as a gratitude for who you've been and who you're going to be in the days to come we pray these in your name amen [Music] in doubt member how far you carry me [Music] until the year were faithful too [Music] see [Music] [Applause] [Music] safely [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] this year [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Music] [Music] [Applause] [Music] [Applause] [Music] you know we we celebrate the moments where we get to be light and light as always its brightest in the darkest hours and a summer like this certainly has its victories story after story of what we've seen God do and his faithfulness but we are certainly not immune as God's people in tragedy as well every mountaintop there's always a valley moment and this summer during July one of our very own family members here at Liberty 24 year old young lady was driving to go prepare for a wedding she had her entire life ahead of her many of us know this family they went to LCA Liberty Christian Academy they're locals here her brothers and her sister work here at Liberty University you can't get more ingrained than the Braun Guard family but Sarah was just driving to go prepare for a wedding godly young lady and was involved in a tragic car accident I was on vacation it was fourth of July week when I heard about it I called mark burn guard and it was amazing he tearfully told me to pray I said what can we do for you he said pray he said her memorial service is in a day and we have friends that are coming from all over the country people that knew Sarah were impacted by Sarah many of them from the Salt Lake City area from the Utah area and and he said listen a lot of these folks that are coming don't know the Lord and pray that through her tragedy God will allow the gospel to be front and center I just got off the phone so blown away by the way God had prepared him before for that very moment and that he was able to see it through even the faithfulness of God that even in that moment God had not abandoned them that in this world we will have trouble the Apostle Paul says but we're not alone amen and I want to recognize that family the bran guards are here can we put the light on that precious family man we're with you we remember your daughter at this moment during commencement we will of course have the empty chair and give her an honorary degree but in this moment we just wanted to begin the year to say we're thankful for her faithfulness we thankful for the witness she'll continue to be we have some flowers for you sprung Gard we love you you're not alone can we can we just put our hands together for them and recognition and honor who they are yeah [Music] let's put our hands towards this precious family come on put our hands towards them I thank you Lord for these siblings this mom and this dad I'm just thinking even today as a dad I let my little girl today go get in a car and drive to the first day of school I don't know what I would do God if I heard the news that they heard in June I'm in July but I think you got God even though it's a moment of sorrow and a moment of deep weeping that God that they know that they hadn't lost the daughter you don't lose someone if they you if you know for certain where they are and we know that this is not a goodbye it's a comma not a period that for eternity this family will get to spend in heaven time with their daughter so we thank you for the hope of the gospel the faithfulness God of Jesus who lived a perfect life and then died a sinner's death but even in the middle of all this God even though there's that truth it's got to be hard and so I pray that you will you'll hold them in this moment you would comfort them God give them stamina they'll remember this moment that their Liberty family stands with them we pray this in your name amen amen we love you you're not alone in this you may have a seat just a few quick announcements before we introduce obviously our guests hopefully you've figured out who it was since you walked in here and there were 12,000 my pillows in the house come on how amazing is that tonight we kick off our very first night of a semester-long season in a brand new series at campus community at 6:30 here in the vine Center it's going to be cold it's complicated trust me you don't want to miss the first night we have some of the world's greatest voices on relationships coming this semester that are going to punctuate a lot of thoughts for us it's going to be probably the best campus community season we're ever gonna have I'm just telling you buckle up tonight be here we're gonna be packed out so get here early to make sure you get a seat or you'll be sitting behind stage all right also I want to tell you that we have moved combo selects from Monday to Thursday and what that means is that if your respective school so for example the School of Business or the school of Aeronautics or the School of Nursing is meeting that particular day you have an excused absence but our Provost has graciously said that as long as you're in good standing with your professor you two can have a scan in even if it's not your school and be a part of that Thursday and have an excused absence as long as again you and your professor have a communication and an understanding and you've got the GPA but it doesn't look like you're just slacking off and showing up on Thursday to that instead of class and so we're just trusting you and be responsible with this we think the Thursday morning thing is going to have a lot more pros than cons to it and I think you're really going to enjoy it our very first combo select this this Thursday tomorrow morning will be Darrin and Amy Patrick we're going to come and they're gonna they're amazing they're going to come and talk to us from a biblical perspective about the Enneagram all right and they're gonna talk to us about how how that can be a tool but it can't take over your life all right and become everything about how you can be hard-wired for God knowing who you are so you can be better for others and so that's gonna happen tomorrow morning all right at 10:30 as well it's such a privilege for me to get to introduce two people back-to-back to you obviously we have president Falwell in the house can we welcome Becky as well such an honor to have her here and president Falwell we love them both but we've asked Dean Pratt the new Dean of our School of Business to come and just to begin the introduction you'll see why in just a second for a special reason to begin the introduction of the one the only Michael Milken what can we welcome Dean Pratt to the house hey dr. Pratt thank you brother thank you let's give a big hand for David Nasser and all he does here to thank you all right welcome back Liberty glad to see you all here can everybody say with me my pillow all right we got some exciting news for you president Falwell and Provost Hicks asked me to come forward cuz I'm the Dean of the business school and I'm here to introduce to you one of the greatest Christian businessmen on the face of the planet and he is with us here today and so I think you all know the fall wells or entrepreneurial Liberty University is entrepreneurial and spirit you're all entrepreneurial and so today I'm going to introduce one of the great entrepreneurs of your generations lifetime his name and I think you know it needs really no introduction is Mike Linda mic is obviously the inventor and CEO of my pillow Inc he's the founder of the Lind L Foundation and the Lind L recovery network my pillow Inc holds the Guinness World Records for the largest pillow fight with seven thousand six hundred and eighty-one participants we are not going to break that record today I've been told maybe next time he employees get this one repeat the next two numbers repeat him after me you're all accountants in practice he employs one thousand six hundred employees how many that's what you call the kingdom of God on earth and he has sold forty 1 million pillows let's give Mike Glendale a round of applause for that achievement most importantly Micah's spread the gospel the ministry I think you've seen his commercials he has to cross on he's an ambassador for Jesus Christ and so I have the just the honor to say the next few words and maybe surprise some of you and so listen very careful to these words in recognition of Mike's commitment to his Christian principles in business and his dedication to Liberty University's mission with the power vested in me by the Board of Trustees of Liberty University the doctorate of Business is hereby confer upon Michael J Lyndell with all the rights and privileges appertaining thereunto dr. Mike come on up hey you find him thank you it will put you know you go in the middle might go in the middle and I'll give it to you you going to Miller yeah you coming [Applause] okay often it turn around good do it again great [Applause] dr. michael lind l congratulate you got it out that's good we got a doctor on the on the on the board here but I can't think of anybody else who epitomizes what the principles that built this school better than Mike he and I've become friends over the last two or three years and and he'd like us I spent 20 years as an attorney here fighting to make helping my dad fight to make payroll and we just do the checks on Friday whether we had the money or not and we I get on the phone all weekend with lenders and donors and somehow find the money to cover the checks but Tuesday as those times didn't and sometimes that's another story anyway but so we that you have to that's what I want you guys to learn I want you to learn how to fail over and over and continue to get up keep trying you know we Mike and I were at a party together in California last weekend and he David gave you my Instagram so if you want to know what I've been doing all summer that's how you find out cuz that's I'm dr. Jekyll on insta ha on Instagram and mr. Hyde on Twitter so anyway yeah they probably don't even never heard of Jacqueline hi they're so young but but anyway but we were playing he was playing billiards with Ben Carson and I was watching dr. ben Carson and it was Tony Nobles dr. Tony nobles 55th birthday party he's the guy that invented the device that is in my hat put my heart last September to close the hole that's been there since birth everybody has one when they're born some people doesn't heal up and so I was having some my migraines my whole life and looking little minor strokes and that solved it and it was much much less invasive and actually put one of those devices in a heart during the party I don't know if you knew that yeah and it's so small compared to the old technology but dr. Nobles is going to be here at liberty as a professor teaching our medical students engineering students other students how to also become engine entrepreneurs not just to not just to become good at whatever you're studying but also to learn how to to go into business how to take risks how do I do what this man did and what Liberty University did over the years and we but we happen to be that that party the same day Hugh Freeze our coach started having terrible pains in his back well I got back home found out about it and it just had happened to being around the right people that weekend and we so I called dr. nobles and I called dr. Dylan le gala who was in Scottsdale Arizona used to be here in Lynchburg he did an operation on Becky's back with a very very very it was just not an invasive surgery at all not like the old-fashioned fusions where they put metal and all these new procedures are less expensive and they're less invasive Becky was out of pain in two days but the big pharmaceutical companies are paying insurance companies not to cover them because they don't make as much money on them so we're fight we're gonna dr. le gala and Tony Nobles are gonna team up here at Liberty with our medical school find a way to break that cycle and we're gonna get help to people for less money and people that need it and so that's something that's going to happen I also told Tory I'd be helping out here I come back and you help to see he's an entrepreneur so he can help too but what you guys got to learn is how to how to get patents how to how to protect them how to take your risk in business how to how to not be afraid to fail all those things that's what we want to teach you here at Liberty because that's the only reason this school is here and but anyhow we called and we dr. Ella Galloway he flew in from Scottsdale he operated on Coach freezes back and coach race was so excited the next day coming back he he couldn't even walk before that he could even walk and he turned out he had a terrible infection in his back as well and it was in his blood and he was he was septic he was septic he was that close 24 hours from death really and so it was providential that we wrote that party together that weekend yes but he but he he was so excited he called me after he got out of pain and he said Jerry I've got to tell this story on ESPN right now I said well I'm gonna have an LA Times reporter here Monday a sports reporter to report on liberty football I can't wait til Monday I need to tell the story now so he went to ESPN told the story and and it's it's national news now but he'll he'll be back on the field in two days and then he'll he'll be at the coach in the first game and so it's just incredible how God works but it was it was it was all because we were happened to be at the same party he and I have a lot in common we've been to social events together this summer with the White House and other places and he he is scared to death of public speaking I never did any public speaking I was the lawyer here for 20 years until I was 44 and the first few years mark I can tell you I was I was just terrified terrified I get up there people and he said he's saying he's still going through the same thing so please be easy on him but but we're so honored and and those pills by the way cost him $600,000 the pillows that he gave you just now we had a speaker a few years ago he was in his eighties and he gave every student a gospel tract in a $20 bill and I thought nothing like that would ever happen again but this far exceeded that and I love these pillows I got I needed more support so I called your company and they said no there's different widths of pillow there's green there's blue red and I said I want the biggest one they said no we can't sell you the biggest one to you try the next one down the blue so I got the blue it's I need to read so I called him back so I got the red one on the way now I ordered it I ordered it yeah so anyway anyway but this is the reason he's doing all this is for academic reasons because if you guys sleep better you can do better in your grades right and you make that your prayer pillow - every night you say a prayer and that'll be awesome yeah well Mike Mike is uh is a great friend and I wish you'd well give him a warm welcome to Liberty University well I'm honored to be here and what Jerry said there with the UH with my calling I'm going to talk today about your calling and hope and this is my calling my the pillow is just a platform for a much bigger thing and that's today I have a look coming I'll call what are the odds this is the last day of that book because my calling is to be able to speak out the word of Jesus and and you guys will be in that book but I'm gonna tell my story and I'm gonna and then I'm gonna you know bring it back to you guys and my calling is to spread the hope and the hope is Jesus and so tip if you would have told me even two years ago I'd be able to speak publicly I would have said that's an impossible hundred-percent impossible and I'm gonna tell you why when I am I come from a family we have my family divorced when I was seven my mom and dad divorced and I was put into a new school at a very early age and second grade it was before the divorce there this picture and I got into the new school and I you know all of a sudden I became different I became I was shy I was i I was I had this deep feelings that I didn't fit in and I started doing things like um either showing off or or I couldn't talk and I I got to my five-year reunion my five-year class reunion and everyone I had dropped out of college right away and I was working at a drive-in movie theater and working at a grocery store and and I got to this Bobby reunion and I was and everyone that finished college they started families they had they had had kept their same job so they were all I felt they were way ahead of me in life and I felt at the Union I took over the reunion I said you know I got 17 tickets in two days on a motorcycle I crashed it and jumped out of an interview it went skydiving in my parachute didn't open and I calm you know telling all these stories which were true the Mafia is gonna kill me for football bets I haven't paid and and when I got home that night I laid in bed you know everybody was mesmerised by my stories but I laid in bed and I and I was crying in bed I'm going you know what I wanted what they had I wanted what they had and it was going you know I longed further for you know everything that they had gotten so far well then at that point I went in two things happened I got into in the night's early 90s I got into cocaine because then I could talk to people and I thought it was a it was hiding my inner pains and so I started a long trail of addiction but also I started an entrepreneurial path I tried everything my sister my sister flooded a third storey building in our apartment without water bent so I thought I'd become a carpet cleaner and and then I was in treatment and a guy having a lunch wagon business so I bought a lunch told my friend to pick me up and I bought a lunch wig and I turned that into a big business and they here was that their first one but I did everything I could I just don't to everything I tried and if something happened where I had to change a course it would be devastating at the time but I look back now and those things had to happen I learned from each and every one of my entrepreneurial things I 'adam one of them I had a bar for 13 years and I had bought all this Aaron I had this bar for 13 years but that went didn't go good with my addiction and and I ended up having to sell that by a series of circumstances and I was really devastated there but that did two things I would have never got out of addiction and I wouldn't be on this stage tonight and even then if people would come into that bar and I was be sober and they were from out of town and nobody was there I would give them their drink and I would go over and act like I'm busy let me know if you need something I be hope and they left because I couldn't talk to people and so then in I'll pass forward to get up to I got married I am marriage I raise kids I had a 20-year marriage and but in 2004 God gave me a dream of a pillow now that also coincided with diet started crack cocaine in around 2000 and he gave me this dream of a pillow but with all my all my passion again I dove in and I learned it took a year and a half to invent it I tried on all these different fills me and my son are out on the deck throwing foam around flying around the neighborhood and people are going what are they doing over there and but I got it invented and I was turned down everywhere every every box store everybody turned me down and someone said well Mike why don't you been sick or why don't you do a kiosk I said how do you spell kiosk and so I did this kiosk but I still couldn't I was only there one day because the kiosk is like this and you walk around and you have to interact with people and I couldn't do that and so the kiosk failed but there was a guy that bought a pillow there and he called that January I had four little kids there was nothing like no money left nothing it was everything was gone and they but this guy called me that I had worked that one day and I'd gave my phone number and he said I said you the guy that have been in this pillow here in Minnesota I said yeah he goes will this change my life and he said I run the Minneapolis home agarn show would you like a spot in there I said sure so I went into that Home and Garden Show and I and I learned from that kiosks I said well what if I put a table in front of me and I put a banner up I'm kind of shielded from people you know I didn't know why I couldn't talk to people I had no idea I didn't know it was my fear of unworthiness and fear of rejection you can't get rejected if you don't talk to people and but I did this an interesting happen when I did that pepillo booth on the first day of that show people came up and bought pillows that day but the next day they all came back to the show and said this pillow changed my life this changed my life and it wasn't about the money it made me feel good inside that I had done something to help someone else and that I had done you know invented something that's gonna help me my unworthiness made me feel worthy and and this kept happening I know I look back now and that was God saying hey you're on the right path you're on the right Wow and I would literally step out from behind that booth that's why we have a podium here just in case no fat stuff oh behind that booth and I couldn't talk to people if I went outside I'd have to I want to get right back behind that well that was this went on for seven years and it went on for about four years and and during that course of time on a parallel railroad track crack cocaine brought me down I lost 20 year marriage I lost people tried to take my pillow anything that you've ever happened that could happen happened but the pillow was just a pulse it was like a pulse going along and just like a heartbeat every now and then it would you know you'd have this little heartbeat well in 2008 in the spring of 2008 I was downtown many Mount Minneapolis and I had been I've been up for 14 days doing crack cocaine and and I came out of my room and or came out of this guy's room and there's three of my three of the biggest strugglers at Minneapolis sitting there and standing there and they're going it was an intervention and they're going oh you've been up for 14 days you're all you're getting cut off you're going to bed and I'm going I'm going I've only been up for 12 but no I'm not trying to arguing and two of them got up and left and the one and I found out later the ones down on the street he went get the word out but the other guy went to sleep finally and I looked over and II went to sleep you said how many how much crack you have left and and I had enough for a couple hours he fell asleep it was 2:30 in the morning and I went down to the streets of Minneapolis and I started going all over asking to you know trying to buy crack and an hour later I came up defeated and I walked up those stairs and I came in and he got and he's sitting out for me he's sitting there and he goes how'd that work out for him and he goes he goes give me your phone he goes I'm taking a picture of you and you need he goes you've been telling us for years that this pillow is just a platform for God and you're gonna come back someday and help us all out of this addiction and we're not you're our hope and we're not gonna let you die on us and he took this picture and that that picture is on the front of my book now I know those guys that I just told you about two of them are born again and they work for me and I am going back to the cities and doing all this and they up but but the but I didn't quit that day I was very encouraged while God was still chasing me and it got up to January 16 2009 and I knew my calling everyone says Mike was that your last day was that your you know when everybody hits bottom as an addict yeah and I say you know what I don't know but I do know something that that was my last day where my calling was going to be gone where I'm right here and that and I want you to think about that it wasn't for me I made sure I didn't have any money and made sure that I you know like a typical bottom and so that it would be the greatest comeback and with it with God all things are possible but I knew that my calling would be gone if I waited one more day so I said I said God I said I want to wake up in the morning and never have these desires again for any of these addictions and and then I'll do this platform thing that because I knew my calling by then and I didn't think I'd be speaking I just thought to be something where I you know help help people like get out of addiction I didn't think it'd be anything like this but I uh I knew it was something big I woke up the next day and it was gone the the desires were gone God freed me of the desires and and so I said okay and I felt you know now I got all my passion my my entrepreneurial passions back my pillow company by the way was down to flatline their people had stole my company and I had to get it back I had to get that these guys that work for me they had took my fabrics took everything and I had to come up with $30,000 to get my fabric back from the guy that hits that head that was going to take the fabric and but he didn't he didn't figure he was my friend so I had that you know I'm acting like he's still my friend I'm going well I you know do I have to pay cash he says yeah they weren't cash and I in no way of giving $30,000 and well so my sister she goes well we're gonna pray for favor and she prayed for favor and and a week later I ended up cut right to that story I ended up I go to these people I didn't even know there was eight of them and I rat that point anybody that wore a suit or anybody that I'm right out of know I don't have the mass for being able to talk I'm going if people have suits I was really intimidated and I thought you know thought they were better than me and everything and and I walked into these guys to get this 33 on 30 per fect strangers that I there's they're all lined up and I got a pillow there's a CIO a CFOs eieio all these C's I don't know what these are and I walked in with a pillow and three jars of foam and I said you know I got a dream I said I've been doing shows for years I these guys took my company and I'm you know I gotta get I want to get it back I'm gonna do home shows and fairs and I have a dream of an infomercial someday and I used to be a crack cocaine addict and I'm going on and the guy said over here the samples have Wendy did quit crack and I said last Thursday and they uh and the point of that there is the four of them got up and left the room but I had so much passion the other four ended up doing that and I paid him back at three months and and with the shows but they believed in me because they could see it my eyes the passion of where I was going well my pillow then it got up to we got we now we go to 2011 and I finally it wasn't I had got my company back just about home shows and fairs and I finally I told my friends and family you know what no box throws ridiculous we're gonna do an infomercial and I said it's gonna be the biggest one ever and I just you know and they're going and everybody even my kids everybody put every dime they had into this infomercial and I didn't know infomercials don't work nobody told me they don't work they just to go into the box stores and and and that's why you see them and all of a sudden they're gone a couple months later at commercials and well that's not what I've seen and I am so we all pulled our money and then I got all these naysayers telling me oh no you need an actor and you need to you need to do this and I'm going no I want it to be real I want it to be a real audience and just a friend of mine and and they and now these they wrote a script and and I didn't like the script and anyway the night before we went to film this August of 2011 they brought in a real producer from California came in and and he's were doing our reads and he's texting the other guy and he goes this guy is the worst guy I've ever seen he'll never make it on TV and I didn't hear that obviously well the next day we went to film this commercial and it was an audience like you and he was right I couldn't talk I'm going like this and I I go and I'm reading my lines it took an hour to do the first line and I said can we just can we get rid of that pella prompter and bring in a table like I do at the shows and I said I just got to be in my space you know and we ended up doing that and we did it we filmed the rest of the day and on October 7 2011 I was living in my sister's basement with nothing and this infomercial aired I had five employees and 40 days later I had 500 employees and it was the biggest infomercial in the world on December 26 2011 and and they um [Applause] but I thank you but I found I found success and we just exploded and I was hiring people off the streets and they said Mike we need to HR I said that sounds horrible we need to corporate a train I said that sounds worse and so we need to see Oh y'all you need to be CEO I said I just want to help people and make pillows you know and anyway we did we can't we got but we went way up and then I didn't and then we went way down and in the summer of 2014 I was millions of dollars in debt with no bank and no plan and I'm going God what what did I do wrong you know why am I you know what path did I take I took a I thought I was going on the right path and and then I met a gal here she's in the audience named Kendra hi Kendra and and she had something that I didn't have she had this relationship with Jesus and I'm going well I've been wearing my cross on TV for years now and and she says well you don't have the you know you need this personal relationship with Jesus and I'm going I got that and I'm you know it's actually bothering me that she said that and this went on for weeks was a parallel track now with things that started happening to me by the way in fourteen that we we did do a one in a two minute commercial that she had prayed about and prayed upon our company and all these people praying and the company then came roaring back with the one and two minute commercials and all the way up to where it is today I just never stopped but the but in 2000 by 2015 things started happening that don't happen when we look at our lives and you see the book of my books call what are the odds you look at your own life and I always use mathematical odds to see if God if Jesus is real and I would go wow that just happened the odds of that are one in a million Wow this just happened the odds are one in a billion or something happens that's impossible you can't explain it but you every one of you out there you add them up in your own lives so when do you call it a miracle and that's where I was I kept going okay every time I'd get in trouble or every time even if it was good I would go you know this is a miracle this has to be God this has to be God well then things started happening to me that I knew her God and one of them was in 2000 of the summer of 2016 the president before he was president he reached out to me Donald Trump reach out to me I didn't know him I didn't know anything about politics I was a crack addict I didn't know a liberal from a conservative I didn't know anything it was like a kid coming out of a coma and learning about the world well he called me up and he said would you meet me in Trump Tower in New York City and I was just going wow why me you know and and I overlooked Central Park on on August 15 2016 and I was meeting him in the morning at 10 o'clock it was 3:00 in the morning and I stood there with with a tear in my eye going god why am i chosen I felt so unworthy that I was just calling wherever this was taking me and I and I'll never forget that feeling but I felt like I was right there with Jesus and anyway the next day that meeting did come to and here's that picture I walked in there was just me and Donald Trump and and we talked about one of the first things we talked about he said Mike you always weigh your cross and I said yes I said it's a divine appointment mr. Trump and he we talked about I talked to him about God we talked about inner-city talk for all the things he was going to do anyway I walked out of there and I said I'm going all-in you know for that and I ended up then in that in a White House and they said no this is where all my friends said for me it was surreal just that meaning but then I end up in the White House for a manufacturer's summit I said who's sitting here they said the president said here he wanted to sit by you now this picture xx and all my friends are going Jesus is real there is no way Mike Glendale is sitting his crack addict with the president and and I now for me these things kept happening and Kendra saying you need that relationship so it gets down house everybody ready for this I still could not talk to people like I am right now and I knew I needed something there were deep wounds that weren't filled inside of me and on February 18th 2017 I went into a it was like it's it was actually for veterans but it was like a dry it's called a drop John Operation Restore Warrior and I went in there with hope that I could get that relationship with Jesus and I walked in there and that day on February 18 2017 I did a full surrender and Jesus showed up and I say and I'm going I finally I have this relationship and and now what that did for me to be I now that he released those fears he released all those fears so I could go out not even a couple months later there's a picture here I stood I spoke to I prayed for 50,000 Millennials at US Bank Stadium and my callings come full circle to be able to sit here and speak before you and that and I cannot now I'm going to say with all the without do we have that picture that Stadium there was a but I went out there right here that was to me I'm going and I but I was a speed was just a prayer thing there and so today is the first day where I've actually prayed like this I mean spoke out like this for Jesus and told the full story and I just want to tell you all right now that all of you I have a calling and you guys here at liberty are the hope of the nation and I want to say that with freight from my heart you are the hope and you are right now you're on the right paths that I didn't take back then and you got you know I look back and you know so many people look back and say I miss my calling I miss my calling every one of you has a calling and I and being that hope of the nation I want you to use this proverb three five six and that's every day trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on to your own understandings in all ways acknowledge him and he will guide your paths I want to thank you all god bless you all did we thank dr. Lyndell everyone let's just thank him what a great job get a phenomenal job hey one quick announcement people used by speech one quick announcement before we leave I know that a few chairs might have a pillow there well any pillows that are left some of you were texting me telling me that you have on my pillow already and so we're thankful for the gift but you want to maybe donate it any pillows that are left today we're gonna give to homeless shelters in the in the state and different people so it's gonna be awesome to be able to bless others so leave them if you would on the chair so they don't get as dirty and we'll put them back in bags the rest of you take those with you we will see you tonight at 6:30 at campus comm god bless you you're dismissed [Applause] [Applause] you

Channel: Liberty University

Views: 9,372

Rating: 4.5815902 out of 5

Keywords: Liberty University, LibertyU, Liberty, Jerry Falwell, Mike Lindell, MyPillow, Convocation

Id: 40DDEft5ThA

Length: 53min 7sec (3187 seconds)

Published: Thu Aug 22 2019