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How to Make Miracles: Unifying the Body of Christ 

Growing up, one of my favorite movies was Miracle, which was about the 1980 US Men's Olympic Ice Hockey team.

Back then, the Olympic team was made of college players from various schools rather than professional players like today.

In the beginning of the season, the team wasn't gelling well:

• They couldn't mesh
• They had poor chemistry
• They weren't winning hockey games

During practice, the coach would pull the players aside individually and ask them who they played for.

They would say which schools they came from:

• University of Denver
• University of Boston
• University of Wisconsin

After one game which they got beat, the coach had the team do sprints on the ice before going to the locker room.

They'd do one sprint ... the coach would blow the whistle and say, "Again!"

Then another ... Then another ... Then another ...

Until finally, one of the players broke down ...

And said ...

"I play for the United States of America!"

And at that moment, a switch was flipped. 

They were no longer operating as separate, individual universities.

They were competing as a unified nation for the United States of America.

The rest is history.

They started to gel:

• They meshed well
• They had great chemistry
• They won hockey games and pulled off one of the greatest upsets of all-time against the Soviet Union and eventually brought home the gold medal

We Are Seeing the Same Thing in the Church Today

Often, the current Church is operating as separate, individual denominations.

Last I heard, we have well over 1,000 denominations operating independently.

If we continue to do this, we can't serve the Body of Christ to our highest potential.

But when we put aside our differences ...

And come together under the unified Body of Christ:

• Truth
• Love
• Life

We, too can serve at our Body of Christ ...

And the rest will be history!

A Reflection For You

Are you ready to put aside your differences?

Are you ready to come together as a unified Body of Christ?

Are you ready to serve at our highest potential together?

Athletes and coaches for Christ, I wish you well on your journey of putting aside your differences and operating as a unified Body of Christ, and I send love, gratitude, peace, and blessings to you!

May GOD inspire YOU every step of your way,

Kyle

Bible Verses:

• Matthew 18:20
• Psalm 133:1
• 1 Corinthians 12:12-13

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Are Hard Work and Passion Pushing You BACKWARDS? How to surrender and let Christ reroute your passion for impact

Have you ever been so passionate about something ...

And worked so hard to pursue it ...

But realized it was actually pushing you backwards???

I know I sure have.

And it turns out the apostle Paul had the same thing happen in the Bible.

Paul's Testimony

I was recently reading 1 Timothy where Paul shares his testimony with Timothy.

Paul was so passionate about the Jewish law and worked so hard to follow the Jewish law that he would persecute anyone who would not uphold the law ...

Which included killing Christians!

However, Jesus eventually made himself known to Paul.

He looked past Paul's shortcomings and saw Paul's passion and hard work, and used them to reroute Paul so he could become one of the most influential missionaries of all time.

My Story

When I read this passage, I couldn't help but relate with Paul's story, because mine was strikingly similar.

I was so passionate about basketball and worked so hard to one day be able to reach my dreams of playing pro.

As a result of my hard work, I severely overtrained myself, so severely that ...

I ended up in the hospital 3 times from exhaustion and on the brink of death.

And the third time this happened, it ended my competitive athletic career.

However, Jesus looked past my shortcomings. He saw my passion and hard work, and has enabled me to use my story to inspire and impact many athletes around the area.

Reflections For You

Today, I encourage you to reflect on those times in your life ...

Where your passion and hard work have actually seemingly pushed you backwards ...

But Christ has looked through your shortcomings and used your passion and hard work to make an impact on the Body of Christ.

And ...

What areas, perhaps, in your life today are you so passionate about and working so hard for, but may actually be pushing yourself backwards ...

And how can you surrender to allow Jesus to reroute you so you can more powerfully impact the Body of Christ.

Athletes and coaches for Christ, I wish you well on your journey of combining your passion and hard work with surrender to impact the Body of Christ, and I send love, gratitude, peace, and blessings to you!

May GOD inspire YOU every step of your way,

Kyle

Bible Verses:

• 1 Timothy 1:12-17

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Searching For Answers??? How to allow answers to find you and unleash your full potential

Do you seem to search for answers but can't seem to find them?

Or you know there's a ton of potential inside you but it seems to be repressed and doesn't surface like you want it to?

Today we're going to talk about:

How you can lay back in surrender and release the potential that's been in front of you the entire time.

I am reminded of this story from my childhood ...

I had an awesome Jango Fett toy that would shoot discs.

One day, I was playing with it outside and when I went to pick up the discs after I had shot them, I realized one was missing.

I kept trying to find it, but no matter how hard I searched for it, I couldn't see it.

And eventually, I gave up searching altogether.

And when I gave up searching ...

I found it!!!

And it had been right in front of me the entire time.

In Life

We see this situation play out all the time in our daily lives.

Perhaps we are looking for our keys and can't find them. Eventually, we realize that they were right there in front of us all along.

Or maybe we are searching hard for our glasses. Eventually, we realize that they were on our head all along.

In Sports

We see this situation play out all the time in our sports.

We can search hard for that ingredient that will unleash our full potential.

We may perform well in practice knocking down shots or making solid contact with the ball.

But in games ...

We don't perform well under pressure.

We choke under pressure.

We may miss our shots or strike out.

And we keep looking for a way to be confident and play at our highest potential.

But it's not until we stop searching for this missing ingredient and relax into the flow of the game that we finally unleash our full potential and realize it's been inside us all along, waiting for us to get out of our own way.

In Faith

Many times, we ask GOD to show signs of His Presence.

We ask, seek, and knock, but we don't seem to receive, find, and doors don't seem to open.

Until we finally surrender.

And when we do fall back in surrender, we realize GOD's Presence and answers have been there in front of us the entire time, waiting for us to get out of our own way.

And on top of that ...

Sometimes the answers have been so close to us, closer than we'd ever dare to look ...

Because GOD's answers may even be inside us.

A Reflection for You

What situations in your life are you perhaps so caught up in and can't seem to find answers?

See if you can release your grip and lay back in surrender, and see if this, paradoxically, enables the answers that were right in front of you the entire time to reveal themselves to you.

Athletes and coaches for Christ, I wish you well on your journey of allowing yourself the freedom to surrender so the answers that have been there all along may present themselves to you, and I send love, gratitude, peace, and blessings to you!

May GOD inspire YOU every step of your way,

Kyle

Bible Verses:

• Matthew 7:7-8
• Jeremiah 10:23

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Do You REALLY Feel Free? The key to freedom most people don't realize

Happy 4th of July!

In America, today we remember our independence as a nation ...

(And we love our independence)

However, seems to me this desire for freedom isn't just in Americans ...

Rather, it seems like there is an innate driving force within all human beings for them to be free.

The more I've reflected on it ...

It seems to me the highest levels of freedom aren't attained through being independent upon yourself.

Rather, it seems the highest levels of freedom are attained through falling back on a Higher Power beyond yourself.

Take food for example:

I'm assuming all of you experience the freedom to eat food without worrying about starvation.

However, I doubt you have this freedom because you prepare all the food yourself.

Instead, you fall back on a higher power beyond you to have the food:

• The farmers that grow the food
• The truck drivers that take the food to the market
• The workers at the market who enable you to buy the food

In Sports

We see this play out all the times in sports as well.

As athletes and coaches, we often have an independent mentality:

• We go the extra mile
• We show up early to practice
• We leave practice late

All in the hopes to have the freedom to play at our highest potential.

Athletes

It's not until you fall back on a higher power beyond yourself until you can experience the highest levels of freedom to play at your highest potential.

You need to rely on:

• Your teammates
• The strategy

Coaches

It's not until you fall back on a higher power beyond yourself until you can experience the highest levels of freedom to play at your highest potential.

You need to rely on:

• Your staff
• Your players

In Our Walks of Faith

Many of us act like it's all on us to live these righteous lives and have union with GOD:

• We'll say our prayers
• We'll go to church
• We'll do this and that

All in the hopes of being saved.

However, we all end up falling short:

• We may fall into temptation
• We may cheat on a test
• We may tell a lie

And it's not until we fall back on a Higher Power beyond us until we can experience the highest levels of freedom:

• An eternal unearned grace
• Jesus Christ our Savior
• The LOVE of Christ surging through us

May this not be a damper on your desire for freedom ...

May this be an invitation to see where you can fall back in dependency upon a Higher Power ...

And see how that, paradoxically, enables you to experience higher and higher levels of freedom.

Athletes and coaches for Christ, I wish you well on your journey of falling back in dependency upon a Higher Power beyond you and experiencing the highest levels of freedom, and I send love, gratitude, peace, and blessings to you.

May GOD inspire YOU every step of your way,

Kyle

Bible Verses:

• Romans 3:23
• John 8:36
• 2 Corinthians 3:17
• Galatians 5:1