Atlanta Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Magicians
April 14, 2022
The April 14, 2022 meeting of the FCM was held at the home of John and Julia Jefferson. The following were in attendance: John and Julia Jefferson; Mark and Melissa Childers; John and Bonnie Abbott; Judy Neyland; Lynn Fox; Nels and Beth Salo; Leland Davis and Randy Burt.
How great was it to have Nels and Beth attend!! We are so happy their son and family live near us and they make the effort to come to the meetings when they are in town!! It was so good to have Melissa and Bonnie with us. You all are such a blessing to our group.
Our next meeting will be Thursday, May 12, 2022 at the home of John and Julia Jefferson. Dinner begins at 6:30 and the meeting starts at 7:15. Please feel free to come early!
The following is a summary of our meeting.
Keep the “SON” Shining…
John and Julia Jefferson
PS: Someone left a red FCM tee shirt. Let us know if it is yours.
MINUTES:
Our dinner was topped off with some delicious tarts and cookies provided by Judy. We were so glad to see you, Judy. It has been a long time!
The meeting began with John J. wishing us all a Happy Easter and hoping that those who were not able to come would be able to attend next month.
We welcomed Beth and Nels our very special out of town FCM guests.
John then reminded us that the FCM Conference will begin on SUNDAY, July 24th and end Thursday evening, July 28. We do hope several of us will be able to attend. Of course, John J. has already signed up for the conference and has reserved a hotel!
John told the group that the Preble County Auction will be May 28 and 29. He gave out a print-out of the details and recommended we go to auctionzip.com.
Also, Steve Varro is offering our group a $10 off of $25 or more purchase. Thanks, Steve!
We do not plan to meet during the months of June, July and August. We plan to have our first start-up meeting on September 8, 2022.
And then began our show and tell!!!
Randy opened with prayer and a hope that those absent will be able to return in May.
John J. and Julia began with an Easter egg hunt for the “Most important thing about Easter” using the PATEO force. Judy was his helper and finally made her choice of the eggs. John opened each one including the Brown E otherwise known as the Brownie!! Other equally entertaining items were retrieved from the eggs not chosen by Judy. Finally, the last one was opened. It was a silk with the likeness of Jesus—THE best thing about Easter!! John performed this for our Life After Fifties group at church.
Mark opened his bag of tricks and found the Invisible Paint trick by Barry Mitchell. Mark always puts a twist on his effects and tonight was no exception! He told us that you can buy an empty plastic paint can from Home Depot which works very well. He then showed us his most creative paint brush into which he had ground a screw and attached a magnet!!! He used the brush like a magic wand to remove beautiful colored silks which also had magnets in them, thanks to Melissa, from the empty paint can. The message can match the colors of the silks such as red for the blood that was shed for us. Obviously Mark’s spare time is well spent!!! Thanks, Mark.
Lynn was up next and shared his version of Stinkin’ Thinkin’. He asked Julia to pull out a scarf from a bag—it was a picture of a skunk representing our thinking that we often feel we are too bad for God to really love us. How could He? He then used a unique technique by having Julia place the scarf back in the change bag, hold the scarf from the outside of the bag, with the other hand. He made the “secret move” and had her reach in with the free hand, grab the silk and pull it out. The scarf had changed to a rabbit even though she could feel the silk being pulled out by her other hand. The rabbit (could use a scarf with the likeness of Jesus) represented a positive feeling that we KNOW God loves us. He forgives our sins and frees us from all guilt. Thanks, Lynn for a new twist to an old effect!!
Surprise, surprise, Leland decided to go camping in our family room! Tent and all!! Yes, instead of a leaf blower or water, etc. he put on his camping hat and set up a “fire”—from Amazon– and a 2-man tent. He also produced all of the necessary items to be safe when camping such as insect repellent, compass, food including smores, “smelling salt”, thermometer, whistle, eggs (don’t drop them, Julia), and a story. Seems he and his wife, Brenda and their dog Little Bit went camping. As they were getting ready to go to sleep they heard grunting and growling outside their tent. Their little dog was let out to check out the noise. He chased the racoons until the racoons decided to chase her. Little Bit came charging back to the safety of the tent.
The message was that if you are ever tempted by the devil to lie or steal, or to do something wrong, know that God has given us his protective tent. We are to turn to him for our safety and well-being. He will help us to do the right thing.
Leland gives a message every week to the children in his church. This is just one of the many creative messages he has done. What a blessing he and Brenda are to those precious children. Thank you for sharing and for not burning down our house!!
Nels is always asked to bring his guitar and sing for us. He did not disappoint!! He sang Beth’s favorite song, one that was written by a friend, called “Thank you, Lord”. Thank you, Nels. What a beautiful song. God does so much for us each day. We need to be aware that He deserves our thanks and our praise. Looking forward to another song next time.
Beth brought her adorable duck puppet who played us three songs in response to Beth’s prompts. The songs were Old McDonald, Are You Sleeping, and London Bridge. What a clever way to use an adorable puppet! We love your creativity.
John and Bonnie then showed us the Amazing Transporting Dice Trick. The die was transported from one box to another several times at the snap of a finger and eventually landed in a collapsible top hat! Such fun and such a great effect. God can transport us from sinful humans to repentant, godly people. We just need to believe and receive His love. Thanks, John and Bonnie. We know your audiences are entertained and most of all are told about Jesus.
Judy was next. She showed us a copy of her Daily Inspirations packet that she has been giving to shut-ins and many others for the past 12 years. It is usually about 5 pages stapled and often mailed. The packet contains many Bible verses and messages related to the Bible. Judy read us one section about the Surprising Origins of Easter Symbols such as Easter eggs, Easter lamb, The Easter Lily and more. Thanks, Judy, we all learned so much!! Judy is a blessing to our group and to all who know her. Her heart is full of love and giving and we appreciate her so much. So happy you could come to the meeting!
Well, Randy was here to show us his prediction as to which stone would be chosen! He had a bag with four stones of different colors in it. He had John, Judy and Lynn pull out a stone. The one left was green. The green one was left—Julia showed that the prediction was indeed, green! A very clever move using an ordinary bag and 4 ordinary objects! We are so happy to see you, Randy. We love that you send us jokes, but are glad you could come.
Nine o’clock comes very quickly on the second Thursday of the month! Mark closed with prayer and thanksgiving and for the safe travels of our friends. God was listening. John and Bonnie later told us they were spared from being t-boned on the way home. We thank you, Jesus, for your protection.
We sincerely look forward to seeing everyone in May.
May God grand you Grace and Peace.
Julia Jefferson