FCM Atlanta Chapter for February 11, 2016 The February 11, 2016 meeting for the Atlanta Chapter of the FCM was held at the home of John and Julia Jefferson. Those in attendance were: John and Julia Jefferson; Rick Jeffers; Bill Darby; Leland Davis; Melissa and Eugene McBrayer; Ricky Henson; Mark Childers and Randy Burt. What a joy it was to have Mark back with us! Mark is a shining example of our faith. We have been and continue to keep him and his family in our prayers. It was also great to see Rickóhas it really been a year?óand Tricky Ricky back with us. And of course, we were delighted to have Melissa as our guest. Our next meeting will be Thursday, March 10, 2016 at the home of John and Julia Jefferson. Following this message is a summary of our meeting. Keep the ìSONî ShiningÖ John Jefferson MINUTES: JOY, JOY, JOY!!!! Every time the door to our home opened we were delighted to see each member and especially those who have not been able to attend for a while!!! The fellowship was so sweet. We praise God for allowing us to meet every month and to get to know each other and to share His word. We all helped Ricky bring in several boxes of magic that he brought to sell. He had put several tricks in each of many zip lock bags. The magic belonged to former FCM President, member of our chapter, and dear friend, Eddie Davis, who passed away last year. Thanks, Ricky, for helping Betty get Eddieís magic in the hands of gospel magicians. We are sorry several of our members were not able to attend due to illness or prior engagements. Hopefully they will be here next time. We introduced ourselves and some shared some special words. Rick was just glad to be able to return to the fellowship. Bill let us know that he taught a young boy, Cade, a gospel magic trick that John had shared with him, and the father let Bill know that Cade shared it with his school class!! What a blessing that we can keep our faith in Jesus alive with gospel messages done with tricks. Leland is still sharing his ìscience/gospel magicî with his church children and Eugene is still pastoring with his message, ìReaching the heart through the eyes as well as the earsîódoing gospel magic. Ricky has recuperated from his recent surgery and is off and running againóministering to children and adults all over the country. Markís return gives us all a shining example of what a merciful God we have and what Christian faith and love look like. Markís grateful, hopeful spirit is an inspiration to us. Thank you, Mark, for cherishing our group as we cherish you, also. Randy shared how he met several of our members and led them to our group. Thanks, Randy. You are relentless!!!! John and Julia shared that they truly love hosting our little family each month and they truly appreciate all of the love and support. Bill, our resident street magician, shared his effect, Cross Card. His message was that God invites all to be with Him but many have excuses and ìmore importantî things to do. We are chosen by God but we must come to Him. This is a great card effect to use with those who have not yet followed Jesus. Great message, Bill. Bill also shared a great message we all can use in our ministry: Sin takes us where we donít want to go; keeps us longer than we want to stay; costs more than we want to pay; but, Jesus will set us free! Thanks, Bill. Last month, fire!!óthis monthómacaroni? Yes, Leland is back with his ìwhich cylinder holds the most macaroni?î. The message is that often we can be fooled by what we see. The devil is out to deceive us any way he can. We must keep our eyes on Jesus and stay in His Word. Thanks for the demo and for Melissa who kept the macaroni in the containers!! On to Ricky with his ìWonders of the World Predictionî. Ricky did the trick using the Eiffel Tower, Wall of China, Taj Mahal and Pyramid pictures and then changed the pictures to make it a gospel effect. The message is that we make many choices every day of our lives. We choose to do good works, give money, get baptized, perhaps even choose Jesus. What is your choice?-- I believe you have made the right oneóJesusóthe only choice that will save you. Ricky predicted that the person would choose Jesus and Ricky was correct. Great effect, easy to operate and several of us want that trick!! Thanks, Ricky. Mark wowed us again with his incredible card dexterity with his Elmsley Count trick!! His message was that we look at people and make judgements such as ìhe is savedî, or perhaps, ìthat person canít be savedî-- just by watching some of the peopleís actions. God sees all of usóall sides of usóHe knows us. We canít simply ìput on a good showî for God. He knows everything about usóinside and out. Satan wants us to judge others but we need not. We need to keep our eyes focused on Jesus because Jesus is the only one who truly knows our hearts. Thanks, Mark. You made it look easy, but we know better!! Randy then handed out small pot holder loops and showed us a neat ìwalk aroundî trick especially for kids. Thanks, Randy. A great trick to have in our pockets!! Randy reminded us that David Ginn has a very large version that could be used on a stage. John then shared several tricks with gospel messages. John gave each person a copy of the message as he and Julia did it for their Life After Fifties group at church each week. The first one was God and Man separated by Sin. The message was that sin separates man from God and only by the blood of Jesus can God and Man have a relationship. Two ropes were threaded through 3 blocksósin was tied in the middle. John asked 2 volunteers to pull on the ropes. The sin block fell to the floor!! A great illustration of a very important message. John then shared the gospel write up that goes with the ìWhatís Nextî trick. We donít know when Jesus will return just as the people of Pompeii did not know that they would be buried alive on a very ordinary day. Are we ready for His return? Next up John did a comic effectóSock to Pear. The sock was invented many years ago but didnít catch on until someone invented the second sock!! It was important because then there was a ìpearî!!óliterally!! What fun. Somehow we will give it a gospel messageóafter the laughter stops! John then demonstrated two great rope effects. The rope through the neck, in which the rope goes around the personís neck three times and then magically comes off! And, the threading the rope through the needle rope trickógospel applicationócamel through the eye of the needle. A tricky move but one we can practice and do! John handed out instructions for each of these after all had a chance to practice each one. Great crowd pleasers small or large group!! John gave updated information about the FCM International Conference in NashvilleóJuly 25-29. There will be no housing on campus and may be only a box lunch. Hopefully some of us can attend. We look forward to our next meeting. Hopefully all of us will be able to come. We are all blessed by our fellowship. Julia