FCM Atlanta Chapter Minutes for April 13, 2017
The April 13, 2017 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; Leland Davis; Mike Ellis; Bill Darby; Eugene McBrayer; Randy Burt and Eugene’s friend, Gary Hicks. We are pleased to get to know Gary!
Our prayers go out to Mark Childers and his wife, Melissa, as she is having difficulties after her surgery. We are also in prayer for Judy’s cough and for Tricky Ricky’s needs. Ricky is in need of a large van to transport his magic. His need for a new windshield on his car was met to the penny by some wonderful Christians. We know that the Lord will provide for our brother in Christ.
Our next meeting will be Thursday, May 11, 2017 at the home of John and Julia Jefferson. We hope all of us will be able to attend.
The sharing was wonderful as always. We are so grateful for each one of you.
Following is a summary of our meeting.
Keep the “SON” Shining,
John Jefferson
MINUTES:
John opened the meeting by reminding everyone of the FCM conference in Indiana June 19-23. John, Julia, Leland and Bill are planning to attend. Randy will soon decide whether or not he will be able to go.
John gave away four DVDs. They were Bible stories that are great for children. Thanks, John. Lots of children will be blessed.
Since we had a guest, we took turns introducing ourselves including where we live, our favorite magic trick and the trick we enjoy doing the most. It was an interesting time! John wants us to answer a couple of questions every meeting—a fun way to start!
John then brought out Duane Laflin’s, “Four Steps to the Right Conclusion” and demonstrated it to the group. He proceeded to give each magician the trick! He explained that Duane gave him 6 extra tricks to give to our friends at one of our meetings! It’s a great “self-working” gospel effect that can be done many times with the same result—Jesus. Thanks, John and Duane for your generosity!!!
Time to share! Mike was first. He performed a version of a Dean Dillon rope effect. He tied together two large diameter colorful ropes at least six feet long, that he bought at Home Depot. He then reminded us that man was linked to God in the Garden of Eden and man is the one who broke the link—Mike untied the ropes. Mike then put the ropes around the neck and shoulders of Leland. The ropes are separate—representing man’s separation from God—and it looks impossible for the ropes to be joined. Mike pulled the ropes over Leland’s head and they were joined!!! The message is that God can do what seems to us to be impossible. He can save us from our sins which separate us from Him.
Mike then showed us his treasures from the dollar store!! He had made his version of Stratosphere ( with the help of vinyl glue and elastic) from a placemat, a large glass, and 3 large, pretty Easter eggs. He shared the gimmick and performed a fun Easter trick including a Devil’s hank! (egg bag)
Mike invited all to his WOW presentations at New Armuchee Baptist Church, north of Rome, on April 21-23.
Linking Rings was Mike’s last presentation. He did a great routine using Leland as his helper. Thanks, Mike, for great demonstrations and creative presentations!!
OK, who would bring a leaf blower, balls, and funnels to a magic meeting to share the gospel? Of course, Leland would! He had Mike and Bill try to blow a ping pong ball out of a funnel—of course they could not do it. He then had them blow across the top of the funnel and the balls popped out. Leland then turned on his leaf blower and caused a beach ball to float above it. He did the same with another ball. When he tried it with the ping pong ball, the ball just flew away—until he turned a large funnel upside down on the blower (this idea was thanks to his young grandson!). Then, the ping pong ball floated above the blower! The last effect was to cause the blower to unroll a roll of toilet paper—all over—everywhere! What fun! The message?—-We cannot see air, but we can see the effects of what air can do. Our Holy Spirit is like the wind. We cannot see it, but we know in our hearts that it is with us every minute of every day. What fun your Sunday School children have every Sunday! We are proud of you, Leland.
Bill showed us his Great Instruction Book. He read instructions that told him to crack an egg, put it in a glass, put the glass and cardboard on someone’s head. He had to remove the cardboard to finish reading the instructions, leaving the glass holding the egg on top of the person’s head! Of course, the raw egg had “vanished” and the helper did not actually become an “egghead”! Bill then explained that the egg could represent new birth and that there are really two instruction books—man’s and God’s. Of course, God’s book is the Bible and is the one we should follow. Thanks, Bill. You do a great work with children and adults on the streets of this world.
It was Randy’s turn to wow us with his dexterity using sponge balls. He shared several techniques to help someone get started: use a wand in the same hand as the ball; don’t use supersoft balls; use Goshman balls; run balls under water and let air dry to refresh them! We are always amazed at the ease with Randy performs his tricks. His experience is priceless.
John then performed the large card trick, “He is Risen” with the perfect gospel message for Easter. He ended with ” No, He is not here.” After a few minutes of great fun comedy, the message read—“He is risen!” John then demonstrated his unique version of Houdini Chains with a gospel message. He showed a red chain and a blue chain with the red chain in his hand and the blue one linked below. Jesus is in God’s hand but since we “blue” it, that is we sinned, we are away from God’s hand. There is nothing we can do to put ourselves in God’s hand, but Jesus did something for us. He shed his red blood for us. He took our place on the cross, enabling us to be in God’s hand. (John magically switches the chains!) Some people believe that all we have to do to be in God’s hand is to be good. Will this work? No. (chains separate and come off) It takes true belief and acceptance of Jesus as our Lord to truly be locked into God’s hand. (Helper pulls the chains and they are once again interlocked.) John’s unique version of the chains was terrific!! It made a great gospel message!
The last effect of the evening was Edwin’s, “Everyone Wins”. John showed us 3 glasses covered with pretty colored cloths. He asked someone to choose one glass. After some fun byplay, the chosen glass had the prize and a message!! The prize was a dollar bill and the message was as follows: In truth, before the game started, John planned for someone to receive this as a gift. The nice thing about a gift is that you do not need to do anything to earn it. You only need to take it. The gift of eternal salvation is a free gift given by God to all those who will believe in Jesus and what His death on the cross really means to us. Ephesians 2:8 reads: “For by grace you have been saved through faith, and that not of yourselves; it is the gift of God, not of works, lest anyone should boast
John and Julia perform “Magic with a Message” every Tuesday morning for the Life After Fifties group at Johnson Ferry Baptist Church. It is a joy to be able to share the gospel with our seniors. They are always so appreciative.
We ended our wonderful meeting with prayer.
We are looking forward to our meeting on May 11.
Until next time…Julia