FCM Atlanta Chapter Minutes for February 8, 2018
The February 8, 2018 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; Mark Childers; John Abbott; and Rick Jeffers.
Our next meeting will be Thursday, March 8, 2018 at the home of John and Julia Jefferson. The meeting begins at 6:30 with dinner, but feel free to come earlier.
Our meeting was filled with food, fun and sharing. Hopefully those of you who were not able to attend will be here next month.
The following is a summary of our meeting.
Keep the “SON” Shining…
John Jefferson
MINUTES:
Leland opened our meeting with prayer.
John Jefferson reported that the local IBM and SAM banquet was a great evening of food and entertainment. John is looking forward to the magic show and banquet put on by Larry Wilburn on February 10. Also, the FCM conference will be held Monday, July 8-Friday, July 12 in Indianapolis, IN.
Our normal meeting time for the Atlanta Chapter is the second Thursday of the month.
And now…magic!
Leland pulled out of his magic bag some interesting apparatus: 4 embroidery hoops of different sizes and a wide mouth mason jar! John quickly covered the coffee table with plastic—just in case!
Leland asked Mark to balance a dime on top of the small hoop and then try to knock the hoop so that the dime falls in the jar! Well, Mark surveyed the situation and actually made it happen!! Leland then put a bigger hoop on top of a jar with a smaller mouth and asked Mark to do the same. This time it was a bit more difficult, but Leland showed us a clever move, and in went the dime! Leland said he used this illustration in his class for children with the application that sometimes things come between us and God. We often try to deal with the situation ourselves, but we should rely on God to take away the barrier. Great illustration, Leland.
Leland then showed us a Groovy Silk Blow Tube and put in the tube a yellow then a blue silk. He blew in the tube and the two silks came out tied together! Everyone was impressed with the workmanship of the tube (and Leland’s dexterity). Leland said he bought it at Smoky Mountain Magic in Sevierville, TN. Great use of “grooves”!!
Mark was up next. He explained that he wanted to help us answer a few of our pressing questions in life like…Why are hot dogs so much like lies? He said that hot dogs give you heartburn and really are not a healthy food. We can dress up the big hot dogs or little hot dogs with mustard, ketchup, etc. but in the end, they are just hot dogs! Many people get caught up in lies that seem harmless, but each lie leads to another and soon the lies run together and we don’t even remember what is true! How many lies does it really take before it is a sin—before we make God unhappy? We know. It only takes ONE!! As Mark was using this patter, he was bringing out single hot dogs, multiplying hot dogs, and eventually a long string of hot dogs. At the end, a gigantic hot dog! Of course, all of the dogs came out of an empty container! The message is that it takes only one lie to have committed a sin, to separate us from Jesus. That is why we must confess our sins and ask for forgiveness for all of our sins.
Great use of hot dogs for a great message!! Thanks for the clever use of the empty bag! Creativity is Mark’s “middle name”!
John Abbott was up next. He did a great version of cut and restore. His message was that the long rope represents our life—long and healthy. However, since we live in a fallen world, we sometimes have our lives disrupted by problems—rope is cut and then he ties it together. We still have a good life but the disruptions (knots) cause us to be troubled. When we come to know Jesus, He takes these knots or troubles, away and restores us to peace. (knots come off of rope and rope is restored) Thanks, John for a great illustration of a great message!
Rick shared the magic he has been performing with his fluffy dog, Watson. He gave us some great ideas to use with a puppet. Rick promised to bring Watson with him to a meeting in the future. We promise we won’t tell Watson that he is not real!!
John Jefferson was up next. He and Julia performed the Square Circle effect. We first asked each person to take out a pen and a piece of paper and write on the paper the numbers 1-7. John then asked them to write from memory what God created on each day starting with day one, light. After a few minutes, John showed the tube empty and then proceeded to bring out a light bulb that lit up! The group was asked what God created on the second day—someone knew!—the firmament—which John represented with a blue silk. From there on, our members made good guesses not necessarily in the right order, and John produced several other items representing the creations that God made. John has performed this effect for many church groups and almost no one has ever been able to remember the order of the creation! Great application for the Square Circle, John!!!
John invited John Abbott to return for another session on sharing magic. John Abbott will go to Branson to see Duane Laflin perform. Have a productive, safe trip!
We adjourned for the night and we look forward to next month! Grace be to you, Julia.