FCM Atlanta Chapter Minutes for January 11, 2018

  FCM Atlanta Chapter Minutes for January 11, 2018
Happy New Year, everyone!!  
The January 11, 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; Randy 
Burt; Lynn Fox; and John Abbott.  We were delighted to have John Abbott join us as a 
prospective member!  
Several of our regular members were not able to attend for various reasons.  We hope all 
will be able to come next month.
Our next meeting will be Thursday, February 8, 2018 at the home of John and Julia 
Jefferson.  The meeting starts at 6:30 with dinner, but feel free to come earlier.
As always, we had a great night of sharing.  
The following is a summary of our meeting.

Keep the “SON† Shining
John Jefferson.
MINUTES:
Randy opened with prayer for our members and for God to be glorified.
John J. made several announcements:
John informed the members of a magic show put on by Larry Wilburn.  The show is at the 
Jonesboro First Baptist Church on Saturday, February 10 at 6:00p.m.  The tickets are 
limited and there will be a small charge.
John also reported that the local IBM and SAM annual banquet will be held Saturday, 
January 20, at 6:00 p.m. at the Mount Vernon Presbyterian Church in Sandy Springs area.  
All are welcome.  There will be food, magic and lots of fun.
The 2018 FCM Conference will be held Monday, July 8-Friday, July 12—in Indianapolis, IN.  
It will be at the Westside Church of the Nazarene, 8610 W 10th St.  There will probably 
be a Heritage Club magic show on Sunday, July 7.  We do hope that several of our members 
will be able to attend.  It is a great way to get to know fellow gospel magicians and to 
learn how to better present the gospel.
Our normal local meeting time is the second Thursday of the month—Feb. 8; March 8; April 
12; May 10.  We do not meet June, July and August.
John invited our guest to stop by sometime and sit down with him to learn some easy ways 
to share the gospel.  
John then told us about the email from Duane Laflin.  Duane and Mary have booked for an 
event in Tampa, FL—September 5-8.  Perhaps they could stop on their way down or back, by 
Atlanta and do a lecture or show.  We will work with Lynn Fox and the IBM club to see if 
that would be an option. 
Since we had a guest, each of us introduced ourselves.  It is always good to hear about 
the adventures of our members!!
And now the magic began.
Lynn brought out an interesting looking box—a prototype for a great trick!  
On one side were the words, Good Life.  Why should God allow us to stand before Him in 
heaven?  Well, surely we have led a good life!  But…we did some things like lying, 
stealing, showing envy, etc.  So maybe not such a good life?
Another side showed, Good Works!  We surely have done some great things during our 
lifetimes!  But…what about the hate we showed, or the covetousness or even the drugs!  
Oops!  Maybe not as good as we think.
Back to the first side, only this time it read, Jesus Only!  Yes, we have been less than 
perfect, but when we have Jesus, He takes away our blemishes and makes us perfect in His 
sight.  The way to have Jesus is to believe that He died for our sins and is our 
Savior—we are right with God.
As Lynn was showing the box, he was putting in pieces of paper with the sins of man 
written on them.  At one point, he pulled out a red silk scarf to represent the blood of 
Christ, and then a white one.  He returned them to the box.  At the end, the box was 
completely empty, as when we are right with God, all of our sins are no more.  He has 
forgiven all.
Great job!!  The trick used several flips and folds as he explained to us.  Super gospel 
message and it “packs flat and plays big†!!!
John Abbott was next up.  He showed us an empty ginger ale can and he had a cup with 
water in it.  He explained that the can will stand upright, or lie on its side but will 
not do the impossible.  To do the impossible, humans must have the Word, that is Jesus, 
in their lives.  John poured some water in the can and the can could be tilted and not 
fall over.  We must constantly fill our hearts with God’s Word and keep close to Jesus in 
our everyday lives.  We do this by prayer and studying the Bible, and by relying on the 
prayers of our fellow Christians.  Thanks for a great illustration and a wonderful 
message!  We do hope you will come again!
Randy showed us 2 red sponge balls.  Through his clever, seemingly easy, manipulation, he 
illustrated the message of the gospel starting with “In the beginning, God†.  He took us 
from the angel who spoke to Mary all to the way through to the crucifixion using his 
great slight of hand and the 2 balls!!  Thanks so much for the great message, Randy.  You 
come up with very creative stories with pocket magic!
John and Julia then presented their routine:  Jonah’s Second Chance.  The trick is an old 
one with a great, fun message.  John showed different cards and Julia explained that they 
represented different prophets that said YES to God.  Then there was Jonah.  Jonah said 
NO when God told him to go to Nineveh.  Jonah was sure he could just turn his back on God 
and simply go the other way!  He found out the hard way that God knew exactly where he 
was and would not give up on him!  Jonah eventually decided to do as God had 
instructed—God did give him a second chance.  We are sure he realized that God knew where 
he was at all times; that God is kind and willing to forgive us when we do confess our 
sins; and that it certainly would have been easier to have done what God said in the 
first place!  John presented the cards, did a few magical moves and made the story 
entertaining as well as giving us a great message!  Thanks for a super presentation!
Well, the meeting finally came to an end.  We stuck around for a little while and then 
went our separate ways.  We pray that we will all be able to return next month and be 
able to share our experiences as gospel magicians and lovers of our Lord.
See you in February!
Grace be to you,
Julia