FCM Atlanta Chapter Minutes for September 13, 2018

FCM Atlanta Chapter Minutes for September 13, 2018
The September 13, 2018 meeting for the Atlanta Chapter of the FCM was held at the home of John and Julia Jefferson.  Those in attendance were the following:  John and Julia Jefferson; Lynn Fox; Joah Skinner; Rick Jeffers; Randy Burt; Bill Darby; Mark and Melissa Childers; Leland Davis; Shane Wilbanks; Larry Wilburn; John Abbott; Eugene McBrayer.
Our next meeting will be Thursday, October 11, 2018 at the home of John and Julia Jefferson.  Dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting at 7:00.  Please feel free to come early!
We were delighted to have Joah return to the fellowship!  How refreshing to have a youthful perspective.  We were also delighted to have Larry and Shane.  What a blessing!  We missed several of our members and hope they will be able to attend next time.
What a joy it was to host such a fun-loving, Christian group!  The FREE tables brought lots of excitement and sharing!  John may have slipped a few leftovers in some of your bags—the tables had to be cleared!!  Thanks, John J. for purchasing all of those treasures at the conference and sharing them with us!
The following is a summary of our meeting.
Keep the “SON” Shining…
John Jefferson
MINUTES:
We opened with prayer and then John J. welcomed all of our members and guests.  We were delighted to have Shane and Larry join us!  John and Julia recently attended a magic show given by Shane at our Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.  He did a super job entertaining adults and children and presenting the Gospel to all.  Shane is a speaker, artist and illusionist who performs at many venues and has impacted thousands of youth as well as adults.  He can be contacted at www.makeknown.net   We do hope Shane and Larry will be able to join our fellowship.
John let everyone know that Ricky Henson and Scott made a valiant effort to attend, but after traversing only a couple of miles from their house in an hour they decided to give up.  Atlanta traffic truly interferes with our attendance!  Hopefully next month will be easier.
John reminded all of the web site for the Fellowship of Christian Magicians:  FCM.org.  If you are a member of the FCM, you have access to the Directory; issues of The Voice; many lecture notes and books, etc.  Great information!
Also, FCM has a Facebook page.  You do not have to be a member of the FCM to use this page.  There are hundreds of magicians who are delighted to share and to help you with any presentations or instructions to long, lost tricks!  We noticed that 2 of our members have already used this to get help with instructions!
John then shared that there are now postal stamps with images of magic such as a dove, a rabbit in the hat and several others!  Cool!
At this point, John distributed zip bags with Gospel coins and the dates for next year’s conference in Indiana!  And the dates are:  July 20-26, 2019!!!  We encourage all to attend if possible.  Duane Laflin is bringing his full show to share with us one evening!
FYI, FedEx (used to be Kinko’s) can enlarge your print to very large sizes!  John demonstrated his enlarged  “Casket” trick to the delight of all!  Also, there is a great spray adhesive that can be used to attach items to a display board while presenting a message.
Since we had several guests, we all quickly introduced ourselves and then the fun began!  John handed out numbers to each person and also a plastic grocery bag.  Several numbers were told to go to the tables laden with all kinds of interesting magic items,  and choose a prize!  The process repeated until everyone had several turns and the tables were almost empty!  As I said, the few things that were left were stealthily placed in several bags to be sure we didn’t have anything to return to the magic room!  What fun and fellowship and a little bit of bargaining and exchange?  Maybe John will do this again?
Now for more sharing!  Mark demonstrated his wonderful trick that he used to open his performance he recently did at Eugene’s church.  He began with a black cloth that was covered in white spots which represented our sins.  He shook the cloth and the spots disappeared but magically appeared on his white vest!  No matter how hard we try, how “good” we are, how many wonderful things we do, we cannot shake off our sins—unless, we confess them to God and we accept His offering of forgiveness!  Mark’s white spots were then shaken onto the floor—gone! because of the sacrifice of Jesus, not because of anything we can do.  Mark designed and with the help of Melissa (white spots, anyone?) made part of the trick himself.  Great work you two and a wonderful demonstration of the message!!
Randy brought out several really large playing cards and demonstrated a true WWII card story.  A young army private was disciplined for taking a deck of cards to church (have times changed?).  The young man was given the opportunity to explain himself and proceeded to tell his commander that the cards were really like his Bible.  The Ace reminded him of the one true God; the two represents the 2 parts of the Bible—Old and New Testament…  When TEX RITTER finished, he had truly made a wonderful impression on his superiors.  Thanks, Randy for reminding us that we can reach others with many kinds of object lessons.  Our hearts just need to be right with God.  The cards were found on Amazon at Big Cards.
Bill reminded us that our magic is really a story that should always result in a beautiful “ah-ha” moment for the one who is listening.  Our God is the greatest “illusionist” of all as we look at our wonderful world and the story of Christ.  Bill demonstrated his tale of the penny cross which he has developed beautifully!  Thanks, Bill for all you do for our street kids of Atlanta.
I had my table cover all ready for Leland but didn’t need it this time!  Leland brought out a screw driver and attached a line of strong magnets to it.  He then twirled the screw driver around and around and as he did, the line of magnets magically inched UPWARD!  No matter which way held the screw driver, the magnets went up!  His only conclusion is they must be Christian magnets, as they always rise toward the Lord!  Thanks, Leland, for a fun demonstration using science and a great message.
Shane then used the Stiff Rope with a wonderful Gospel message.  He explained that Christianity is not achieving, it is receiving.  Jesus achieved so that we can receive eternal life with Him in heaven.  Shane’s messages are heartfelt and inspiring.  We do hope he will be able to fit the meetings into his busy life.
Larry took us through a great Gospel routine with Professor’s Nightmare and several well executed cut and restore moves!  His message is that we are sinful and only Jesus can remove our sins.  Sin required a payment and Jesus was that payment.  There is only one rope—one God, yet there are three ropes—Father, Son, Holy Spirit.  We were delighted that he shared his effect and his message.  No doubt several of us will use it!
Joah was next.  Forgive me, but I was so baffled with his expert card manipulation, to the point that I simply could not write it down!!  What a wonderful ministry for young people!  Thanks, Joah.  We are so pleased that you came and shared with us!
Lynn had fun demonstrating his newly acquired reel and “black thing”!  I’m sure he will come up with a great use for his new treasure!  John J. thinks that if you put a chair leg in the “black thing”, the reel could be used to magically move a chair across the floor!  Just a thought!
As always, John J. shared last—but not in the least, least!  He demonstrated his wonderful Energy Stick or Sensor       Stick.  He held onto one end and nothing happened, but when he held onto both ends, the stick lit up and made an eerie noise!  He then had someone else hold one end and then touch his hand and again the stick lit up.  Finally, he held one end, we all held hands and the last person held the other end of the stick.  Again, it then lit up!  John and I had used this in our weekly LAF meeting at church.  The message is that Jesus is the Light of the World and we form bonds or connections as Christians as we reach out and touch others, because of the love of Jesus.
Well, another month, another precious time with our extended family.  We pray often for each other and for the blessings to keep flowing through us and our fellow Christians.  Thanks, all of you.  See you next month!
Grace be to you,
Julia
The September 13, 2018 meeting for the Atlanta Chapter of the FCM was held at the home of John and Julia Jefferson.  Those in attendance were the following:  John and Julia Jefferson; Lynn Fox; Joah Skinner; Rick Jeffers; Randy Burt; Bill Darby; Mark and Melissa Childers; Leland Davis; Shane Wilbanks; Larry Wilburn; John Abbott; Eugene McBrayer.
Our next meeting will be Thursday, October 11, 2018 at the home of John and Julia Jefferson.  Dinner begins at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting at 7:00.  Please feel free to come early!
We were delighted to have Joah return to the fellowship!  How refreshing to have a youthful perspective.  We were also delighted to have Larry and Shane.  What a blessing!  We missed several of our members and hope they will be able to attend next time.
What a joy it was to host such a fun-loving, Christian group!  The FREE tables brought lots of excitement and sharing!  John may have slipped a few leftovers in some of your bags—the tables had to be cleared!!  Thanks, John J. for purchasing all of those treasures at the conference and sharing them with us!
The following is a summary of our meeting.
Keep the “SON” Shining…
John Jefferson
MINUTES:
We opened with prayer and then John J. welcomed all of our members and guests.  We were delighted to have Shane and Larry join us!  John and Julia recently attended a magic show given by Shane at our Johnson Ferry Baptist Church.  He did a super job entertaining adults and children and presenting the Gospel to all.  Shane is a speaker, artist and illusionist who performs at many venues and has impacted thousands of youth as well as adults.  He can be contacted at www.makeknown.net   We do hope Shane and Larry will be able to join our fellowship.
John let everyone know that Ricky Henson and Scott made a valiant effort to attend, but after traversing only a couple of miles from their house in an hour they decided to give up.  Atlanta traffic truly interferes with our attendance!  Hopefully next month will be easier.
John reminded all of the web site for the Fellowship of Christian Magicians:  FCM.org.  If you are a member of the FCM, you have access to the Directory; issues of The Voice; many lecture notes and books, etc.  Great information!
Also, FCM has a Facebook page.  You do not have to be a member of the FCM to use this page.  There are hundreds of magicians who are delighted to share and to help you with any presentations or instructions to long, lost tricks!  We noticed that 2 of our members have already used this to get help with instructions!
John then shared that there are now postal stamps with images of magic such as a dove, a rabbit in the hat and several others!  Cool!
At this point, John distributed zip bags with Gospel coins and the dates for next year’s conference in Indiana!  And the dates are:  July 20-26, 2019!!!  We encourage all to attend if possible.  Duane Laflin is bringing his full show to share with us one evening!
FYI, FedEx (used to be Kinko’s) can enlarge your print to very large sizes!  John demonstrated his enlarged  “Casket” trick to the delight of all!  Also, there is a great spray adhesive that can be used to attach items to a display board while presenting a message.
Since we had several guests, we all quickly introduced ourselves and then the fun began!  John handed out numbers to each person and also a plastic grocery bag.  Several numbers were told to go to the tables laden with all kinds of interesting magic items,  and choose a prize!  The process repeated until everyone had several turns and the tables were almost empty!  As I said, the few things that were left were stealthily placed in several bags to be sure we didn’t have anything to return to the magic room!  What fun and fellowship and a little bit of bargaining and exchange?  Maybe John will do this again?
Now for more sharing!  Mark demonstrated his wonderful trick that he used to open his performance he recently did at Eugene’s church.  He began with a black cloth that was covered in white spots which represented our sins.  He shook the cloth and the spots disappeared but magically appeared on his white vest!  No matter how hard we try, how “good” we are, how many wonderful things we do, we cannot shake off our sins—unless, we confess them to God and we accept His offering of forgiveness!  Mark’s white spots were then shaken onto the floor—gone! because of the sacrifice of Jesus, not because of anything we can do.  Mark designed and with the help of Melissa (white spots, anyone?) made part of the trick himself.  Great work you two and a wonderful demonstration of the message!!
Randy brought out several really large playing cards and demonstrated a true WWII card story.  A young army private was disciplined for taking a deck of cards to church (have times changed?).  The young man was given the opportunity to explain himself and proceeded to tell his commander that the cards were really like his Bible.  The Ace reminded him of the one true God; the two represents the 2 parts of the Bible—Old and New Testament…  When TEX RITTER finished, he had truly made a wonderful impression on his superiors.  Thanks, Randy for reminding us that we can reach others with many kinds of object lessons.  Our hearts just need to be right with God.  The cards were found on Amazon at Big Cards.
Bill reminded us that our magic is really a story that should always result in a beautiful “ah-ha” moment for the one who is listening.  Our God is the greatest “illusionist” of all as we look at our wonderful world and the story of Christ.  Bill demonstrated his tale of the penny cross which he has developed beautifully!  Thanks, Bill for all you do for our street kids of Atlanta.
I had my table cover all ready for Leland but didn’t need it this time!  Leland brought out a screw driver and attached a line of strong magnets to it.  He then twirled the screw driver around and around and as he did, the line of magnets magically inched UPWARD!  No matter which way held the screw driver, the magnets went up!  His only conclusion is they must be Christian magnets, as they always rise toward the Lord!  Thanks, Leland, for a fun demonstration using science and a great message.
Shane then used the Stiff Rope with a wonderful Gospel message.  He explained that Christianity is not achieving, it is receiving.  Jesus achieved so that we can receive eternal life with Him in heaven.  Shane’s messages are heartfelt and inspiring.  We do hope he will be able to fit the meetings into his busy life.
Larry took us through a great Gospel routine with Professor’s Nightmare and several well executed cut and restore moves!  His message is that we are sinful and only Jesus can remove our sins.  Sin required a payment and Jesus was that payment.  There is only one rope—one God, yet there are three ropes—Father, Son, Holy Spirit.  We were delighted that he shared his effect and his message.  No doubt several of us will use it!
Joah was next.  Forgive me, but I was so baffled with his expert card manipulation, to the point that I simply could not write it down!!  What a wonderful ministry for young people!  Thanks, Joah.  We are so pleased that you came and shared with us!
Lynn had fun demonstrating his newly acquired reel and “black thing”!  I’m sure he will come up with a great use for his new treasure!  John J. thinks that if you put a chair leg in the “black thing”, the reel could be used to magically move a chair across the floor!  Just a thought!
As always, John J. shared last—but not in the least, least!  He demonstrated his wonderful Energy Stick or Sensor       Stick.  He held onto one end and nothing happened, but when he held onto both ends, the stick lit up and made an eerie noise!  He then had someone else hold one end and then touch his hand and again the stick lit up.  Finally, he held one end, we all held hands and the last person held the other end of the stick.  Again, it then lit up!  John and I had used this in our weekly LAF meeting at church.  The message is that Jesus is the Light of the World and we form bonds or connections as Christians as we reach out and touch others, because of the love of Jesus.
Well, another month, another precious time with our extended family.  We pray often for each other and for the blessings to keep flowing through us and our fellow Christians.  Thanks, all of you.  See you next month!
Grace be to you,
Julia