FCM Atlanta Chapter Minutes for September 8, 2016 (NOTE: Group picture is attached) The September 8, 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; Mark Childers; Bill Darby; Leland Davis; Judy Neyland; Randy Burt; Ricky Henson; Bob Colby; Lynn Fox; Eugene McBrayer, his wife, Melissa and their daughter, Michaela; Rick Jeffers; and a new fellow magician, Jason Hardeman. Our home was full and we were full of spaghetti, chicken casserole and Judy’s wonderful artichoke squares and delightful chocolate mini dessert!! How wonderful it was to meet again. We were delighted to keep adding chairs as our members let us know they were coming. As always we shared stories and magic and praises and the laughter shook the house!! It was great to have Melissa and Michaela visit—we hope you come back! We were delighted to have Jason attend. He has been on our list and was finally able to get here. Our next meeting will be OCTOBER 13, 2016 at 6:00 p.m.—or whenever you get here– at the home of John and Julia Jefferson. Following this message is a summary of our meeting. Keep the “SON” Shining… John Jefferson MINUTES: After opening in prayer, John welcomed everyone and especially our guests, Jason, Melissa and Michaela! John gave a great description of our last FCM Conference in Nashville, sharing a typical day and the types of classes that were taught. He then told us about the conference that is planned for next year. It will be held in Indianapolis, IN from June 19-23, 2017 at what is now called the Caribbean Cove. The name of the facility may change as it will soon be under new management. There is a hotel at the facility with rooms costing about $80 per night. John encouraged the members to sign up now–$50 holds the reservation. The conference is always a blessing to those who attend. We are hoping several of us will be able to attend! John encouraged all to become a member of the FCM. He gave out applications to those interested. John then shared the web site and a handout that offers Gospel coins and small toy cars to be used in ministering to others. The items are offered as free without charge or obligation, their ministry looking “only to the Lord for financial support”. Several of our members have shared their use of small items to spread God’s Word. John has ordered the above items and will give them to those who attend in October. The fun began when we decided to take a group picture! John manned the old fashioned camera and scrambled to get in the picture. I must say we were all smiling by the time the flash finally decided to flash! And then…FREE, FREE, FREE!!! Yes, John had set up an entire table of FREE items!! Each of us was randomly given a number. John started the event by calling for number 1, then 2, etc. until all had been able to choose a treasure! Then…he started from number 15 and each was able to choose another gift! Then he did it again!!! WOW!! What fun and what a great variety of “new toys” for our magicians. Randy was so tired of getting up and down that he couldn’t possibly retrieve his lovely silks on his own!! Or was it that they were not quite so lovely? In any case, he did manage to take them home! Other items that were taken home were a wilting flower, appearing flower, many informative MUM magazines and old FCM magazines, many books, Micro Psychic, Duane Laflin’s Advanced Gospel Magic, Duane’s Look and Laugh, stiff rope, Doc Haley’s cards—2 Symbolic Decks and 1 Svengali deck—excellent card DVDs, card gimmicks, etc. Ricky, what will you do with that rope? Just when we thought it couldn’t get any better, we had our time of sharing. Ricky showed us his newly acquired bears and monkeys that he had sold at the conference. Their “smiles” were terrifying!! The message could be that very often things are not what they seem to be!! Several members just couldn’t resist, and purchased one right then and there! Rick shared that he taught balloon twisting to a group of people who were going to foreign and home mission fields. They were so excited to learn a visual to help share the Gospel! Leland then presented 3 card boxes and asked someone to pick them up in a specific sequence. As it turns out, picking up only one felt the heaviest!! Mind games!! Leland then brought out a triangular pool table rack on a rope and proceeded to put a cup of water on one of its sides and actually talked about swinging it around in our family room!! Of course, this was a planned idea to get John a bit uneasy!! I think John did say, “ really? , in here, Leland??? “ a few dozen times!! John and Leland and I had seen this effect performed on a big stage at the conference! Never hurts to have a little fun! Some people at Kohl’s will never be the same. Mark overheard them discussing the Michael “ Carbonaro Effect” show on TV. And yes, Mark couldn’t resist. He joined in saying he had bought something from Michael when he was in Atlanta and his wallet has never been the same. Mark then demonstrated his $1, $5, $10 trick that he carries with him and then quietly walked away to eyes popping and jaws dropping!! I think his wife’s eyes were rolling!! Again, what fun! Bob then used his Sketch Book to show a prediction in an envelope which was held by Michaela. He flipped each of the 3 sections until Michaela said, stop, and the very face she chose was in the envelope she was holding! It was suggested that a Gospel message could be –Jeremiah 1:5—“Before I formed you in the womb I knew you…” Thanks, Bob. Some of us will dig out our forgotten Sketch Books!!! Recently Randy had shown us his special move to use the Hot Rod. Bill demonstrated his use of the hot rod using Randy’s idea to share the message that we “blue” it, but God’s grace is sufficient to save us. There is nothing so joyous as to have someone use your idea to share God’s Word!! Thanks Randy and Bill. Bill also showed us the coin with the Ten Commandments on it that he uses to share with children, citing the 5th one, “Honor your father and mother” as a way to share. He has given hundreds of coins to children—many have kept them and have brought them back to Bill so he can do the trick again! And now, Randy, our storyteller shared his wonderful experience with the Indian children in Oklahoma. For 15 minutes he had a whole room full of children mesmerized as he told the story of the Battle of Jericho. He used several children to demonstrate how the people of old marched around Jericho over and over. Randy had given each child a party horn and after the 7th day in the story, all of the children blew their horns as the walls of Jericho came down demonstrated by the use of Randy’s Clatter Box falling apart and Rahab’s special cord was produced! Randy and Ricky have ministered to the Indians in OK for many years. What a blessing they are to the many abused and distressed children. Well, all good things do come to an end—or rather to a temporary halt. We do plan on having another wonderful time of fellowship next month. We hope you will be able to attend. Rick closed our meeting with prayer. | 
Fellowship of Christian Magicians