FCM Atlanta Chapter Minutes for March 14, 2019 The March 14, 2019 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; Leland Davis; Mark and Melissa Childers; John Abbott and Bonnie; Judy Neyland; Bill Darby; Randy Burt. Our next meeting will be THURSDAY, APRIL 11, 2019 at the home of John and Julia Jefferson. Dinner begins at 6:30 and the meeting at 7:00. Please feel free to come early! We were very blessed to be able to have this meeting at our home. John’s recovery from his 5-bypass open heart surgery is slow and steady. We thank everyone for your prayers and kind cards and texts. We are looking forward to April! The following is a summary of our meeting. Keep the “SON” Shining… John and Julia Jefferson MINUTES: We opened with prayer and thanksgiving. We remembered those of us who were not able to attend–especially Rick Jeffers as he was at that moment in the hospital with severe pain. John began by thanking everyone for all of the prayers that have been offered on his behalf. He said he is very grateful to be alive and recovering and he warned us all that even if chest pain seems to go away that you definitely need to go to the emergency room! John welcomed our visitor, Bonnie, the fiance and now wife of John Abbott! We are so happy for both of them and truly delighted to have Bonnie attend our meeting. John also informed everyone about Duane Laflin’s new book, Grand Gospel Magic that is now for sale. Super tricks and illustrations of the gospel are all gathered in book form. It should be available through David’s website. What number hard back book did you get, John J.? Leland began our time of sharing by telling us about the clown convention he attended recently. It was held in Fayetteville, at the New Hope Baptist Church. Duane was there and had 4 workshops as well as several performances. Leland also attended workshops on balloons and a special storytelling workshop led by a former clown with Ringling Bros.! Leland said that clowns perform in many venues, especially hospital pediatric wards. Not sure Leland is ready to change from a mad scientist to a clown, but he said he really did enjoy the conference! Bill Darby commented that he was ‘forced’ to put on a clown costume at a recent convention and was truly amazed at the positive reaction from the children! Looks like clowning must be fun–right up a magicia’s ally! John Abbott told of his recent trip to India with Magic Bob Zoerman and Suzi. He said he did magic tricks like Professor’s Nightmare and a 3 ball illusion. Also an escape rope trick, and needle through balloon. John was thrilled at the response from the children and adults of all ages in India. They are hungry for the Word. It was a trip of a lifetime–one that blessed John greatly. We are proud of John for stepping out on faith to use his enthusiasm and skills to witness to God’s sweet people in India! John introduced Bonnie and said their wedding would be March 16, 2019. We wish them many years of love as they serve their Savior together. John A. demonstrated the escape rope trick on Bill. He said the audiences in India were truly delighted with the illusion. He also showed us a card that demonstrated confusion and then flipped it over to show us the solution to not being confused–JESUS. Judy was next! Last week was JFBC’s mission week. Judy and Jim were hosts to Solomon and his wife, from Kenya. Judy was so excited to share several of her Gospel magic tricks with him so that he could share them in Kenya!! She gave him the color changing banner, the clock effect and Duane’s large card effect that always points to Jesus. She also gave him many Gospel coins to share. She also gave gospel coins to another missionary from Malaysia. Since we have been talking about clowns tonight, Judy remembered that she has a red-headed (imagine that!) clown costume–maybe she should get it out of the closet? Judy is always so giving. She is involved in numerous organizations where she gives her love and kindness to people all over Atlanta. We are proud to have her be a part of the local FCM! We are always delighted to eat all of the wonderful desserts, etc. that she brings to our meetings! Thank you, Judy. The banana, nut, pineapple bread was delicious and the dates a real treat–not to mention all of the small goodies you brought! Leland told of a Gospel message he saw in his clown convention. There were 3 balloons representing the 3 crosses at the death of Jesus. The yellow one represented the thief who repented, the red one represented Jesus and the blue one represented the thief who did not repent. Leland told the clown group that the thief who did not repent “blew” (blue) it! Leland thought everyone knew that, but he got a roar of great laughter from the clowns! Way to go, magician! Leland brought out a big box which had Siki Fast Science Physics printed on it. He then showed us his stethoscope with a plunger attached as he put it on the box to hopefully find the cause of its illness! Fun comedy, Leland! And here came the beads! Leland brought out of his amazing bag, a cylindrical container with a string of beads inside. He carefully pulled out a part of the string of beads and the rest came tumbling out all by themselves! Of course, that was not all. Out came a second, taller cylinder with even more beads! He did the same thing, and those beads began coming out all by themselves. Not to be outdone, out came a huge cylinder with yet a much longer string of beads! We were asked to guess how long it would take for them to tumble out of the container. Well we guessed 13 seconds, 50 seconds, etc. The actual time was 53 seconds. The second effect was a heavy ring attached to a string which will wind around a pen if held correctly. Cool trick. To perform each of these illustrations, Leland needed to follow exact instructions. If he did not load the strings of beads properly, the effect would not work. If he did not hold the string properly, the ring would drop to the floor. We have been given a wonderful book of instructions–our Bible. To be able to live a life of love and kindness and giving, we need to read and study our Bible. God will guide us and direct us through prayer and thanksgiving. Well, even that was not all! Out came a hornet’s nest! What a beautiful creation! We were all delighted and wanted to touch it! Hornets chew wood and as it mixes with the saliva, it makes this amazing “paper” substance which forms their nest! Leland uses this as an illustration of all of us working together as a part of the body of Christ. Just like each hornet, each one of us has a specific talent which we can choose to use to witness and live for our Savior! What a great illustration of nature which truly declares HIS majesty! Oh yes, Mark and his beautiful bargain boxes!! As we know, Mark loves to find bargains and turn them into expensive magic tricks! That he did and he illustrated the effect for us. Leland was his volunteer. Leland wrote his initials on a quarter and placed it in a small box (rattle box). Mark then brought out a nest of beautiful boxes and Leland was asked if he wanted to keep his box or trade it for the final box in the nest of boxes. We can keep the lives we have or trade them for the life God has intended for us to have! Of course, Leland wanted the life God intended for him, so he traded. Mark brought out a second and third box from within the first box and explained that God will never leave or forsake you, a gift! He then said that we can have true joy, not just happiness, by truly knowing Jesus. God will supply all of our needs abundantly. From inside the third box was a final wooden box. Leland opened it and in it were 2 quarters. One on which he had marked and another one which represents God’s abundant giving. Mark explained the trick and said he used the Lipincott box as part of the effect. A great effect, beautifully custom made by Mark, and well illustrated! Thanks, Mark. Maybe we should all go to Michael’s more often! Melissa then shared an illustration she has used with her third grade students. She said that if you follow instructions carefully, you will find a star inside of an apple! Hold the apple stem side up and then cut the apple horizontally. When you do, you will find a five pointed star inside! Paying attention and following directions helped the wise men find Jesus by following the star in the heavens! Jesus said “seek and you shall find”. God has many signs in nature that point directly to him. God knows each one of us and wants us to seek Him. Thanks for sharing, Melissa. “Magic” is everywhere! At John J’s request, Randy then shared his One Way Arrow effect especially for Bill as Bill will be taking the effect on a mission trip on Saturday. Randy told the story of a man who felt he was missing something in his life. He was sitting in a park and wondering which way he should go to find the right church. He followed some directions and came to a very large church. It was really nice, but the man still felt like he was missing something in his life. He returned to the park and a lady said he went the wrong way. So, the man followed some other arrows and found a small church. Again, it was nice, but the man returned to the park still feeling as if he were missing something in his life. At this time a small child walked up to him and asked him if perhaps his question was how can he get to heaven. This time Randy turned his arrow card inside out and showed a picture of Jesus. Jesus is the way to heaven. The man had found his answer in Jesus. Thanks, Randy. A great message with an easy to pack effect! Bill Darby told us that he is going on a mission trip to a community in Colombia which his church has supported for years. He will perform Gospel magic for about 160 students in the community. We will keep you in our prayers, Bill. Bill then did a Three Card Monte with the king of hearts, a six and a 9. After turning the cards over and letting someone take the middle card face down, he proceeded to talk about the number six and the number nine. Jesus healed ten lepers and nine of them did not even turn to thank Him. Bill asked what was the card the person chose that was face down. The helper said the king of hearts. Bill then asked the helper, “Who is the king of your heart?” When the card was turned over the card was indeed the King of our hearts, Jesus. John J. wound up the meeting with a gag trick from Duane’s new book, Grand Gospel Magic. It was “The History of the Sock”. He showed a sock as Julia read the script. He then showed the second sock which was what made the invention important because it made a “pair”–at which time John changed the socks into a plastic pear from an “empty” bag! We then went into a play on words such as “apparently” you did not care much for that trick, and it “appears” that I should do something else! These were also in the book! The last effect John performed was to use the Crystal Silk Cylinder. Julia again read the great script from Duane’s book! For each color silk that was placed in the tube, Julia asked what it would be like if everything in our world were that particular color–like if the sky, moon, clouds, birds, etc. were all red, how would we feel? Isn’t it truly wonderful that we have different colors? We have beauty and variety because of all of the beautiful colors. As it is with color, so it is with people. People are all different with different cultures, languages and skin colors. The world is a wonderful place because of our differences. Differences do not mean that one person is better or worse than another or that differences are a reason to compare, compete and judge. That is wrong. Differences make our world a beautiful place to live. At the end of the presentation, John produced a very long multicolored silk. A really great effect especially in today’s multicultural world!!! Well, another great meeting with wonderful fellowship and sharing. We are all truly blessed to have Christian fellowship with each other each month. We treasure our time with each of you. Don’t forget next month: April 11—our next meeting!!! Grace be to You. Julia Jefferson |
Fellowship of Christian MagiciansSharing the Love of Jesus through Magic and Other Arts