Atlanta Chapter of the Fellowship of Christian Magicians
April 13, 2023
The April meeting of the FCM was held at the home of John and Julia Jefferson. The following were in attendance: John and Julia Jefferson; Mark and Melissa Childers; John and Bonnie Abbott; Randy Burt.
Our next meeting is scheduled for Thursday, May 4, 2023. This is the FIRST Thursday rather than the second—just for this month. It will be at the home of John and Julia Jefferson. Dinner will begin at 6:30 p.m. and the meeting will start at 7:15 p.m.
The following is a summary of our meeting.
Keep the “SON” shining…
John and Julia Jefferson
MINUTES:–finally!!!
After our spaghetti dinner, we adjourned to the family room. Randy opened with prayer. We do miss several of our members and hope they will be able to return next month!
Melissa began with a sweet story about a fourth grade former student she taught many years ago. She often prayed for him and hoped he was doing well as he had many problems as a little boy. Melissa recently saw him and was amazed and pleased that he has grown into a fine young man!! Teachers touch the future…Melissa touched this child’s heart with her kindness and caring. What a joy to see a wonderful outcome.
John Jefferson then welcomed everyone and gave out the books that Beth Salo had recently brought from Minnesota to John, to give to our members. (Beth and Nels were sorry they were not able to be here for the meeting!) The books are called What a Fellowship. Thanks, Beth. They will be read!!
John reminded all of the FCM Conference July 30 through August 3, 2023 in Danville, IN, just outside of Indianapolis, IN.
John then gave out 2 calendars to those who guessed the “right” numbers and then proceeded to tell two jokes. One was about Hawaii and the other about a cemetery! It has been too long for either of us to remember them!!!
John J. started us off with a rope trick he and Julia performed this morning for their Older Folks group, called Connection. John handed out 6 different color rope rings. He asked each person to throw the rope ring into a bag. (change bag) He asked someone to reach into a bag and retrieve the blue rope ring. Of course, the wrong color was chosen so John said…You Blue it! Someone then reached into the bag and this time all of the 6 individual rings were connected! John put the connected rings back into the bag. The person again reached into the bag and this time all 6 rings were now in a single loop!! The message was that when individual Christians work together as in a church group, their accomplishments are amazing. Being connected as Christians is a wonderful part of staying in His Word and helping others.
Mark showed us a great effect that helped explain the concept of the omniscience of God–the concept of free will and sovereignty. Is it possible that even though God knows everything that we are going to do, that we still have free will? Our faith in God will help us with this and the trick is a great illustration. The effect involved a whiteboard, numbers, letters, a balloon, music and a pair of dice. Mark said he would predict exactly what he wants a person to pick!! After NUMEROUS choices of numbers and cards, Mark did indeed show that he predicted the choice that one person made! He said to the person who made the choice, that in his free will he made independent choices, but Mark had directed him. What a powerful effect!! So many people struggle with the free will/sovereignty concept. This was very enlightening even though some would call it “Invisible”!! It can be summed up in the verse from Proverbs 16:9 “ A man makes his plans, but the LORD orders his steps.”
Bonnie was up next! Her jokes: 1) A truck carrying Vicks Vaporub tipped over on a highway. There was no congestion for 5 hours! 2) What word becomes shorter when you add 2 letters to it? Short!!!
Thanks, Bonnie. Your sweet smile and cute jokes are a treasure to us!!
John Abbott demonstrated Andre Cole’s, Three Ball Trick. He was able to use this effect when he went on his mission trip to India. He said the University students really loved it. The gold stands for God—he is almighty. The red represents man and the blue is for sin. God created man so that he could have fellowship with him; however, man’s sin separated him from God. Jesus came to earth, died and rose to take away our sins. When we come to know Jesus personally by asking Him to come into our hearts, we are no longer separated from God. Great trick with a much-needed message!! John then showed us a card trick and asked someone to say at intervals, “switch” from black to red or red to black. This could be done with any deck of cards! It could be an example of free will and sovereignty. Great ideas!
Randy was next. He said he would do a “mind reading” effect with a Die in a Case. He asked someone to secretly pick a number on a die, place the number on the die up, cover it with the case and place it on the table. Randy then placed the case on a book—could be the Bible—and tells the person the number he has secretly chosen! His message was, when you don’t know what to do, you should go to the Bible, God’s Word. We need to take all of our problems to the Lord. This is an amazing effect to watch. Randy did a great job!
The evening came to an close and we ended in prayer for safe travels and thanks. We all agree that 9 p.m. comes so quickly!!
We are looking forward to seeing everyone for our last meeting until September. It will be May 4, 2023, the FIRST Thursday this time only.
May God hold you close and give you guidance and peace.
Julia Jefferson