Teach about the Trinity -- amazing rope trick

We have just celebrated Trinity Sunday. For all you pastors, priests, ministers and Sunday School teachers out there - the Gospel magician has a definite advantage to teaching about the subject of Trinity in an easy and visual way : )

If you can't beat 'em - join em!

CANDLE TO SILK GOSPEL MAGIC TRICK LESSON

Nice!!! Simple and Visual magic.

Finding your Voice

There are a lot of parallels between preaching and performing. We all know instinctively who we listen to with great interest and those who will bore us to death within seconds. I have news for you. . . . it has nothing to do with what you do or say but has everything to do with how you do and communicate. In other words it's your personality that makes the difference.

The biggest killer is that people try to imitate their favourite preacher or magicians and it simply falls flat. God made you you! And that is worth celebrating. You are unique, there is no one else like you and when you stand up and communicate with a crowd people are gonna' connect with you as a person first and foremost. Your magic might be world class but if you are trying to be a cheap copy (or even expensive copy) of someone else then quite simply you are not being you and people will know. I have seen some technically brilliant people both in the magic world and in the pulpit who have all the right moves and the right spiel but they fall flat. Why? Because they don't sound authentic. They are not being true to themselves and believe me we can tell.

One of the most important lessons I ever learned in preaching and in ministry is that God speaks through our personality. The quote I remember is truth through personality. Of course your doctrine and message matters but that easily be squandered by being fake. If you are a serious, straight kind of person - then be serious and straight in your public communication (look at Obama - he is who he is).

If you are funny and quirky - be funny and quirky. It simply does not work for a serious guy(or gal) to be funny when they are not. It's not how God uses us.

In short you need to know yourself and find your voice (as Geoffrey Durham puts it).

Happy preaching and magicing!!

Picto Transpo

This is a fantastic trick and routine devised by Gene Anderson. Check out his website at www.geneanderson.com. For me the key theme of this trick is substitution or a transposition which is of course one of the main themes of the cross of Christ.

Check it out. Although it is expensive you can get it made if you follow the directions from his excellent Semi Pro lecture notes.

Picto Transpo

EFFECT: The performer draws a humorous caricature of a spectator and the spectator draws one of the performer. Each signs his/her name on the back of the picture frames and they are openly placed into envelopes held by the artists. To make it clear that nothing has happened (yet), the performer removes his frame from his envelope and shows both his drawing and his signature. He replaces his frame in the envelope, and with a magic word the pictures change places. He immediately withdraws her drawing from his envelope, while she withdraws his from hers. The routine is entertaining throughout and baffling at the finish. Click here for reviews and testimonials.The drawings can be individualized and are easily adapted for holidays or special events. I find it's a particularly nice effect for a male performer to use involving a female spectator: it's novel, non-threatening, funny and ends with strong magic. In my show it is always in second position and the first time I involve somebody from the audience. The reason is it establishes how I treat guests on stage: with dignity and respect. That doesn't mean we don't have fun together, but not at their expense. The routine is both fun and a fooler, and it subtly establishes the norms of conduct for both my audience assistants and me.THE PROPS look like normal articles - not special magic apparatus - and something you could probably buy at any office supply store. In reality this is an updated slate effect, and my original version used posterboard in picture frames. I performed the posterboard version for almost 30 years. Many magicians who saw me lecture or perform inquired about using dry erase whiteboards, but dry erase materials have technical and performance limitations. with white board cleaner. The result is a much superior product.

Christian Magician's Society

Fellowship of Christian Magicians

There is a well established worldwide orgainisation called Fellowship of Christian Magicians. They are committed to promoting th Christian message through the use of performing arts. I first heard about this group in the UK when a Church Army evangelist called Captain Tony Maidment first introduced me to the concept of using magic as a tool for sharing the Gospel. They have annual conferences, a magazine and are a genuinely fun group of people to hang out with and learn new things. Past presidents include Henry Smith, Paul Morley and the much missed late Pete McCahon.

You can find more free Christian Resources at their website. www.fcmuk.org/freebies.htm
These range from free gospel magic downloads to advice on prop maintenance.The USA is home to the orignal Fellowship of Christian Magicians and they are huge. They have several chapters around the country and hold regional conferences.

One of my favourite magicians to watch is Duanne Laflin who is a true professional. Along with his wife he presents stunning and colurful magic. He has a passion for sharing Christ and his collection of books take pride of place on my shelf.

If you are looking to grown and learn in your hobby of using magic tricks to share your faith. Then this society is a great place to start and continue.Blessings

Geoffrey Durham and the Art of Preaching

I recently visited the Wolverhampton Circle of Magicians. The guest speaker that evening was Geoffrey Durham. He is a highly successful British magician whose career has spanned several decades in television and theatre. He was a compelling speaker and addressed the issue of how to communicate with an audience. Along the way he illustrated his talk with the multiplying Martini Bottles, an excellent rope routine, the biggest hydrostatic glass trick I have ever seen (he had it custom made by finding a glass blower - now that's a sign of a real professional!)

He also presented and explained his Himber ring routine which is fantastic. The thought and attention to detail was a real lesson in planning and care. All these effects though were to illustrate his Seven keys (or principles) to presenting an effective magic show. His emphasis throughout was that it is the personality of the performer which is paramount not the trick which is performed.

As Geoffrey Durham continued to expound his seven principles it really struck me that his principles would equally be effective in improving the communication of preachers. Someone once said that preaching is communicating the Word of God through personality. While I would not steal his talk point by point (You can get his excellent book Professional Secrets for a more detailed discussion of his ideas), I think it is worth exploring some of his ideas in the context of improving the preaching of sermons. As Geoffrey Durham used magic tricks to highlight his principles so I will use Gospel magic tricks for the same purpose. This will be the subject of my next seven blogs. So watch this space.

Derren Brown and Gospel Magic

One ministry I think Christian magicians have is to be a witness to other magicians.

Unfortunately we often give a bad witness when we do give poor quality performances. However we do move in the same circles as other magicians and this is a fantastic privilege. When I worked with other professional magicians in Dubai I met some amazingly talented people. They came from all over the world and it was an awesome privilege to work alongside alongside with entertainers from India, Argentine, Chile, Pakistan and Iran!

Almost inevitable the subject of religion comes up when we are 'resting' between shows and it has proved a reminder to me that although I am dealing with some of the most cynical people in the world when it comes to believing in miracles - these magicians share the same desire as I do in trying to make sense of the world we live in.

Recently I read Derren Brown's book "Tricks of the Mind". It is an excellent read but troubling for me as Derren ( a famous and successful television magician and mentalist) makes no secret of his sceptism of all things religious. Derren is an incredible performer. His television programmes blow the mind and he is very, very good at what he does. As an entertainer his style is compelling, convincing and sometimes outrageous.

In his book, he describes how he converted from Evangelical Christianity to scientific atheism and goes on to express his pity for those who believe in the Biblical accounts of Jesus. His encounters with various Christians and churches are described and it made me cringe - and sadly I can understand his aversion to some forms of religion.

It's not just Christianity he pans though, at the end of the book he aggressively denounces the whole Spiritist movement and exposes the guillible victims of seances and charlatans who seek to contact the dead.

Derren was clearly influenced by the work of Richard Dawkins and refers to him throughout. Dawkins is an unrelenting Biological Determinist from Oxford University who sees the concept of God as a rather sad means to enable humans to justify their existence and make sense of the world. Derren constantly approves of science as the only measuring stick for truth.

My response to his book as a Christian reader is this:

"Derren I am sorry for the graceless way in which some Christians have treated you and for the experience of manipulation you so clearly described in some church services.

But science as the only measure of truth is a seriously limited way of understanding and living life. The whole premise of science is that it seeks to observes visible data and discover the principles which govern our universe. (If our universe is just a random accident - where did these universal scientific principles come from I wonder?) There are some things which science can never measure. For example; it cannot measure my love for my wife and children. The scientific method cannot prove if yesterday ever happened! God cannot be put in a test tube.

Scientific evidence for me builds a convincing case for the existence of a personal creator God and it is interesting to see more and more the number of sceptic scientists coming to that conclusion. A great book to read Derren would be The Case for a Creator by the journalist Lee Strobel. "

As for Gospel magic - it is simply a visual aid for me to teach those who have grown up in a visual culture the astouding reality that 'Truth' is a person - Jesus Christ.

God Bless you Derren Brown.