A pastor was giving a children’s address at church. He had a large group of children sitting on the floor at the front of the church when he asked them what has a bushy tail, climbs trees and eats nuts? One of the children eagerly stretched their hand as high as possible and in a loud voice said Jesus, God, the Holy Spirit.



The point I make is that sometimes I think we try too hard to use magic as a way of making a point rather than realizing the part that good magic can play in helping us to develop meaningful relationships with children and young people. I think we excuse poor presentation and delivery sometimes simply because it has a so-called gospel message at the end. Like a lot of Christian music we sometimes excuse the poor quality simply because it seemingly contains Christian lyrics.



I think magic is of value in itself and we need to be careful about the way in which we try to incorporate our own agendas into our magic without taking the time to find out about the real needs of the young people with whom we work.



What do other people think?



Best wishes

Ken

In modern society, magic provides a great medium for theater. As such, it can stand on its own and provide a diversion from the work-a-day world. That’s called entertainment.



However, magic is an art. And the arts have historically found their place within the church. Dance, music and oratory can be both secular and sacred. Bringing them into the church isn’t what makes them sacred. It is the presentation of these talents for the glory of God that sets them apart.



The same is true of magic. There are a great many artists who perform magic and wish to use these talents to directly impart spiritual truth. Obviously, this should be done as professionally as possible. I don’t believe that it is or should be the primary method of delivering a message. However, it is a very useful tool.



Kids and adults love magic. If done thoughtfully, a simple spiritual truth can be wrapped in the clothing of a magic effect. When offered in this manner it can be used to warm an audience to truth in a way not otherwise understood.



The key here, as with any talent used for ministry, is to present it for God’s glory. That means it needs to be prayerfully, and carefully thought out. You are about to plant a seed of faith or understanding into someone’s mind. With this in mind, shoddy performance should have no place. Excellence should be the watchword.



Scott

As evidenced by Andre Kole!

I absolutely agree. Magic can be the message as in Doc Haley Effects, or it can be a tool to gather, or maintain interest, or it can simply be entertainment that helps establish a relationship with the "audience".



I am involved with a group of street evangelists who use Magic, and Music, and Mime for all three reasons. Sometimes we "eat razor blades" to pull them out on string (just one unlikly example of "Gospel Magic" that we use) Then we may easily come back with any one of some original or traditional "Magic with a Message" effects.



My personal feeling is that traditional Gospel Magic where every effect has a message and neatly ties back to book and verse is Great - for believers and Building up the Body, but a steady diet of it in evangelistic efforts will not be as effective if you dont first, get the audience’s attention, incite interest and establish credibility.



And all we do must be done prayerfully and with a primary goal of Honoring God.



Bro David







_________________

If you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything.

In my humble opinion, I believe that (just like the servants that Jesus spoke of) God has given me a talent in my magic. It’s up to me, whether I use that talent to make more talents, or if I hoard it, or if I lose it.



I figure it this way, and it’s only my opinion, but I owe my very existence to God, and I certainly owe my talent(s) to Him.



I have "offered" my talents as a magician (and a puppeteer) to God, to use as He sees fit, for the purpose of pointing people toward Jesus.



I will not perform a trick in public, unless it somehow glorifies God. I will PRACTICE it, while at the same time trying to add Christian Patter to it, but I won’t PERFORM it until it points people to Jesus.



But, back on topic, I personally demand excellence from myself, because I want to do my absolute best for Jesus.



Pete

Good post by Ken.



Gospel magic is a tool, and can be used in different ways.



In some cases, you may use magic without any type of "message" attached to it, yet the overall effect will be very beneficial to the Gospel.



In some cases, you may use a very "weak" trick, simply to demonstrate as an object lesson a point of the Gospel. These are the types of "tricks" often performed by non-magicians as part of a children's sermon. As a magician, you want to be very careful not to expose tricks or perform an effect poorly, but in some cases you actually want the trick to take a back seat to the message.



Finally, you have the all out Gospel show, that may combine both good magic with a message, and perhaps several effects without an associated message.



Doug A.

Ken, this is an interesting point you were making and I feel that the choice of if you want to use magic to help children to understand a bible message you can. But as you know I would use it in order to break the ice between me and a young person. It will always start a discussion in which you can mention your faith and what you believe. Secondly if anyone performs magic they must be ready and sure to do it well. As you were saying Ken most of the time because it is christian the quality is left on the side. I feel that this kind of thing shouldn't happen because you have to do and give your best to your Saviour.



Ben

Greetings:



It's been awhile since I've been in The Magic Cafe. Mainly due to the fact that we spent December moving the company

(Dock Haley Gospel Magic Co.) What a job!

It will take us another month to figure out where everything is, and a few more months to get it all re-organized!



I wanted you to know that I appreciated the comments of those who have written comments in this area.



So often in the past we have heard negative comments about the quality of Gospel Magicians. As many of you have indicated, sometimes church workers take the attitude that since it's for the Lord it doesn't have to be as polished as it does if I were performing for the world. I, and I'm pleased to see that many of you, disagree with this attitude. If we are performing our craft to present the most important message in the world, then it should be better than if we were just entertaining people for the enjoyment of entertaining.



Again thank you for your comments and dedication to being the best you can be for HIM.



In HIS service,

Steve Varro

International FCM President

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