Well Steven, I have never heard of a Christian School doing that. But I find that some of the Gospel magicians say that they are "tools for God to work his miracles through". That will get you around it, and win you points with the staff if you ever want to do it again.

How about an object lesson storyteller?

As a Pastor who did magic, I was never allowed to do "magic" in Church, or at Church events, but I could do all of the
"object lessons" I wanted to.

Brian

I took a show one time and after accepting it, received the list of conditions - don't say the word magician, no playing cards allowed, etc etc. The stress of dancing on eggshells wasn't worth it. (Although I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have allowed dancing either if they'd known I was doing it.) Since that time any church that calls is told I am a magician and there will be some playing cards used at some point in the act. The grief I had preparing for that one show gave me the guts to walk away should the situation occur again. I don't envy you, Steven.

Well everybody,
The show is going together nicely. I've decided to address the issue head on. I've narrowed down the field and am putting together the script of the various effects as we speak.

I spent some time surfing the internet and found some great children evangelism sites that talked about child development and associated stages in faith development at various ages. This information was invaluable to developing a theme and bringing focus to the show.

In the end the children will learn about the love of God and the adults will learn the difference between the magicians of the Bible and the magicians of today.

I'll keep everybody posted. By the way, a second school has booked me for the same show. So I'll have two shows under my belt by the end of July.

Steven

I once got invited to a church. After they heard what magic I do (bullet catch, headlines predictions,...), they canceled. They told me that they were looking for a magician who just does regular "tricks". I told them that they are all tricks and that I have the Gospel message in the second part, but they were looking for a magician who does tricks that are obvious.....

Another church canceled three days before the show, because they could not believe I was doing just tricks. The tricks were too unbelievable.....

Pit Finn

Well the show was today. It went on without a hitch! They enjoyed it and asked me to come back.

Like I said, I approached the problem head on and they loved it. By the end of the show, everybody said they liked the magician and the 'magic' show. 150 converts....

Steven

Well Done Steven!

It is amazing what God can do with us, isn't it?

God Bless!

BroDavid

I have been asked this many times (not using magic).

I just simply leave it out, and make any changes I need (no wand or magic words)

As most of my gospel magic is story based anyway, it isn't usually a problem.

Hey !! that's great, Steven, I was re-reading this thread just the other day and was wondering how it went.
Congratulations on a job well done and for hearts having been reached.

GlenD

I think its the intepretation of the word "magic" in the Bible. Didn't the Magi (follow the Star) and visit Yeshua when he was a toddler?

Divination is a whole new ballgame.

My nickel;)

Steven, Wow!! 150 conversions, that is awsome, way to go! No matter where you go you will alway's have someone who is uneducated on the issue of magic and the bible. Some recieve teach on the truth with ease and while others have some difficulty.


Here is my website http://www.mastersofmystery.org fallow these links and you will find my study page on magic and the bible (this will help you).
Biography scroll to the bottom of the page and click history about half way down there will be a link to magic and the bible. hope it helps

God bless
master of mystery
brett

In General
I think we must educate the Church in Bible facts we are Magcians. There is no where in scripter when it is condemned. In fact Daniel is appointed the Chief of Magicians. As soon as we go down the path of dressing it down we really enforce misunderstandings and we can not back peddle from that. We also end up giving the Devil more credit than he deserves. Leaving the term Magician in the realms of the supernatural when it is not. Only the message entwined is supernatural. There has been loads of stuff posted on this debate. We also must take in consideration colleges, Magcians that are not Christians, what are they to make of been cast as the sporn of Satan by folk in the Church.
To simply say nothing for the sake of keeping the peace is not right. We must recognize that God does not condemn our trade, we do. When that happens a deception is reinforced in peoples minds, so you are more than a Magician, you are a Which or a Sorcerer.
What insulting rubbish.
Mario

I'm finding citations to words like malefactorum and the like in the Latin version of the Bible.

Anyone know the citations in the Bible in Aramaic and Greek about conjuring and reading people and talking to spirits?

On a related thought, is it possible to present what we do as similar to a movie, where the edges of the screen are the edges of the stage and the characters we use?

The Greek word for "magic" or "divination" is: pharmakeia - this is where we get such words as pharmacy, etc...
The word itself is in reference to witchcraft or divination. As far as the magi, what we know of them is that there were probably more than three, (people assume three because three gifts were presented)they were probably astronomers or astrologers, they did know about the appearance of the star.
I believe any act that you use 'psychic' powers shold be left out of the church. Illusions are just fine. The bible strictly forbids mediumship, witchcraft, and divination. As far as sleight of hand there is no mention. *s*
Although some churches are leery of playing cards "The devil's playbook".
Seth

Before we know what magic means in Greek we need to know what it is in English. It has 2 meanings 1 witchcraft or divination so on which is condemned in the Bible or 2 slight of hand which it is not.
We have the opposite problem with the word Love, we have 1 word for it, But the Greek has 4.
The context of our practice is slight of hand.
Mario