Magic for Ministers

Magical Tricks Prepared for Teaching and Preaching Use

From the introduction:

The increasing problem of the church of today is to interest the young people in practical Christian service. The gospel message is as potent and powerful as ever, but the difficulty is to get young people to listen to it and to find preachers who can speak the language of the young people of today and make their message sufficiently attractive to challenge their attention.

Modern pedagogy is finding that object lessons are most efficient in teaching the young mind. We remember and understand so much more that we see than that we hear. When we analyze the human mind, we discover that it is attracted more readily by something that is mysterious. So, when we can combine an object that can be seen which has about it something of mystery, and at the same time the gospel message, we have the very climax of challenging power for the young mind of today.

Mr. Voorhees deserves the sincere thanks and appreciation of all fathers and mothers as well as all ministers for the development of these marvellously interesting Gospel Mystery Sermons. I consider him the very best of all the men using magical objects today, and most heartily commend him as a special worker among the children and young people, and I most heartily commend this book to all who are anxious to see the young people drawn into active Christian service.

Homer Rodeheaver

1st edition 1930, 79 pages; PDF 51 pages.

Table of Contents

5. Introductory Letter
6. A Letter
8. CHAPTER I: Object Lesson Preaching
10. CHAPTER II: Magic in Object Work
12. CHAPTER III: Presentation of Magic Object Lessons
13. CHAPTER IV: Truth, Faith and Love - Illustrated by Grandma's Necklace
15. CHAPTER V: How God Knows - Illustrated by Numbers on Arm
16. CHAPTER VI: How Sin Comes in - Illustrated by the Smoke Trick
17. CHAPTER VII: Daniel in the Lion's Den - Illustrated by the Match in the Handkerchief
18. CHAPTER VIII: Casting Out Fear - Illustrated by Chinese Ring From the String
20. CHAPTER IX: Sunshine After Rain - Illustrated by Handkerchief from the Flame
21. CHAPTER X: Breaking Satan's Hold - Illustrated by Ropes About the Neck
23. CHAPTER XI: Good or Bad - Illustrated by the "Quick or Dead" Trick
25. CHAPTER XII: How Habits Come - Illustrated by the Phantom Ring
26. CHAPTER XIII: Jesus and Satan - Illustrated by Wine and Water Trick
28. CHAPTER XIV: Being Useful - Illustrated by Milk From Water
30. CHAPTER XV: What Our Thoughts Can Do - Illustrated by the Chemical Flag
32. CHAPTER XVI: God's Test - Illustrated by the Spinning Egg
33. CHAPTER XVII: The Hebrew Children and the Fiery Furnace - Illustrated by the Envelope and the Ribbon
35. CHAPTER XVIII: Deceit - Illustrated by the Cut Banana
37. CHAPTER XIX: Looking Backward and Forward
38. CHAPTER XX: The Loaves and the Fishes - Illustrated by the Multiplying Coin Plate
39. CHAPTER XXI: What God Can Do With a Life - Illustrated by the Carpet of Bagdad
40. CHAPTER XXII: Obedience - Illustrated by Obedient Block or Ball
41. CHAPTER XXIII: Paul in Prison - Illustrated by Chinese Wrist Shackles
42. CHAPTER XXIV: The Undependable Man - Illustrated by the Demon or Rattle Bars
43. CHAPTER XXV: Sin Is a Robber - Illustrated With the Bottomless Glass
45. CHAPTER XXVI: Selfishness - Illustrated With the Ching Ling Foo Water Can
46. CHAPTER XXVII: Carelessness - Illustrated with the Universal Vanisher
47. CHAPTER XXVIII: Love - Illustrated with the Afghan Bands
48. CHAPTER XXIX: Faithfulness - Illustrated by the Floating Wand
49. CHAPTER XXX: Sources of Material
50. CHAPTER XXXI: Putting Your Knowledge to Work
51. Suggestions For Magical Material

word count: 16301 which is equivalent to 65 standard pages of text