Christian Illusionists Wow Audiences Spiritually

For Thomas and Sharon Rudebeck of Foristell, the art of Christian illusion means capturing the audience members' attention spectacularly so they can wow them spiritually.

"It is the message through the performance—it’s geared toward God, and that’s it," Thomas Rudebeck said. "It’s as solid as it comes, and it comes from the gospel."

The Rudebecks, who call themselves Denial 3, will perform at 6 p.m. today at , 1507 Highway Z. The show features top-notch illusion—people and objects disappear and reappear, laws of nature are seemingly defied—with the added element of spreading the word about Christianity.

For example, after 75 to 80 fast-paced minutes, they will create the illusion of snow inside the sanctuary, Thomas said. It will be welcome to anyone who has dealt with this sweltering summer, but it should have a welcome message, too. The illusion is based on a song Thomas, who is also a talented musician, wrote called "It Snows."

"I wanted to kind of touch on what God is talking about with his son, and the idea that God’s grace falls down on us, and he sends his grace down on us in abundance, like when it snows," he said.

So the illusion will start with white tissue paper representing an unblemished lamb, as Jesus was, Thomas said. The paper will then be cut up, as Jesus was on the cross, and dipped in water, only to come out dry and blow out to the audience like snow.

"It’s like God’s grace coming down on us," he said.

People are impressed and amazed, because the Rudebecks have performed professional illusion for a long time. But since the career transformation that took them from just simply entertainers to 'magical missionaries,' it goes beyond that.

"Doing this on a secular level for so long, the one thing that I never saw people do in my audience, that they do now, is actually cry," he said. "To me, that’s the most moving thing ever, because, yes, we get the oohs and the aahs and the gasps, and the ‘Where did she come from?’ and ‘How did she disappear,? and ‘How does he do that?’ But when I bring the message, so strong of an invitation, basically three-quarters into the show, I’ve seen grown men, and women, sit there and weep. And come to us after the presentation, in the lobby, and they’re still wiping their eyes."

Thomas first acted in a play at age 9 and was in the chorus of Oklahoma on Broadway by age 19. He had an early interest in magic and eventually began doing special effects for theater productions before going solo as an illusionist. His epiphany came six years ago while performing at the White House Theater in Branson, MO.

"I would see these people shuffle in and out every week, same show, different people, and it just dawned on me—‘What am I here for? Am I just standing here to get all this applause and not get anything from it? Is this where it ends?’ I mean, I didn’t create myself. I didn’t give myself these gifts and talents," he said.

Overnight, he decided to make a big change.

"It’s all over," he said, recalling that decision. "Everything I do, secular-wise, is over, and I need to find a way to incorporate what God wants me to do with this, because I feel as though it’s really taking me nowhere. You can stand on a stage in front of thousands of people and get the applause, and these people are not going to remember who you are...So my Christianity started coming to light, and I realized it’s not all about me. It’s about glorifying the one who created me."

It was a difficult transition.

"It was a hard road to go down because we were so used to doing everything with secularism and music that we would choreograph our illusions to that you couldn’t very well bring into a church and play the same music, because there were certain words, certain suggestions, certain things going on," he said.

"We literally had to just 180 the entire presentation. It took some time, but that’s what we did. Now we’re at a point in our lives where it’s come around full circle, and it comes more naturally to us than what we used to do," he said.

Denial 3 has done illusions on NBC and Fox and opened for the Charlie Daniels Gospel Band and the Newsboys. The name Denial 3 has a biblical origin.

"That actually came from Mark 8:34," he said. "It says, ‘If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself, take up his cross and follow me.’ The '3' is about who we are denying—me, myself and I."

Denial 3 does 75 to 100 shows a year, and the ministry is growing. Rudebeck also teaches classes for pastors on how to use illusion as a visual presentation for children.

"They all love magic, and then you can tie the message in with it," he said.

The Christian illusion show can also be a nice substitute for a typical Sunday sermon.

"Lately, we’ve had a spike in pastors contacting us and replacing their sermon on Sunday morning with our presentation," Rudebeck said. "We’ve done this a number of times now...It’s very humbling, because they find it to be that powerful, that they trust someone to come in to talk to their congregation and to leave it up to them."

Pastors have been very complimentary.

"They say, ‘This is the best we’ve seen on a Christian level.’ It’s comparable to what they’re doing (in secular shows), but it’s better because it has the message. It’s got some value in it," he said.

"People are leaving, not just with, ‘Hey, I paid my $25.50, and that was a great show, now we’re going to dinner.’ People are leaving with a sense of, ‘Man, my kids were talking about this on the way home, and they were saying things about what he did, and tying it into God’s word.’ It’s rewarding, it really is."

It should be a captivating and powerful evening.

"In my years of performing on every possible stage there could be, I’ve learned that you have to have strong openers, you have to have strong closers," he said.

But there’s more than merely entertainment.

"I tell pastors all the time, I want (audiences) to leave the building not remembering my name, because I really don’t care about that. I want them to leave the building remembering the message that was tied within this new type of avenue that’s been used to deliver God’s holy word."

Tickets are $10 each and free for children younger than age 5. The family price is $35, with a limit of eight people. For more information, call the church at 636-327-6622.