MegaFest!

Matthew 18:20
"For where two or three are gathered together in My Name, there am I in the midst of them."

Three thousand people linking arms, singing, some crying. I have rarely seen something so moving as the gigantic Georgia Dome filled with thousands of strangers calling one another "brother" and "sister," praying for the unknown struggles in each other's lives and admitting their failings.

Welcome to MegaFest 2006, an annual symposium of Christians from all over in Atlanta.

I attended the opening general worship session with two coworkers, Ms. Helen and Ms. Francis. They invited me, feeling it was important that I experience one of the most widely-anticipated events in Atlanta. And by "widely-anticipated," I'm not limiting this to Christians, no--apparently the MegaFest week boosts Atlanta's economy considerably as people travel from all around to hear renowned pastors preach and successful musicians praise their God.

It was an absolute, unutterably wonderful time! After numerous introductions, an effective call to donate funds, and a heartfelt welcome by his wife, Bishop TD Jakes took the stage to speak with great fervor and fearful honesty. His topic was the Biblical story of the boy possessed by a spirit that threw him into fire and water to destroy him. Reverend Jakes' point was that when Jesus was met with this situation, after His disciples had already vainly attempted to rid the boy of the spirit, Jesus addressed the father of the boy rather than the spirit or boy. I had never really considered that before; typically it seems that the disciples and Jesus speak directly to the spirit, but in this instance Jesus discusses the matter with the father. Jakes took this to say that the Lord was using the boy's possession to teach the father true faith in deeds, rather than just verbally--the father recognized this when he cried, "Lord, I believe--forgive mine unbelief!"--sort of a conflicted outburst, no? Anyhow, I found it fascinating and applicable.

We were also privileged to have Vicki Yohe and BeBe Wynans lead us in some very moving, deep-throated and frequently melismatic worship. But again...the most powerful part for me was when everyone clasped hands and said to one another--"I'm praying for you--God will do something great for you this week." At first, to be honest, I felt a little awkward about this whole situation. I come from a very traditional church background, am naught but a little white girl, and I'm not even from Atlanta--however, in that sea of 3000 primarily African-American men and women all linking hands--I felt very comfortable calling these folks my brothers and sisters in Christ. There's nothing like that feeling, friends.

The MegaFest events will continue through Saturday with performances, sermons, prayer sessions, etc. Lots of the events are free, but I think there are dinners requiring some moulah.

Back to the abbreviated Idiot's Guide to Atlanta!