JESUS SHOWED UP IN BIRMINGHAM TONITE!!!
What an amazing day with God's family. Where to begin...I went with my husband and our almost 5 yr old little boy. As soon as we made it in my boys hit the Bronner Burgess playground for some fun and I got comfy on our blanket to enjoy CJ blunt (their CD will be mine!!)We called some friends who joined us with their little ones and we bonded as if we were teens at church camp!! We needed this reconnection in a way that only Christ can provide. Yes we have a story to share, and no it doesn't involve accepting Jesus as our Savior for the 1st time or rededicating, well acutally it does but not the kind that led so many to the front tonite. See June 22, 2009 marked a day that changed my & my husbands lives forever. Instead of making this a novel by giving all the details (TOO LATE) i'll just say we had to make those crazy hard decisions that at first hurts sooo bad cause you've allowed it to almost kill you before you decided to do something about it but you cling to that ounce of hope of knowing the pain will be worth feeling for it's season because the reward of it all was coming. In turn it also affected the same group of friends that we praised God with tonite, and relationships with them were beaten and torn to the point that me & my boys left our church home & felt it nessasary to distance ourselves from these people for almost 2 yrs now. Here recently we've began trying to slowly reconnect with them & as great it's been to be around them the hurt was still visible in all of us. But thanks and all the praise be to God & 2nd to all the great 'harvest workers' who make tonite possible, The Holy Spirit healed the last remains of hurt & fear in all of us!! As a result we were able to laugh, sing, dance, worship, pray, cry, and feel the love we never lost for each other in Christ! And the best part, all of this was done in the presence of our beautiful children who in turn applied the same principials to their loving friendships with each other. Rick spoke truth tonite when he said when the day comes where a person asks my child tell me about your parents, and if he recounts moments of success in business we failed. But if he recalls our faith & love for Christ Jesus, yeah that is more precious than gold!! Sorry this is so long, but words cannot express what tonite meant for us!! God Bless you all:)

Chrissy Hocutt

Casting Crowns in concert - free
Toby Mac in concert - free
Watching my children sing praises to God at the top of their lungs - priceless.

Thanks for making this event possible!

Kristi Plemons

Wow, there was SO much that it was hard to narrow it down to one story but here it goes: I've always been a big fan of James Spann. He basically gave his testimony to the younger crowd (along with the parents) Saturday afternoon. As much as I thought I knew about him, I never knew that his dad abandoned him and his mother at age 7. He talked about the heartbreak of his dad's leaving and of his dad never expressing any love for him but also the fact that his mom was a Godly mother. Tears sprang to my eyes because my son and myself are in a similar situation. My tears were of sadness for what James must have felt and my son as well but the tears were also of hope- seeing the impact that his Godly mother had on him and what all he has accomplished in his life without his dad. It really inspired me as a Godly mother myself that I have hope for my child growing up without his dad. Dr. James Dobson gives some scary statistics for sons without fathers but James Spann's story beat those odds as I pray my family will do as well. Thanks to you, Rick and Bubba and all others involved, for putting this wonderful event together. May God continue to bless you and your families and for the platform he has graciously given you.

Pam Herald

I've always thought of myself as a Christian. Somewhere between Bello and his bicycle and Scott Dawson talking I felt Jesus in my heart...Again. The feeling I have been longing for, searching for. My son said he wanted to go home at the same time Scott is saying look to the person next to you and tell them you'll go with them to the front of the stage. I told my son there was only one way to go home and I needed him to go up front with me . I raised my hand and waited for a counselor. Jennifer found me and as she looked for a pen, Kay came along. Apparently Kay trained Jennifer and I was Jennifer's' first person. They understood what I was trying to say. I do believe that Jesus died on the cross so my sins and those of others would be forgiven. I believe God has been with me every step, although I haven't felt his presence as much as I would like to at times. I wanted that feeling back again. While standing in a high school football stadium, I felt the love I was longing for, the peace I needed, and rededicated my life to Christ. Thank you so much for the opportunity, the inspiration, the love.

Susan Maxey

Well my story will be of the nontraditional kind, but I wanted to share it anyways.

Our Saturday trip to Stadiumfest started as a birthday surprise for my almost 9 year old son, Gage. He is, shall I say, Tobymac's BIGGEST fan! So we got in the car and headed to Stadiumfest without telling him where we were going. We'd ask several times if he had any idea....none. So he was super surprised when we got there and he knew he was going to see Tobymac.

Gage has Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy and uses a power wheelchair. We were concerned that as the concert started, people would stand and he wouldn't be able to see. So we found what we thought was a good corner in the middlle and planted ourselves. Well, when Casting Crowns came on to perform, our fear was a reality. I tried standing him in his wheelchair to be able to see over people but he was afraid of falling.

This is where the heart of my story starts.

A lady came to me and asked if she could help me with him. I have a hard time asking and receiving help so of course I told her no thank you. But she stayed. And I guess it really bothered her so she said she was going to find someone and see if Gage could move somewhere that he could see the stage. As she left, a man came and asked if he could hold Gage so he could see. Gage agreed and as the man was going to pick him up another man came over. This man said that they were going to put Gage on the platform where the techs were. 3 or 4 men picked him and his wheelchair onto the platform. And said there ya go buddy and left. After we got settled up there a Stadiumfest worker came over and said he was checking to make sure he could see and that if he couldn't he was going to get him somewhere that he could. This last man was the man the lady had went and talked to. Wow. This may not seem significant to you. But for a mom who has been in this situation before with no options to make things more fair (for lack of a better word) this blessed my heart beyond words.

Not done....

Then Gage had to use the restroom. So I decided carrying him would be a lot easier than trying to get his chair down then back up. So as I carried him towards the porta potties, the man who asked to hold him up earlier tapped me on the shoulder and said give him here. This man carried him to and from for me. This was awesome.

Gage had an amazing day. He laughed and danced and sang. It was perfect.

As it was time to leave another man gathered a couple other men to lower his chair to the ground.

I have been in many situations alone with Gage that if someone had asked me if they could help, it would have been wonderful. God has been dealing with me about asking and accepting help. I have had a problem with asking for fear of being disappointed. I thank each and every one of you who went out of your way to help a stranger and to make a little boys day fabulous. It blesses my heart to know that there are still Christian brothers and sisters who will listen to that soft voice of God and help a stranger. When we think of helping people we usually think..feeding them or giving them $. But I would encourage anyone if you see someone struggling in any way, stop and ask them if you can help.

I have to say, God showed me that day that I don't have to do it alone. I have to allow Him to help me. And at times, he uses people for that. I am going to be reminded of each of these people when someone offers to help me. And I will accept!

The event was AWESOME! All the performers were wonderful! But the stars that shone the brightest to me were God and His servants that day.

Samantha Saint

I was so glad I got to hear Rick speak. I knew Sherry when she was at Jacksonville State, and began growing in her desire for the Lord. I love the way Rick builds his wife up, and I was in tears as I heard him describe Sherry broken down saying...'tell me again". I am so glad Rick was there to speak truth to her. We all need to hear truth again and again. I have prayed for them, but it was just a reminder to keep praying. Rick's entire message was so powerful. I loved Casting Crowns, but I am especially moved by Rick's honesty, prophetic preaching -calling sin sin.

Thanks for making this possible.
Sandi Prater

My husband and I totally enjoyed our Christ-filled day at Stadium Fest 2011. It was so awesome walking around talking with so many people from so many different walks of life, different church denominations all serving our One and only, Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. My husband, Kyle and I talked about how incredible it was that there was no one arguing or acting out or being unhappy. Everyone seemed to ill at peace at Stadium Fest 2011. We enjoyed looking at all the wonderful t-shirts that were on display throughout the day from all the different churches or/or other Christian tees. Our favorite hang out was at the Rick and Bubba booth, enjoying visiting with Pugsley (Brant) and other Rick and Bubba staff. The beef jerky was incredible and it was a pleasure to meet (again) Rick and Bubba in person at the book signing. Thanks so much guys for being kind enough to let us take a picture. Casting Crowns and Toby Mac were incredible. Such spirit filled music for everyone to enjoy. Just phenomenal. Everyone praising our Savior all together in one accord. Man, it doesn't get any better than that. To everyone that had some part in putting Stadium Fest together.....THANK YOU!!!! God is so good. What a mighty and awesome God is He. Praise the Lord.

Loretta Felts

39,000 Jesus Freaks

"ROAD TRIP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! How much longer? Are we there yet? No parking place! Oh no, we can't take our drinks in! Look at the line for the bathroom! It is so hot!"
Saturday we took a little journey to Birmingham. The "we" was myself, my two sons, their girlfriends, and my four grandsons. No, we didn't all fit in one car and yes, our two cars did pass each other about 135 times as we traveled the 135 miles down 78. Stadiumfest is an annual event that I had not heard of until a couple of weeks ago. Evangelist Scott Dawson organized this huge undertaking which brought many well known Christian bands to Birmingham. Casting Crowns from Atlanta led everyone in worship as the sun was setting on the stadium. The main draw of the event for most was the Jesus Freak himself, Toby Mac, who I and my sons have seen at various worship events over the last fifteen years or so. However, this was the first worship event that we all attended together.
The way the event was set up in the stadium was speaker - singer, speaker - singer, speaker - singer, from 3 in the afternoon all the way till the fireworks show at 10. Each speaker had their own style and message, just as each singer had their own style and song. As I stood in the diverse crowd of 39,000 worshiping with hands lifted high singing "Voice of Truth" with Casting Crowns I felt small, yet powerful at the same time. God saw each hand and heard each voice declaring that we would choose to listen and believe His voice. In front of me was my 21 year old holding the 8 year old in his arms so he could see the stage. Behind me was my 33 year old holding the 6 year old grandson on his shoulders. To my left was my fourteen year old grandson and to my right the eleven year old. Each one had their hands lifted in worship to God who is the Truth. At that moment I saw prayers answered all around me. This was worth every inconvenience the day had brought my way. My two oldest grandsons, Clay and Hunter, both made decisions to choose to follow Christ.
Life is hard here a lot of days. We all go through trials and tribulations that sometime seem to be more than we can bear. But God always gives us the strength to keep on putting one foot in front of the other. There have been times I have felt my faith faltering and listened to the lie of the enemy that being a "Jesus Freak" is just wasting my time. In those times the Voice of Truth has always spoken louder than the voice of deceit and I have pressed on. I believe as long as we continue to seek God and His Kingdom first so much more will be added to our lives. God gives so many wonderful rewards as we journey on each day. Saturday God took the time to surround me with answered prayers. In the crowd I felt so small, yet at the same time so special to God. He loves me!
Today as you are on your journey make sure to choose to listen and believe the Voice of Truth. Being a Jesus Freak is very rewarding.

Judy Parker
Tupelo, MS