Lifest: The next generation
Musical festivals require countless hours of preparation, hundreds of volunteers to bring the event to life and musical acts that knock fans' socks off — all the better if it's sandals weather.
But for Bob Lenz, Lifest is just one big laid-back party with a purpose.
"I wanted to throw a party for my friends, and it just has grown a little bit," said Lenz, the president of Appleton-based Life Promotions and founder of Lifest.
Look for about 20,000 "friends" to show up this week as the 13th annual Christian music festival runs Wednesday through July 10 at Oshkosh's Sunnyview Expo Center.
This year's lineup of keynote speakers — another staple of the festival — includes Lenz; speaker and author Justin Lookadoo; motivational youth speaker Reggie Dabbs; Greg Stier, founder and president of the California-based Dare 2 Share Ministries International; and Greg Laurie, who Lenz puts on his personal Christian heavy hitter list, which also includes Billy Graham and last year's speaker, world evangelist Luis Palau.
Lenz also looks forward to melding religions this year. Bishop David Ricken, head of the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay, leads Mass at 9 a.m. July 10.
"We continue to say it's not about a denomination," Lenz said. "It's about knowing Jesus, and we want all churches to come together. … You can be a Lutheran or a Catholic or don't even have to go to church, but if you want to have a party around Jesus, come on out."
more at GB Gazette
2 comments:
I had the impression that evangelicals like Greg Laurie were very down on Catholics (not that Laurie himself has said-done anything nmegative towards Catholics, to clarify) - why do you think Catholics are being welcomed at these events when in the past were shunned and even called a cult?
It's the other way around, Greg Laurie is pro Catholic or else he wouldn't have shared a stage with a Jesuit Bishop. If Greg was truly a Protestant he wouldn't have lent his approval by sharing the stage.
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