The best messages were preached at graduations last week

by Steve Dunford 

It is a week since most graduations have taken place.  Let me share some numbers with you.  The editorial I wrote last week reached 11,118 people.  William McPerson, of the Benton Gazette’s video, showing Sesser-Valier Senoir Kenny Eubanks, leading the Lord’s prayer reached 24,903, with 2,411 from this page.

Just between what I shared, and William’s video reached  totals 36,021.  That does not even scratch the surface of the impact of the young people’s stance.

To put this in prospective, the entire population of Franklin County is 39,000. The demographics I am going to share is around 15 years old.  The average rate of people on any given Sunday, that attend a worship service in the county is around 30 percent. So around 11,000 people are in church hearing the Gospel preached on a Sunday Morning in Franklin County.  This includes all denominations.

The statistics I shared reveal the impact both of these events had. Please do not think I am making light of preaching, it is food to my soul.

What happened with the graduation in Akin, WSIL picked it up the next day.  One reason that prompted me to write this after the fact, the Benton Evening News story on this was ran by a National Christian Website.   If I stumble onto the link again, I will share it.

From the impact from the Akin graduation, six figures is a very conservative estimate for the reach.  The school board and administration was put between a rock and a hard place.  In the situation, they made a good call.   The opposition to the speeches being given,  turned from a few hundred hearing them, into a few hundred thousand.

Both events showed courage.  No matter what the issue, stand up for what you believe in.  There are several examples throughout history that greatness always faced opposition.

Again, good job kids.  I have said this several times.  As a whole, this generation is much better kids, than mine was in the 1980’s.