[Faith-talk] question

Fri Apr 6 17:27:54 UTC 2012

Suing won't work. Its only going to make the federation look bad. Your
friend should keep on looking. Please Share this article with her.
It is pasted below in its intirity. RJ
Blind Okeechobee man 'delights' in preaching
Jul 27, 2011
By CAROLYN NICHOLS
Newswriter

HAPPY R.J. Sandefur, blind since birth, has been encouraged by his pastor, 
Randy Huckabee, as he prepares to preach. Courtesy photo
OKEECHOBEE (FBW)-R.J. Sandefur has taken the words of Psalm 37:4 to heart. A 
member of First Baptist Church in Okeechobee, the 32-year-old blind man 
studies about the Lord and trusts God to give him "the delights" of his 
heart-which is to preach.
"God is the only one who can call somebody into the ministry, and I know He 
has called me," Sandefur said.
The faithful young man does not let an opportunity to preach pass by. He has 
preached in several churches in the Big Lake Baptist Association in pastors' 
absences, and he is active in his church's 10-year ministry to teenage boys 
in a correctional facility for juveniles in Okeechobee.
"I sometimes preach, and I sometimes just listen to the boys," Sandefur told 
Florida Baptist Witness. "Some people say, 'Why waste your time?' But I want 
them to come to Jesus. I don't want anybody to go to hell," he said.
Sandefur sometimes also teaches the adult sanctuary class at First Baptist. 
Pastor Randy Huckabee admires his desire to serve.
"If desire was everything, R.J. would be a pastor now," he told the Witness. 
"I tell him to stay prayed up and studied up so that when God allows, he can 
preach."
Sandefur said he would love to meet and to follow in the paths of two of his 
heroes, Billy Graham and Charles Stanley.
"I'd like to talk with them about serving the Lord and other things. If I 
don't get to meet them in this life, I'll see them in heaven," he said.
Sandefur preached his first sermon in July 2004 at his home church. Using 
John 8:1-11, he told the story of the woman caught in adultery, stressing 
the Pharisees' rush to judgment and Jesus' willingness to give her a second 
chance. To his great joy, his mother was there to hear him preach.
"My mother always said, 'I'll be on the front row when you preach your first 
sermon,' and she was," he said.
After that sermon, Sandefur said his mom told him, "R.J., you must be a 
Baptist preacher because you went over by 15 minutes."
Sandefur was sheltered at home by his late parents, Bobby and Margie, after 
his premature birth that caused his blindness. He recalled the day visitors 
from First Baptist's bus ministry came to their home.
"They asked dad if he had kids, and he told them about my sister. My mom 
reminded him of me, and he told them I was blind. They said it didn't matter 
and they would take me, too," he said.
He has attended the church from then until now except for a brief stint at 
the Florida School for the Deaf and Blind in St. Augustine as a small child. 
He returned to Okeechobee to attend fourth grade in regular public school 
and graduated from high school in 1999. Since then he has completed degrees 
at Indian River Community College and Florida Atlantic University. In 2005, 
he completed a ThM degree by correspondence from Andersonville Theological 
Seminary in Camilla, Ga., and he is working now on his doctorate from there.
Studying takes up much of his time daily, although he loves to follow NASCAR 
races on TV, he said. He lives in the house where he grew up with his 
sister, Robina, her husband, Bernard Marker, and their three children.
Sandefur equates his blindness with the Apostle Paul's "thorn in the flesh."
"People ask me if I would want to see, but seeing now would only be 
temporary. When I get to heaven and see my Savior, then I will be completely 
whole. I think that God has given me the ability now to see things that 
sighted people overlook," he said.
Sandefur's blindness affects his ability to get around, although special 
training on Saturdays is helping with that. His Bible study is made easier 
with a "talking Bible machine," he said. He uses a Braille King James 
Version Bible in the pulpit, and he tries to memorize as much Scripture as 
possible.
Waiting on God's timing to enter the pastorate, Sandefur said his pastor, 
"Brother Randy," encourages him to be patient.
"R.J. loves to preach. He is a good student and he writes good sermon 
outlines, and he can preach forever and ever amen," Huckabee said. 
"Pastoring will be challenge for him, but we can never discount what God can 
do."
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "PATRICK GORMLEY" <kk3f at msn.com>
To: "Faith-talk,for the discussion of faith and religion"
<faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
Sent: Friday, April 06, 2012 12:21 PM
Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] question

> Get in touch with Scott LaBarre out there.  This is completely
> unacceptable and we should shout it from the housetops.  What does it say
> in James about favoritism?  Seems to me they need to look at those sets of
> scriptures before they make these statements.  That's completely
> unacceptable and is why we have the communities of faith division.
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: "Jeanette" <nettiecosp at yahoo.com>
> To: "Faith-talk,for the discussion of faith and religion"
> <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
> Sent: Friday, April 06, 2012 2:42 AM
> Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] question
>
>
>> this happened in Colorado Springs Colorado, and  my friend says that
>> churches are exempt, not sure myself but find it appauling that it
>> happened at all, jeanette
>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>> From: "PATRICK GORMLEY" <kk3f at msn.com>
>> To: "Faith-talk,for the discussion of faith and religion"
>> <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
>> Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2012 11:12 PM
>> Subject: Re: [Faith-talk] question
>>
>>
>>> first of all, churches aren't exempt from either the White Cane Law or
>>> the Civil Rights statutes.  Which state did this occur in?  A couple of
>>> years ago, Barbara Pierce reported on a similar circumstance at Brooklyn
>>> Tabernacle and these circumstances we want to hear about because
>>> religious institutions are the last and probably the most entrenched
>>> bastion of negative attitudes towards blind persons.  I've never a
>>> problem in quite sometime because I'm so active in my community that
>>> people up here know me and accept me.  In any event keep us posted.
>>> ----- Original Message ----- 
>>> From: "Jeanette" <nettiecosp at yahoo.com>
>>> To: "Faith-talk,for the discussion of faith and religion"
>>> <faith-talk at nfbnet.org>
>>> Sent: Thursday, April 05, 2012 11:14 PM
>>> Subject: [Faith-talk] question
>>>
>>>
>>>>I  have a friend who has run into a snag at local churches.  She has a
>>>>dog guide and was told by two separate churches yesterday that not only
>>>>would she not be allowed to take communion at church with her dog but
>>>>not be allowed to sit anywhere but the back row with the dog. and as a
>>>>matter of fact, was told by one church she would have to stand outside
>>>>the sanctuary until the security guard determined it was ok for her to
>>>>take the dog inside.  She was wondering if anyone has had any kind of
>>>>similar experience.  Also she said on one of the dog guide list serves a
>>>>person posted that she was told by a church in her area that blind folks
>>>>were not the kind of folks they wanted in their congregation, really?
>>>>Jeanette
>>>> _______________________________________________
>>>> Faith-talk mailing list
>>>> Faith-talk at nfbnet.org
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>>>> To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
>>>> Faith-talk:
>>>> http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/faith-talk_nfbnet.org/kk3f%40msn.com
>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> _______________________________________________
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>>
>>
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>
>
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