Southwest

Voddie Baucham, Pastor of Preaching at Grace Family Baptist Church in Spring, Texas, has released a blog post in which he explains why he turned down an invitation to participate in the second round of The Elephant Room, held Jan. 25, and left another conference hosted by James MacDonald without fulfilling his speaking duties.

The Elephant Room, a theological roundtable featuring blunt conversations among seven influential pastors, generated a noted level of controversy due to the invitation of Bishop T.D. Jakes, founder and senior pastor of The Potter's House in Dallas, to participate in the discussions. Jakes has been accused of heresy by some in the Christian community for his affiliation with modalism, which explains the Godhead in non-Trinitarian terms.

Modalism, a 3rd-century teaching accredited to theologian Sabellius, purports that the members of the Trinity are not three distinct, eternally co-existing persons, but that instead God, a singular spirit, manifests Himself at different times in three modes – a doctrine espoused by Oneness Apostolic Pentecostal and United Pentecostal Church International denominations. more >>

The Anabaptist Conference will feature Rick Warren and Paige Patterson, just two of the religious figures scheduled to speak at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Fort Worth, Texas, Jan. 30-31.

Speakers at the conference, focused on "Anabaptism and Contemporary Baptists," will draw connections between the 16th century Anabaptist movement and 21st century Baptist life and theology, thus asserting the spiritual kinship of the two movements.

During the Anabaptism Movement of the 16th Century, Protestant Christians of the Radical Reformation rejected infant baptism and only baptized believers – advocating social and economic reforms. more >>

Arizona Governor Jan Brewer defended her finger-pointing exchange with the president Thursday, saying she had prepared a handwritten letter to Barack Obama and was instead dragged into a dispute over her book.

Reports asserted the two argued after pictures of the Wednesday encounter portraying the governor with her finger pointed at the president emerged. The finger wagging incident also led state Democrats to call for an apology. Online speculators deemed the entire thing a publicity stunt.

Brewer denounced stunt claims Thursday as "absolutely ridiculous." She told Fox News that she went to the airport tarmac to greet the president with a personal letter. When she shook his hand, Brewer said Obama confronted her about her book's portrayal of a White House meeting. more >>

Ralph Shortey, a Republican Oklahoma state senator, has introduced a bill banning the use of aborted fetuses in food.

The bill, brought forward Tuesday, is a preemptive and meant to raise awareness, as no cases of aborted fetuses have ever been discovered in foods or food products in the U.S.

Senate Bill 1418, requested to become effective in November 2012, asserts, "No person or entity shall manufacture or knowingly sell food or any other product intended for human consumption which contains aborted human fetuses in the ingredients or which used aborted human fetuses in the research or development of any of the ingredients." more >>

Richard Roberts, former president of Oral Roberts University and son of televangelist Oral Roberts, was arrested in Oklahoma Tuesday for speeding and suspicion of driving under the influence of alcohol, according to a police report.

An Oklahoma Highway Patrol trooper apprehended Roberts for driving his black Mercedes at 93 mph in a 65 mph speed zone, Tulsa World reported. According to Roberts' arrest report, the incident happened shortly after midnight on the Creek Turnpike west of U.S. 169.

Roberts, currently the chairman and CEO of Oral Roberts Evangelistic Association, had a blood-alcohol level that was .03 percent above the legal limit, measuring at .11 percent. more >>

As the nation marks January as Sanctity of Life Month and thousands gather to march for the unborn, Tina Torry, whose baby survived an abortion, shares her story of how "divine intervention" saved her daughter's life.

It was 1978 when Tina Torry, 17 at the time, became pregnant. Her boyfriend, family, and health care professionals were adamant that she have an abortion – as it was legal at the time, she told The Christian Post.

"I had no moral support to keep the child," she said. "From day one, I was pointed to an abortion clinic. They never said consider adoption." more >>