Ronnie W. Rogers, “Taking every thought captive…”

My sabbatical began by driving to Seaside, Florida, in order to perform a wedding.  We planned to divide the trip into two days by getting a room for the night in Mobile, Alabama.  Now, for some reason, we decided not to book a room in advance—I guess that decision was made in an adventurous moment of frivolity or dereliction of duty.  Here is a glimpse at our trip to the beautiful Floridian beaches.

In a moment of spontaneity, we were seeking to find a place to rest for the night and actually checked into 3 hotels before finding one that was just right.

The first one was too hard even to the point of not accepting Luna & Lilly (our two long-haired Chihuahuas).

The second one was too soft in that they accepted in their dishabille rooms bugs that were larger and more ferocious than Lilly and Luna.

The third one was just right, accepting the whole family without the uninvited critters and very clean.

Oh well, this is not merely a modern rendition of a favorite fairy tale, but rather a true phantasmagoria at the end of a 900-mile drive.

It now appears wise to take a respite from spontaneous spontaneity lest I need a sabbatical from my sabbatical.

Those of you who know me know that I am not a first draft writer—meaning that I tend to consider things ad nauseam. Consequently, I tend to refrain from blogging brief comments and only post articles that I have spent some time thinking about, which means that they are at times somewhat lengthy.

Further, those who sit under my weekly preaching, or I suppose even those who have spent any time talking with me, know that I have some difficulty, shall we say, finishing.

The truth is, that from time to time, I have desired to blog briefly on some issues that I do not have the time to consider more deeply, but I have generally refrained except on rare occasion.

However, I am going to start writing concise opinion articles more often. These will not be research articles, and may cover a host of things such as: what happened at church, an extra thought from my message or ponderings, something I heard on TV or radio, I read, saw, or had happen to me or someone I know. The key thing is that instead of refraining from writing on things I have a thought about because I do not have time to research and agonize over the precise wording as I tend to do, I am going to write.

The articles will be entitled “Think About IT”: Then what I am asking us to think about. I have already posted two of these concerning Bristol Palin’s pregnancy and the effectiveness of teaching abstinence, and about Sarah Palin as Vice Presidential candidate.

I hope these will be beneficial to you by being biblically based, clarifying, thought provoking, and a quick read. It will be sort of like walking up to me in the hall and asking me a question, which I respond to briefly, and without much preparation. You will not get everything I think on the subject, or my thoughts about my thoughts on the subject—aren’t you glad—but you will know at least one thing I think about IT.  Yes, for you grammarians, the word IT is intended to be in capital letters.

P.S. Now think about what is wrong with me and how pitiful I am when it takes me this long of an article to tell you about how pithy the articles will be. Gee whiz—pray for me.

Well, by the Grace of God, and your love and support, we are off to the old country—for those of you who still confuse Miami (OK) with Miami (FL), that’s England.

Last time we went to Oxford, we stayed in London a few days as we will be able to this time as well.  While in London, we went to the Queen Mother’s palace—referred to in Arkansas, as the place with indoor plumbing.  Although we did find her residence extraordinarily comfortable, we were a little peeved by a couple of things.  For one, she wasn’t home.  Secondly, when I explained to one of the gentlemen standing around that we had traveled a long distance to talk with her, he did not even respond.  (more…)

 Most of you at Trinity have heard me mention our cat, Isaac.  Usually, I used him in humorous illustrations that highlighted the differences between humans and animals—like the truth that Isaac never did chores, or held down a job, at least we never saw him break a sweat or offer to buy our dinner; although, these were humorous illustrations, they serve to demonstrate the undeniable reality that humans are not only different from animals in degree, but in kind. 

Overemphasizing the similarities between people and animals lead some to, practically speaking, equate the two as very near the same, with some even preferring a relationship with an animal over humans; but the similarities between them will never bridge the deep chasm artistically carved by their God given dissimilarities (Genesis 1:26-27). (more…)