How long can Ben Cole resist blogging?

Ben Cole, the Southern Baptist gadfly who squatted on SBC Outpost when the highly respected Marty Duren vacated the premises, announced July 11 that he was going to leave the Southern Baptist Convention and stop blogging. In one Southern Baptist tidal pool, there was wailing and gnashing of teeth, in another great rejoicing; in the great inland sea of Southern Baptist life, however, the overwhelming response was, "Ben who?"

In Mr. Cole's final post, entitled Exit Strategy, he confessed he had only the lowest opinion of pastoral ministry and had much of the time only grudgingly engaged in his holy duties. He admitted he had engaged in a "suspension of the ethical" to do battle with his nemesis, Paige Patterson, and said politicians were superior to pastors because politicians at least were intellectually honest. And Mr. Cole's comment groupies cheered.

I've expressed my opinion on that site about how Mr. Cole's revelations and his commenters' responses confirm what many have believed all along: that Mr. Cole's spiritual condition was no better than those he criticized. But there's one thing yet to be revealed: how long Mr. Cole can resist the temptation to blog. To date, he hasn't shown an ability to hold his tongue. And people who think they know it all -- God's gift to humanity -- usually can't keep from stepping in to set the rest of us straight.

Any interest in a pool on when Mr. Cole will come back to his blog?

Or perhaps no one cares.