Gray's Matter | Knowing Me In the Biblical Sense: Introduction (To End All Introductions)

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Knowing Me In the Biblical Sense: Introduction (To End All Introductions)

Jul 19

by Justice~! KnowingMeInTheBiblicalSense

Welcome to:

what could potentially end up as the most controversial weekly series in Gray's Matter history
the post series that I have been wanting to start for the last several years

Ever look at your blog statistics and think, "Man, I have *way* too many visitors!! Hopefully I can find some way to offend half of them away from this blog, never to return"? If you have, watch and learn. Do a post series like this and I'm sure you'll be just as successful at it as I am!

As long-time readers of this blog know, Justice Gray is definitely many things:

an unrelenting metrosexual heartthrob
a survivor of industry discrimination
a stalking victim
an unparalleled physical specimen
a software development savant
an agent of managerial change
an undeserving husband of an incredibly beautiful wife

However, one thing that this blog did not make evident until now (and that I am rectifying) is that Justice Gray is a Christian with a capital C.

If this revelation has made you unsubscribe forever, burn your Justice Gray dolls in effigy and spend the rest of your night crying into your pillow, I understand and will not be hurt in the slightest. There's also probably a group of you that feels this is a pretty odd post to be reading on a blog about software development and management consulting. To that group of you, I will let you in one of the greatest Gray's Matter secrets in history: this blog has never really been about software development *or* management consulting. Oh, for sure I do touch on topics like this on occasion but this blog is actually about Justice Gray because, to be frank, you have to write about your passions, and if I am passionate about any one subject it is Justice Gray.

Now to set a record for the shortest time to contradicting oneself (Guinness, please call me when you get a chance, we'll set up a photo op), the truth is that as much as I love myself, I love Jesus Christ much, much more, and if you know how much I love myself you can understand the enormity of this statement. Now, before people get frightened for the future of the fields of software development and management consulting, I want you all to know that I am not leaving you all behind to become a televangelist. This is just a statement of fact and a statement of faith. This is a serious statement because Christianity and the commitment to follow Christ are serious business. There are people out there who think that your commitment to Christ starts and ends with getting yourself dunked in a tank of water or praying the sinner's prayer at camp. That's not quite the case. Your commitment to Christ can start there, but it doesn't end there. That's something we'll be exploring a bit as this series goes on, as well as exploring the things I am learning or exploring through my studies of Bible, my communion with believers, and my notes from the sermons at my absolutely amazing church (if there are any of you in the Vancouver area, I definitely encourage you to drop me a line sometime if you're curious about attending, my wife and I would love to go with you!)

Despite what millions of women (and posts on this blog) state, I am not a perfect human being. However, even in my imperfect state it is my fervent prayer that this series:

serves as an encouragement to those of you who are already a Christ-follower
to those of you who are not believers, almost believers or somewhere elsewhere, that it gives you some food for thought and a respectful place for open discussion
and of course, that in the end this series will, in its humble way, bring glory to God and to His son Jesus Christ.

Next Sunday, we'll try to whittle away the 20 remaining readers of this blog by exploring what Christianity actually *is* and what it means to be a Christian, based on some relevant Bible verses and totally ripping off pieces of my pastor's latest sermon! I'm pretty sure anyone who *wasn't* offended by my out and out declaration of love for Christ will *definitely* be offended once we get into this!! In fact, I'm guessing by the time we hit September the only two people left reading this blog will be myself and my wife, but what a ride we'll have until then, yes?

Yours always in Christ,
-Justice Gray

Comments

#1 Mz

on 7/19/2009 9:08:58 PM

Proudly proclaiming that you believe in talking snakes and virgin births undermines your image as intellectually rigorous. Why don't you try the power or prayer against your compiler sometime?

#2 Justice~!

on 7/19/2009 9:32:42 PM

Hey "MZ"!  Well, I did say this post would generate some controversy and it only took about an hour or so to start it...

First of all, I am unsurprised but still flattered that this blog has projected an image of intellectual rigor!!

Second: It's all in the perspective I guess.  I'm quite unconvinced that my faith in Christ undermines my intelligence (quite the opposite, in fact), but you are definitely entitled to your opinion!

Third: I use the power of prayer on my compiler all the time!  This is one of the many reasons that I am considered to be an ace hacker!

Thanks for commenting, I hope you will be around next week!

#3 Mrs Loquacious

on 7/19/2009 9:45:07 PM

MZ - Maybe you just need to meet some "intelligent" Christ-followers. Not everyone who loves Jesus belongs to the GOP, shoots hunting rifles, or fears gay people. Your comment actually condemns your own intellectual rigor, and reflects an ignorance about the diversity of people who belong to the Christian community (which is not unlike the diversity of people, both intelligent and otherwise, who belong to other faith communities or to the atheist/agnostic population).

But you are most certainly entitled to your opinion, and have as much right to it as we do to ours ;)

#20 ChurchCritic

on 7/21/2009 12:56:23 PM

MZ didn't mention GOP, rifles, or gays...he brought up two tenants of the Christian faith that all denominations hold to: the story of original sin and the necessity of the virgin birth.

Your comments to him on his ignorance and his own "intellectual rigor" were uncalled for.

CC

#21 Mrs Loquacious

on 7/21/2009 1:29:42 PM

Fair enough. I think my point stands, though, that intellectual rigor and being a Christian are not mutually exclusive, and just as there is a diversity of people who believe in every other religion (or no religion), so too there is a diverse population subsumed under the label of "Christian." It is erroneous and ignorant to assume that one who holds to the tenets of the Christian faith does not have the same level of intellectual rigor as one who does not.

As for talking snakes and virgin births, it probably takes just as much faith to believe that one's dead grandmother is speaking to them from beyond the grave, or to believe in "gut feelings", lucky charms, or some universal "karma" force that renders to people what they supposedly deserve. To each their own, no?

#4 HM

on 7/20/2009 1:50:25 AM

Wait - are all the following posts about to be about god? Or God, or whatever he/she/it's called?

#8 Justice~!

on 7/20/2009 7:35:14 AM

LOL, no! Just once a week. Otherwise when would I be able to still give you my guides to metrosexuality and cage fighting??

#5 HM

on 7/20/2009 3:14:18 AM

ps http://tbn2.google.com/images?q=tbn:32DG1jk4Whl7lM:static.desktopnexus.com/.../49414-bigthumbnail.jpg

#9 Justice~!

on 7/20/2009 7:35:32 AM

Er...wow

#6 Christopher Bennage

on 7/20/2009 6:48:51 AM

I know that many have been reduced to a milky puddle of wet toast just thinking this, but -- we should hang out.

#11 Justice~!

on 7/20/2009 7:36:57 AM

Christopher, I think anyone who reads your comment above and envisions you and I in the same place *at the same time* has already passed that milky point of no return!!

But yeah, I totally agree!! That would be awesome!

#7 John Miller

on 7/20/2009 6:49:22 AM

I gotta admit that I was a bit surprised to see the title of this post in my reader this morning, but am really looking forward to see where this series goes. Inspiring to see other Christians in the field expressing their beliefs and trying to get conversations started!

#12 Justice~!

on 7/20/2009 7:41:13 AM

John, I am inspired by your comment (and of course your blog) so it goes both ways! Thanks for sharing!

#10 Kyle Baley

on 7/20/2009 7:35:48 AM

You're right that this will be controversial, but not for the reason you're thinking. I refer to the dichotomy of you proclaiming your Christian faith, yet not allowing the Bahamas, a country where Christianity is baked into its constitution, to be selected as a country for commenters! How can I *possibly* take you seriously as a technological and lust-inducing BEHEMOTH if you do not recognize my chosen tax-sheltered home?

And to think, I shared Rod Stewart lyrics with you...

#13 Justice~!

on 7/20/2009 7:48:07 AM

Kyle,

We shared Rod Stewart lyrics with each other.

This lack of the Bahamian flag is an injustice like no other and trust me when I tell you I will be leveraging my development skills to put the flag into BlogEngine.NET. I figure if I start working on it today for 8h a day I should be done sometime in September!

Will I see you tonight? On a downtown train?

(All my dreams fall like rain....)

(On a downtown train....)

(ooooo ooo oooooooo, oooooo ooo oooooo....)

#14 George Clingerman

on 7/20/2009 8:29:10 AM

I never had any doubts I always thought to myself. Someone THAT awesome HAS GOT to be a Christian. We could undoubtedly construct of proof of God's existence based on the fact that it's physically impossible for someone such as or pertaining to Justice Gray to exist.

#15 Mark Smith

on 7/20/2009 2:23:32 PM

Enormity means pretty much the opposite of what you think it means.

Hope I've cleared that up for you.

Oh, and you should check out Tom Tom Waits original version of Downtown Train. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1OLA6AiZlVw

#16 Justice~!

on 7/20/2009 2:58:47 PM

Er...

http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/enormity

"3. the quality or state of being huge"
"4.a quality of momentous importance or impact"

followed by:
"Usage: Enormity, some people insist, is improperly used to denote large size. They insist on enormousness for this meaning, and would limit enormity to the meaning “great wickedness.” Those who urge such a limitation may not recognize the subtlety with which enormity is actually used. It regularly denotes a considerable departure from the expected or normal <they awakened; they sat up; and then the enormity of their situation burst upon them. “How did the fire start?” — John Steinbeck>. When used to denote large size, either literal or figurative, it usually suggests something so large as to seem overwhelming"

I'm glad I could clear that up for you!

Ring the bell, SCHOOL IS BACK IN.

#17 Justice~!

on 7/20/2009 3:01:53 PM

BTW, this may be blasphemous to a hardcore Tom Waits guy but man, I don't like the original compared to Rod's. I think it might the piano accompaniment plus there's more of a hint of bittersweet happiness in his version.

#22 Kyle Baley

on 7/22/2009 7:32:43 AM

Well, as Tom Waits has also said, The Piano Has Been Drinkin'

#18 Mark Smith

on 7/21/2009 12:18:23 AM

I'll stick with definitions one and two Using the word to merely men 'big' robs us of expressiveness for describing wickedness.

From Houghton-Mifflin:

   1.   The quality of passing all moral bounds; excessive wickedness or outrageousness.
   2. A monstrous offense or evil; an outrage.
   3. Usage Problem Great size; immensity: "Beyond that, [Russia's] sheer enormity offered a defense against invaders that no European nation enjoyed" (W. Bruce Lincoln).

ETYMOLOGY:
French énormité, from Old French, from Latin normits, from normis, unusual, enormous ; see enormous
Usage Note:
Enormity is frequently used to refer simply to the property of being great in size or extent, but many would prefer that enormousness (or a synonym such as immensity) be used for this general sense and that enormity be limited to situations that demand a negative moral judgment, as in Not until the war ended and journalists were able to enter Cambodia did the world really become aware of the enormity of Pol Pot's oppression. Fifty-nine percent of the Usage Panel rejects the use of enormity as a synonym for immensity in the sentence At that point the engineers sat down to design an entirely new viaduct, apparently undaunted by the enormity of their task. This distinction between enormity and enormousness has not always existed historically, but nowadays many observe it. Writers who ignore the distinction, as in the enormity of the President's election victory or the enormity of her inheritance, may find that their words have cast unintended aspersions or evoked unexpected laughter.

#19 Mrs Loquacious

on 7/21/2009 10:41:52 AM

You sure do like to split hairs! English, being a living language, morphs and changes with use by the general population; new words are added (like emote, google, hard drive, cache) and meanings evolve or expand (like "development" pertaining to software, "memory" pertaining to digital storage, "burn" pertaining to recording onto CD or insulting someone). While not all of these are added officially to the lexicon, those that are not still become part of society's vocabulary with increasing use by the speakers of the language. Such is the case with "enormity" - its etymology (depending on who you read) could be attributed to great wickedness, or it could be attributed to largeness: (from the Online Etymology Dictionary)

enormous
1531, from L. enormis "irregular, extraordinary, very large," from ex- "out of" + norma "rule, norm" (see norm), with Eng. -ous substituted for L. -is. Meaning "extraordinary in size" is attested from 1544; original sense of "outrageous" is more clearly preserved in enormity (1475).

As Justice already quoted from the Merriam-Webster, there are subtleties to the definition that allow the word to be used within a wider scope and context than the definition to which you adhere so zealously.

If your intention is to jealously guard "enormity" as a way to describe wickedness, you're fighting a losing battle. There are many English speakers who have already expanded the meaning to include "bigness" and you're not going to convince them all. Why not try using other words, like heinousness, atrocity, moral corruption, depravity, hatred, vengefulness, etc.? Plenty to choose from.

But let's get at the heart of the issue, shall we, Mark? What is this really about? Is it really about etymology and righteous indignation about how "enormity" is allegedly being misused? Or is it actually about trying to start an argument about something that really isn't all that significant? This blog isn't about etymology, and calling Justice out for his supposed misuse of the word is actually pretty irrelevant as a comment, and petty to boot.

#23 Kidd 5x1llz

on 7/22/2009 2:23:25 PM

lol @ Mz... I just don't have the words... what are you trying to say? A person can't excercise faith and be intellectual at the same time? I think it's unnatural and even troubling that people decide to live without faith in the first place, you're living a lesser life without even knowing it. The reason religion stretches back so far in man's history is because it's a natural part of our genetic makeup.. you DO have a soul.

Your very existence and ability to think and breathe and live to type such gahbaj is the very proof that athiests like yourself are desperately looking for. Admit that you're only indulging in self-delusion and clinging to a baseless, shallow nihilism in order to compensate for all the emptiness.

People only fear the truth because they can't explain all the craziness in the world, they are waiting for science to explain all things. What you really need is Jesus in your life... and you won't fear a thing.

#24 Mrs Loquacious

on 7/22/2009 7:31:27 PM

Amen!

#25 ChurchCritic

on 7/23/2009 8:46:04 PM

"A person can't excercise faith and be intellectual at the same time?"
"The reason religion stretches back so far in man's history is because it's a natural part of our genetic makeup.. you DO have a soul."

Um..actually there's *no* scientific proof within our DNA that would suggest we have a soul. So I mean, you can still exercise your faith and believe that regardless of the intellectual argument against it but...well, you see where this argument is leading. ;)

CC

#26 Jean-Paul S. Boodhoo

on 7/26/2009 1:57:37 AM

Hey Justice,

Just got back from a course and I noticed that you had posted this. God is truly blessing you and your wife in your decision to step out in faith and follow His direction. And I know that God will truly bless this post and use it as a seed for lots of conversations over the next while!!

I believe that you are one of those people who can have a great impact on the lives of other people and the dialog that has started as a result of this post is evident of that fact. I pray that as more Christians in the workplace are encouraged to raise their voice and share their faith more openly; that bigger and more important "shifts" will happen in the lives of the people they come into contact with.

God Bless You,

JP

#27 hunting

on 7/31/2009 1:36:13 AM

I had a blast reading and seeing your picture here. LOL! Is that really you? Anyway, what I just wanted to say is that i enjoy reading your blog, and probably others too, that is why you are a "stalking victim." LOL!

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