Labor Day

Labor Day, the first Monday in September, is a creation of the labor movement and is dedicated to the social and economic achievements of American workers. What does the Bible have to say about our labor?

To Adam he said, “Because you listened to your wife and ate fruit from the tree about which I commanded you, ‘You must not eat from it,’ “Cursed is the ground because of you; through painful toil you will eat food from it all the days of your life. It will produce thorns and thistles for you, and you will eat the plants of the field. By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return.”
Genesis 3:17-19

This is what I have observed to be good: that it is appropriate for a person to eat, to drink and to find satisfaction in their toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given them—for this is their lot.
Ecclesiastes 5:18

The one who plants and the one who waters have one purpose, and they will each be rewarded according to their own labor.
1 Corinthians 3:8

Then I heard a voice from heaven say, “Write this: Blessed are the dead who die in the Lord from now on.” “Yes,” says the Spirit, “they will rest from their labor, for their deeds will follow them.”
Revelation 14:13

Secondary Bible Themes 1 - Father, Son, Husband, Brother, Wife, Woman, Daughter

Here is a list of themes in the Bible.

There is a large theme of family and family relationships in the Bible. First off is God Himself in His first two persons of the Father and the Son.

Next, God made people to live in Families. From Genesis 2:18-24, when God says "It is not good for man to be alone" onward, God emphasizes the importance of the family unit. To show its importance, it is reiterated in the Gospels (Matthew 19:5) and the Epistles (Ephesians 5:31).

Exodus 20:12 “Honor your father and mother so that you may live long in the land the Lord your God is giving you.”

Ephesians 6:1-4 “Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.  “Honor your father and mother” (this is the first commandment with a promise), “that it may go well with you and that you may live long in the land.”  Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”

Our vocation as Christians are really about serving the people in our life. This is first and foremost our families.


First Timothy 5:8 “But if anyone does not provide for his relatives, and especially for members of his household, he has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever.”

Third, God preserves his people, and brings redemption to the world through family lineage. The Old Testament is the history of this people and the lineage that led to Jesus. The New Testament begins with showing this lineage of Jesus.

Lastly, God's relationship with his people is familial. Christians have been adopted as sons. The Church is Christ's Bride, the Heavenly Father is our Father. St. Cyril of Alexandria said, "no one can have God as his father who does not have the Church as his mother."

Stewardship

John answered, “A person cannot receive even one thing unless it is given him from heaven. –John 3:27

As each has received a gift, use it to serve one another, as good stewards of God's varied grace: –1 Peter 4:10

Everyone to whom much was given, of him much will be required, and from him to whom they entrusted much, they will demand the more. –Luke 12:48b

And the Lord said, “Who then is the faithful and wise manager, whom his master will set over his household, to give them their portion of food at the proper time? Blessed is that servant whom his master will find so doing when he comes. Truly, I say to you, he will set him over all his possessions. But if that servant says to himself, ‘My master is delayed in coming,’ and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful. –Luke 12:42-26

Time: Look carefully then how you walk, not as unwise but as wise, making the best use of the time, because the days are evil. –Ephesians 5:15-16

Talents: Honor the Lord with your wealth -Proverbs 3:9

Treasure: For which of you, desiring to build a tower, does not first sit down and count the cost, whether he has enough to complete it? –Luke 14:28

If then you have not been faithful in the unrighteous wealth, who will entrust to you the true riches? –Luke 14:28

Temple: Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body. –1 Corinthians 6:19

Vocation: Whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord and not for men, –Colossians 3:23

Environment: And God blessed them. And God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the earth and subdue it, and have dominion over the fish of the sea and over the birds of the heavens and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” –Genesis 1:28

Marriage

Having been married for 10 years now, I thought I would jot down some observations I have had. Some people call "tying the knot" a type of bondage, such as getting a "ball and chain" attached to you. However, marriage is actually quite liberating. After being married, you are able to relax and be yourself, because you don't have to constantly try to impress someone. This does not mean that you can "let yourself go", bust is simply the comfort that can only be felt by being with family. Home is where you are supposed to be. It is where you can fully and freely serve the other person and be their neighbor day in and day out.After marriage, you are totally free to love and be loved fully in every way. That is comforting.

Don't wait for a sign from God that the person is right one. That is being scared of a failed marriage and violating God's will. Marriage is not about making sure you follow God's will in who you marry, but about following God's word (will) in your marriage. Once you marry your spouse, then they are the right person that God intends for you, no matter who you marry. There is no promise that God will provide you a spouse. In fact, I think the idea of a pre-ordained soul-mate just for you is a cop out from putting in the effort, bearing the cross, making it work. People nowadays want the good things without the ordinary hard work (vocation). In a way marriage is just another vocation, albeit a high calling, and one of the big vocations. One of the things that stuck with me from our pre-marital counseling is that marriage is not a 50/50 sort of deal. It is not about compromising and meeting halfway, like the world tells us. Marriage is 100/100 where both spouses give everything they have to each other. It is not give and take, but give and give on both sides.

Many today bring modern Evangelical mysticism into marriage. They have this secular idea that they are looking for a magic, fairy tale ending, with a person who makes you happy all the time. That is all based on experience or emotions. not a commitment and God's Word. However, emotions and feeling change and cause divorce. Others say they need to be ready to get married, but we are never really "ready" to become a spouse. 1.) We have never done it before 2.) we are sinful and will never be perfect at it.

Success is not about how well you do. In marriage the couple should draw closer to God as you draw closer to each other. If God is in the center, the marriage will work. Christ and church as the bride is the model.

Vocation 4 - Evangelism

Vocation Day IV: Living our faith in our callings

According to medieval Catholicism, the only kind of "calling" was to a distinctly religious life. If you had a "vocation," that meant that you were to be a priest, a monk, or a nun. Luther's contribution--which was taken up by all Protestants and now even by contemporary Catholics--was to see that so-called "secular" occupations were also callings from God. While our relationship to God is based solely on His grace through Jesus Christ, not our works, He calls us to do good works for our neighbors. ("God does not need our good works. Our neighbor does.") This means that the Christian life is to be lived out primarily in our vocations. Not only that, but work done in the church is not superior.  Having a job outside of church is as important as having one inside. Volunteering in the community is as important as volunteering in the church. Being a pastor is not a better calling than being a janitor, or engineer. It does not matter what you do, it matters that you give glory to God in whatever you do (1 Cor. 10:31, Col. 3:17).

This is where sanctification happens, not so much in "church work" but in our families, our workplace, our life in our communities. Vocation is the key to evangelism (as we bring up our children in Christ, as we interact with non-believers on the job) and to Christian influence on the culture (being salt and light in the world). As Christians learn to live out their faith in their callings--the arts, politics, businesses, education, court rooms, the entertainment industry, the media, marriage, parenting--the culture will be changed. As the great commission tells us, we are to make disciples as we are going about our lives (Matthew 28:19-20).

Ecclesiastes 5:18-20
Then I realized that it is good and proper for a man to eat and drink, and to find satisfaction in his toilsome labor under the sun during the few days of life God has given him—for this is his lot. Moreover, when God gives any man wealth and possessions, and enables him to enjoy them, to accept his lot and be happy in his work—this is a gift of God. He seldom reflects on the days of his life, because God keeps him occupied with gladness of heart.

Vocation 3 - Purpose

Vocation Day III: The purpose of our callings
The purpose of our vocations, according to the Reformation theologians, is to love and serve our neighbors. Each vocation has "neighbors." In the calling of marriage, the husband is to love and serve his wife ("as Christ loved the church"), and the wife is to love and serve her husband ("submit to your husband as to the Lord"). The parents' neighbor is their children, whom they are to love and serve. A child's neighbor is his or her parents, whom they are to love and serve. In the workplace, the neighbors would be customers and fellow workers. In the church, each member is to love and serve the rest. In the calling of citizenship, we are to love and serve our fellow-citizens.

Our vocations can be defined by our relationships with people, and how we serve and love them is defined by our vocations.Notice that this understanding of the purpose of vocation clarifies moral issues. A mother is to love and serve her child, not kill her child through abortion, or harm her child through child abuse. A husband is to love and serve his wife, not dominate or abuse her. A doctor is to love and serve his patients, not kill them through euthanasia or malpractice. A ruler is to love and serve his subjects, not tyrannize them or oppress them. In this way we all serve one another through our vocations. Since our vocation is how we serve our neighbors, we should not be idle, but have and actively participate in our vocations.

2 Thessalonians 3:6-15

Now we command you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that you keep away from any brother who is walking in idleness and not in accord with the tradition that you received from us. For you yourselves know how you ought to imitate us, because we were not idle when we were with you, nor did we eat anyone's bread without paying for it, but with toil and labor we worked night and day, that we might not be a burden to any of you.  It was not because we do not have that right, but to give you in ourselves an example to imitate. For even when we were with you, we would give you this command: If anyone is not willing to work, let him not eat. For we hear that some among you walk in idleness, not busy at work, but busybodies. Now such persons we command and encourage in the Lord Jesus Christ to do their work quietly and to earn their own living. As for you, brothers, do not grow weary in doing good. If anyone does not obey what we say in this letter, take note of that person, and have nothing to do with him, that he may be ashamed. Do not regard him as an enemy, but warn him as a brother.

Vocation 2 - Our Callings

Vocation II: Our callings are multiple

The word "vocation" does not just mean "job," as in the secularized version of this theological term. It is the Latin word for "calling." The idea is that God has "called" us to different tasks and to the different people he has brought into our lives. We have multiple vocations. In the Reformation classification, we have callings in the family (as husbands or wives, fathers or mothers, brothers or sisters), in the workplace (as "master" or "servant," in the different occupations), in the society (as citizen), in the church (as Christians, pastors, elders, members of the choir, the other tasks in the congregation).

Even within a single calling, we may have several vocations. The same person may be a wife to her husband, a mother to her children, a sister to her other siblings, a daughter to her parents.

In a job, a person may be a "master" to the people he supervises, and at the same time be a "servant" to his bosses. In our calling as citizens of our country, a person might be a ruler and a subject (being under the law), or a subject and a ruler (as in our democracy where our leaders are chosen by and are under the authority of the people).

Some particular estates or vocations take priority over others. If a Christian holds a governing office, and he is neglecting his family, then he should step down from his office. In fact, the same goes with a pastor (1 Tim 3:4,5). We consider the preaching office both spiritually as well as orderly, that is, in the order of creation. This is why Paul forbids women from teaching and preaching publicly (1 Tim 2:12-14; 1 Cor 14:34-37). Now, according to its specific task to preach the gospel, the office of pastor is the highest office (1 Tim 3:1; Heb 13:17). But according to creation, the office of parent takes the cake (LC I, 141).

Exodus 31:1-11

Then the LORD said to Moses, "See, I have chosen Bezalel son of Uri, the son of Hur, of the tribe of Judah, and I have filled him with the Spirit of God, with skill, ability and knowledge in all kinds of crafts to make artistic designs for work in gold, silver and bronze, to cut and set stones, to work in wood, and to engage in all kinds of craftsmanship. Moreover, I have appointed Oholiab son of Ahisamach, of the tribe of Dan, to help him. Also I have given skill to all the craftsmen to make everything I have commanded you: the Tent of Meeting, the ark of the Testimony with the atonement cover on it, and all the other furnishings of the tent the table and its articles, the pure gold lamp stand and all its accessories, the altar of incense, the altar of burnt offering and all its utensils, the basin with its stand and also the woven garments, both the sacred garments for Aaron the priest and the garments for his sons when they serve as priests, and the anointing oil and fragrant incense for the Holy Place. They are to make them just as I commanded you."

Vocation 1 - Introduction

God works through our callings

I have done some previous posts on vocation, but thought I would spend some more time on it now. To begin, it is helpful to think about the Lord's Prayer. When we pray the Lord's Prayer, we ask God to give us this day our daily bread and he does so through the vocation of the farmer who grows the grain, the miller who grinds it into flour, the baker who makes it into bread. We would add the factory workers who build the tractors, the bankers who advanced the loans, the truck drivers who haul the produce, also the warehouse attendants, the grocery store employees, the lady at the checkout counter, the person who prepared our meal--soon, we have the whole economic system, and God works through each person in the chain to give us our daily bread.

The doctrine of vocation is, among other things, how God works through human beings. He protects us by means of police, soldiers, the legal system, the government (see Romans 13). He brings healing by means of doctors, nurses, pharmacists, and other health-care callings. He teaches us His Word by means of pastors. He brings new life into the world by means of parents.

Luther says that vocations are "masks of God," meaning that God hides himself in ordinary human beings as they carry out their callings. The doctrine of vocation is really just how we can serve and love our neighbor. Consider that you too are a "mask of God" as you carry out your various callings. How is God working through you to bless others?

Romans 13:1-7

Everyone must submit himself to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established. The authorities that exist have been established by God. Consequently, he who rebels against the authority is rebelling against what God has instituted, and those who do so will bring judgment on themselves. For rulers hold no terror for those who do right, but for those who do wrong. Do you want to be free from fear of the one in authority? Then do what is right and he will commend you. For he is God's servant to do you good. But if you do wrong, be afraid, for he does not bear the sword for nothing. He is God's servant, an agent of wrath to bring punishment on the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is necessary to submit to the authorities, not only because of possible punishment but also because of conscience. This is also why you pay taxes, for the authorities are God's servants, who give their full time to governing. Give everyone what you owe him: If you owe taxes, pay taxes; if revenue, then revenue; if respect, then respect; if honor, then honor.

Clergy Uniforms and The Army

I just came across this, which is the US Army's regulations on uniforms. I thought it was applicable to clergy as well. I have a previous post on why clergy wear what they wear, and I thought this made the point I was trying to make even better than I did.

The Army is a profession. A Soldier’s appearance measures part of his or her professionalism. Proper wear of the Army uniform is a matter of personal pride for all Soldiers. It is indicative of esprit de corps and morale within a unit. Soldiers have an individual responsibility for ensuring their appearance reflects the highest level of professionalism. Leaders, at all levels, have a responsibility for implementing and applying the standards contained in this regulation to ensure the best interests of the Army, including our shared traditions and customs. This regulation prescribes the authorization for wear, composition, and classification of uniforms, and the occasions for wearing all personal (clothing bag issue), optional, and commonly worn organizational clothing and individual equipment uniforms. It prescribes the uniforms, awards, insignia, and accouterments authorized for wear. It also provides general information on the authorized material and design of uniforms and the uniform quality control system.

Vocational Dentist

I wanted to give a shout-out to a man who really understands vocation; my dentist. He is a devout Roman Catholic who knows it is his mission in life to live out his vocations as best he can.  He always has a picture of his wife and kids up in the office and talks about how he strives to be the best father and husband he can. He always tries to do the right thing in the right way. He works hard, does his best. He genuinely wants to help people. That is how he serves his neighbor. He is always happy and has a great bedside manner/customer service, even when people are upset.  He apologizes if anything goes wrong and takes responsibility for his staff. He does not charge to fix things that should have lasted longer. And he does all this with a cheerful attitude. That is all good businesses, but also being a good Christian. Patients notice and mention it to him and he is always ready to point to the love of Jesus as the reason. He recognizes that mission is through vocation. We should all live out our vocations as best as possible as he does.

Book Review/Summary - Dying to Live (Harold Senkbeil)

The Problem

• We have lost the art of communication in the communication age. We just share information, impersonally. 
• When people worked, there used to be something to show for it, something we made. Now we spend more time working and only have money to show for it. We begin to think the reason we work is only for money.
• People are lonely, disenfranchised and looking for truth, substance, and real relationships.
• We are a dying people in a dying world

Quotes on the Solution

• "The problem isn't the godlessness of our age, but rather the gods of our age."
• "Our predicament is not the situation we are in, but what lives in us."
• "Asking me to try harder is like asking a sick person to feel well."
• "The Old Adam cannot be tamed, reformed, or disciplined. Only killed."
• "We don't need a new attitude, we need a new life"
• "Sin is not a blemish, but bondage and death."
• "When face to face with sin we need forgiveness, not advice"
• "Before we can reform our lives, we need rescue."
• "Christianity is not an idea, but The Reality. Christianity is not a way of life, but Life Itself."

Church as God's Hospital

• The church is God's hospital, where he gives us CPR.
• The Liturgy is breath.
• God's breath out is our breath in and is God's blessing to us that comes first to give us what we need.
• A consequence of that is our breath out, which is our praise and prayer. It is just giving back what he gave us.
• Faith is like lungs.
• You can't breath without it, so you can't worship without it.
• You can have lungs without breath, but that leads to death.  Having faith without ever worshiping also brings death.
• Worship and prayer are the language of life.
• The liturgy seems awkward and foreign to us
• Because we spend so much time in an alien land, living in a dying world.
• However, liturgy is our native tongue, we belong in the liturgy of the church.
• Prayer does not come naturally to us
• We must learn in like we learn to speak as children, through repeating what God has shown us
• Such as the Lord's prayer and the Psalms.
• Prayer is not a means of Grace
• It does not earn us any merit
• It does not bring us forgiveness
• It does not channel God's love to us.
• Prayer does not make us Christian
• Prayer is simply what Christians do
• When we don't feel like worship or praying, we should trust God over our feelings. "God loves us too much to abandon us to our inclinations."

Vocation and Good Works

• Thankfulness alone will not produce a holy life. Christ in us does that.
• Christian vocation is not the end goal of faith, but is an extension of faith.
• Works are not what you must do to be faithful, but what people of faith do.
• There is honor in work, no matter how menial or tedious.

Book Review/Summary - We Confess Anthology (Herman Sasse)

This book was amazing! It is a must read for everyone. It covers so much ground on so many topics because it is actually a collection of essays and letters from Herman Sasse. They are generally categorized into three sections of Sacraments, Jesus Christ, and the Church. One of the themes throughout though is about confessing itself, which I have notes on below. I have and will continue to quote from this book in many other posts as well.

Confession in the Christian church is threefold:

1. Confession of Sin
2. Acclamation of God (praise, honor, glorify, worship)
3. Confession of Faith
1. It is necessary (Romans 10:9)
2. It is our individual answer evoked by God’s revelation of himself (Mark 8:19)
3. It is our whole church’s unified response to God’s Word (Mathew 6:13)
4. It belongs in the divine service and is similar to prayer because it is directed to God (1 Corinthians 12:3)
5. It is also directed toward the whole world (2 Corinthians 4:5, Colossians 2:6)
1. Confess Christ in your daily life (Matthew 18:19-20)
2. Confess Christ to defend your faith (1 Peter 3:15)
6. It will be fulfilled at the end of the world (Philippians 2:10)
7. Confession can't guarantee purity of doctrine, but purity of doctrine cannot remain without a clear confession.
1. "In removing the authority of the confession, it removes that of the Bible also. If it is no longer possible to say whether a confessional statement is in accordance with Scripture or not, then my doubt is basically not toward the confession but toward Scripture. I have lost confidence in it to interpret itself."
2. "Whether a church is still a confessional church is decided bot by the number of old confessional writings it still possesses but by its living proclamation in preaching, instruction, and pastoral care."
3. “Today there are only a few small groups, mostly small, who are not afraid of being called confessional and orthodox.”

Book Review/Summary - Pastor and Elders (Timothy Mech)

We read this book one chapter a month as an opening Bible study for our Elders meetings. I thought this book was a good introduction to what Elders are and what their role is, which was great for me as a first time Elder. This book also had some good anecdotes and Bible passages to back up what it was saying. I also think it hit all the right topics, but it did not really go into any depth into any of them. It could have either been longer or at least given references for further studying on individual topics.

Chapter 1
This book had a good discussion of who is in control and what authority everyone has. Mech had good points about the lines of control between Elders and Pastor. However, he uses non-standard definitions of authority and power in this chapter, making it very confusing. I discussed authority and power in a previous post here.

Chapter 2
Elders need to stay in the Word. It is important for Elders to have a home devotion and Bible study life, as well as go to the church's Bible study and services. Elders should be active members of the congregation, as well as being above reproach.

Chapter 3
Elders and Pastors all have to trust each other. Mech had some good points here and showed the need for trust, but he did not talk about what trust is or how we get/have it. I would recommend the book, The Speed of Trust by Stephen M.R. Covey. Here is a summary in diagram form of his definition of trust.

Chapter 4
We live in a self absorbed culture and people do not volunteer, or have as much of a moral standard. Unfortunately this chapter is really needed in today's society.

Chapter 5
Vocation. This chapter had a good overview of what vocation is and explained that Elders are helpers to Pastor with administrative things related to the pastoral office. Basically Elders are like Aaron to Moses. For example, since Pastor cannot easily dispense communion alone, we help him. On a side note, this shows that Pastor should hand out the bread/body and the Elders should follow behind dispensing the wine/blood.

Chapter 6
We are all accountable to God through one another. Church discipline is an important part of being an Elder.  We keep each other, pastor, and the congregation accountable. This is the toughest duty by far in my limited experience.

Just War Theory 3 - After War

Justice After War

In a previous post I discussed just reasons for going to war. Last post, I discussed just actions during war. This post will discuss just actions at the end or and after war. When victory has been achieved, it is required to offer mercy and peace to those who surrender.

Just cause for termination

There are two just reasons to end a just war. The first, is when the war is won and the aggressor is willing to negotiate the terms of surrender. These terms of surrender include a formal apology, compensations, war crimes trials, and rehabilitation. The second, is if it becomes clear that any just goals of the war cannot be reached at all or cannot be reached without using excessive force.

Right intention

After the war, revenge by either side is not allowed. The winning side must also be willing to apply the same level of objectivity and investigation into any war crimes its armed forces may have committed.

Public declaration and authority

The terms of peace must be negotiated, made, and accepted by legitimate authorities on both sides.

Discrimination

The winning side is to differentiate between political and military leaders, and combatants and civilians. Punitive measures are to be limited to those directly responsible for the conflict.

Proportionality

Any terms of surrender must be proportional to the rights that were initially violated.

Just War Theory 2 - Actions During War

Just Actions During War (jus in bello)

Last post, just reason for going to war were discussed. This post, I have listed the commonly accepted criteria for what constitutes just actions during that just war.

Distinction

Behavior during a just war should be led by the principle of distinction. Every reasonable effort must be made to protect civilians and target the opposing military.

Proportionality

Just war conduct should be governed by the principle of proportionality. An attack cannot be launched on a military objective in the knowledge that the incidental civilian injuries would be clearly excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage (principle of proportionality).

Military necessity

Just war conduct should be limited to the  minimum force necessary. to ensure military defeat, not national destruction. This is to limit excessive and unnecessary death and destruction.

Fair treatment of prisoners of war

Enemy soldiers who surrendered or who are captured no longer pose a threat. It is therefore wrong to kill them, torture them or otherwise mistreat them.

No means

Soldiers may not use methods of warfare which are considered as evil, such as rape, torture, or forcing soldiers to fight against their own side. Luther says, "one must beware of sin and not violate wives and virgins."

Just War Theory 1 - Reasons for War

One of the evils that comes from the arguments discussed in the last post, and is what many people have in mind when they ask why bad things happen, is war. Here are the commonly accepted criteria for a just war.

The Just Way to go to War (jus ad bellum)

Martin Luther believed, as do I, that war for the sake of religion is always wrong, This is because it confused the two Kingdoms. "The emperor's sword has nothing to do with the faith," Luther said.  There is, therefore, a difference between a just war and a holy war.

Because it is in the prevue of the nation to wage wars, it is a valid and God-pleasing vocation of a soldier to fight for his country. However, it is also acceptable for a soldier to refrain from fighting in an unjust, or holy war.  The soldier should "with all possible diligence find out" whether a war in which he was called to fight was just or not. But, what if the soldier is not sure about the moral status of the war? If a soldier does not know and cannot find out the moral status of the conflict, the soldier may obey the prince and he does so without peril to his soul. He should not forfeit certain obedience for the sake of uncertain justice. He should rather, out of love (1 Cor 13:47), give his ruler the benefit of the doubt.

Just cause

The reason for going to war needs to be just and just for taking land that has been taken from you or to punish people who have done wrong. Innocent life must be in  danger and intervention must be intended to protect life. A contemporary view of just cause was expressed in 1993 when the US Catholic Conference said: "Force may be used only to correct a grave, public evil, i.e., aggression or massive violation of the basic human rights of whole populations."

Comparative justice

While there may be rights and wrongs done on both sides of a conflict that leads to war, to justly resort to military force, the injustice suffered by one party must significantly outweigh that suffered by the other.

Competent authority

A just war, according to Luther, must be first of all waged by the lawful ruler.  That means that only duly constituted public authorities may wage war.

Right/Just intention

Force may be used for a just cause as described above and only with the right intention.  The right intention must only be correcting a ongoing suffered wrong in justice, not in retribution.  Also, there must be no intention of material gain or even maintaining the economy. The intention of war should be to bring peace and to protect civilians

Probability of success

Arms may not be used in a futile cause or in a case where disproportionate measures are required to achieve success.

Last resort

The ruler must seriously try to settle the conflict by means of diplomacy, legality, sanctions, and every other viable peaceful alternative first, and only use force as a last resort.

Proportionality

The anticipated benefits of the war must be proportional to its anticipated costs and harms. This principle is also known as the principle of macro-proportionality. The use of arms must not produce evils larger than the evil to be eliminated. The ends do not justify the means.

Limited Objective

Luther states explicitly, "whoever starts a war is in the wrong," All permitted military action must be defensive, that is, it must be a war in response to prior attack or evil.

Vocation, Vocation, Vocation

My wife just showed me a blog that she recently found called the Humbled Homemaker. The specific post was from a guest author about being part of the "the real food movement" and being Christian. I had read things about this before and how it is good stewardship of nature and your body, but what struck me about this post was that it took a different approach. First of all, it was not selfish, but saying as a homemaker she wanted to have good healthy food to take care of her children and her husband.  This expanded the issue from stewardship to vocation and serving her neighbor in their bodily needs. More than that, even, was how she discussed that food is not a moral issue.  Your salvation does not depend on whether or not you buy organic food, but on Grace alone.  She also expressed repentance for judging others based on what they bought at the grocery store, and realized they might have good reasons for doing so. This post was a great Christian confession of her faith and keeping life in perspective.

Then I clicked on a suggested, related post by the regular author of the blog about how we can't "name and claim" our health. Here, she specifically wrote against the prosperity gospel and even mentioned how we should not turn food, or health, or even stewardship into an idol. Christianity is not about self-help, or having a better life, but about Jesus. After reading these posts I looked at the author's bio and she discusses how the best work that she can do for God, is simply to fulfill her vocations as a mother, wife, and homemaker. She also discusses how her blog is a way to present the Gospel, while writing about things the is passionate about.  This blog has the best Christian discussion of food that I have come across to date. While I never saw her use the word vocation, it is clear that she has a great understanding of the doctrine.