God expects us to maintain unity in the church. Jesus even prayed that all believers "be one." We cannot allow Satan to destroy the churches unity. We must be on guard all the time for situations that could divide the church. It is a serious offense to cause divisions in the body of Christ. ...

Within your own church membership, the enemy is always at work, looking for wedges to drive between members and the leadership. He walks to and fro, to paraphrase the Apostle Peter, looking for an opening in the wall he can enter to create havoc. In our never-ending concern for unity within the body of Christ, let's make a few points here. ...

First Sunday after Sleebo/ the Feast of Holy Cross

Evening

• St. Luke 17:20-37

Morning

• St. Matthew 24:36-51

Before Holy Qurbana

• Psalms 34
• Genesis 42:1-28
• Isaiah 1:10-20

Holy Qurbana

• Acts 3:21-26
• I Corinthians 2:10-16
• St. Mark 13:30-37

by Edwin Gray Hurley

Scripture: John 2:1-11

The perfect church is not all neatly fixed, flawlessly decorated magnificently complemented by the perfect choir and perfect ushers, perfect ministers and perfect officers. You already realize in one sense, there is no perfect church because there are no perfect people. Whatever perfection a church approaches comes as we learn to rock and reel and navigate through the ups and downs of our imperfect lives learning upon our perfect Lord.

What makes a church perfect is imperfect people like you and me caring enough about God and each other, and bringing enough of our real, broken, imperfect lives to the Lord who can take them and make us new. Jesus Christ, who turned water into wine, can turn imperfect people like you and me into new people. He can create the perfect, or the real, church.

I absolutely love how John's gospel begins. As Jesus is initiating his ministry, having called the first disciples and invited them, "follow me" 2, the very next thing they all do is show up at a wedding. It is in Cana of Galilee, a few miles from his home town of Nazareth. It is a festive gathering. But a simple catering problem arises. They run out of wine. Pushed by his mother, and apparently irritated by her insistence, Jesus yet acts and offers an utterly extravagant gesture. He turns water into wine. Not just a little wine. Those six ceremonial stone jars held all together about 180 gallons of the finest wine. It is a gesture of extravagant joy.

It is, moreover, a gesture that contravenes the catering practices of the day which dictate that the good wine be served first and the cheap stuff later. Beyond the light-hearted festive enjoyment the miracle brings, it also attests to Jesus' true nature. "Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him." 3

Arising out of this marvelous story, (and supported by that Old Testament image in Isaiah of marriage, Israel returned from exile, no longer desolate but married, together with that great list from the early Church at Corinth about the life-giving gifts of the Spirit,) are three attributes about what the perfect church is like. I would like to share them with you this morning.

I. The Perfect Church Celebrates Extravagantly

What John is showing us is the extravagance of life Jesus embodied and embraced. "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" Jesus said. 4 A wedding surely symbolizes a high moment of joy and delight. It is an occasion filled with solemn promises and with an abundance of human happiness. Jesus only heightens the happiness by his gracious act. And the fine wine overflows.

At Cana Jesus models extending extravagant hospitality. Too often I think church gatherings are characterized by minimal attitudes rather than maximal attitudes. And let's be honest, too often people stay away from churches like this because they have some incorrect stereotypes about the institutional church being a place where they would not be welcomed because their life is, well, a bit messed up. They may have a memory where some church treated them in a harsh judgmental manner. Frederick Nietzsche, the atheist philosopher, instructed us well when he said, of Christians, "I would believe in their salvation if they looked a little more like people who have been saved." 5 Friends, the world outside needs an extravagant sign from us to overcome those negative tapes.

II. The Perfect Church Is Full of Imperfect People Who Serve Extravagantly

But let's not stop with partying. At the marriage celebration Jesus is being called into action to begin his serving. His mother is utterly confident of his abilities. And serve he does, the finest wine. We all have a need to serve. To reach out and make a difference in someone's life. We undertake this mission even at the risk of losing our lives.

This Church of which we are a part is a serving Church. With all the pressures on our lives, hectic schedules. job and school deadlines, we yet long to be part of something significant, something that will outlast us. So we seek ways to serve. Why do we do these things? Because we have a need to serve in the manner of our Master who came not to be served but to serve.

Martin Luther King, Jr. is remembered as a man who made a difference. Shortly before his tragic death in Memphis, he was reflecting with a friend about his funeral. He had an ominous sense that he would not live much longer. And he said,

"Tell them not to mention that I have a Nobel Peace Prize... I'd like somebody to mention that day that Martin Luther King, Jr. tried to give his life serving others... I'd like somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr... tried to love somebody... I want you to be able to say on that day that I did try to feed the hungry. And I want you to be able to say on that day that I did try in my life to clothe those who were naked... and visit those in prison. I want you to say on that day that I tried to love and serve humanity. I won't have any money to leave behind. I won't have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave behind a committed life."

Don't you want to do that? We all have a need to serve. I believe we as a Church need to step up to a new level of enabling one another to serve. And in serving we will discover significance. We will leave behind a committed life.

III. The Perfect Church Is Full of Imperfect People Who Seek God Extravagantly

All this extravagant celebrating and serving finally leads me to say, The perfect church is full of imperfect people who seek God extravagantly. This is why we are here. We are on a spiritual quest. We have been doing these things because they express our search for God. All human beings have a need for God, for a personal relationship with God. Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh, came down from heaven to live among us and show us how. The Holy Spirit lifts us up to heaven and engrafts us into the risen Christ. These are the two hands God the Father uses to embrace us, Christ coming down to meet us, the Spirit lifting us to where God the Father is.

The Perfect Church appears when these three attributes converge: extravagant celebration, extravagant service. and extravagant seeking after God. Sometimes Country Music, with its honesty about the storms of life, says it best. Like these words by Trisha Yearwood.

Everything in moderation.

That's the way it's always been.
Never gotten out of control,
Never hangin' it out,
Always reelin' it in.

I've had enough of playin' it safe,
Somebody draw the line
So I can blow right past.

I need to rock the boat,
I need to speak my mind.
Just this once let it all unwind.

I've got to set this spirit free
That's hiding here inside.
I feel like a bird in a cage,
It's time for me to fly.

I believe it is time for this great church to fly, and manifest Christ's glory. Riding out every storm that comes, and equipping God's people to do God's work, beginning right here and going to the ends of the earth.

References:

1. Eugene H. Peterson in his forward to Philip Yancey's 'Church: Why Bother?', p.7.
2. Jn. 1:43.
3. Jn. 2:11.
4. Jn. 10:10.
5. Frederick Nietzsche, quoted in Yancey, ibid., p.20.

About the Author:

Edwin Gray Hurley is the Pastor of The Presbyterian Church, Bowling Green, KY

by Keith Smith

INTRODUCTION:

As Christians, we have a responsibility to maintain unity in the Church.

ILLUSTRATION:

A long time ago, a little child in an African tribe wandered off into the tall jungle grass and could not be found. The tribe search all day, but could not find the little boy. The next day the tribal members all held hands and walked through the grass together. This enabled them to find the child, but due to the cold night, he had not survived. In her anguish and tears, the mother cried, "If only we would have held hands sooner."

Our churches and fellowships are in decline. Why? I believe the number one reason is lack of unity.

In (Jn. 17:21), Jesus earnestly prayed that believers "may be one." Our lack of unity is destroying the church that Jesus purchased with His own blood.

We must have unity in the church.

This morning, I will present two points on the concept of unity.

I. FIRST, GOD EXPECTS US TO MAINTAIN UNITY.

1. Here are some passages that instruct us to have unity.

"May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" (Rom. 15:5-6).

"I appeal to you, brothers, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, that all of you agree with one another so that there may be no divisions among you and that you may be perfectly united in mind and thought" (1 Cor. 1:10).

2. Just like a family must have unity to survive & prosper, the church must have unity to survive & prosper.

Jesus once said, "If a house is divided against itself, that house cannot stand" (Mk. 3:25). If a church is divided against itself, it will not stand!

3. Let me offer several reasons why I believe that some churches divide.

a. Churches divide because of selfish ambition.

(1) In (3 John 9) we read about a man named Diotrephes who wanted to control the church. In fact, the Bible says that "he loved to be first."

(2) Churches divide over men who are hungry for power and control. They want things their way, and if they don't get it, they start causing problems.

ILLUSTRATION:

Several years ago, a man in a church wanted to be an elder. However, he was not qualified. Since He couldn't be an elder, he along with several other people, left and started their own church so he could be an elder. That split was all about selfish ambition.

b. Churches divide over believers boasting in certain men.

(1) In (1 Cor. 1:12), the church was being divided because several members were pledging alliance to different preachers. Some said they followed Paul, Apollos, Cephas, and Christ. They were dividing the church over human alliance.

I have heard that some churches have split because some members liked the preacher, but others didn't. We must understand that our only alliance must be to Jesus Christ. We must not divide over human favoritism.

c. Churches have divided because false teachers have turned others from the truth.

(1) In (1 Cor. 15:12), there were some false teachers telling Christians that Jesus was not raised from the dead. They were in essence telling the Corinthian Christians that their faith was useless. So Paul wrote chapter 15 to explain that Jesus was resurrected from the dead. And in (v. 14) Paul said, "and if Christ has not been raised, our preaching is useless and so is your faith."

(2) There are still false teachers today who distort the gospel message and cause Christians to divide.

ILLUSTRATION:

The May 1987 edition of National Geographic included a feature about the arctic wolf. Author L. David Mech described how a seven-member pack had targeted several musk-oxen calves who were guarded by eleven adults. As the wolves approached their quarry, the musk-oxen bunched in an impenetrable semicircle, their deadly rear hooves facing out, and the calves remained safe during a long standoff with the enemy. But then a single ox broke rank, and the herd scattered into nervous little groups. A skirmish ensued, and the adults finally fled in panic, leaving the calves to the mercy of the predators. Not a single calf survived. Paul warned the Ephesian elders in Acts 20 that after his departure wolves would come, not sparing the flock.

(3) Wolves continue to attack the church today but they cannot penetrate and destroy when unity is maintained. When believers break ranks, however, they provide easy prey.

There are many reasons why churches divide. We have just noticed three reasons. At this time, I will share some ways to maintain unity.

II. SECOND, HOW CAN WE ACHIEVE UNITY?

1. The word unity literally means "oneness, one of the same mind, one in thought."

A. To achieve unity, we must be like-minded regarding the essentials to our Christian faith.

1. Paul provides us with a list of the essentials we must believe in (Eph. 4:4-5).

a. One body (One Church).

b. One Spirit (One Holy Spirit).

c. One Lord (We believe that Jesus Christ is our Lord & Savior).

d. One Faith.

e. One Baptism (Meaning that we are baptized in water for the remission of sins).

f. One God (There is one God, yet there are 3 persons in the Godhead).

2. As brothers and sisters, we should believe alike regarding the essentials to our faith. We should be like minded on what it takes to be saved. We should be like minded that the Bible is the Word of God. If we do, we should have unity. If we don't, then we will have many problems.

B. To achieve unity, we must have liberty regarding the non-essential beliefs.

1. Too often, Believers are separated because of minor differences on certain issues or passages. What a pity it is that our interpretation about the millennium, music, workshops, or even school loyalty has separated baptized believers from one another in the body of Christ. Surly that cannot honor God. That cannot be the idea that God had in mind. These issues should not divide a family.

2. I hope that my salvation does not depend upon my interpretation of the second coming of Jesus; my interpretation of the works of the Holy Spirit; my interpretation of the book of Revelation; my interpretation of kitchens in the church building. If my interpretation is dependent upon these things, I am a doomed man.

3. The problem in many churches is that people take matters of opinion issues and turn them into to mandatory truths that you must believe alike or you cannot have fellowship with one another. That's just not true. We must have liberty on non essential beliefs that cause problems.

(Rom. 14:1-4, 22) "Accept him whose faith is weak, without passing judgment on disputable matters. One man's faith allows him to eat everything, but another man, whose faith is weak, eats only vegetables. The man who eats everything must not look down on him who does not, and the man who does not eat everything must not condemn the man who does, for God has accepted him… So whatever you believe about these things keep between yourself and God."

4. These verses assume that there will be differences of opinion in the church on disputable matters. Paul says we are not to quarrel about issues that are matters of opinion. Differences should not be feared or avoided, but accepted and handled with love.

ILLUSTRATION:

Rubel Shelly, at the Tulsa Worship, gave this illustration or something similar to it.

Two die hard supporters of the Dallas Cowboys and the Miami Dolphins may set on opposite sides of the field and they may scream their lungs out for their different teams, wave pennants and jump up and down and applaud at exactly the opposite moments.

You may be shocked to find that they came to the stadium together. And after the game they went out to dinner together and picked up their friendship without a beat being missed. In spite of the fact that their loyalty is with two different teams.

5. In our churches, we must love one another and be friends with one another although we disagree on certain issues.

6. Don't expect everyone, even in the best possible church, to agree on every subject. Through sharing ideas we can come to a fuller understanding of what the Bible teaches. Accept, listen to, and respect others. Differences of opinion need not cause division. They can be a source of learning and richness in our relationships.

CONCLUSION:

1. God expects us to maintain unity in the church. Jesus even prayed that all believers "be one."

2. We cannot allow Satan to destroy the churches unity. We must be on guard all the time for situations that could divide the church. It is a serious offense to cause divisions in the body of Christ.

(1 Cor. 3:17) "If anyone destroys God's temple, God will destroy him; for God's temple is sacred, and you are that temple."

3. To maintain unity in the church, we must be like-minded regarding the essentials to our Christian faith. We should believe alike on how one is saved.

4. But yet, to achieve unity, we must have liberty regarding the non-essential beliefs. We all strive to know the truth, but at times, we may differ or have different opinions on certain non essential subjects: Subjects that may not be clear in the Scriptures. If we do, we should talk about it in love, and if we still have different opinions, we are still brothers and sisters in Christ and a part of God's family.

by Dr. Joe McKeever

Within religious denominations, division is a constant threat. Doctrinal differences are a constant, social trends inject themselves into church life, and the world exerts its pressures for churches to conform. Personalities complicate negotiations and division often results.

Within your own church membership, the enemy is always at work, looking for wedges to drive between members and the leadership. He walks to and fro, to paraphrase the Apostle Peter, looking for an opening in the wall he can enter to create havoc.

In our never-ending concern for unity within the body of Christ, let's make a few points here.

Everything stands or falls on the leadership.

If you are the pastor then, the ball is in your court. You own the initiative. You have the power and the right to address the matter of unity/disunity with your people and to begin the process of making things right.

If you pastor a great church that is doing well, the worst thing you can do is ignore this subject. The temptation is overwhelming to assume your church is the exception and that since all is well, you can check this off your list. Bad mistake.

My friend James led a terrific church for over a quarter of a century. He was godly and mature, competent and in charge, and the church leadership knew it. They were fortunate to have such a man as their shepherd and they recognized it. The relationship between pastor and people thrived.

The harmony in the congregation lasted exactly one day after he walked out the door.

As soon as he vacated the parsonage and moved to a city a hundred miles away, ancient hidden and latent rifts in the membership began to surface. Some people wanted the church to be more evangelistic, several wanted it to turn charismatic, and others had agendas of their own.

The first thing we on the outside (I was a neighboring pastor) noticed was the squabbling within the membership over the makeup of the pastor search committee. Soon, it became a full-fledged fight. In time, the committee's recommendations for pastor were turned down by a divided congregation again and again. The disheartened committee resigned, and some people left the church.

By the time a new pastor was voted in, only half a congregation was left to welcome him. The others had moved out--some to start a new church, others to join local congregations where people loved one another, and more than a few went home and sat down and quit going to church altogether.

How different this story might have been had my friend James taught his people about protecting their unity and dealing with conflict and division. (That said, I need to state the obvious here and admit that I do not know what he did to prepare them since I was not there. I believe he felt the same way we all did, that they were a mature congregation who could handle anything that came up.)

Some pastors have no choice but to teach unity--and the principles that achieve it and safeguard it--in the midst of division and disunity. That is a little like repairing a plane while it's in flight. It can be done, but only with great difficulty and at tremendous risk.

The best time to teach the principles of unity to God's people is when the church is prospering and the members think the preacher is God's gift to them.

Leaders--especially pastors, but all leaders--must know the value of submission, must demonstrate it, and must teach it to their people.

"...giving thanks always for all things to God the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, submitting to one another in the fear of God." (Ephesians 5:20-21)

Theological definitions aside, my working meaning of submission is simply to "give in to the other person."

You and I have a disagreement over a path to take, a choice that has to be made. Both alternatives are good, no moral issue is at stake. It's simply a matter of taste, of preference.

I give in to you. "Let's do it your way."

That's submission.

Pastors submit themselves to their people every day of their lives. The phone rings, interrupting his dinner. The pastor whispers to his wife, then grabs his jacket and he's out the door. Two hours later, he arrives back at home. In the meantime, he has comforted a grieving family or accompanied a frightened member to the hospital or counseled someone going through a crisis.

He would rather have stayed home. His preference was to sit in front of the fire with his wife and enjoy their favorite television show, then retire early with a novel he's trying to read. But because he was needed, he put his own plans aside.

Submission is a constant in every harmonious family, whether nuclear or spiritual. Parents submit themselves to the needs of a sick child, forego buying an item they'd had their hearts set on to provide for their children, and put off a needed vacation to put braces on the child's teeth.

The church where a great percentage of the members practice submission to one another is one in a hundred, and destined for great things.

The key to submitting is Romans 12:3.

For I say through the grace given to me, to everyone who is among you, not to think of himself more highly than he ought to think, but to think soberly, as God has dealt to each one a measure of faith.

If harmony and unity are all about submission, then submission is all about humility.

The greatest enemy of the church, the foe of spiritual oneness in any congregation, is an enlarged sense of oneself.

Pride. Hubris, some call it. An excessive sense of "me."

Self on steroids.

Pastor Kent Hughes tells of a court-appointed mediator finding the roots of a church split that had torn up a community and destroyed a great congregation. The threads of the fight were traced all the way back to a Wednesday night supper in which a self-important church leader grew offended on seeing that a child had received a larger slice of ham than he had been given.

The out-of-control ego is not a pretty thing. It can destroy a good marriage, sabotage a great ministry, defile a pure love and bring a great church to the landfill.

It's tempting here to say it's all a matter of spiritual maturity, and it is. But it's actually simpler than that.

We can choose humility.

Yes, all of you be submissive to one another and be clothed with humility, for God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time. (I Peter 5:5-6)

We do not need God to humble us. We can do that to ourselves, thank you.

Confession: Whenever I hear someone pray for God to humble them, if the circumstances allow, I will counsel them afterward that that is not a suitable prayer. God can humble you, but if you know your Scripture, you know when He does it, He uses a heavy hand. Think of what He did to Nebuchadnezzar in Daniel 4. That's why Scripture tells us to "humble yourselves."

Simply taking a good look at who God is and who we are ought to do it.

A pastor friend told me of a man who was carrying an argument onto the floor of the church business meeting. "All I want is what's coming to me," he bellowed. "Sit down, Henry," said a little elderly woman. "If you got what was coming to you, you'd be in hell."

That's the realization that ought to humble all of us. We are all failures in life and recipients of God's infinite grace. We have no right to put ourselves above anyone else and a hundred reasons to put them ahead of us.

A parable Jesus told says it well.

Which of you, having a servant plowing or tending sheep, will say to him when he has come in from the field, "Come at once and sit down to eat"?

But will he not rather say to him, "Prepare something for my supper, and gird yourself, and serve me till I have eaten and drunk, and afterward you will eat and drink"?

Does he thank that servant because he did the things that were commanded him? I think not.

So, likewise you, when you have done all those things which you are commanded, say, "We are unprofitable servants. We have done what was our duty to do." (Luke 17:7-10)

About The Author:

by Susan Eapen, Thiruvananthapuram

Most of the time people leave our church in search of fellowship - which can be explained as: a) The condition of sharing similar interests, ideals, or experiences, as by reason of profession, religion, or nationality. b) The companionship of individuals in a congenial atmosphere and on equal terms.

This is lacking in our church. There is a Friday women's prayer that is desultory and if some women try to console each other and meet in their homes, immediately the men report to the vicar that a group is forming which would pray now and later prophesy and claim miracles. These are real dangers, but what substitutes can the Church offer? Perhaps it depends on the shepherd of each parish. Support groups are critical for healthy recovery from diseased like cancer and addictions.

The Orthodox Church has been there for 2000 years but is an empty tin that makes maximum sound/noise over cases and politics. The administration is haphazard, there are no clear-cut duties for the parish priests and on the pretext that the Church is centered around its Liturgy, some do not extend themselves beyond that and baptisms and housewarmings etc that gives them money.

The people consist of sheep (able and healthy), lambs (young needing nurturing irrespective of age - to be carried on the way if necessary) and ewes (needing to be lead gently). But there is only a kind of herding and the claim that God would take car of His own.

I met my Marthoma friend who has cancer. It had come back for the 3rd time about 3 years ago and the doctors said that since it has spread everywhere, they can do nothing more. I met her accidentally at a supermarket last week - quite happy and energetic and she told me "God has always worked wonders for me." She has a group of Marthoma women praying with her who meet regularly, I think about thrice a week. Her sons are abroad and her husband had died of Cancer many years ago. It is these women who are known to her and share with her, who hold her up. This is loving the neighbour and true fellowship.

My cousin had a heart attack and in the scan they could see a rupture in the wall of the heart that was bleeding. Her Marthoma Church women immediately started praying together for her and within hours the hole closed and the doctors said that it is a miracle.

In some of our churches I have seen Achen asking one of the women to pray and there would be a morose hysteric prayer full of platitudes for 15-30 minutes, which is a display of the knowledge of verses etc of that person. She would keep reminding God of the things He had said to Moses and David and Jesus to his followers and ask Him now to make His promises come true. But almost always God does not answer. Once, the person prayed for was already dead and the news had not reached the church. How far are these prayers moved by compassion? How far moved by a sense of our own importance?

Compassion means suffer together with, sharing the other's pain and wanting to relieve it. Compassion is what Jesus had. We need to be taught to pray beyond our written prayers or at least to understand them. We need support groups and fellowship. The early Church had that. Other groups have that. We don't.

Only the strong can love, said Swami Chinmayananda. Others can only take love. Most of us are weak and need support, which is specific and concrete. The clergy at all levels are selfish and do not see beyond their noses nor share in the suffering of the sheep. Many do not do house visits. Show me compassion that is not self-glorification in the Church. Show me some acts of charity, which is not claimed, as sponsored by some one and where there are no stones laid to remain eternal in the memory of posterity.

I read in Philokalia that the trials of the lay, living in the world far exceed that of the ascetic Brahmachari. But it is not even acknowledged. We must look with an impartial and discerning eye and never think ourselves too big to learn or change.

Bible knowledge is important because it is the verses from the Bible and the prayers and the songs that rise to our minds when we are in a crisis and give us proper guidance. Recently I was about to claim that I had planted the tree, which was now yielding many fruit when I remembered the verse "Nadunnavanum Nanakkunnavanum Ethumalla. Valarumaarakkunnathu Daivam Aakunnu." It effectively stripped off my pride.

By Bill Gifford

Rhesus monkeys do not often appear on the front page of the New York Times, but on July 10, 2009, there were two, pictured side by side: Canto, age 27, and Owen, age 29. In monkey terms, this made them the equivalent of senior citizens, but the striking thing was that Owen looked like he could have been Canto's beer-drinking, dissipated dad. His hair was patchy, his face sagged, and his body was draped in rolls of fat. Canto, on the other hand, sported a thick (if graying) mane, a slender frame, and an alert, lively mien.

What made the difference? Diet. Since early adulthood, Canto had been fed 30 percent less food than Owen. The two monkeys were part of a long-running study of dietary restriction and aging, conducted at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center in Madison. Beginning in the late 1980s, the researchers had been deliberately underfeeding Canto and some of his unfortunate colleagues. By late 2008, enough animals had died that the scientists could report meaningful results in Science.

The differences were as striking as the side-by-side photos: The calorie-restricted monkeys were far healthier, in terms of basic measures such as blood pressure, and had far less incidence of age-related disease, such as diabetes and cancer. And they seemed to be living longer: While 37 percent of the control monkeys had died of age-related causes at the time of the report, only 13 percent of the restricted monkeys had done so.

The results seemed to confirm one of the longest-held beliefs about aging: That eating less - a lot less - will help you live longer. Since the 1930s, scientists have learned that restricting diet in many animals, from fruit flies to trout to mice, will extend lifespan, both the average and the maximum. The phenomenon has been known for so long, and observed so often, that it's been accorded the status of near-dogma in some circles. A devoted group of believers who think the principle should extend to humans has practiced caloric restriction, sometimes eating as little as 1,200 calories per day.

Now a new paper has come out in Nature, reporting a parallel monkey study conducted by the National Institute of Aging. The NIA study began around the same time as the Wisconsin study, with similar experimental conditions. But the Nature authors found no increase in lifespan; the calorically restricted animals lived no longer, statistically, than their well-fed cousins. Even stranger, the NIA control monkeys, the ones who ate a lot, actually lived just as long as the calorie-restricted Wisconsin primates. What gives?

Many of us simply roll our eyes and click away when yet another medical study contradicts the last study - so what else is new? Coffee's bad for you, until it's good for you - and so is red wine. Antioxidants are essential, or they're useless. And so on. Contradictory studies are an essential part of the science-news stream - and, in fact, an important part of science itself. But that doesn't make it any less frustrating.

The parallel monkey studies are some of the most important and closely watched experiments on aging to be conducted in our lifetimes. It was expected, even assumed, that the NIA results would show that caloric restriction extended longevity—the holy grail of aging research.

The fact that it didn't, and that the two studies conflict, has unintentionally revealed a different truth about diet and aging. In both studies, the monkeys that ate less were healthier by a number of measures - and suffered far less from age-related disease. Even better, when taken together, both studies reveal a different path toward living a healthier life - one that doesn't require self-starvation. ...

In the 1990s, Leonard Guarente of MIT discovered a class of longevity genes in yeast called sirtuins that appear to be activated by a lack of food. Sirtuins appeared to be "conserved" in evolution, meaning that they appear in nearly all species, on up to humans. Sirtuins are thought to have evolved as a way to enable animals to survive periods of famine. They seem to work by regulating certain metabolic pathways and reduce the amount of damage cells endure.

It appeared, then, that caloric restriction seems to activate some sort of deep survival mechanism common to nearly all life forms. If researchers could somehow identify and isolate that mechanism, they'd be that much closer to some kind of longevity pill. Except for one inconvenient fact: Caloric restriction itself does not always work.

The study published today is itself a specimen of scientific longevity, dating all the way back to the late 1980s, not long after the founding of the National Institute of Aging in 1985 as part of the National Institutes of Health. One of the new institute's first major long-term projects was to test the effects of caloric restriction (CR) in monkeys, the lab animal closest to humans. Such studies in humans are problematic, as one might imagine, because it's not easy to convince people to spend decades starving themselves - and even if you could, you'd have to wait a lifetime for results (actually longer, if it worked as advertised). Monkeys can't cheat on their diet or complain about it, and they only live 30-odd years or so.

The initial group of 60 monkeys was split into to two groups. Half were allowed to eat a full ration of food while the rest were given a portion equal to about 25 percent less. The monkeys were soon joined by another 60 animals; some were young, between 0 and 8 years old, while the rest were older, between 16 and 23 when the experiment started.

The data started coming out in dribs and drabs, in mundane descriptive studies at first. Then in 2003, the NIA team reported hopefully that "preliminary evidence suggests that CR will have beneficial effects on morbidity and mortality." While 80 percent of the monkeys were still alive, the restricted animals had better measures of cardiovascular health, hormone levels, and blood-sugar management, an early indicator of diabetes risk. So it came as a bit of a surprise, eight years later, to find that the hungry monkeys are not actually living longer. ...

Still stranger was the fact that even though the underfed monkeys were healthier than the others, they still didn't live longer. They had lower incidence of cardiovascular disease, as well as diabetes and cancer - and when these diseases did appear, they did so later. "To me I think it's one of our very interesting findings," says lead author Rafael de Cabo. "We can have a dramatic effect on healthspan [the length of healthy life] without improving survival."

Even odder was the fact that the NIA's control monkeys seemed to be doing much better than the Wisconsin controls. In fact, the NIA controls seemed to be on track to live as long, or longer, than the Wisconsin calorie-restricted monkeys. Some of them were approaching 40 years old, previously the highest recorded age for Rhesus monkeys. (Four of the NIA monkeys have actually surpassed 40 at this writing.) What was that about? ...

The animals' food was more important than anyone had thought. The NIA monkeys were fed a natural-ingredient diet, made from ground wheat, ground corn, and other whole foods; the Wisconsin animals ate a "purified" diet, a heavily refined type of food that allowed the researchers to control the nutritional content more precisely. Because the NIA monkeys were eating more natural ingredients, de Cabo realized, they were taking in more polyphenols, micronutrients, flavonoids, and other compounds that may have health-promoting effects.

Furthermore, the NIA diet consisted of 4 percent sucrose - while in the Wisconsin diet, sucrose accounted for some 28 percent of the total calories. High sugar consumption is thought to be a primary driver of obesity, diabetes, and possibly some cancers. "In physics, a calorie is a calorie," says de Cabo. "In nutrition and animal physiology, there is more and more data coming out that says that the state of the animal is going to depend more on where the calories are coming from."

In other words, it matters whether you eat at Whole Foods, like the suburban-Maryland NIA monkeys - or at the ballpark, like the Wisconsin monkeys. Guess which works out better in the end?

But what does all this really mean for humans? Is it really "healthier" to starve oneself, as some people believe? Or will this latest monkey study finally let us off the hook? ...

So far, there's no evidence that humans gain any longevity benefit from calorie restriction. "That data will not emerge until about 2040," says Brian Delaney, president of the Calorie Restriction Society.

And when it does, chances are any effect of calorie restriction may vary from person to person, depending on genetics. "It's complicated," says Nir Barzilai of Einstein Medical College in New York. "To some of us it might work, and for some of us it might be dangerous."

Several studies have shown that excessive leanness - seen often in calorie-restricting humans - can be as risky as obesity. Taken together, these studies suggest that the optimal body-mass index is about 25, which is on the verge of being overweight. ...

For decades, ever since McCay, the holy grail of aging research has been to extend maximum lifespan - to push out the frontiers of human longevity, past 100, 120, or more. But while in theory those limits may be malleable, a careful look at these major primate studies shows that they might not be, in practice. Even so, calorie restriction does seem to reduce - drastically in some cases - one's risk of developing age-related diseases like cancer and diabetes. So while calorie restriction may or may not make you live longer, overeating and obesity will certainly make you die sooner. And if eating less doesn't always increase lifespan, it does improve "healthspan," our allotment of healthy years.

In the next few years, we're going to learn a lot about how different genetic types respond to medicine, diet, and other things. And while we might not (yet) know how to live forever, more of us will be able to avoid a long, sad decline and will live longer, healthy lives. If we can get there simply by eating the right foods, but not too much, and avoid becoming obese - then just knowing that is a pretty good start.

by Craig Shinney

While it may not always be easy to place your trust in the hands of God, especially when it becomes a test of patience as well, there’s no doubt that waiting on God for the right spouse is an important part of your spiritual journey towards living a godly life. Pray to Him about your feelings, and He’ll guide you down the right path.

Once you’ve found the one that you want to spend the rest of your life with, what can you do to pave that road to “as long as you both shall live” so that the ride there is less bumpy? The following is a list of 5 tips that will help you on your marriage journey to a lasting marriage:

Allow God to come before all else.

Let Him into your hearts and your home to bless and nurture the spiritual side of your relationship. Set aside time to pray together or simply thank God for each other. This appreciation of Him will solidify your own bonds to each other.

Learn to communicate.

While it rarely happens that people will keep positive information or feelings from one another, it’s not always the same when circumstances are different. It’s important to be able to pull your spouse aside and talk to one another when things aren’t so positive. Sharing with one another if feelings are hurt, if something is said or done that makes you angry, or when you’re just plain unhappy with a situation is essential. Keeping emotions bottled up only results in resentment. Even the smallest issue can turn into a big problem, so learning to share early on in the relationship will help to avoid blow-ups.

Conflict resolution is a must.

This can easily be seen as an extension of the previous point. Without good communication skills, conflict resolution can be a difficult task. Take time to sit together when things are calm, and develop a plan for dealing with any conflicts you may face as a couple. This way there are no surprises.

Add a touch of humor to your everyday lives.

You have probably heard the old saying “Laughter is the best medicine.” Perhaps that’s because it’s true. Tell each other jokes, watch a funny movie, or plan something fun, like playing in the first snowfall, or running on the beach. A little laughter therapy can go a long way.

Put your spouse before yourself.

After God, your spouse should be your first priority. Let them know how important they are to you every day. Care for their needs and desires first, and you’ll feel better about the time you spend away from them.

You see, there’s no magical formula, or special process to achieve a love that will stand the test of time. All it takes is faith, a little patience and some common sense. And when all else fails, take some time to pray about the situation. God will show you the way.