Paradise Cafe Discussions - A Place For Bible Research And Christian Encouragement

In honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day- May we remember the good that was done by him, and in honor of him. He was a good man.

In Remembrance of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.


God of our forebears and our God, who has summoned women and men throughout the ages to be thy witnesses and sometimes martyrs for thee, we bow before thee this day in remembrance and thanksgiving for the life and legacy of thy servant, witness and martyr, the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. We thank thee for his time among us, for his words and for his deeds, and for the quality of his living witness which eases the pain of recalling the brevity of his years. We rejoice in his example of obedient faith and the scenes and stations of his life which inform and enrich our own faith journeys. And we beseech thee this day for the strength, steadfastness and courage not only to remember but also to obey.


- Dr. Randolph Nugent

"A name is better than good oil, and the day of death than the day of one's being born. Better is it to go to the house of mourning than to go to the banquet house, because that is the end of all mankind; and the one alive should take [it] to his heart." Ecc. 7:1,2

Lamentations Chapter 5

1 Keep in mind, O Jehovah, what has come to us. Take note and see our shame. 2 Our heritage is turned over to men of strange lands, our houses to those who are not our countrymen. 3 We are children without fathers. Our mothers are like widows. 4 We give money for a drink of water. We get our wood for a price.

5 Our attackers are on our necks. We are overcome with weariness and we have no rest. 6 We have given our hands to the Egyptians and to the Assyrians so that we might have enough bread. 7 Our fathers were sinners and are dead. The weight of their evil deeds is on us. 8 Servants rule over us, and there is no one to free us from their hands.

9 We risk our lives to get food, because of the sword of the wasteland. 10 Our skin is heated like an oven because of our burning heat from the need of food. 11 They took by force the women in Zion, the virgins in the towns of Judah. 12 They put princes to death by hanging. The elders are not honored.

13 The young men crushed the grain, and the boys fell under the wood. 14 The old men are no longer seated in the doorway. The music of the young men has come to an end. 15 The joy of our hearts has ended; our dancing is changed into sorrow. 16 The crown has been taken from our head. Sorrow is ours, for we are sinners.

17 Because of this our hearts are feeble. For these things our eyes are dark. 18 The mountain of Zion is a waste. So jackals go there.
19 You, O Jehovah, are seated as King forever. The seat of your power is eternal. 20 Why have we gone from your memory forever? Why have you turned away from us for so long? 21 Make us come back to you, O Jehovah, and let us be restored. Make our days new again as in the past. 22 But you have rejected us. You are full of wrath against us!

Just a little note to remind us, it will get worse before it gets better, but Jehovah is seated as King forever. The seat of his power is eternal. We will NOT disappear from his memory. Praise Jah, you people!

Prayer of David. Bow down thine ear, O Jehovah, and answer me; For I am poor and needy. Preserve my soul; For I am godly: O thou my God, save thy servant that trusteth in thee. Be merciful unto me, O Lord; For unto thee do I cry all the day long. Rejoice the soul of thy servant; For unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For thou, Lord, art good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness unto all them that call upon thee. Give ear, O Jehovah, unto my prayer; And hearken unto the voice of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call upon thee; For thou wilt answer me. Psalms 86:1-7 ASV


A wonderful prayer that we all can relate to.
Much love to all,
Sis Micah :desert:

Discourse on Lovingkindness


Let your love flow outward through the universe,
To its height, its depth, its broad extent,
A limitless love, without hatred or enmity.
Then as you stand or walk,
Sit or lie down,
As long as you are awake,
Strive for this with a one-pointed mind;
Your life will bring heaven to earth.


- The Buddha

I like this prayer because it reminds me of the Lord's Prayer. When we ask for Jehovah's will to be done on earth, as it is in heaven, do we stop to think that WE personally have a responsibility to help that will be done on earth? Do we remember when we stand or walk, sit or lie down, as long as we are awake that we are striving with every ounce of our being to let God's will be done on earth? Just a little reminder...from a wise man.

Much love,
Sis Micah :neo:

This is for you, Eyes & Ears, my sister.

Prayer for Healing


Mother, sing me a song
That will ease my pain,
Mend broken bones,
Bring wholeness again.
Catch my babies
When they are born,
Sing my death song,
Teach me how to mourn.

Show me the Medicine
Of the healing herbs,
The value of spirit,
The way I can serve.

Mother, heal my heart
So that I can see
The gifts of yours
That can live through me.



Native American

This is such a beautiful, powerful prayer, because it reminds us that even if our bodies are sick, our hearts may be whole with love, for God, for our fellow man, and because of that, Jehovah will make our bodies whole too. It just may take a little longer than we'd like. :rolleyes:

Much love to you, my sister, and to all of us, sighing and groaning over our own despicable bodies!

Sis Micah :neo:

I'm a bit behind in the boards, as you all can tell... but better late than never. Besides, I'm a big believer in back-dated prayers. Jehovah will do what he wills, no matter what, or when, we pray. So of course he will help BR with her pain, even if we don't pray for him to do so until a little late---he knows we will do so, and acts on it- before we pray. That's what I believe. Prove me wrong! :D

So... a prayer for BR and her strained back---Having been thru it myself recently, I know the agony, and the helplessness, and the hopelessness.


Prayer for Comfort and Hope


Grant unto us, Almighty God, in all time of sore distress,
the comfort of the forgiveness of our sins.
In time of darkness give us blessed hope,
in time of sickness of body give us quiet courage;
and when the heart is bowed down, and the soul is very heavy,
and life is a burden, and pleasure a weariness,
and the sun is too bright, and life too mirthful,
then may that Spirit, the Spirit of the Comforter, come upon us,
and after our darkness may there be the clear shining of the heavenly light;

that so, being uplifted again by Thy mercy,
we may pass on through this our mortal life
with quiet courage, patient hope, and unshaken trust,
hoping through Thy loving-kindness and tender mercy
to be delivered from death into the large life of the eternal years.
Hear us of Thy mercy, through Jesus Christ our Lord – Amen.


George Dawson

Much love to all and sundry,
Sis (Empathizing) Micah :neo:

Thank you very much for thinking about me Micah.

Lots of Love to you and yours

Eyes & Ears

Psalm 115:9-18 NWT

O Israel, trust in Jehovah;
He is their help and their shield.

O house of Aaron, put YOUR trust in Jehovah;
He is their help and their shield.

YOU that fear Jehovah, trust in Jehovah;
He is their help and their shield.

Jehovah himself has remembered us; he will bless,
He will bless the house of Israel,
He will bless the house of Aaron.

He will bless those fearing Jehovah,
The small ones as well as the great ones.

Jehovah will give increase to YOU,
To YOU and to YOUR sons.

YOU are the ones blessed by Jehovah,
The Maker of heaven and earth.

As regards the heavens, to Jehovah the heavens belong,
But the earth he has given to the sons of men.

The dead themselves do not praise Jah,
Nor do any going down into silence.

But we ourselves will bless Jah
From now on and to time indefinite.
Praise Jah, YOU people!

Once more, I say, Praise Jah, you people!!!

A prayer of thanksgiving, a reminder that Jehovah does bless us.

Much love,:heartbeat:
Sis Micah:grouphug:

Prayer of Thanks


For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
Father in heaven,
We thank thee.


- Ralph Waldo Emerson

A beautiful prayer, a poem, really- to remind us that beauty in and of itself is a prayer of thanksgiving for that beauty to the Maker, the Creator, the Great Artist who made that beauty to begin with.

Much love to all beauty seekers and appreciators,
sis Micah :neo:

Free at last, free at last,
Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last.

The very time I thought I was lost,
Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last;
My dungeon shook and my chains fell off,
Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last,
This is religion, I do know,
Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last;
For I never felt such a love before,
Thank God Almighty, I’m free at last.

John 8:32
"and YOU will know the truth, and the truth will set YOU free."

Romans 8:20-21
"For the creation was subjected to futility, not by its own will but through him that subjected it, on the basis of hope that the creation itself also will be set free from enslavement to corruption and have the glorious freedom of the children of God."

Galatians 4:26
"But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother."

Revelation 22:17
"And the spirit and the bride keep on saying: “Come!” And let anyone hearing say: “Come!” And let anyone thirsting come; let anyone that wishes take life’s water free."

Romans 3:23-24
"For all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and it is as a free gift that they are being declared righteous by his undeserved kindness through the release by the ransom [paid] by Christ Jesus."

Romans 8:2
"For the law of that spirit which gives life in union with Christ Jesus has set you free from the law of sin and of death."

Revelation 21:6
"And he said to me: “They have come to pass! I am the Al´pha and the O·me´ga, the beginning and the end. To anyone thirsting I will give from the fountain of the water of life free."

2 Corinthians 3:17
"Now Jehovah is the Spirit; and where the spirit of Jehovah is, there is freedom."

Galatians 5:1
"For such freedom Christ set us free. Therefore stand fast, and do not let yourselves be confined again in a yoke of slavery."

THANK GOD, ALMIGHTY! I'M FREE AT LAST!!

Much love to all freedom seekers/fighters on this beautiful day, given to us by the Grace of God for us to enjoy in all freedom!
Sis (free) Micah

(Sorry all--- my computer froze just as I was finishing my post, so I had to start all over again from scratch!)

Thank You for This Amazing Day    

i thank You God for most this amazing
day: for the leaping greenly spirits of trees
and a blue true dream of sky; and for everything
which is natural which is infinite which is yes

(i who have died am alive again today,
and this is the sun’s birthday; this is the birth
day of life and love and wings: and of the gay
great happening illimitably earth)

how should tasting touching hearing seeing
breathing any-lifted from the no
of all nothing-human merely being
doubt unimaginably You?

(now the ears of my ears awake and
now the eyes of my eyes are opened)

e. e. cummings  

"Let the one who has an ear hear what the spirit says to the congregation...."  Rev. 2:7

The spirit of Jehovah is a spirit of love:  "God is love."  1 John 4:8

The spirit of Jehovah is a spirit of joy:  "God has ascended with joyful shouting."  Ps. 47:5

The spirit of Jehovah is a spirit of creativity:  "Before all your people I shall do wonderful things that have never been created in all the earth or among all the nations; and all the people in the midst of whom you are will indeed see the the work of Jehovah, because it is a fear-inspiring thing that I am doing for you."  Ex. 34:10

The spirit of Jehovah is a spirit of music:  "Make melody to God, make melody.  Make melody to our King, make melody."  Ps. 47:6

The spirit of Jehovah is a spirit of dance:  "Praise him with the tambourine and the circle dance."  Ps. 150:4

The spirit of Jehovah is a spirit of gratitude and reward:  "
20 Jehovah rewards me according to my righteousness;
According to the cleanness of my hands he repays me.

24 And let Jehovah repay me according to my righteousness,
According to the cleanness of my hands in front of his eyes.

25 With someone loyal you will act in loyalty;
With the faultless, able-bodied man you will deal faultlessly;

50 He is doing great acts of salvation for his king
And exercising loving-kindness to his anointed one."  Psalms 18:20-50

What do we get from all this?

Be joyful, be loving, be creative, sing, dance, praise Jah, and be grateful that he will always reward us for doing so!

Praise JAH!

Much love to all you singing and dancing, joyful, loving fools!  May I count myself as one of you!
Sis Micah

Child's Prayer of Thanks

Thank you for the world so sweet.
Thank you for the things we eat.
Thank you for the birds that sing.
Thank you, God, for everything.

Do we really need to say anything else? :)

OK CaLi, Now that's my favorite. I can even learn to rememer it. short n sweet :happyheart:

This prayer is in response to the feelings the recent "Veganism" thread brought up in me.  I hope others can make use of it as well.  For me, food is a very touchy subject.  I'd rather discuss masturbation.(Well...maybe, not really....:rolleyes:)


Thank You for Strawberries      

Thank You, God,
for giving us food of all kinds,
shapes, colors, aromas, textures, and flavors.
I praise You for strawberries!
And I delight in crisp yellow peppers and juicy oranges!
I praise You for giving us taste buds--
You didn't have to do that!
I praise You also for those edible pleasures
that I sometimes abuse.
Today I ask for the grace
to appreciate the daily sustenance You give me
and to appreciate it so much that I don't feel the need to be greedy.
Maker of everything delicious,
all day long I will notice Your genius and generosity,
and I will honor You with my appetites and my attitude. Amen.


Heather Kopp
Much love to all as we all struggle with our own private temples to God!:heartbeat::happyheart::heartbeat::happyheart::heartbeat::happyheart::heartb eat::happyheart::heartbeat::happyheart::heartbeat::happyheart::heartbeat::happyh eart::heartbeat::happyheart::drinking:
Sis (food-hatin') Micah