Uncomfortable, Inconvenient Christianity--Part 2

Secondly, I'd like to read some Bible verses that clearly show God's love for the orphan. Again all references are taken from the New International Reader's Version.

1. Psalm 27:10 My father and mother may desert me, but the LORD will accept me.

2. Isaiah 49:15, 16 The LORD answers, "Can a mother forget the baby who is nursing at her breast? Can she stop showing her tender love to the child who was born to her? She might forget her child. But I will not forget you. I have written your name on the palms of my hands . . . ."

3. Psalm 10:14B You {God} help children whose fathers have died.

4. Psalm 68:5 God is in his holy temple. He is a father to those whose fathers have died. He takes care of women whose husbands have died.

5. Deuteronomy 10:17, 18 The LORD you God is the greatest God of all . . . . He stands up for widows and for children whose fathers have died . . . .

6. James 1:27 Here are the kinds of beliefs that God our Father accepts as pure and without fault. When widows and children who have no parents are in trouble, take care of them. And keep yourselves from being polluted by the world.

7. Psalm 113:9 He gives children to the woman who doesn't have any children. He makes her a happy mother in her own home.

8. Proverbs 31:8, 9 Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those being crushed. Yes, speak up for the poor and helpless and see that they get justice.

9. Here is an extensive list of further references that deal with God's heart towards the fatherless and/or his expectation for his people to care for and be concerned for them: Exodus 22:22, 24; Deuteronomy 10:18; 14:29; 24:17, 19, 20, 21; 26:12, 13; 27:19; Job 6:27; 22:9; 24:3, 9; 29:12; 31:17, 21; Psalm 10:14, 18; 68:5; 82:3; 94:6; 109:9, 12; 146:9; Proverbs 23:10; Isaiah 1:17, 23; 9:17; 10:2; Jeremiah 5:28; 7:6; 22:3; 49:11; Ezekiel 22:7; Zechariah 7:10; Malachi 3:5. The term 'orphan' can refer, of course, to a child whose parents are both dead or to a child whose father or mother is dead. In adoption, however, it can also denote a child who has been abandoned by his parents (due to physical deformity, parents' poverty, one-child rule as in ****, etc.) or whose parents' rights have been terminated due to abuse or neglect. As God's children we are not to mistreat, take advantage of or take the property of the orphan. Instead we are to treat them fairly, provide conscientiously for their needs, and care for them in their distress.

My passion for the unborn and the orphan has driven me to tears . . . To prayer . . . To books, newsletters, magazines and the Internet where I find out way more than I want to know:

* According to Focus on the Family, there are over 143 million orphans in the world today.

* In his World Challenge Missions Update, Gary Wilkerson cites these statistics: 57,000,000 died in 2006; 10,500,000 of these were children less than five years old; 14,000,000 children were orphaned because of HIV/AIDS; 2,000,000 children have died as a direct result of armed conflict during the last ten years.

* According to Heartlines, (Newsletter of the Adoption Exchange, Fall 2006, page 1) there are 513,000 children in U.S. foster care; 114,000 of these children are awaiting adoption. Each year approximately 19,000 of these children age out of the system without ever having been placed in permanent, loving families.

* According to a 2007 Focus on the Family leaflet, there are 2,750 babies aborted every day.

* It is estimated that 80-90% of children with Downs syndrome are aborted before they're ever born. Here in Christian America "termination" of pregnancy is the standard "treatment" offered by doctors to expectant parents of a baby with Downs. (From Impact, "Down Syndrome Children Bring Blessing, 'Depth of Love,'" Coral Ridge Ministries, January 2007, page 5)

* Officials in one *** country were quoted as surmising that the only reason a family would want to adopt a child with Downs syndrome would be for "spare body parts." Handicapped children in some **** countries are sent to mental institutions at age 4. In one such institution, 30 individuals are reported to die every month.

*Earlier this year both Focus on the Family and Coral Ridge Ministries reported there are children born alive in abortion clinics in the U.S. and left to die with the dirty instruments. One story told of a baby born in such a situation that was still alive four hours later. A nurse decided that the warmth of the blanket was keeping it alive so laid its naked little body on a steel shelf. The baby died 15 minutes later.

* In the January 7, 2007 edition of Impact, Coral Ridge Ministries reports: "After the birth of their son in a hotel room, a couple of high school sweethearts took the infant, crushed his head and threw his lifeless body into a dumpster. The couple received 2 years jail time and got out early for good behavior. In stark contrast a Wisconsin man received 12 years hard time for killing 10 cats."

* On March 15, 2007 John Kemp (an accomplished attorney born without arms or legs) spoke at the Idaho Parents Unlimited conference which I attended in Boise, Idaho. He cited a **** official as saying that ***** doesn't have any people with disabilities. The reason? Babies with physical disabilities are killed almost at birth.

Further research would likely show additional startling statistics and horrific tales. These mentioned, however, sufficiently substantiate the facts that there are many hurting children on Planet Earth and that many earthlings do not perceive that human life--in whatever condition in which it is expressed--is sacred from conception to the grave.

(To be continued)