Final Act of Honor: A Guide for Families About Burials and Cremations

By Allan Hunsperger

Have you ever thought why generations before us buried the remains of our loved ones the way they did? The entire chapter of Genesis 23 deals with Abraham purchasing land to bury his wife, Sarah. Why does the Bible give so much attention to burials? All of us must eventually make decisions regarding burials, and background drawn from the Bible can help us understand the choices we are facing.

Often, we may not know why we engage in certain funereal practices. Sometimes we just do them. Sometimes we do them out of tradition. Sometimes we do them because of religion beliefs. Sometimes we do them because of monetary concerns. But if you find yourself, maybe for the first time in your life, having to make the decision about what you are going to do with the remains of your loved one, the Bible offers a solid foundation to guide you in those choices.

Final Act of Honor explores biblical traditions regarding death and burial and examines how they relate to modern-day funereal practices and how they affect our choices for ourselves and our loved ones.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Mar 12, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664225336

Allan Hunsperger

Allan Hunsperger has served as a Youth Pastor and Senior Pastor in Canada and the United States since 1972.  A pioneer of Christian radio in Canada, he built a broadcasting company consisting of six radio stations in Alberta, Canada.  He served as Chaplin for the Calgary Stampeders and founded of private Christian schools that are in operation today. His wife of fifty years passed away October 2019.

Book preview

Copyright © 2021 Allan Hunsperger.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced by any means, graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping or by any information storage retrieval system without the written permission of the author except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews.

This book is a work of non-fiction. Unless otherwise noted, the author and the publisher make no explicit guarantees as to the accuracy of the information contained in this book and in some cases, names of people and places have been altered to protect their privacy.

WestBow Press

A Division of Thomas Nelson & Zondervan

1663 Liberty Drive

Bloomington, IN 47403

www.westbowpress.com

844-714-3454

Because of the dynamic nature of the Internet, any web addresses or links contained in this book may have changed since publication and may no longer be valid. The views expressed in this work are solely those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher, and the publisher hereby disclaims any responsibility for them.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Used by Permission HCSB ©1999,2000,2002,2003,2009 Holman Bible Publishers. Holman Christian Standard Bible®, Holman CSB®, and HCSB® are federally registered trademarks of Holman Bible Publishers.

ISBN: 978-1-6642-2532-9 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-6642-2533-6 (e)

WestBow Press rev. date: 05/19/2021

Table of Contents

Endorsements

Preface

Introduction

Important Questions to Ask

Our Church Has a Cemetery

A Decision about Honor

Why Do We Bury a Loved One?

Memorial Stones

Cremation

My Thoughts for You Experiencing the Loss of a Loved One

Endorsements

Thought Provoking…. Informative…. Compelling Pastor Al did a great job of explaining the why of burial in a manner that Christian believers and nonbelievers alike can understand and appreciate. This is a subject that I have been thinking about for years. I am married to a Canadian and live in Canada, while my nuclear family (mother and sisters), and extended family (aunts, uncles, cousins) mostly live in South Carolina. In Southern Baptist family it is a tradition that we are buried with a memorial stone. The cemeteries in my hometown are viewed as sacred grounds. Spoken about with reverence. They are seen as a way of keeping the memory of the deceased alive. I can remember constantly visiting the grave site of my grandfather whenever I had a major decision to make or life challenge. It was therapeutic and kept our spirits connected. So, I appreciated and related to the social and Biblical explanations that Pastor Al presented.

As we all seek knowledge, the question Why seems to always come up. In this book,