Passage – Dan’s Ceremony Intro

August 17, 2010

Passage – Dan’s Ceremony Intro

“Even if you're on the right track, you'll
get run over if you just sit there.”
- Will Rogers

I have come to understand that in the study of my children there needs to be daily lessons in spiritual genealogy, it goes like this. My Heavenly Father identifies me as His son, which speaks loudly of relationship, purpose and direction. First, I must understand who God says I am and father out of that sacred place.

Second, I must help my kids discover and know deep inside how the Father God sees them. Most of this is discovered in the every day steps of life, where the life of Christ is fleshed out in the “ordinary” things. Where failures and mistakes become learning modules and victories in Him accelerate our relational growth. In this “school” my fathering is immensely more effective and all the extra-credit work brings glory to the Father.

This is where the Passage ceremony comes in. It comes at the end of the discipleship work we have done together (the year before) and is a celebration of accomplishment and expectation.The power of ceremony gives room for a community of believers to support and affirm one another. I believe that this “rite of passage” will help my children identify their place in God’s Kingdom and continue the vision of this Scripture.

“He will turn the hearts of the fathers toward their children, and the hearts of the children towards their fathers….” Malachi 4:6

Here is a short video of the beginning of Dan’s ceremony. It’s my greeting and introduction (yes, I move my hands a lot) to the men who gathered that night. We had some video issues and had to use backup cameras. So the quality is not that great but I think you’ll start to feel part of what we felt that night. I plan on posting some of the men’s impartations in the days ahead, so stay tuned. Oh, if I haven’t mentioned this before, this is my fifth ceremony for the Cookingham clan (and I’ve been involved in two others)…it always gets me pumped!