What’s Your Story? Bishop Urges Kids to Find Theirs

At Bishop’s Rally, kids explore faith stories, then elicit fun facts in Bishop McKee’s Q&A

The story is best known as “The Prodigal Son.” North Texas Conference Bishop Michael McKee prefers to call it “The Story of the Loving Father.”

With that, the bishop shared the essence of the story of Jesus, then challenged more than 550 confirmation-age students attending the Bishop’s Rally at Lovers Lane UMC to find their own story to encourage others to become disciples of Christ.

The February 19, 2017, event brought together youth from as far as Pottsboro to the north, Mount Pleasant to the east, Bowie to the west and DeSoto to the south to explore the theme of “Story.”

Most Christians are familiar with “The Prodigal Son,” taken from Luke 15:11-32. But Bishop McKee had the youth listening intensely on the edge of their seats.

As the story goes, the youngest son of a wealthy man wanted his inheritance before it was time. So the father gave it to him. He left home, squandered the money, became homeless, then was afraid to return home, fearful his father wouldn’t take him back. But he decided to go home and apologize to his father. When the man saw his son walking in the distance, he ran toward the young man with open arms.

“That’s how God is,” Bishop McKee said.

And all of us have similar stories, the bishop said. There are moments in our lives when we move away from God. But the story of the gospel is this: God waits for us; He constantly fights for us to be in relationship with Him.

Don’t be hesitant about sharing this story, the bishop urged the crowd. “I believe a Christian should be able to tell the substance of the Gospel while standing on one foot. That means telling clearly and concisely about what Jesus means to you.”

God has a dream for each one of their lives — that they become a follower of Jesus, he said. But to become a follower or disciple of Jesus, “you are going to need to know the story. Then you can have your own story of Jesus.”

“My hope for you today is the story of Jesus somehow becomes your story,” the bishop told the youth.

Fun Facts About the Bishop

During a question-and-answer session, Bishop Michael McKee gave some insights into himself.

What does a bishop actually do?

“I help determine strategy for the North Texas Conference, work on the effectiveness of clergy in the conference and visit churches in the conference, among other things.”

What would you be if you weren’t a pastor or a bishop?

“I don’t know. It’s the only thing I ever wanted to do since college.” He joked that at age 4 or 5, he told his dad he wanted to be a preacher, but changed his mind a year later because he thought all preachers were bald.

What’s your favorite color?

Burnt orange because he is a University of Texas graduate and Longhorns fan.

Romo or Dak?

While he has great respect for Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo, Bishop McKee agrees with most fans that the baton has been passed to rookie Dak Prescott.

Published: Tuesday, February 21, 2017