Rev. Jerome McNeil (Credit: CBSDFW.com)
Talk about going out in style!
One day our moment will come. One moment we’ll be here, one moment we’ll be gone. Boom!
And we never know when it will be come. So we must be ready.
Reverend Jerome McNeil was ready.
This wasn’t unusual. He lived an exemplary life. He was a role model. He was consistent, for 21 years Pastor of Temple of Faith in Dallas, Texas.
He was loved and he congregation loved him. No dirty linen here. Just a hero, living his life, setting an example, serving others and his God.
Then suddenly his moment came. The article on the CBS local Dallas Fort Worth website, describes what happened…
“He walked down the aisle, like he always does,” church member Cherry Bullard said.
But that walk would be the final steps of Rev. McNeil’s life. The veteran pastor collapsed and died in front of crowded sanctuary of churchgoers.
“All of a sudden I heard a thud and I didn’t know what it was. I looked around, and he was gone,” Bullard said from her church office desk on Tuesday. “It hurts to even think about it, but he’s in a better place.”
There are things you can control, and those you can’t.
You can control your life. You can control your behavior and how you treat others. You can’t control how long you’ll be here, but you can be ready.
You also can’t control how you are perceived by others, but you can control how you treat others. How did they feel after Reverend McNeil was gone? They loved and respected him. He had earned their respect.
“He was just a great man,” assistant pastor Linda Curry said.
Thanks to Reverend McNeil for his example for all of us.
How great that his consistency and witness was really honored by the way he passed away…in full swing, energetically preaching the gospel, serving and ministering to others right up until his last breath. You have to know that his Master was extremely pleased with him.
Now Reverend McNeil is enjoying even greater satisfaction than the servant referred to in the parable in Matthew regarding the rewards due the faithful servant.
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’ – Matthew 25:21 (NIV)
