Becoming a Disciple

Evangelist Steve Vail, Director of Evangelism, Discipleship, and Personal Ministries for the Carolina Conference, led a seminar this morning titled “Discipleship: No Turning Back.”

His presentation took place at Gaines Auditorium and began with the moving story of William Whiting Borden.

Borden was heir to the great Borden Dairy Company fortune and graduated from Yale University in 1904 as a millionaire.

After traveling around the world, he saw the suffering and spiritual needs of people and completely surrendered his life to God. In his Bible, he wrote the words, “No Reserves.”

Instead of pursuing wealth and business, he entered Princeton Theological Seminary to prepare for missionary service. At Yale, he had already been leading Bible study and prayer groups that eventually grew to more than 1,000 students. When friends tried to persuade him to abandon the mission field, he wrote in his Bible, “No Retreats.”

On his way to serve among Muslims in China, he stopped in Egypt to study Arabic, but became sick with spinal meningitis and died at age 25. Before his death, he wrote the final words in his Bible: “No Regrets.”

Steve emphasized that we too can reach the end of our lives with no regrets, as William did, by remaining faithful to God’s calling in our lives.

Each one of us has daily opportunities to share God’s message with people He places in our path. When those moments come, we are called to trust that the Holy Spirit will help us.

Steve also explored the experience of the apostle Peter, who was focused on his own needs and on catching fish, but ended up disappointed after catching nothing.

In that moment, Jesus showed Peter that he was not in control. The miracle of the catch was not ultimately about fish, but about surrendering our needs to Jesus and accepting His call to reach lost people.

Steve explained that when we do this, we experience the privilege of working alongside the Creator of the universe, and there is nothing more meaningful than that.

Steve also shared the story of the passing of his son Daniel, who died at only 18 years old. Before his death, Daniel became a born-again believer, not merely a religious person, because he fully surrendered his life to Jesus.

Steve concluded by appealing to all of us to allow Jesus to work through us as we witness to others about what He has done in our lives.

­—Mauricio Schiavenin