Church Planters in the Twin Cities, Prayers for Japan & When Churches Do Not Disciple Well

The coronavirus pandemic marked 2020 as a watershed year for everyone around the globe. For the Twin Cities, though, George Floyd’s death on May 25 while in police custody unleashed a wave of turbulence in the city and became ground zero for escalated tensions in the U.S. and the world.

Sam Choi, planting All Peoples Church, lives and pastors just a few blocks from where Floyd lost his life.

Choi and his family first came to the city for seminary with a sense that planting a new church was in his future. So, Choi, a church planting missionary with the North American Mission Board (NAMB), had been invested in and living in the community for several years.

He didn’t expect that Minneapolis, though, would be the destination of his plant, and he could not have imagined that tragedy would strike the city not long after they started church planting.

Following Floyd’s death, the church had an opportunity to serve its community by providing food and helping with cleanup after nights of unrest. Many residents decided to leave the city for the suburbs, but Choi and his family felt called to stay.

He organized and launched his church in 2018 to be a church that intentionally reached across the various cultural lines that have a tendency to divide churches in the U.S.
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The IMB is asking people to pray for Japan. Specifically, they’re asking for people to pray that God would send short-term mission teams to Japan. After being closed to mission teams because of the pandemic, their borders are open again to receive short-term teams.

Would you pray? Learn more at IMB.org.
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Good News for Today is made possible through our friends at The Voice of the Martyrs, a nonprofit organization that serves persecuted Christians around the world. Founded in 1967 by Richard and Sabina Wurmbrand, VOM is dedicated to inspiring believers to deepen their commitment to Christ and to fulfill His Great Commission — no matter the cost. Find out more and sign up for their free monthly magazine at vom.org/goodnews.
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In a piece in the Baptist Press Toolbox, Chuck Lawless offers 12 results when a church doesn’t disciple well.

1. Biblical illiteracy. Listening to sermons and attending small groups are great for learning the Word, but many believers who attend both still know very little of the Word. Strong discipleship deepens the knowledge gained and helps believers apply biblical truths.

2. Faith struggles. That’s what happens when people don’t really know the Word. That lack of knowledge makes it difficult to trust God when believers face their own obstacles and impossibilities.

3. Inward focus. Churches typically default into an inward focus; that is, their attention is more on themselves than others. Only an intentional discipleship strategy to direct believers to the Word and the Great Commission can change that focus.

4. Lost church members. People must know the gospel to respond to the gospel and to proclaim the gospel to others. Apart from being taught and equipped, how can they know the gospel enough to evaluate their own lives and then evangelize others?

5. Unqualified leaders. Churches often select leaders based on their faithfulness and willingness. Both of these characteristics matter, but poor discipleship sometimes leads to faithful, willing, yet unqualified people in leadership positions.

You can find the other seven at Baptist Press. Lawless offer tips on how to disciple well in his new book Disciple.

Read the full piece and sign up for our daily emails at Baptist Press.com.