On January 31, Rev. Jack K. Chow, a journalist-turned pastor and author, died of coronavirus infection at the age of 90.
About half a month ago (January 16), Pastor Chow and his wife Nancy who is still in the hospital bed were diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia in Dallas, USA.
Many pastors from mainland China mourned for his death. Pastor C from East China shared the news of Chow's death on his WeChat Moments, "Pastor Chow, the father of Christian inner life of Chinese and my spiritual father, returned to heaven this morning. May the Lord commemorate the service of His old servant." He also recalled how his devotions and his book Inner Life contributed to his spirituality and service.
Another pastor who had participated in the 2013 Hong Kong Inner Life Training Camp shared on his official WeChat account "Looking back on my interaction with Pastor Chow,' His life is very memorable, as he is a person in Christ.' "And he quoted an article Looking Up to Jesus compiled by Pastor Chow and said, "Looking up to Jesus are only four words, but the secret of life is hidden in it... We can live like Jesus when we look away to him every hour and every day."
"He is a good model of a loving family, as he took his wife wherever he went to preach and also he said he should be very kind to his wife every day in a sermon in Hong Kong during 2013-2014 at the age of 83." recalled by Jacob. The latter had attended three live sermons given by Pastor Chow.
Born in Nanjing, Chow's ancestral home is in Dongguang County, China's northern Hebei Province. Having studied in the United States and specialized in Radio and Television Journalism at an early age, he held important Chinese and foreign media positions in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Washington. He authored many books on the Holy Spirit, charity and inner life, including Waiting on God, The Anointing Teaches Us in All Things, and The Inward Christian Life.
He taught Waiting for God and Inner Life in Agape International Leadership Institute, with many of his series of sermons widely circulated in Chinese churches.
Establishing the JMI (Jesus Ministries International) team in 2006, Rev. Chow held inner life courses in North America, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Mainland China.
Chow once explained in his article: "In short, building inner life is to let Christ live in us, so we can live like him. Having an intimate relationship with God, we can communicate and unite with Him spiritually. It is just like the connection between a vine and its branches. If the branches are connected to the tree and absorb the juice of the tree, they will naturally bear more fruit. "
He said that it was necessary to spend time with God every day, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and have a close relationship with the Lord to build the inner life. He witnessed that since he learnt to be quiet before Jesus every day starting from 1985, he did his ministry better.
Invited by Rev Ernest Chen Zhonghui, the Agape Renewal Center president, he wrote an article titled Talking about Charismatic Movement: Review and Prospect. He said that he had encountered two large churches that loved the Lord very much but both split at last. One had only spiritual knowledge but lacked inner life. With obvious gifts and miracles, the other focused on spiritual grace but also lacked mature inner life.
He thought that the loss of balance caused the failures of these two churches. He exhorted Evangelical Christians to focus on the fullness of the Holy Spirit, intimacy with God and inner life, in addition to pursuing the Biblical truth and carrying out ministry. "Gifts will pass away, only life in Christ lasts forever." He encouraged the Charismatic brothers and sisters who love the Lord.
He listed three expectations for the Charismatic Churches: pursuing the indwelling Holy Spirit and Christ, not just the gifts of the Holy Spirit; focusing on the Bible, not only the Holy Spirit and life, not just the advantages and highlighting the Lord, who uses the utensils and works with us instead of the knives and work.
"Whether you are in Charismatic, Evangelical, or Fundamental churches, you need the thought that like of John the Baptist: 'He must become greater; I must become less.'" he said.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
1月31日，已有90岁高龄的周金海牧师因感染新冠离世。
大约半个月前（1月16日），周金海牧师和师母在美国达拉斯确诊感染新冠。目前，师母仍在病床上。
有多位中国内地牧者悼念。一位华东的C牧师在他的朋友圈分享了周牧师辞世的消息：“华人‘内在生活’之父，我的属灵长辈周爸爸，今晨荣归天家”，并回忆他的灵命成长和服事之路中，周牧师的灵修和《内在生活》对他的帮助，“求主纪念他老仆人的服事。”
另外一位曾参加过2013年香港内在生活研习营的牧者在其公众号分享说：“回想和周牧师交往的点点滴滴，最想说：他是一个在基督里的人，他活得非常令人怀念。”并引用周金海牧师编译过的一篇文章《仰望耶稣》表示纪念“仰望耶稣虽不过四个字，但整个人生秘诀都藏在其中......天天仰望耶稣，时时仰望耶稣，单单仰望耶稣，至终必像耶稣。”
一位现场听过他周金海牧师三次讲道的雅各老师回忆说，2013-2014年期间他曾在香港参加过一次周金海牧师的分享，“周牧师那个时候应该有83岁了。他每次到各地的分享都带着他的师母，他说每天都要对师母特别的好。对我来说，他是一个非常好的爱家人的模范。”
周金海牧师原籍河北东光，生于南京，早期留学美国，专攻广播电视新闻，曾在台湾、香港、华府等地中外媒体担任要职，于1985年奉献全职服事，在美牧会30余年，他著有多本谈到圣灵、灵恩和内在生活的书籍，包括《安静等候神》、《认识圣灵》、《跟随圣灵》、《恩膏的教训》、《基督徒内在生活》等.
他曾在美国爱修园灵修院教导多年《安静等候神》、《内在生活》等信息，同时他的许多系列讲道也在华人教会流传广泛。
周牧师在2006年成立JMI团队，在北美，台湾，香港，新加坡，马来西亚和中国内地等地举办内在生活研习会。
周牧师曾在他的文章中解释说：“简言之，所谓培养内在生活，就是让基督活在我们里面，并从我们身上活出来。内在生活可说是，人与神之间有一亲密的关系，并在灵里逐渐联合，这是一种内在生命的结合与交流.如同葡萄树与枝子的相连结，枝子如果连结在树上，吸取树里的浆汁，自然就会多结果子。”
他见证自己在1985年开始学习每天学习安静在耶稣面前，并看到服事的果效。基督徒若要培养内在生活，周牧师认为每天要有亲近神的时间，常被圣灵充满、与主爱的关系等都是不可少的。
周金海牧师曾受陈仲辉牧师邀请写过一篇《谈灵恩运动：回顾与展望》的文章。他提到自己经过两个很大又非常爱主大教会，但一个只有属灵的知识而缺少属灵生命的实际，导致一再分裂；还有一个是很注重灵恩，也有明显的恩赐和神迹奇事，却缺少成熟的生命，也一再分裂。
他认为这两个教会失败的原因都是因为失去了平衡，他劝勉福音派爱主的弟兄姐妹“不要只注重追求圣经的知识和工作的开展，也要注重圣经所说的圣灵充满、与主的亲密关系及内在生活”，劝勉勉灵恩派爱主的弟兄姐妹“恩赐是会过去的，唯有生命是永远长存的”。
他列出三点作为对灵恩教会的期许：
不要只注重外显的圣灵，更要注重内住的圣灵，就是内住的基督。
不要只强调圣灵，更要强调圣经；不要只注重恩赐，更要注重生命。
不要高举器皿，乃要高举使用器皿的主；不要高举工作，乃要高举做工的神。
“无论是灵恩派，福音派，或基要派，我们都需要有施洗约翰那样的灵：‘祂必兴旺，我必衰微。’”他说。
https://www.christiantimes.cn/news/34171/%E4%B9%9D%E6%97%AC%E9%AB%98%E9%BE%84%E5%91%A8%E9%87%91%E6%B5%B7%E7%89%A7%E5%B8%88%E5%9B%A0%E6%96%B0%E5%86%A0%E7%A6%BB%E4%B8%96-%E5%A4%9A%E5%B9%B4%E5%88%86%E4%BA%AB%E2%80%9C%E5%86%85%E5%9C%A8%E7%94%9F%E6%B4%BB%E2%80%9D%E7%AD%89%E4%BF%A1%E6%81%AF
九旬高龄周金海牧师因感染新冠离世 多年分享“内在生活”等信息
On January 31, Rev. Jack K. Chow, a journalist-turned pastor and author, died of coronavirus infection at the age of 90.
About half a month ago (January 16), Pastor Chow and his wife Nancy who is still in the hospital bed were diagnosed with COVID-19 pneumonia in Dallas, USA.
Many pastors from mainland China mourned for his death. Pastor C from East China shared the news of Chow's death on his WeChat Moments, "Pastor Chow, the father of Christian inner life of Chinese and my spiritual father, returned to heaven this morning. May the Lord commemorate the service of His old servant." He also recalled how his devotions and his book Inner Life contributed to his spirituality and service.
Another pastor who had participated in the 2013 Hong Kong Inner Life Training Camp shared on his official WeChat account "Looking back on my interaction with Pastor Chow,' His life is very memorable, as he is a person in Christ.' "And he quoted an article Looking Up to Jesus compiled by Pastor Chow and said, "Looking up to Jesus are only four words, but the secret of life is hidden in it... We can live like Jesus when we look away to him every hour and every day."
"He is a good model of a loving family, as he took his wife wherever he went to preach and also he said he should be very kind to his wife every day in a sermon in Hong Kong during 2013-2014 at the age of 83." recalled by Jacob. The latter had attended three live sermons given by Pastor Chow.
Born in Nanjing, Chow's ancestral home is in Dongguang County, China's northern Hebei Province. Having studied in the United States and specialized in Radio and Television Journalism at an early age, he held important Chinese and foreign media positions in Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Washington. He authored many books on the Holy Spirit, charity and inner life, including Waiting on God, The Anointing Teaches Us in All Things, and The Inward Christian Life.
He taught Waiting for God and Inner Life in Agape International Leadership Institute, with many of his series of sermons widely circulated in Chinese churches.
Establishing the JMI (Jesus Ministries International) team in 2006, Rev. Chow held inner life courses in North America, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia and Mainland China.
Chow once explained in his article: "In short, building inner life is to let Christ live in us, so we can live like him. Having an intimate relationship with God, we can communicate and unite with Him spiritually. It is just like the connection between a vine and its branches. If the branches are connected to the tree and absorb the juice of the tree, they will naturally bear more fruit. "
He said that it was necessary to spend time with God every day, be filled with the Holy Spirit, and have a close relationship with the Lord to build the inner life. He witnessed that since he learnt to be quiet before Jesus every day starting from 1985, he did his ministry better.
Invited by Rev Ernest Chen Zhonghui, the Agape Renewal Center president, he wrote an article titled Talking about Charismatic Movement: Review and Prospect. He said that he had encountered two large churches that loved the Lord very much but both split at last. One had only spiritual knowledge but lacked inner life. With obvious gifts and miracles, the other focused on spiritual grace but also lacked mature inner life.
He thought that the loss of balance caused the failures of these two churches. He exhorted Evangelical Christians to focus on the fullness of the Holy Spirit, intimacy with God and inner life, in addition to pursuing the Biblical truth and carrying out ministry. "Gifts will pass away, only life in Christ lasts forever." He encouraged the Charismatic brothers and sisters who love the Lord.
He listed three expectations for the Charismatic Churches: pursuing the indwelling Holy Spirit and Christ, not just the gifts of the Holy Spirit; focusing on the Bible, not only the Holy Spirit and life, not just the advantages and highlighting the Lord, who uses the utensils and works with us instead of the knives and work.
"Whether you are in Charismatic, Evangelical, or Fundamental churches, you need the thought that like of John the Baptist: 'He must become greater; I must become less.'" he said.
- Translated by Abigail Wu
Rev. Jack K. Chow, Chinese Father of "Inner Life", Dies Due to COVID-19
