Having fun loving God, making disciples

Rob's Winter Letter

2010-04-13T18:29:00.000-07:00

I wanted to take a moment to update you on what good things God is doing here in the Medford and Ashland area. The most exciting thing for Pam and me is that our son, James (15), got baptized in February. He is so excited to be a disciple and we are happy that both he and his older brother, David, are doing well spiritually.

The church started the year with 26 members and we have had 6 baptisms so far and 2 more in the next few weeks. Our goal is to have 20 baptisms this year and to grow to 50 disciples as soon as we can. Over the next 10 years we have a plan to plant 5 more churches in the Northwest.

We celebrated our church’s fifth anniversary on February 21st. Our church of 27 members had an attendance of 124 people for that special Sunday and we had two people baptized after the worship. We have been planning this for a while and we had spent a lot of time cleaning and preparing the building and buying 50 more chairs. We now have 100 chairs and it was awesome to look back and see so many people standing up in the back to listen to the Word! I really felt like I was witnessing a miracle-just a few years ago we were meeting in our living room with a handful of disciples.

That same weekend we had all of the Northwest Leaders come down and visit for our annual winter retreat. We hosted about 30 people from all over the Northwest and had a great time discussing our plans for the future. It worked out perfectly because Jay Kelly from Seattle preached on Sunday and Darin Ford led singing. Alex and Danielle Whittaker did a great job for communion.

We are also planning on hiring our campus intern, Chris Schwartzenberger, full time. Chris has done a fantastic job with the campus and teen ministry. Our goal is to raise $30,000 for his salary by the end of May. We have already raised over $17,000 and we are working hard to raise the final $13,000. Since you have been a supporter of our church from its inception I would like to ask if you would consider donating any amount toward the work here in the Rogue Valley. All of the money will go specifically toward the support of our campus minister. Pam and I donate our time and don’t receive any support from the church. If you would like to donate, please make checks out to The Rogue Valley Church, 2082 East Main St. Ashland, OR, 97520. Thanks for your continuing support!

Much Love,

Rob and Pam Skinner

Sound Doctrine

2010-01-12T08:27:00.000-08:00

It has been a tremendous start to the New Year here in the Rogue Valley. We started our campus term with two Bible Talks (a first for us), a NEW Teen Bible Talk (another first), a Kid's Kingdom program (you guessed it...another first) and we are eagerly planning for the 2010 Northwest Leadership Retreat that we will be hosting for ...the first time!

As we set out in this new year I have been impacted by the first century Churche and their emphasis on sound doctrine. The books of 2 Peter, 1-3 John and Jude deal specifically with the challenges of false doctrin and false teachers. It is encouraging to know our brothers and sisters of the first church faced many of the same challenges to combat worldly teachings. Yet it challenges me to not be tempted to soften the Gospel, play favorites for certain people or to round the edges off the Word of God!

Paul's letter to Titus also deals with the need to "teach what is in accord with sound doctrine" (Titus2:1). The chapter goes on to encourage Titus to teach men and woman to be godly and not tempted to change their roles into that of the world.

We are always hearing two sermons a week. One is about 30 minutes long (I try!) on Sunday mornings. The other is one that is repeated 7 days a week, 52 weeks a year! It is a sermon of "Unsound Doctrine." Little teachings that tell older men it is okay to be a little "un self controlled" (2:2) and tells women they do not need to be submitted in love to their husbands and children (2:4) but hard workers who gain worldly prosperity. The world's sermon tells us to just slide by at work and that our employer owes us a good salary, benefits and a 401K instead of teaching us to let our work preach God's glory (2:10).

I hope this week you too can take up the fight for sound doctrine. Not tempted by weakened and flashy religous jargon, nor captivated by the world's preaching. As Paul tells Titus: "It teaches us to say "No" to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright and godly lives in this present age..." Titus 2:12

Rob's Fall Letter

2009-10-12T15:41:00.001-07:00

Dear Friend,

I hope you are doing well as we head into fall. I wanted to give you an update on what is happening here in the church in Southern Oregon. We have had 11 people baptized so far in the church, have 21 members and are averaging over 40 people on Sunday mornings. We are praying to grow to 30 members by the end of the year. The campus, singles and marrieds are all fired up working together to make this our best year ever.

Jermaine Peacock, the leader of the Spokane Christian Church, came down in June and spoke to a standing-room-only crowd of 51 people. Of the 5 people we baptized during the summer, 4 came for the first time to that service!

I just finished organizing The Ashland Rotary Run for my Rotary Club (AshlandRotaryRun.Com). Mack Strong, the former Seattle Seahawks Fullback and disciple, came down and helped us raise over $35,000 toward the eradication of Polio worldwide. It was a great opportunity for the church and the community to cooperate toward a worthwhile goal. We had over 170 runners and the course went through the center of Ashland.

Lynn Greene visited in September and did a great job with our women’s night. With 12 women disciples, there were 16 visitors. Pam is doing a great job leading the women.

Pam and I went to the Denver International Leadership Conference. We were impacted by the lessons and were so encouraged to see many old friends doing great things for God. We will be hosting the Northwest Leadership Conference this coming February.

Please pray for the church here to continue to grow here and for our growth in spirituality and numbers. Let us know if and when you are planning to drop by and visit us.

Much Love,

Rob and Pam Skinner

Megan Henderson is Baptized

2009-08-22T13:00:00.000-07:00

Two of our campus women, Dani and Kayla, met Megan through working at Southern Oregon University's summer conference job. They ended up rooming with her for the summer and we knew that God had set up this summer for Megan to truly seek him with her whole heart. They continually invited her to Bible Discussions and Church and she finally came out for our summer kick-off service where guest speaker Jermaine Peacock from the Spokane Christian Church spoke powerfully on having a Blockbuster Summer. She was impacted and even expressed that she had already been thinking about getting baptized.

The girls started studying the Bible with her and knew she had a seeker's heart. Some of the things that were so impressive about Megan was her openness with the sisters and eagerness to obey God's Word. She would always take the scriptures to heart, no matter how challenging they were.

After an especially impacting sermon, Megan decided she did not want to wait any longer to be united with Christ and asked to study the Bible nearly every day that week. The following Sunday Megan was baptized into Christ and raised to a new life. We know that God is going to use her powerfully in the Kingdom and we are so excited to have her in our campus ministry.

-Amy Schwartzenberger

David Skinner Baptized into Christ

2009-08-22T11:12:00.001-07:00

I have been living and serving in the Rogue Valley Church for two years. Since I moved here, I was invested in helping the youth in the church. My first focus was to help the oldest - David Skinner. David and I from day one were able to have fun. We shared many interests in sports, video games and chillin'.

I remember when I started to invest spiritually in David. He has always wanted to "study the Bible." So I began to do some studies with him on a regular basis. His interest level was minimal and the fruit of his response was nothing less than lack luster. His interests were in high school, sports and "stuff."

I remember having dinner with David one night and in some frustration with his lack of desire created an illustration for him. I placed the salt shaker on one side of the table, the pepper on the other. Then I asked him to place a sugar packet near the one he felt his life was closest to. The salt was godliness and the pepper was worldliness. I told him to be truthful, and that I too would be truthful with him. He place the sugar on the pepper side. I thought I was going to have to rebuke him for putting near the salt - which we both knew was untrue - but I was impressed by his maturity and honesty. It was then I knew that he just needed time. And I needed patience.

A year went by and he again asked to seriously study the Bible. I obliged and we began with a seeking God study. From this first study I knew something was different. His heart had changed. In visits to his families home he acted different. He treated his siblings different. I had been a regular in the Skinner house every week for the past two years and I saw clear change. We progressed through the studies.

Teen camp came and David was excited - he came out of that week focused and determined to be right with God. When we got back I wanted to test his zeal to see if true faith and love for Christ was at the root. When I asked him why he would want to get baptized I was surprised with his responses frustration, almost anger. "Because Jesus died on the cross out of love for me and there is no other response that I could have!" Oops, I think I hit that point already. He had the right motivation. The rest of our studies were all about being a disciple.

In the discipleship studies I was amazed by David's maturity. He faced his father to be open about sins and to apologize for things he had said, done and was doing. He also would regularly share his faith with his mom during our evangelistic campaign week. He was a disciple. And Jesus command was to baptize him in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

On August 2, 2009 I along with Kyle Allison, David's father Rob and mom Pam baptized him into Jesus at Lake of the Woods, Oregon. It was a tremendous day filled with joy and tears as his parents long awaited dreams came true. There is something incredibly special about seeing a family reunited in Christ! It was a day I won't soon forget and a day that reminded me of a young teen boy in love with sports and fun who found a love for "Having fun loving God, making disciples."

Rob's Spring Letter

2009-04-10T14:04:00.000-07:00

Dear Friends,

I hope you are doing well this spring. Pam and I just took a trip to the Grand Canyon with the kids, David (16), James (14) and Anne (12). We borrowed a friend’s RV and covered 2,750 miles through Arizona to the Grand Canyon and Spring Baseball Training and an amusement park in Las Vegas.

The really exciting news has been happening in the church. As you may know, we ended 2008 with 6 baptisms in our church. In only the first 3 months of this year God has blessed us with 5 people baptized! Not only that, but we now have 20 members in the church and are praying to grow to 30 by the end of this year. 2 of the people baptized were men studying at Southern Oregon University. We also baptized a young couple who are planning on getting married in May. Our fifth baptism was a young single woman named Casey.

We are planning a special contribution Sunday on May 17^th. We are hoping to raise $17,000 for another year’s part time salary for our powerful campus minister, Chris Schwartzenberger. We would like to invite you to come and visit us on that weekend. We appreciate your support over the years and would like to celebrate our four years as a church together.

Much Love,

Rob and Pam Skinner

Ashland on the map!

2009-03-23T14:20:00.000-07:00

We have had a tremendous winter here in the Rogue Valley. We saw two brothers recently baptized from the campus ministry bringing our total in the church to five baptisms in 2009. We also had a great time celebrating the 4th Anniversary of the Rogue Valley Church. Rob shared a bit about the history of planting a church here and we celebrated with memories, laughs and (as with all our gatherings) food - a birthday cake to be exact. There for the celebration was a group of young men from Philadelphia - known to all of us as the "Immanuel boys." They are on a nationwide tour of the United States churches and campuses sharing the gospel, encouraging the saints and enjoying every minute of it.

What was most encouraging about their visit was just that...they visited us. We are on the map. It is so encouraging to have relationships around the world and the country with disciples who want to make it a point to stop in and see what God is doing int he beautiful Rogue Valley.

They were not he last of our visitors. Tyler Bedell, Matthew Eggelston and Natalie Mitchell from the Boise Church stopped by this past weekend on their way to visit family on spring break. As they just cleared out of our spare bedroom (that's right we have a spare room!) I am changing the sheets for our next visitors. Marcus and Naomi Wallace from Tacoma and their campus ministry are coming to visit, encourage and teach the church this week on their spring break. Marcus and I are best friends from the Spokane days and have always dreamed of preaching at each others churches. That truly will be a reality this week!

Amy and I, along with the entire church are so grateful for all the support and visits that we have had in our time here. I would like to open up an invitation for many more disciples to come and vacation here. It is a beautiful place with a lot of cultural and outdoor activities. Notably the Oregon Shakespeare Festival, which this year features Macbeth and has Anne Skinner (Rob's daughter) starring in it!

We are also having a special service on May 17 that we are encouraging all supporters of the church to come to. Please make plans to come and visit us soon!

Welcome to the Rogue Valley Church

2009-02-05T11:02:00.000-08:00

If you were on a long road trip from Seattle to Boston. In the dead of summer while driving a RV. Your life is on the move. You are trying to get from point A to point B. Everyone is with you, family, friends the whole nine yards. This journey you are on is not vacation, it's life. It is long and has many stops along the way. You are on the ultimate road trip...Life. Would you not want to have a few laughs, some encouraging conversation, and uplifting memories to accompany you along your journey? Surely you would.

That is why our motto is "Having fun loving God, making disciples." Although you will not find that in the scriptures, it is a fantastic way to live life as a Christian. We are a blessed people who share the excitement and joy of being followers of Jesus. Why not have fun?

We love God be being obedient to the greatest command. Mark 12:30 - "The most important one," answered Jesus, "is this: 'Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength." We are committed to this. To being disciples of Jesus and following him in every way we can, making the Bible our standard not our option.

We therefore try to obey the second greatest command "The second is this: 'Love your neighbor as yourself. 'There is no commandment greater than these." We are convinced by the message of the gospels, therefore we serve the poor and needy, we share the Bible with as many as possible and seek to make more disciples of Jesus.

What a life. Rob Skinner often jokes that "God vacations in the Rogue Valley." We love it here. Our fellowship is lively (and loud), our worship is heartfelt and our mission is simple - have fun loving God and make some disciples. I would say that this is a great group of 'road tripping buddies.'