Meet the Team: Mary Emily Slott

This post is part of a series called "Meet the Team" introducing you to our Generation LINK staff. We hope it will help you get to know Generation LINK staff members serving around the country a little better. 

Where did you graduate from and what did you study?

I graduated from Baylor University in May of 2011 with my B.A. in Religion.

What led you to do Generation LINK?

From the time I was in middle school, I thought I wanted to work in ministry.  During my junior year at Baylor, I started doubting that calling and even decided to pursue a different career path.  After I graduated from Baylor University, I moved to Clemson and began taking classes at the university.  My first Sunday in town, I visited Crosspoint Church and I joined a small group.  God really used my small group to open me back up to ministry work.  Getting to interact with the Bible and people on a less academic level really softened me.  I thought about attending seminary but wasn't sure what degree to pursue and what I would do after seminary.  My small group leader encouraged me to look into Generation LINK.  It seemed like a good place to grow/mature, to take time to figure some things out, and to serve the local body.

Which location and what areas of ministry do you serve with through Generation LINK?

I work at Crosspoint Church is a variety of administrative roles.  I assist in Women’s Ministry, Assimilation Ministry (helping visitors become members and helping those who leave assimilate out), First Impressions (our ministry to our visitors), and I assist the Senior Pastor.

What are you most excited about in your area of ministry?

I really enjoy watching our members serve the church.  It is exciting when visitors come, realize how awesome our church is, want to be apart of it, and then contribute to it using their gifts.  We have a big church and our members are so diverse in their backgrounds, walks with the Lord, and how the Lord has gifted them.  It is so exciting to see people use their gifts for the edification of the church and glory of God!!!!!!

What 2-3 books have been most formative in your walk with Christ?

Yeah…funny enough…I can’t think of one.  Don’t worry, I can read and I do read.  But when I think about my walk with the Lord and growing in it, I think more about the people who have influenced me over the years or I think about sermons I have heard or the small groups I have been apart of.   

What are your favorite things to do in your free time?

When I'm not working or studying, I just like to spend time with friends.  I don't know that I much care what we do, just as long as we're hanging out.  During the summer, I like to go to the beach, play sports outside, and watch the Braves play.  Most nights after a long day, you can find me on my couch watching t.v. or listening to music.  

What is your typical coffee shop order?

The coffee shop order heavily depends on the coffee shop and the season.  If I were to go to a coffee shop today when its 70 degrees outside (Welcome to February in South Carolina!), then I would get an iced drink of some sort like a caramel machiatto or a mocha latte.

Meet the Team: Josh Dorrity

This post is part of a series called "Meet the Team" introducing you to our Generation LINK staff. We hope it will help you get to know Generation LINK staff members serving around the country a little better. 

Where did you graduate from and what did you study?

I graduated from Clemson University in August, 2012 with a BA degree in Sociology and a Communication Studies minor.

What led you to do Generation LINK?

I've been involved in Crosspoint Church in Clemson since the 2nd week of my freshman year at Clemson. I've grown to love the local church and served in various areas such as Children's ministry, Student ministry, and College ministry throughout my time in undergrad. Coming into college, I knew I wanted to do something in ministry for my career such as getting a job with a ministry that puts on conferences and camps for middle and high school students, but as I began to serve in the student ministry at Crosspoint, I began to realize that I didn't want to only get to pour into students for a week or less, only to say goodbye to them and possibly never see them again; I wanted to invest in students for the long term. This desire led me to realize that God was calling me to youth ministry within the church.

I knew about Generation LINK because of all the time I spent at Crosspoint. It was birthed at Crosspoint and I got to witness some of the early stages of the program. I knew it would be a great way for me to serve on a church staff, continue to invest in students, experience Biblical community, and begin my theological training in seminary.

Which location and what areas of ministry do you serve with through Generation LINK?

I serve at Crosspoint Church in Clemson, SC. I primarily serve in student ministry, especially with the middle school-aged students. I also have a hand in college ministry as I co-lead a small group of college students.

What are you most excited about in your area of ministry?

Being able to invest in students. Not only do I see them 1-2 times a week when we meet, but G-Link allows me time to pursue them outside of our youth meetings. Going to watch their football games, going to eat with them after a Sunday night meeting, inviting them over to watch a movie, playing them in racquetball, etc. These times have opened up opportunities to connect with them and be able to discuss spiritual things on a more personal level, and it's been awesome! I've actually known the current 8th graders since they were in 4th grade and have seen them grow spiritually, and it's definitely going to be difficult to leave them when God calls me somewhere else.

What 2-3 books have been most formative in your walk with Christ?

Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman

Sticky Faith by Powell and Clark

Romans by God/Paul.

What are your favorite things to do in your free time?

I love playing Ultimate Frisbee, Volleyball, and Racquetball even though I don't get to play either as much as I did in undergrad unfortunately. I love just hanging out with friends during free time if possible; if I'm by myself, I like to watch tv shows (that have at least 3 seasons) on Netflix, Hulu, etc.

What is your typical coffee shop order?

I actually don't like coffee...which can be unfortunate at times. If I do go to Starbucks with others (and actually get anything), I usually get the Strawberries & Creme frappuccino. 

By: Josh Dorrity

Here's My YES!

As Valentine’s Day approaches every year I get excited. I have an incredible wife of eight years whom I love dearly. But, there is also another reason I get excited about February 14^th. On this day in 2003 the Lord began a transforming work in me that I have a hard time even comprehending. On that day he got my “yes.”

As a young man, even as a Christian, I became discontented with the church and lost sight of the gospel. My heart grew cold and I persistently gave Jesus my “no.” I was entirely stiff-necked and unyielding. I set my mind to head in the opposite direction God was leading. I decided that I would fight against his wooing and drawing more than any man alive. I thought I was tough. I thought I was strong. But, he was always there….no matter where I went….seeking, wooing, and patiently waiting. The knowledge of his love was inescapable. But, I stumbled along for five long years. I tried to escape into drugs and other sinful pursuits which left me utterly miserable, empty, and powerless. Sin never delivers what it promises. I thought one day I would be too messed up and he would quit his pursuit of me. Luckily, he never gave up. He never quit.

Then, came Valentine’s Day and suddenly the thought of saying yes entered my mind. A close friend reminded me of the graciousness of our mighty God. And, I simply said yes. God turned my heart and I said YES! After church that Sunday I felt incredibly light and free. Jesus took all the heavy burden of the unconfessed sin I had built up over the past five years and threw it as far as the east is from the west. In an instant it was gone. I floated out of the church overwhelmed and completely enveloped in the awesome and abundant grace of God who never, ever abandons his own children to the awful, deadly power of sin. I thought my battle with sin was over….I did say yes…right?

I was naïve and had much to learn about the gospel. I had no idea the war that awaited me. Paul’s words are true in Romans 7:22, 23. “For I delight in the law of God, in my inner being, but I see in my members another law waging war against the law of my mind and making me captive to the law of sin that dwells in my members.” This is a war. No, I am serious this is a WAR. I carry the enemy with me everywhere I go because he is me. I have kept pressing on, only because of his grace and forgiveness, only because he died for me. I have won some battles and lost some. The one thing that remains constant is a relentless God who has promised my transformation through the gospel in the context of his church.   

I think about Isaiah seeing this incredible vision of the Lord on his throne, high, and lifted up (Isaiah 6). Maybe this was the first time Isaiah really began to understand the vastness of the gap between God’s majestic holiness and his own wretched sinfulness. We all say with him, “Woe is me!” Then, the Lord showed his mercy and grace to Isaiah. The seraphim touched his lips with the burning coal and said, “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for” (Isaiah 6: 7).

At this point Isaiah probably felt light as air like I did eleven years ago. The power of the gospel triumphs over every single sin and frees the most dreadful of sinners. Grace super-abounds to those God has called out of darkness into marvelous light. God in his amazing grace declares us FORGIVEN based on the atoning work of Christ Jesus on the cross. How can we not rejoice? How can we not, then, proclaim his excellence? How can we not cry out with Isaiah, “Here am I send me?” His gospel made visible through his church is absolutely worth every single “yes.” This war all believers are engaged in is entirely worth the fight because he is worth it. He gave his life so that we might be free. My “yes” was only made possible by the death of God’s precious Son.

I am very grateful for the last year of serving Open Door through Generation-LINK. I am a different man today than I was a year ago. I am more equipped and ready to give my life for him and his church than ever before. I am ready and willing to go wherever he leads. There is no better place to invest my life than in his church. GLINK has provided me with the on the job training that has given me the confidence and faith in God that he can take a guy like me and use me to build his church.

So, who has your “yes” today? Whether you are wrestling with an issue of forgiveness, repentance, church commitment, missions, church planting, a ministry project, or whatever else he desires for you will you pray this prayer with me and just let God work out the details. I trust that he will.    

Lord Jesus, here is my “yes.” It is yours I don’t want it any longer. Please help me to give it to you every single day. When I take it back from you please graciously discipline me so it will return to its rightful owner. Please take it and do with it as you wish. You are worth it and I trust you. Wherever you lead I’ll go. I can do nothing else. My answer is YES!

Only by his grace,

Paul Whitfield

  

Leading in Youth Ministry

Since the winter of 2009, I have had the blessing and privilege to work with Crosspoint’s youth. I have walked alongside some of our current senior girls since they were in middle school.  It is truly humbling and a blessing to me personally. 

Serving as a youth leader for these girls since my freshmen year of college, I have found this familiar capacity can lead me to try to serve in my own abilities independent from the Lord.  Our student ministry staff team is currently reading through Christian Counseling and Education Foundations compilation of “must read” articles on parenting.  A recent article titled “What is ‘Success’ in Parenting Teens” written by Paul David Tripp reminded me that the true “key to being used by God with our children (students) is to start with your own heart.”  Building upon this thought, the article reminds me that teenagers are more like me than they are unlike me.

Often, I get frustrated when my students are unresponsive to the Gospel. It is difficult to see them seeking wisdom from the world, being impatient, or selfish.  Then, reality hits me.  I am sinful too.  Life experience and ministry experience has not freed me from sin.  I need the gospel, because the Gospel of Christ is what draws me near to the Lord, not my own fabricated wisdom or experience.

So how does this transform the way I relate to our students and leaders?  First, it leads me to personal repentance and prayer.  I am desperately in need of my Savior, just as desperate as my students.  In order to lead and serve the students and leaders in our youth group, I must first draw near to the Lord.  Through personal times of prayer and repentance of my own sins, I am drawn near to Jesus.

Secondly, in relating to students,  I must view my sin and circumstances in the light of “the person and character of the God of the Bible.” In Job 28 God is speaking to Job on his infinite wisdom following a season of deep suffering.  This wisdom reminds Job of God’s character and power over creation and that ultimately all things are used to bring about his purposes.   I was amazed by the beautiful poetry in Job, taking me to the deepest parts of creation and then bringing me before the Lord as the true source of wisdom. 

 “God understands the way to it,

            and he knows its place.

 For he looks to the ends of the earth

            and sees everything under the heavens.

When he gave to the wind its weight

            and apportioned the waters by measure,

when he made a decree for the rain

            and a way for the lightning of the thunder,

then he saw it and declared it;

            he established it, and searched it out.

And he said to man,

            ‘Behold, the fear of the Lord, that is wisdom,

            and to turn away from evil is understanding.’”        Job 28:23-28 ESV

In all aspects of my life, I need the wisdom of God to guide me, that he might be glorified rather than myself.

Lastly, the gospel enables me to be authentic with my life.  Students desire authentic relationships.  As my life is transformed through repentance, prayer and the Word of God, I am able to confess sin before my students and leaders demonstrating the genuine aspects of my life in Christ.   This transparency helps me model how the Gospel frees me from the bondage of sin and allows me to experience the grace of God in everyday life.

To be an effective leader, experience is valuable, but living a life constantly surrendered to the Gospel of Christ is essential.

By:  Sammi Fife