#37 – Lessons From a Potter   

Guest: Pastor John Nunnally 

Act Like Men – Men’s Leadership Podcast

Sponsored by Men’s Ministry Catalyst

Podcast Show Notes 

Welcome to Act Like Men – Men’s Leadership Podcast Notes.  You are the reason we exist.  Both Dale and I trust there is an inspirational truth today that will impact your life.   

John Nunnally has been the pastor of Legacy Christian Fellowship for the past eleven years.  Just over a year ago, he took up a new hobby that would allow him to get away from his “day job” for a while and provide some rest by focusing on something so creative and demanding of your complete attention as pottery.  

For simplicity:  we will list some of the steps you go through in the process and lay out some lessons learned.  This is a podcast to which you have to listen to get the full impact of the tremendous truths that Pastor John lays out in this journey.   

Key Verses

Isaiah 64:8 – you are the potter; we are the clay…we are all formed by Your hand. 

Jerimiah 18:2 – I went to the potter's house…and the pot he was shaping was marred in His hands, so the potter formed it into another pot, shaping it as seemed best to him.  

Philippians 3:13 – one thing I do, forgetting what is behind, and straining towards what is ahead…

Steps to Make Pottery

1. Wedging table – taking a hard block of mud and getting this block into a usable piece of clay.  Take out the memory by applying pressure so that it become moldable, and without hanging on the past shape. Am I willing to be pressed into a different form, not hanging onto the past?  
2. Thrown onto the Wheel – after your shape has changed, you are put into a ball and then thrown with force on the wheel so you can be shaped into the potter’s intended purpose.   When life throws you, you are not a failure nor a victim – let this be used by God to refine you into His intended purpose for you. The clay gets dry fast, so the potter uses a lot of water to keep the clay moldable and fresh. How do I view the tough experiences in my life?  Am I willing to stay yielded to the potter and trust Him with the outcome?  Do I let the water of refreshment from the Holy Spirit keep me in place so the potter can still mold me? 
3. Centering – If the clay is not centered and balanced, it cannot be shaped or formed as it is intended.  Am I centered or out of balance?  
4. Time on the shelf – after the shaping, there is time to cure, get leather hard, to be ready for the next step.   How do I view time on the shelf?  Do I get impatient, and frustrated, and expect that I can be cured on the run?  
5. Fired – the first round shrinks the porousness so it can hold water.   Are we willing to be in the fire so we can be used by God?  Before this first “firing”, we are still so porous we cannot even begin to be used by God.  
6. Fired again – This is the glazing that changes our form from raw clay to porcelain and something usable.   How patient are we to get to this phase?  It is here when people around us can see the work of God in our lives. Then we can start to be used by Him. 

Questions to ask yourself: 

1. Where are you in your “pottery journey”?  How are you adapting to the “the clay has no say in the outcome” journey?  
2. Who do you need around you to ensure you are fully committed to this long-term, character transformation journey that is designed for you?

Just a reminder these podcasts are leased on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays of each month.