The Potter's House Podcast

Episode: Walk It Out Wednesday – Get Out of Your Way | Pastoral Panel

Date: October 30, 2025

Episode Overview

This episode of Walk It Out Wednesday builds on Sunday’s sermon theme: “Get Out of Your Way.” The pastoral panel—including Pastor Cora, Pastor Dobbins, Dr. Crumpton, and the Host—breaks down what it means to “walk out” God’s word by identifying how we often become obstacles in our own spiritual journey. The discussion centers around Jesus’ struggle in the Garden of Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36-46), drawing parallels between Jesus’ process and our own, and emphasizing the necessity of surrender, process, and vulnerability to walk into our divine promise.

Main Themes

• Self as Obstacle: Understanding how our own flesh, not just external “haters” or the devil, impedes our spiritual progress.
• The Garden as Process: Lessons from Jesus’ time in Gethsemane. The necessity of process (pain, vulnerability, surrender) before promise.
• Compartmentalizing Support: Not everyone is meant to walk every part of the journey with you; discerning who belongs in your inner and outer circles.
• Value of Vulnerability: The importance of being transparent, knowing who to share burdens with, and recognizing the difference between weakness and wickedness.
• Promise, Process, and Pain: Wanting the promise ("the call") means accepting the process ("the cup," "the cut," "the crushing").
• Faith and Identity: Faith is both tested and built in the process. Identity is not a final destination, but a journey of continued acceptance and growth.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. Getting Out of Your Way (04:00 – 05:29)

• The panel explores how people tend to blame others, circumstances, or even the devil for their stagnation, when in reality, "it's your flesh and not your spirit" that's most often the challenge.
  • Host/Moderator (04:01): "If you're going to get out of your way... you keep bumping into you."
• The need for self-awareness and honest self-examination.

2. The Garden as Classroom (05:47 – 08:36)

• Dr. Crumpton reframes Eden as a classroom, with the serpent as the exam—highlighting that tests are integral to God’s teaching process.
  • Dr. Crumpton (07:13): “The Garden of Eden is a classroom… the serpent was meant to be the exam because they had already been taught what not to do.”
• The garden experience is about learning dependence on God before gaining dominion.

3. Compartmentalizing Support (11:13 – 12:46)

• In Gethsemane, Jesus takes only three disciples deeper into the garden, leaving the rest behind. Pastor Cora emphasizes the importance of discerning who can handle your “vulnerable state” before breakthrough.
  • Pastor Cora (11:20): “You got to compartmentalize your support system… all 12 can’t go.”
  • Dr. Crumpton (12:29): “‘Sit here’ anointing”—some people are only meant to sit and wait.

4. Vulnerability and Emotional Truth (14:19 – 16:01)

• Jesus openly shares his sorrow with the disciples, modeling transparency. Panelists discuss how most people can’t handle others’ real feelings, and that showing emotion is not a lack of faith.
  • Dr. Crumpton (14:44): “People perceive you a certain way and they don’t think you should have these emotions.”

5. The Necessity of Process (17:31 – 26:28)

• Process is not optional—it’s where God grows character for the promise.
  • Guest Speaker (17:31): “The garden is where we master the character required to step into the promise.”
  • Dr. Crumpton (21:16): “The trouble was part of the process… I should have been telling them how to go through the process.”
• Value of suffering and how God uses pain to cultivate dependence and strength.
• Notable Quote – Pastor Cora (25:07): “They want the call, but they don’t want the cup. I’m sorry. They go together.”

6. The Cost of the Promise: The Call, the Cup, the Cut, and the Crushing (26:57 – 31:48)

• The path to victory is paved with pain—every biblical hero endures suffering en route to purpose.
  • Host/Moderator (27:06): "The cut will expose what’s in you, not where you’re going."
  • Pastor Dobbins (30:57): “No one in the Bible that is walking in victory did not go through a cut...or a crushing.”

7. The Power of “Nevertheless” Faith (32:35 – 33:23)

• Jesus’ “nevertheless” moment is highlighted as the ultimate act of surrender, encouraging believers to mean it when praying for God’s will over their own desires.
  • Pastor Dobbins (32:35): “Where’s your nevertheless?”
  • Dr. Crumpton (33:13): “Because it’s real. When you take on the process, you take on the pain.”

8. Clarifying God’s Promises and the Role of Process (34:04 – 40:46)

• How to discern what God has promised: through His Word, through endurance of process, and through what brings growth.
• The process continues, whether you accept it or not.
  • Dr. Crumpton (39:37): “We are going through a process regardless of whether we say yes to it or not.”

9. Don’t Mistake Usefulness for Approval (42:09 – 42:50)

• Warning not to confuse God’s use of you with His approval—being available isn’t the same as being faithful.

10. Social Media & The Shift from Highlights to Process (43:29 – 46:25)

• The panel discusses how even social media is rewarding transparency and process over just the polished “highlight reel”—mirroring spiritual growth.
  • Guest Speaker (45:16): “The more I see the process, the more it changes whether or not I really want that result.”

11. Staying Faithful in the Process Amid Distraction and Discouragement (48:43 – 54:33)

• Jesus' disciples fell asleep in Gethsemane, highlighting human weakness; panelists discuss not throwing people away when they fail, and difference between weakness and wickedness.
  • Pastor Cora (50:30): “There’s a difference between weakness and wickedness.”
• The garden is for passage, not residence—don’t “make a house” in seasons meant for transition.

12. Betrayal as Part of Purpose (54:49 – 56:00)

• Betrayal is necessary for process: Judas’ betrayal enabled Jesus’ fulfillment of the cross.
  • Pastor Cora (55:18): “So I need Judas. It’s a part of my purpose.”
  • Host/Moderator (55:57): “This is why Jesus rebukes Peter and calls Judas friend.”

13. Your Garden Isn’t a Grave—It’s Where You’re Planted (57:08 – 59:00)

• Struggles may feel like burial but are actually germination. The process produces transformation.
  • Pastor Cora (58:32): “Germination is when the old skin falls off… the only way the old falls off is… when we’re planted properly in the right garden.”

Audience Q&A Highlights

Identity & Process (61:35 – 63:59)

Q: Do you get your identity during the process or after?

• Host/Moderator: “It’s not about identity, it’s about acceptance—knowing you are accepted in the beloved.”
• Dr. Crumpton: “When I accepted who He was calling me to be, the process got a little easier. It didn’t stop, but I could handle the tension.”
• Pastor Cora: “Identity is not a destination; it’s a journey. You are always evolving.”

Peace Around Haters (66:21 – 68:21)

Q: How do you have peace and happiness around your haters?

• “If you don’t have haters, you ain’t that gifted.” (67:48 – Pastor Cora)
• “If I pay attention to the wind, I’ll sink … they’ll always be there. Just don’t pay attention to them.” (67:56 – Pastor Cora)
• “Focus on the table the Lord is preparing even if enemies are present.” (68:21 – Pastor Dobbins)

Is Faith on Trial in the Process? (69:10 – 71:35)

• Dr. Crumpton: You go through the process whether you have faith or not, but faith helps you understand and endure it.
• Pastor Dobbins: “The testing of your faith is part of the process… will you hold your faith while being shaken?”
• Pastor Cora: “The process is the tool God uses to build your faith.”

Can Faith Be "Too High"? (72:15 – 75:39)

• Pastor Dobbins: “If your faith doesn’t sound crazy, it ain’t big enough.”
• Pastor Cora: “Don’t let the enemy use that against you. Yes, I have too much faith—that’s the type of God we have.”

Practical Identity Formation (76:04 – 77:53)

• Pastor Dobbins: “Sometimes the best way to walk in your identity is to declare it—according to the Word.”
• Dr. Crumpton: “Make sure what you declare is God’s Word, not worldly affirmations.”

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• “Most of us don’t have an obedience problem. We have a hearing problem.” – Pastor Cora (05:47)
• “You can’t have dominion without dependence.” – Guest Speaker (17:31)
• “They want the call, but they don’t want the cup… They go together.” – Pastor Cora (25:07)
• “Don’t confuse his use of you with his approval of you.” – Pastor Cora (42:47)
• “Don’t make a house in the garden.” – Pastor Cora (54:15)
• “Your garden isn’t a grave—it’s where you’re planted.” – Pastor Dobbins (57:08)
• “If your faith doesn’t sound crazy, it ain’t big enough.” – Pastor Dobbins (74:37)

Timestamps for Key Segments

• [04:00] Self as obstacle; getting out of your own way
• [05:47] The garden as classroom
• [11:13] Compartmentalizing your support system
• [14:19] Vulnerability and emotion in the process
• [17:31] The necessity and nature of process
• [26:57] Call, cup, cut, crushing – process before promise
• [32:35] “Nevertheless”—the surrender of faith
• [39:37] Process happens whether you say yes or no
• [45:16] The social media analogy: process over highlights
• [48:43] Faithfulness and navigating distraction in the process
• [54:15] Do not reside in the garden; the garden is for passage
• [55:18] Betrayal as necessary for promise
• [57:08] Garden as place of germination, not death
• [61:35] Identity is formed both during and after the process
• [66:21] Peace and joy around “haters”
• [69:10] Is faith on trial in the process?
• [74:37] The necessity for “crazy faith”
• [76:04] Declaring your identity daily (practical step)

Tone and Language

The episode is vibrant, passionate, and candid—characterized by spiritual intensity, occasional humor (banter about sports teams and “ants in the pants”), and a loving but challenging encouragement for spiritual growth. The panelists “amen” and riff off each other, keeping a fast-paced yet deeply scriptural conversation.

Conclusion & Takeaways

The panel powerfully reframes suffering and process not as punishment, but as preparation. They urge listeners to stop self-sabotage, to be honest about personal hindrances, and to value the pain and waiting as integral to purpose. Process, surrender, faith, and perseverance are “walked out” through daily devotion, discernment in relationships, vulnerability, and a continual “nevertheless” to God’s will.

For those feeling stuck, betrayed, or “in the garden,” the message is: You are planted, not buried. The pain is part of the promise—embrace it, grow through it, and keep walking it out.

"Nevertheless"—let your walk reflect your will to surrender so your promise can be fulfilled.