Interview Pastor Mark Souter of Set Free Church

Sovereign Grace Family Church

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October 15, 2020

00:03: Hello, welcome back to Coffee with a Calvinist.
00:07: This is a daily conversation about scripture, culture and media from a Reformed perspective.
00:15: Get your Bible and coffee ready and prepare to engage today's topic.
00:21: Here's your host, Pastor Keith Foskey.
00:24: Welcome back to Coffee with a Calvinist.
00:26: My name is Keith Foskey and I am a Calvinist.
00:29: Today we have a special interview.
00:31: I'm here with Mark Sautter from Set Free Church.
00:34: He is the pastor and the leader here at Set Free Ministry.
00:37: Hi Mark, how are you? Hi, how are you doing? I'm doing really well.
00:40: I've been looking forward to talking to you because you know that we have worked together for several years now and I come here almost every Thursday.
00:48: I know we had a few weeks where we were out because of COVID and of course holidays and things like that.
00:53: I'll be out, but for the most part I'm here at least once a week getting to meet the men and I get an opportunity to share with them and also to see what you guys are doing here.
01:02: I've always been very thankful and very impressed by the work that you guys are doing.
01:06: For those of you who don't know, Set Free Ministry is a, would you call it a recovery ministry Mark? Is that how you define it? A discipleship.
01:13: A discipleship ministry.
01:14: But a lot of the guys that are coming here are coming here because they're in a situation of great difficulty.
01:20: Correct.
01:20: Correct.
01:20: And so I've seen guys come through this program that have come in here broken and were in very difficult situations and have come out as leaders within the community, leaders within this group.
01:33: Absolutely.
01:34: And I'm so grateful to be a small part of that and to watch what God is doing here.
01:39: So Mark, I want to basically begin by, I want you to tell everyone a little bit about yourself and we're going to talk about first about you and then we're going to talk about the ministry because I want to introduce people to Set Free, especially people in the Jacksonville, Yulee, Callahan, you know, this is, this is the area that you minister to, right? Yes.
01:57: Northeast Florida.
01:58: Northeast Florida.
01:59: Southeast Georgia.
02:00: Northeast Florida.
02:01: And there is another Set Free in Georgia, right? Yes, in Nahona.
02:03: Okay.
02:03: All right.
02:04: So that'd be the closest one? Yes.
02:06: Okay.
02:06: So that's, you know, we want to, we want people to know that you're here.
02:09: We want people to know what you do and if nothing else, people can pray for you, but also hopefully people will be able to help support the ministry as well.
02:16: Let me ask you this.
02:17: If somebody wanted to get ahold of you, like right now they're saying, man, I didn't know this was here and I want to, I want to support.
02:22: How would somebody get ahold of you? Well, they can go to our website, which is setfreechurchnefl.com and there's a donate tab.
02:31: Awesome.
02:32: That goes through PayPal.
02:33: Awesome.
02:34: Mark, tell me how you got saved.
02:36: Well, I got saved actually October 17th, 1999 at Set Free.
02:43: Was it really 1999? Yes.
02:45: That's the same year I got saved.
02:46: Yeah.
02:46: I got saved.
02:47: That's awesome.
02:48: 1999.
02:50: Might've been a little bit different circumstances.
02:53: Possibly.
02:54: I was strung out and I had gotten three DUIs that year.
02:57: I had a baby that year.
03:01: And basically everything that was going on in my life that I thought I had going on was being removed from me.
03:08: In that time I was involved in a cultish things, Satanism, which was basically, I was angry and that was the way I lashed out.
03:19: And I ended up landing in Cabazon, California.
03:24: I remember it was a Saturday night that I landed there.
03:27: Sunday there was a Bible study in the evening and the guy that preached didn't really have a clue what was happening, but I knew something was different and I knew that's when I heard about the Lord.
03:41: Amen.
03:42: Amen.
03:43: So was that a set free? Yes.
03:45: Okay.
03:46: How long? Did you go through the program like all the other guys? Five times.
03:50: Okay.
03:51: All right.
03:51: So you're not only the president, you're also a client.
03:56: We can go to the hair club stuff.
03:58: That's okay.
03:59: I'm not sensitive about that.
04:01: Okay.
04:03: All right.
04:03: So the first time you went through, that was the first time you went through? Yes.
04:07: Okay.
04:08: But it was a couple of times for you.
04:10: So you're sensitive to guys who maybe on their first round, they sometimes...
04:16: Yes.
04:17: The seed gets planted and I mean, really, God calls us and sometimes it's just a seed.
04:25: The next time it gets watered, the next time it gets watered.
04:27: And sometimes it takes a long time for that seed to grow.
04:32: It takes a lifetime to work out a life.
04:34: So we don't know all that God does from beginning to end in someone's life.
04:38: Do you remember, and not everybody, I know where I was when I called out to the Lord, but I sometimes wonder, is that really the moment I got saved? I sometimes come to myself and wonder, do you remember the moment? I know a lot of guys say, on October 1st, this day, this day.
04:55: Was that the day for you? I think so.
04:57: But then as I've been going, I remember a few other times in my childhood.
05:03: When I was living in LA, I'd ended up going to a Royal Rangers thing with my friend.
05:10: And it's like a Christian Boy Scouts.
05:12: I still don't really know the fullness of it, but it's just out of assemblies of God.
05:17: And I was like, hey, I don't know if that happened.
05:21: And I remember going to a service that was something I would never go to today when I was really intoxicated.
05:29: And I don't know what happened there either.
05:30: But I usually pretty much rely on that day.
05:35: But also I tell our guys, date doesn't really matter, because usually people come to faith over time.
05:41: And so I don't know if a seed was planted when I was a kid, and then it just started to...
05:45: And then it just finally...
05:47: Amen.
05:48: Now, when, and you may or may not remember this, do you remember when you preached your first sermon? I do.
05:53: I don't remember the date, but the first sermon was...
05:59: It was in 2011.
06:01: Yeah, it was about a year before I came out here.
06:07: Okay.
06:07: A year and a half before I came out here.
06:09: Now, did you come to Set Free in Northeast Florida? It was already established.
06:14: No.
06:15: Myself and Mark Yateman planted it.
06:17: Oh, okay.
06:17: Okay.
06:18: We came out here specifically to plant this.
06:20: Okay.
06:20: So you came out here as church planter, essentially.
06:23: Okay, great.
06:24: Okay.
06:24: Absolutely.
06:24: Absolutely.
06:25: Now, when you guys came out here, what made Jacksonville, Northside, or, well, I guess Yulee...
06:32: Because it was originally called Set Free by the Sea, right? Well, yeah.
06:35: The Discipleship Ministry is kind of nicknamed Set Free by the Sea.
06:38: That's how it started.
06:40: And that was because we didn't know exactly what it was going to be, and being that we came from Wyoming, and I mean, there's this big body of water right there.
06:49: So that was kind of the moniker that came.
06:53: Okay.
06:53: Okay.
06:53: And so I know a lot of guys, when they think of Set Free, they think you're in Fernandina because they think of Set Free by the Sea, but you're actually in Yulee.
07:02: Yeah.
07:03: Tell everybody the address here.
07:06: 850482 Highway 17 in Yulee.
07:09: It's about a mile and a half south of 200.
07:12: Yeah.
07:13: It's a converted motel, right? Yeah.
07:14: It actually used to be a trap house motel, which basically means everybody was doing drugs here.
07:21: Okay.
07:21: So it's been completely redeemed.
07:23: Oh, amen.
07:24: Amen.
07:25: When we think about what brought you here, was there a particular, did you say Jacksonville, Northside, whatever, Northeast Florida really needs this, or did God call you here? How did this become, because you could have went anywhere, right? Yeah.
07:41: What made this be the place? So the last time I went through phase one, I was in Wyoming, and there was a couple that we met out there, and they're from Wyoming, and they were very vital in the plant, in the Set Free plant in Wyoming.
07:56: And when I first got there, they were moving.
07:59: I'd only known them for like two or three weeks.
08:01: Mark Yateman had known them.
08:02: They were part of his church.
08:04: He came from a traditional church background.
08:07: And so when they moved, she was raised in Hoboken, Georgia.
08:14: And so when they moved to Wyoming, I don't remember why they moved to Wyoming, but they got that church plant started.
08:20: They were the catalyst in there.
08:22: And then so they moved back to Yulee.
08:24: And then when they were here, they ended up talking to the director of missions of the Northeast Florida Baptist Association, Dr.
08:31: Drake, and he ended up going out on a visit.
08:34: They sent somebody out there that needed to go through the program.
08:38: And then when he had gone out to Cody on a mission trip and then came and visited Set Free because he heard about it, and that was actually right when I knew.
08:49: I walked in, and I saw a shirt that said Northeast Florida Baptist Association, and I kind of just, I hate to sound charismatic, but it's just when I knew.
08:57: I was going to Florida.
08:59: That's fine.
08:59: They're not wrong about everything.
09:02: I believe that's where God put Florida on my heart.
09:05: Amen.
09:05: Let me ask you this because you just mentioned Pastor David Drake.
09:10: Well, he's a director of the Northeast Baptist Association, right? I don't know what his title is anymore.
09:16: It's changed three times since I've been here.
09:17: I saw his name on the way in this morning.
09:19: He's preaching at Vision Baptist Church.
09:21: So my buddy Steve Barry is the pastor there.
09:24: So when you came here, you got connected with several churches.
09:31: Correct.
09:31: Through the Northeast Baptist Association.
09:33: Who would you say, and I know you have a lot of supporters, but who has been the most encouraging, influential around this area? What churches have been there? Amelia Baptist Church.
09:43: And that's Pastor Neil, right? Pastor Neil Helton.
09:44: Yeah.
09:46: Now, I know Adam comes, right? Yes, Adam comes.
09:49: Adam's the associate pastor there.
09:51: Yeah, Adam Page comes.
09:52: He's associate, and Neil comes once a month on Thursday night.
09:55: Oh, great.
09:56: Okay.
09:56: Wonderful.
09:56: Yeah, and that's great that your ministry is not just you here on an island by yourself.
10:05: Right.
10:06: But you have other pastors who love you and are encouraging to you.
10:09: And you even have a board, right? Yeah, we have a board of local pastors and lay people that are all connected.
10:18: They're all from sponsoring churches.
10:19: Awesome, awesome.
10:21: But in that sense, though, you're funded through church ministries.
10:25: Yeah.
10:25: Yeah, so you receive help from churches, and that's how you're able to stay funded.
10:30: Yes.
10:31: That's one of our main goals.
10:33: Our main source of income is church support as well as our work blessings.
10:39: Awesome.
10:40: And work blessings are where the guys in the ministry, they go out in the community and they help out.
10:45: And then instead of them getting paid, the ministry gets paid because the guys live here for free.
10:50: Sure.
10:51: And I was going to mention that.
10:53: First things first, though, before we go there, because I want to talk about how much that's blessed us, the work blessings that blessed us at Sovereign Grace.
11:00: But if you're listening to this and you're a church here in northeast Florida, or maybe not even in northeast Florida, but you're a church that wants to support a ministry that is touching lives every day, that is literally taking people that are in sometimes the worst situations in their life and giving them a place to stay and a place to eat, but more than that, a place to meet Christ and to hear the word, this would be a great place for you to support.
11:27: So my encouragement to our listeners is if you have been wondering where God wants you to support, if you're already supporting your local church and you have extra and you want to support a ministry, Set Free Ministry would be a wonderful thing.
11:41: Or if you're a pastor and your church is looking for a local ministry to support, this would be, my encouragement to you would certainly be to consider Set Free Ministries.
11:49: But now you mentioned the work blessings.
11:51: The guys are awesome.
11:53: We have had them several times come to our church and they laid rock for us, which was a great blessing.
12:00: They have painted walls.
12:01: They have laid tile.
12:03: And we use you guys as our lawn service.
12:06: Yes, absolutely.
12:07: And so if there are people in this area who are needing odd jobs, they could call you? Yes.
12:13: Now, how would they do that? Well, they would get a hold of our front office.
12:17: I don't handle it personally, but the director and the overseers handle that.
12:23: And they could call 904-849-1091 and talk to whoever is in the office and they can help them get set up.
12:32: Awesome.
12:32: Awesome.
12:33: Well, Brother Mark, I want to move away from that for a second.
12:37: I want to talk a little bit about what it's like for somebody who comes here, because there may be somebody who is listening who is in a situation where they feel like they need the ministry.
12:49: Maybe they're lost.
12:50: Maybe they're struggling.
12:52: Maybe they're sitting down and for some reason God has led them to this podcast.
12:56: What would someone expect if they were coming here day one? Hard.
13:03: Okay.
13:04: That's honesty.
13:05: That's good.
13:05: The reality is for most people this is the hardest thing they ever do in their life.
13:11: It's not necessarily hard financially because it's free, but you go through a lot of changes here.
13:19: Most of the people that come through here are at the end of the rope.
13:22: They are struggling with addiction, with homelessness.
13:28: I mean, there's all kinds of categories of what we would call a sinful lifestyle.
13:37: And usually people are broken.
13:39: And when people are broken like that, when there's change, they buck sometimes.
13:46: Sometimes people are ready.
13:48: They're just like, they're ready.
13:49: They're done.
13:50: They're tired.
13:51: And they're like, whatever.
13:52: I will do whatever.
13:54: Some people, it's like we were talking about with the five times going through and sometimes it takes a little bit of time and sometimes it doesn't.
14:06: They can expect to be in the Bible for a long time every day.
14:10: Amen.
14:11: I want you to know I'm preaching this weekend at a church in Ocala and I'm going to do a three-day conference for them, for their students.
14:19: They have a school there.
14:20: And one of the lessons is on Sola Scriptura.
14:23: And I'm using you guys as the example.
14:25: Absolutely.
14:26: Because I'm going to talk about the fact that when the guys come here, they get the word of God from day one.
14:31: And what do they read? What is it? The Gospel of John is the first reading? Well, in the mornings, we start with Proverbs, which whatever Proverbs lines up with the day of the month.
14:41: And then there's a class that we just read through the Bible.
14:45: It's just they read it out loud, chapter by chapter.
14:48: We start in Genesis and go all the way around.
14:50: I don't know where they're at right now, but I think they were in Ecclesiastes the other day, so somewhere around there.
14:57: And we just continue that.
14:59: 945 is usually an outside speaker.
15:03: That's me when I come on Thursday.
15:05: Foskey comes on Thursday morning.
15:07: I do Wednesday morning.
15:09: 11 o'clock, we do two separate things.
15:12: On Mondays and Fridays, we go through the New City Catechism, which is just 52 basic questions and answers.
15:19: I asked the guys this morning if they knew what a catechism was.
15:23: I didn't even think about the fact that you guys do catechisms.
15:25: I should have known that.
15:27: Yeah, we do a very basic one.
15:29: It was meant for kids.
15:31: Yeah, New City's great.
15:32: Yeah, 52 questions.
15:34: Usually, I'll call on somebody to recite it during church on Sunday mornings.
15:39: I like them to memorize it, so they do that Mondays and Fridays.
15:44: And then Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, we have memory verses of about nine different levels.
15:48: And it's the basics.
15:50: It starts with John 3.16 in the Romans row and then some other things.
15:55: And then 1 o'clock class, there's a formal Bible study.
16:01: 2.15, there's another formal Bible study.
16:04: And then 3 o'clock is break time.
16:06: There's meals in between.
16:08: 6.30 at night, we have different Bible studies or prayer depending on the day or church on Tuesdays.
16:16: So every day, the guys are being fed the word all day long, essentially.
16:20: That's awesome.
16:21: That's awesome.
16:21: Let me ask you this, and maybe this will sound like sort of a simple question, but I think it's a profound one.
16:30: Why the Bible? Why aren't you doing 12 steps or something like that? Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God.
16:39: Amen.
16:41: I believe I've tried many different things personally to try to get clean, to try to straighten my life out, to turn over a new leaf or whatever you want to call it.
16:53: They have all kinds of different things they want to call it.
16:56: But true change comes from the heart.
16:59: The only thing that can change our heart is the Lord.
17:03: The only way to get to know the Lord is in what he's written down, what he's revealed to us.
17:09: And so the reason that it's the word is because the word of God changes lives.
17:14: Amen.
17:14: That's how we know salvation.
17:15: That's how we know who God is.
17:17: And that's how he reveals all things to us.
17:23: And is that what you would say really makes you different? Because there's a lot of places around that will take people in who are in bad situations.
17:32: Yes.
17:32: But this is not just, that's why I said it's not just a recovery ministry, it's a discipleship.
17:37: Yeah, we don't talk about addiction here unless we're talking about personal stories.
17:42: Our Bible studies aren't focused around addiction or those issues.
17:46: Our Bible studies are focused on the gospel.
17:48: Amen.
17:49: And the full counsel of God.
17:51: Yeah.
17:52: Now I also know that you guys go out and do community outreaches.
17:58: Correct.
17:59: Tell me what that's like because I've not yet been to one.
18:01: Brother Mike at our church has gone.
18:04: Yes.
18:05: But what does that look like when you guys go do that? Well, so what we do is we go and basically we set up church outside.
18:13: Usually in one of the worst, well, Jacksonville has so many bad neighborhoods.
18:19: You go to Jacksonville.
18:20: Yeah, we go to Jacksonville.
18:23: Last time we were over off of Moncrief at a car wash and we set up, we took a bunch of food, a bunch of clothes, pass them around, we cook hot dogs, hamburgers, and we have a worship service and usually just a short five to ten minute Bible study.
18:42: It's always a gospel message because we don't want to try to get into deep theology when people are just there to try to get food.
18:49: Sure.
18:50: And we know your audience, right? Yeah.
18:52: You want them to hear that they are in need of Christ.
18:57: There's a hope.
18:57: Yeah, absolutely.
18:59: Absolutely.
18:59: And sometimes the guys share their testimonies.
19:02: Yes.
19:02: Sometimes the guys will share their testimony, especially if they're from the neighborhood and people know them.
19:06: I want them to be able to see what God has done.
19:13: One of the things that I always do on the program, and I didn't warn you about this, so hopefully this is okay.
19:19: Anytime I have a pastor on, I like to have the pastor share the gospel.
19:24: Okay.
19:25: Because, again, somebody may be listening, especially if they know that I'm talking to you today.
19:28: Somebody may see an interview with the pastor of Set Free.
19:31: They may see that.
19:33: They may want to know about Set Free, and they may be lost.
19:35: I mean, they may be sitting in their couch right now listening to this wondering, you know, what's this all about? And if you had an opportunity to sit next to that guy and you only had two or three minutes to tell him about Christ, how would you do that? Oh, well, so I'll just share kind of what I'm working on right now for Sunday because I try to share the gospel every Sunday because, to me, that's the most important thing.
20:06: Hebrews 7.25 says that, well, it says, Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him since he always lives to make intercession for them.
20:20: Save to the uttermost.
20:21: So I'm sitting here.
20:22: I've been meditating on this the last couple days, you know.
20:25: What are we saved from? Well, we're saved from the wrath of God.
20:27: Amen.
20:27: How do we know that? Well, in Romans 1, it says that the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all unrighteousness.
20:35: So basically anything that we do against the law of God.
20:39: Well, how do we know that? Well, 1 John says that sin is lawlessness.
20:43: Amen.
20:43: We just did that.
20:44: That was our lesson today.
20:45: Oh, was that today? The definition of sin.
20:46: Yes, sin is lawlessness.
20:48: So anything that goes against, we can break it down to the Ten Commandments.
20:52: Thou shalt not murder.
20:53: Thou shalt not.
20:55: I hate to throw a little Ray Comfort in there.
20:57: No, Ray's good.
20:59: Ray's good, but thou shalt not murder.
21:03: Well, I'm not a killer.
21:04: Okay, but Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, if you have hatred in your heart, then you've murdered your brother.
21:10: So that kind of breaks it down to where most of us are serial killers in our heart.
21:15: Yeah.
21:16: At a certain point, at least spree killers.
21:18: And so that sin separates us from God.
21:21: And in order for us to be reconciled, there has to be a bridge.
21:27: And going through Hebrews, the great high priest, the theme of Hebrews is just blowing me away in that what Jesus has done for us.
21:37: He's a priest forever.
21:39: He's the one that bridges the gap forever.
21:41: The old priests were just a picture of what was to come, a shadow.
21:45: But the heart of what it is is that Jesus made intercession for us.
21:48: The first intercession that he made, or maybe not the first one, but the most important intercession he made was taking on the wrath of God on the cross.
21:59: Amen.
21:59: So that anyone who has faith in him has salvation, has new life, has eternal life, has that life with Christ.
22:07: Amen.
22:07: Eternal life with God.
22:09: And I mean, I always come down to 1 Corinthians 15, where it says that Jesus died for our sins according to scriptures.
22:17: He was buried and he was raised again according to scriptures.
22:20: It all comes down to that faith in Christ.
22:24: Amen.
22:24: You know, faith and faith alone.
22:26: Yes, and I know you and I both believe as part of that reformed theology, sola fide, that we are justified by faith alone, apart from works, and nothing that we do can save us.
22:38: Absolutely.
22:39: Amen.
22:40: Well, Pastor Mark, is there anything else you'd like to share about the ministry before we draw to a close here? Would you like to share again how people can get a hold of you, just in case? Yeah, for work blessings, you can call 904-849-1091.
22:54: If you want to just check us out, my sermons are all posted online, and it's all through our website at setfreechurchnefl.com.
23:03: And they find you on Facebook, right? Yeah, we have Set Free by the Sea is our Facebook.
23:07: Okay, great.
23:09: All right, everybody, so you heard it from here.
23:11: If you are interested in learning more about Set Free so that you can be a part of this ministry by providing them with their things that they need, you can go onto their website.
23:20: If you have work blessings that are needed and you can support them in that way, they would love to be able to talk to you about that.
23:27: And most of all, we would ask that you continue to pray for Pastor Mark, for his wife, for their church.
23:33: I know how difficult it is to be a pastor's wife.
23:35: I'm sure with this ministry, it can sometimes be even more difficult.
23:39: Absolutely.
23:39: Because you live here.
23:40: Well, you live right behind the facility, so you're here all the time.
23:45: And so I know my wife and I pray for you guys always.
23:48: We appreciate that.
23:48: And we love you, and we're thankful for you.
23:51: So again, thank you, Pastor Mark, for being with us today.
23:54: And thank you, listener, for being with us today.
23:56: I appreciate you listening to the podcast.
23:59: My name is Keith Foskey, and I have been your Calvinist.
24:02: May God bless you.
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24:15: We love to receive your comments and questions, and may even engage with them in a future episode.
24:22: As you go about your day, remember this.
24:25: Jesus Christ came to save sinners.
24:28: All who come to Him in repentance and faith will find Him to be a perfect Savior.
24:34: He is the way, the truth, and the life, and no one comes to the Father except through Him.
24:41: May God be with you.