Blocks Conference - Night 1 - Sarah Blount

Part of what we wanted to capture in the Voyager message was this great longing we feel.
-Annie Druyan
There is a lack of passion in the Bride.
The Bridegroom left on a journey just before the wedding, and the Bride cannot act as if things
are normal. If she loves Him, she will ache for His return. Saving faith says, "Thy kingdom come!
Come back, O precious Bridegroom. Come, reign as King. Come, vindicate your people. Come,
marry your Bride.” If she loves him she will ache for his return. She will ask for His Kingdom to
come. She won’t be lured to sleep by the world. Or caught in the act of adultery with another
lover. -John Piper
Storge - Familial Love. Like the love a mother has for her child.
Philia- Brotherly Love. Like how you love your brothers and sisters in Christ.
Agape - Unconditional, Selfless Love. Like how Christ loves us.
Eros - Passionate, Burning Love. Like how a groom loves his bride.
In the world, we find EROS without AGAPE.
In the church, we find AGAPE without EROS.
Plan 1: The Squelch Diet
The shutting down of any and all indulgence of desire.
Squelch = forcefully silence or suppress
To squelch our desires is to hinder our seeking.
To ignore our longings is to ignore the one who can fulfill our longings.
John 1:35-39 The following day John was again standing with two of his disciples. As Jesus
walked by, John looked at him and declared, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” When John’s
two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus. Jesus looked around and saw them following.
“What do you want?” he asked them. They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where
are you staying?” “Come and see,” he said.

Behind all of our misdirected desires, there is a legitimate desire God put there and wants to
satisfy.
What’s needed to progress on the journey of the Christian life is DEPTH of desire, not DEATH
of desire. -Christopher West
What if instead of training yourself to ignore longings, you let your longings train you?
Plan 2: Fast Food Diet
The promise of immediate gratification through indulgence of desire.
If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards
promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desire not too strong, but too
weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when
infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to make mud pies in a slum because
he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily
pleased. -C.S. Lewis
Those on the fast food plan are trying to suck infinity out of finite things.
Plant 3: The Banquet
The promise of eternal gratification through indulgence of desire.
Song of Songs 2:4 He brought me to his banquet hall and raised the banner of love over me.
Isaiah 25:6 On this mountain the Lord of hosts will make for all peoples a feast of rich food, a
feast of well-aged wine, of rich food full of marrow, of aged wine well refined.
Luke 22:14-15 When it was time to eat the Passover meal, Jesus and the apostles were at the
table. Jesus said to them, “I’ve had a deep desire to eat this Passover with you before I suffer.
Jesus knows the dilemma of desire, and he speaks to it in nearly everything he says. He knows
that ecstasy is not an option; we are made for bliss, and we must have it one way or another.
-John Eldredge
Psalm 63:1-8
O God, you are my God; earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you; my flesh faints for you, as
in a dry and weary land where there is no water. So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary,
beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will
praise you. So I will bless you