John 3:8

John 3:8

In the 1780's the first steamboats were first being tested - even long before
Robert Fulton. How wonderful this was because Man could now be free of the Wind.
Up to this point man had been dependent on the Wind for his power and movements.
Sails were unfurled to catch the power of the Wind. In fact if the winds did not blow,
the boat went Nowhere and the captain would be forced to ask the crew to Pray for 
Power of the Wind to return. There were even sections of the Ocean where there
were extended time periods without the Wind; these were called the Doldrums.

But Not Anymore: Man could NOW manufacture his own power! Sails were now only
for those purist, for pleasure or for those visionless who failed to see that the grasp
of power was there for the taking - without the former dependence on the Wind. 
In fact the combustion engine would soon overtake steam - and nuclear power would
overtake the combustion engine. Sails and the Wind had practically become irrelevant.

Could this be the State of the Believers and Churches of today?
 Has dependence on THE WIND been replaced by our well-oiled strategies and methodology?
Do we no longer need to cry out to Heaven for the Return of the Wind because now we
have formulas and publications that have made the Doldrums avoidable?

 Were not even the Doldrums the very mercy of God to remind us just how reliant we
were on the Wind? Instead today the Doldrums actually follow us as we steam
around "making Progress" but going nowhere.

We were Reborn with the Wind of the SPIRIT and the Church was born
with the Mighty Rushing Wind of the Holy Spirit; do we somehow think that
now we can make it under our own "steam" and power?!

The Steam of our own designs and ingenuity will never, ever replace the Wind. 
Books and conferences may point out helpful viewpoints but they will
never replace Prayer and the Crying out to Heaven.

Could "Fulton's Folly" have backfired on the Church by believing that man's
power could be substituted for the Power of the Wind?

Raise a Sail. Drop to your knees. And Cry out to Heaven for 
Return of God's Wind - the Holy Spirit!