When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful.— Proverbs 29:18

Without a prophetic vision, people run wild.
Without a prophetic vision, people cast off restraint.
Without a prophetic vision, people perish.
Without a prophetic vision, people are out of control.
Without a prophetic vision, people do whatever they want.
Without a prophetic vision, law and order disappear.

You get the idea. These are all examples of how various Bible translations have translated Proverbs 29:18. Bottom line: without a prophetic vision, everything flies apart. There’s nothing to hold it together. Nothing to focus on. No direction. No path. Without a central voice — without a prophet — it’s chaotic. It’s very much like the world today.

What Is a Prophet?

A prophet isn’t someone gazing into a crystal ball to predict the future. A prophet is one who sees, although dimly, what God sees — someone who listens, then speaks God’s heart into human reality. The Hebrew word navi means “one who is called” or “who speaks for another.” Prophets bring heaven’s vision into earth’s confusion. They hold up a mirror first to themselves, then to the world, saying, “This is what the Lord requires of you and me: to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with [our] God.”

A prophet’s call always begins in the mirror. If I’m not walking humbly, how can I call anyone else to do the same? Prophetic vision begins with personal repentance — with letting God’s truth reorder my own heart before I try to reorder the world.

What Is a Prophetic Vision?

The Hebrew word for vision is ḥāzôn — revelation, divine insight. It’s not a strategic plan or a five-year goal. It’s a way of seeing life through God’s eyes. Prophetic vision gives purpose, direction, and clarity. Without it, people drift — chasing impulses, politics, fears, or whatever in the culture is shouting the loudest. But where there is vision, there is clarity. 

That’s why at the Catch, we hold tightly to a prophetic vision. Our vision is rooted not in anger or outrage, but in Grace.

The Gospel of Welcome — Grace Turned Outward

Instead of exclusion, we proclaim inclusion.
Instead of suspicion, we offer welcome.
Instead of judgment, we extend grace.

Grace is the main component of our vision because, without grace, everyone is left to face the raw consequences of their actions. Scripture and even physics remind us that every action produces an equal and opposite reaction — what you put into the world comes back to you. You reap what you sow.

But then along comes Grace — God’s holy interruption to the closed system of consequences. Grace upends the logic of “an eye for an eye” and “a tooth for a tooth.” And God says: You deserve the reaction — but I took it on Myself instead.

Grace doesn’t deny justice; it fulfills it through mercy. It transforms what was broken into something redemptive.

And this isn’t theory for me. I see my many mistakes, blunders, and missed opportunities that have led to failures. Yet, every time, Grace finds me and rescues me from myself. The very circumstances I thought were wasted become places that give life. That’s the miracle of grace: what once was shame now becomes evidence of God. What was lost becomes a starting point for someone else’s healing.

It is my desire to withhold or hide my failures from you. My brooding over past disasters begins to separate me from you, turning me away from love. Feelings of inadequacy arise, which will always isolate me, making me afraid to venture out again.

Failure brings me very low. Down here, my illusions of grandeur dissipate. I am humiliated. But down here, something wonderful and unexpected happens. I meet with other lowly people and discover with my losses, I am enabled to grasp the human heart and get in touch with what others feel. Down here, I can surely empathize with those who have fallen; I can quickly accept and love them as never before.

Down here at the bottom, where grace gathers us all together, no one stands higher than another. There’s no pre-judgment, no screening process, no hierarchy of worth. At the bottom, we face our weaknesses, we embrace others who are also fallen, and we love each other — and, in the core of my being, God’s strength is made perfect in my weakness from failure, with grace to turn outward to others and to do so with greater compassion, sensitivity, wisdom, and understanding. My mistakes are redeemed and put to God’s intended purpose. And for that reason, I welcome everyone —no questions asked.

That’s why we citizens of the Catch Ministry resist the growing movement toward separation and fear — the impulse to divide the world into “us” and “them.” Grace dismantles walls. 

That’s why the Gospel of Welcome is so central to who we are in the Catch community. Grace doesn’t just upend logic and reason; it creates a need to turn the Grace given to me outward to others.

Introducing Jesus

And the final piece of our vision — the most essential — is this: we are in the world for one purpose — to introduce people to Jesus. Notice that word: “introduce.” We don’t make converts or replicas of ourselves. We simply bring people to meet Him. The Holy Spirit does the rest.

So, in a time of great chaos and confusion — when so many wander without a vision — we, at the Catch, hold fast to our vision: To introduce the Gospel of Welcome — Grace Turned Outward — to everyone, everywhere.

Keep your eyes wide open. Jesus will show you the people He wants to meet — and through you, grace will find them.

Week 2 — Pawn in the Game

Prophetic Warning: Cultural Idols

Words and Music by John Fischer

Two hundred years ago

When our nation was starting to grow

Life, liberty, and happiness

Were the things we wanted to know

But happiness became the king

And took over everything

And in pursuing happiness

We lost the very thing that would make us blessed

We lost the Lord

No wonder we’re so bored

We’re just a pawn in the game

The West is not to be

In the book of prophecy

We sold our crown to the pleasure clown

For an inexpensive fee

And it isn’t very far

From a plastic credit card

To a number on your head before you can be fed a loaf of bread

Keep looking to the east

And watching for the beast

We’re just a pawn in the game

(What a shame)

Many years from now

I can hear them saying how

America came and America went

Turned under by the plow

While other nations stand

With orders in their hands

To turn the course of time under the force of the evil one’s command

We gave away the right

To be a nation of the light

Now we’re a pawn in the game

(What a shame)

Keep looking to the east

And watching for the beast

We’re just a pawn in the game

(What a shame)

And nobody can afford

To not be reaching for the Lord

We’re just a pawn in the game

We’re just a pawn in the game

(Pawn in the game what a shame)

(Pawn in the game what a shame)

(Pawn in the game what a shame)

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To the Catch Community,

We live in uncertain times. The prophet’s job is to remind God’s people: God is right on time. For the nexin theGamet 30 days, the Catch is running “Eyes Wide Open” — a daily call to watch, listen and act. Our “Eyes Wide Open” booklet in support of each day’s Catch article, including a short Scripture, a brief reflection and a practical step, is available here for download. Will you join us? CLICK HERE to download your booklet. Let’s be the Church that’s awake — not afraid, but ready.

Here’s is today’s entry. Don’t miss this opportunity to interact with the study.

Devotional:
When vision disappears, so does direction. Prophets aren’t just future-tellers — they’re clarity-bringers. They pull back the fog and point to what God sees. In a culture drunk on self-focus and short-term gratification, God calls us to lift our eyes. What if you asked God what He sees in your neighborhood? What cycles could be broken? What mercy needs to show up on your street? Vision leads to discipline. Clarity creates courage.

Prayer Prompt:
God, give me eyes to see what You’re doing beyond what’s visible.

Action Step:
Ask God for one prophetic insight for your neighborhood and record it in your journal.

Don’t keep the work of John and Marti to yourself — get out your address book and invite others to subscribe to the daily Catch by going to catchjohnfischer.live and click on the envelope or sign up on facebook.com/thecatch.