Listen Church

Ezekiel  33: 30 - 33

30 And as for thee, son of man, the children of thy people keep talking of thee by the walls and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another, every one to his brother, saying, Come, I pray you, and hear what is the word that cometh forth from Jehovah.
31 And they come unto thee as a people cometh, and they sit before thee as my people, and they hear thy words, but they do them not; for with their mouth they shew much love, but their heart goeth after their dishonest gain.
32 And behold, thou art unto them as a lovely song, a pleasant voice, and one that playeth well on an instrument; and they hear thy words, but they do them not.
33 And when this cometh to pass (behold, it will come), then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them. Allen

What god and which city?

Consider the following:
Chris Tomlin " God of this city"

[Verse 1]
You're the God of this City
You're the King of these people
You're the Lord of this nation
You are


[Verse 2]
You're the Light in this darkness
You're the Hope to the hopeless
You're the Peace to the restless
You are

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

[Chorus]
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater thing have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City

[Verse 1]

[Verse 2]

There is no one like our God
There is no one like our God

[Chorus]
For greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here

There is no one like our god
There is no one like our God

[Chorus]
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done in this City
Greater things have yet to come
And greater things are still to be done here*
* http://www.lyricstime.com/chris-tomlin-god-of-this-city-lyrics.html

Above is a song by Chris Tomlin.
We have sung it in our church, maybe you have in yours.
I do have a question though, since "God" is not defined here it will fit many of the "gods" of this world, what "god" is he talking about?
Which city, people, or nation also?
As I look around this world I can not find a single city, people or nation that Jehovah is claimed  GOD of.  You can be sure that if He were GOD of them, you would surely know it.
Don't you think it would look like heaven? No corruption, no greed, no unrighteousness ?

What are the "greater things yet to be done"?  For that matter, what things have already been done?
This seems to me to be just words.  It makes a catchy tune, but what is the truth in it?
You see, this song could relate to many other gods and still fit the lyrics. All want guidance and hope and peace from their god and their religion.  There is no differentiation here.

We need to be careful with the lyrics we use.  What is the Gospel here?
If it does not rest in Scripture we better be careful that we do not create a new gospel.
Even if there is a back story here, does it fit "your" City, people, nation?
Allen

"VISION" vs "VENTURE"

There is a great deal of talk these days about having a vision in the church.  Those that talk are using proverbs 29:18
Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he. (Proverbs 29:18 KJV)
I do understand that if God's word is not revealed then the people will perish.
The problem is that this is not the definition they are using for "vision".
When they use the word, they use it:
VISION
noun
2.
the act or power of anticipating that which will or may come to be: prophetic vision; the vision of an entrepreneur.
3.
an experience in which a personage, thing, or event appears vividly or credibly to the mind, although not actually present, often under the influence of a divine or other agency: a heavenly messenger appearing in a vision.  Compare hallucination (  def 1 ) .
4.
something seen or otherwise perceived during such an experience: The vision revealed its message.
5.
a vivid, imaginative conception or anticipation: visions of wealth and glory.

This is quite different from revealing GOD's word.  This is more forward looking.
What you have here is NOT vision at all.
When they use the word they are incorporating part of the dictionary definition along    With spirituality mixed in to make it sound good and acceptable.
Many start out with a proper definition of vision and move to a more progressive definition and from there to something all together different.  I'll call that "Venture"
VENTURE
noun
1.
an undertaking involving uncertainty as to the outcome, especially a risky or dangerous one: a mountain-climbing venture.
2.
a business enterprise or speculation in which something is risked in the hope of profit; a commercial or other speculation.
3.
the money, ship, cargo, merchandise, or the like, on which risk is taken in a business enterprise or speculation.

 You see, for them it is an end game.  They want to move the church to marketing.
Marketing is for profit.
For them vision is more speculation with an end result of profit.
Church has become a business, enterprise.
They do not really care about revealed truth; they need to run this business, and business takes monies.

When your leader starts quoting "vision", make sure of the definition he uses.  It could mean something totally different to him than to you.