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Vision Check Techniques: Fresh Eyes On Famous Bible Sayings

CHAPTER 1: WHAT MAKES THE OLD CROSS SO RUGGED?

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Primary School (CL)
By the time a passage of scripture becomes very familiar it has been analyzed and interpreted so often that you can have as many ideas attached to that passage as barnacles on an ocean pier. Pretty soon it’s easy to lose sight of the most important theme or purpose of the passage. The “Primary School” technique is simply the habit of remembering to ask of every part of the passage, “Is this the primary or just a secondary matter?”
CHAPTER 2: WOULD HAVING

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Connotation Notation  (VR)
Words don’t have just denotation (meanings), they also have connotation (leanings). For example, it makes a difference if you call a person “famous” or “notorious.” The word famous has a positive connotation. The word notorious has a negative connotation; it involves being famous for something bad or unacceptable. Many times it helps to ask, “Why was thisword used instead of another one?”
CHAPTER 3: STOP TRYING TO BE LIKE JESUS

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What’s Missing  (VR)
Many times we should read scripture paying attention to the question, “What would I expect to be here but it’s missing?” Look for a missing thing(s) anytime you find a list, or when you think about a sequence of actions that seems to skip a step or two, or when a particular word is typically used, but this time it’s not. The absence of something expected can be very telling.
CHAPTER 4: THE IMPORTANCE OF WELL-BUILT SEPTIC TANKS

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Scrabble Time  (CL)
I’ve played enough Scrabble to know that it helps to rearrange the letters on your letter tray in all sorts of combinations. The physical act of scrambling the letters helps your mind to see new options. In the same way it helps to approach scripture asking the question, “How can I look at this phrase or word from different angles?” Another way to do this is to rearrange the order of the words in a familiar verse, or read the verse aloud but vocally emphasize a different word each time.
CHAPTER 5: EMANATIONS OF GOD

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The Analogy Trail  (VR)
The Bible uses lots of analogies. An analogy is a comparison between two things, typically for the purpose of explanation or clarification.Jesus used them in teaching all the time. He said different kinds of soil are like different kinds of human hearts. Hiding a light under a bushel is like keeping your faith private. But an analogy also points toward a trail marked out by if-then statements that can logically take the analogy beyond what a particular Bible passage says. For example, if Jesus is like a shepherd to us (as Psalm 23 analogizes), then the reverse is true: We are like sheep to Him. That is a beginning point for new insights.
CHAPTER 6: THE BURDEN OF BUSYNESS

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Write the Prescription  (CL)
For most human problems or enterprises there is a long history of advice that seems right to most people, called “conventional wisdom,” that hangs like a map unnoticed in the back of our mind and steers our thinking.  One way to discover something new in Scripture is to expect to find principles and perspectives that are upside down or backward in relation to conventional wisdom. In order to unhitch your mind from the conventional wisdom regarding some passage, try writing it down on a sheet of paper like a doctor’s prescription so you can evaluate and question it.
CHAPTER 7: GOOD IMPRESSIONS

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Double-Check Context  (MG)
Carpenters have a rule of thumb: “Measure twice. Cut once.” In other words, double-check to make sure you are right before you do something you can’t undo. We need to apply that rule to interpreting a passage, especially as it pertains to the context. No matter how familiar a passage may be, always check and recheck the context. Am I sure I understand the context even if it doesn’t seem there is any other way to understand it?You are giving the Lord time to show you something new.
CHAPTER 8: THE GREATER COMMISSION

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Vanquish Vagueness  (CL)
Vagueness is the enemy of truth. Truth may sometimes be elusive, but when found it is always crystal clear. Razor sharp. Over the course of time, theological and biblical doctrines and enterprises accumulate libraries of so much content, analysis and explanation that they grow more detailed, complex, and ironically more vague. When a Biblical issue has gotten so huge it is hard to pin down, it’s time to step back and look for the core issues. Refuse to accept the complexity and its resulting vagary. Use other parts of scripture to narrow the focus toward specificity and clarity.
CHAPTER 9: A BIG "IF"

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Perhaps the easiest to describe but hardest to teach Fresh Eyes technique is the Fervent Seeking technique. All spiritual insight comes as a gift of revelation from God, usually in combination with our searching the Scriptures. However, some Bible passages leave us puzzled, because we are not sure how to take them even after our best study efforts. In those cases, our only hope for fresh eyes is based not on our effort to study the Word of God but on our waiting for a word from God.
CHAPTER 10: GOOD NEWS FOR EUNUCHS

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Hunt Down Quotations  (MG)
Whenever a verse or saying is quoted from another part of the Bible, or some other source, always look it up and study it’s original usage. Too often what we do in this case is read the footnote on the page where the quotation is found, but we don’t actually turn to that original location to read its context. You need to go all the way and hunt it down. Uncover it.
CHAPTER 11: THE FLANNELGRAPH SOLDIER

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Conjunction Function  (MG)
You’ve probably heard Bible teachers say something like: “Whenever you see the word “therefore” you should make sure you understand what it’s there for.” That’s true of lots of words that perform the role of connecting thoughts. They are called conjunctions. Don’t overlook any of them, even the tiny ones like “and” and “but.” Treat conjunctions like speed bumps that slow you down until you identify the purpose of every conjunction in the text. It will always pay to ask what they are there for, even when they are not the word “therefore.”