Joel made a great point in are recent post. I'd add to that that the incarnational way he is suggesting we are to experience truth is exhibited to us in the way God gave us the Scriptures: they aren't a theology textbook, or a confessional list of propositions (though, as he notes, there are plenty of propositions there); they are primarily narratives--the truth being revealed through it's application to reality, not just stated and left at that. Even much of the propositional statements don't come from systematic works in scripture (as he pointed out in a conversation) but from pastoral letters and sermons--again, the truth being put in the context of action and reality.
We went to the Nickel Creek concert in Knoxville on Wednesday night--awesome concert.
It was held in Knoxville's Tennessee Theater, an amazing venue that has just been restored for $25 mill. and, apart from the rudeness one of the employees ("Okay ladies, enough pictures, it's time to leave!"), was quite impressive.
The band was amazing. We'd bought the CD a few days before the concert to get ready and Ab had it going non-stop for several days (and had most of the lyrics memorized to singing along--I was impressed!). Their stage looked something like the bridge of the Nebuchadnezzar; robotic, self-repositioning lights hanging from metal skeletons as the back-drop for all the sound equipment.
The music was incredible. Chris Thile, their "lead mandolin," has won national mandolin competitions. 
Violinist Sara Watkins could run circles around "Johnny" (of "Devil Went Down to Georgia" fame) and does a funny little double-half-twist dance when she really gets into the music, often while fiddling! Her brother Sean Watkins is amazing on guitar--they cracked me up with "Short People" (he looks to be shorter than me [5'6"], and she wasn't quite as tall as he was in her high-heeled boots!). They were backed up by Mark Schatz, a bassist with incredible feet (he did a jig during one of their closing numbers that was worthy of Riverdance).
I did have one problem: not enough explanation. Part of what I like about going to a concert is hearing what was influencing the artists when they wrote particular songs, and what they were seeking to say through their lyrics. There really wasn't any of that Wednesday night. At one point it was mentioned that the new album is "darker" than past albums, but no explanation was offered. I'm not sure if that's pretty standard for Nickel Creek as it was my first concert, it just would have been nice to come away with a deeper understanding of their message. All in all though, it was a great night and I highly recommend both the album and the band.
I made an HTML file of my earlier post on Bible resources for a project
I'm working on. If you'd like to check it out click here.
I've just discovered Third Lobby over the past week--an awesome experience! When I heard that a band had started by chance in the lobby of Founders I thought, "oh, that's cool." But when I heard their music I was totally blown away: I thought I was listening to a professional band who'd been together for years.
Their sound is great: sort of Celtic--but not too much--and with a nice alternative/folksy element. Great vocals, great original songs, great renditions of "All For Jesus," "Shenandoah" and others. They do this really neat thing where they'll play their rendition of a song then play an original song that borrows themes from the previous track: "Shenandoah" is followed by the title track, "For the Taking" which keeps doing unpredictable little tempo changes, moving from fast and driving to melancholy and reminiscent, evoking memories of the previous song, then picking up again with new material, drawing you into the story. A real feast for the ears.
Some really interesting thoughts from Donovan on the role of singleness in the Church. Makes me want to hear the chapel talk from Dr. Neilson too...