He Shall Have Dominion

"My prayer is that this book will lead God's people to pray more fervently and believingly: "Thy kingdom come; thy will be done, on earth as it is in heaven" (Mt 6:10). And in better understanding and praying that, they might more diligently labor to "make disciples of all the nations" (Mt 29:19), knowing that "he shall have dominion" (Ps 72:18 KJV)" (Kenneth L. Gentry, Jr., He Shall Have Dominion: A Postmillennial Eschatology, xxiv).

Hymn: Christ Shall Have Dominion

Christ Shall Have Dominion

From The Psalter, 1912

Based on Psalm 72

(Tune: 'Onward Christian Soldiers')

Christ shall have dominion 

Over land and sea,

Earth's remotest regions 

Shall His empire be;

They that wilds inhabit 

Shall their worship bring;

Kings shall render tribute, 

Nations serve our King.

When the needy seek Him, 

He will mercy show;

Yea, the weak and helpless 

Shall His pity know.

He will surely save them 

From oppression's might,

For their lives are precious 

In His holy sight.

Ever and forever 

Shall His name endure;

Long as suns continue 

It shall stand secure;

And in him forever 

All men shall be blest,

And all nations hail Him 

King of kings confessed.

Unto God Almighty 

Joyful Zion sings;

He alone is glorious, 

Doing wondrous things.

Evermore, ye people, 

Bless His glorious name,

His eternal glory 

Through the earth proclaim.

Creation Economics

Recently Peter Leithart plays sounding board for Pastor Rich Lusk, who "points out that in the feeding of the five thousand, the disciples gather up more food than they started with. They spend resources, but their reserves increase rather than decrease." Leithart briefly reflects on the implications of the economy of the kingdom of Heaven, suggesting -- "This is the economy of the kingdom: The Father rewards generous service, so that our expenditures of time, energy, and resources don’t deplete but add. We find more time, energy, and resources to expend on further generous service." Leithart continues with the conclusion that "The economy of the kingdom is magical because creation is magical."

In the final analysis, the kingdom is not limited by economic's norm-of-thought, i.e., the (heretical?) doctrine of "limited resources." God's resources are abundant. How do we know? God is the omnipotent Creator. And Miracles are for reals, duh. Also, if you want to be a Christian economists, how about reading 1 Kings 17 everyday for a decade. God feeds the prophet with bread from ravens. That is cool. However, I am well aware that it is difficult to quantify that sort of thing, but if your economic theory doesn't take it into consideration . . . well, what can I say--if that is the case, then your theory is as broken as a kitten pet-to-death. It is cute, but, alas, d.e.a.d.

Thus, fecundity: the economy of the kingdom.

Poem: light without heat

Government Employees > Manufacturing Employees :(

From WSJ in 2011.

If you want to understand better why so many states—from New York to Wisconsin to California—are teetering on the brink of bankruptcy, consider this depressing statistic: Today in America there are nearly twice as many people working for the government (22.5 million) than in all of manufacturing (11.5 million). This is an almost exact reversal of the situation in 1960, when there were 15 million workers in manufacturing and 8.7 million collecting a paycheck from the government. . . . Don't expect a reversal of this trend anytime soon. Surveys of college graduates are finding that more and more of our top minds want to work for the government. Why? Because in recent years only government agencies have been hiring, and because the offer of near lifetime security is highly valued in these times of economic turbulence. When 23-year-olds aren't willing to take career risks, we have a real problem on our hands.

 A real problem, indeed.

Ron Paul on Homeschooling and Free Society

"One of the last American Congressmen to argue for a reduced role for the state retired in 2012. In his farewell address, Congressman Ron Paul stated, 'Expect the rapidly expanding homeschooling movement to play a significant role in the revolutionary reforms needed to build a free society with Constitutional protections. We cannot expect a Federal government controlled school system to provide the intellectual ammunition to combat the dangerous growth of government that threatens our liberties'" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate: The Men Who Destroyed the Christian West, 115).

Listening Well

"Every day is an opportunity to listen and to learn--and to pass along what we learn that might be helpful to others" (Quentin Schultze, An Essential Guide to Public Speaking: Serving Your Audience with Faith, Skill, and Virtue, 46).

Reading Notes: Disciplines of a Godly Man by R. Kent Hughes

Reading Notes for Introduction and Chapters 1-5.

Reading Notes for Chapters 6-9.

Reading Notes for Chapters 10-13.

Reading Notes for Chapters 14-18.

Reading Notes for Chapter 19.

Reading Notes: Disciplines of a Godly Man, Chapter 19, by R. Kent Hughes

Reading Notes for Introduction and Chapters 1-5.

Reading Notes for Chapters 6-9.

Reading Notes for Chapters 10-13.

Reading Notes for Chapters 14-18.

Chapter 19 - Grace of Discipline

• The author talked about the "rich etymology" of the word "discipline" -- that it includes both divestment (casting off) and investment (see page 223). The dynamic discipline of divestment-and-investment is a life-long practice as the Lord progressively sanctifies us.
• Christian Living from start to finish is a matter of grace - Sola gratia. "Salvation is by grace alone, and living the Christian life is by grace alone also. . . . As we tackle the disciplines of a godly man, we must remember it is a matter of grace from beginning to end" (p. 227).
• Thus, "there is no contradiction between grace and hard work" (p. 228).
• The author has been helpful and practical throughout the book with the constant refrain that "training in righteousness" is not a passive affair: godliness requires that we work hard, that we break a spiritual sweat, and this means we need to pro-actively assess our spiritual condition.
• One way the author recommends to assess our spiritual condition and to discipline ourselves without being legalistic (see quote below and the table): 

Review the seventeen disciplines studied in this book [divide them into separate lists--a list of those areas in which you are doing well ("+") and another list of the areas where you need help (" - ")], then prioritize them in relation to your own life -- the abilities and interests God has given you, the opportunities before you, your own level of spiritual understanding and maturity, your willingness to move forward (p. 229).

Discipline of . . .	+	-	Priority
Purity
Marriage
Fatherhood
Friendship
Mind
Devotion
Prayer
Worship
Integrity
Tongue
Work
Perseverance
Church
Leadership
Giving
Witness
Ministry

Against Restlessness of Mind

"A mind on wheels knows no rest; it is as a rolling thing before the tempest. Struggle against the desire for novelty, or it will lead you astray as the will-o'-wisp deceives the traveler. If you desire to be useful, if you long to honor God, if you wish to be happy, be established in the truth, and be not carried about by every wind of doctrine in these evil days, 'be ye steadfast, unmovable' (Spurgeon's Sermon Illustrations, 78).

Right. And a will-o'-wisp is this.

J.R.R. Tolkien and The Beowulf

At present I am reading J.R.R. Tolkien's 1936 paper "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics." (The volume I am reading is from 1972 by Folcroft Library Editions, Folcroft, PA. Oddly, the copyright page says "Limited 100 Copies"?!?)

Originally presented in 1963 for the Sir Israel Gollancz memorial lecture, the paper is replete with insight and Tolkienism-humor, e.g., from the second paragraph - "I have, of course, read The Beowulf, as have most (but not all) of those who have criticized it." In this lean talk, Tolkien takes a bunch of ne'er-do-well Beowulf critics to task. Tolkien's initial thrust and parry against the teaming Beowulf censurers is presented by way of allegory.

I would express the whole industry in yet another allegory. A man inherited a field in which was an accumulation of old stone, part of an older hall. Of the old stone some had already been used in building the house in which he actually lived, not far from the old house of his fathers. Of the rest he took some and built a tower. But his friends coming perceived at once (without troubling to climb the steps) that these stones had formerly belonged to a more ancient building. So they pushed the tower over, with no little labour, in order to look for hidden carvings and inscriptions, or to discover whence the man’s distant forefathers had obtained their building material. Some suspecting a deposit of coal under the soil began to dig for it, and forgot even the stones. They all said: ‘This tower is most interesting.’ But they also said (after pushing it over): ‘What a muddle it is in!’ And even the man’s own descendants, who might have been expected to consider what he had been about, were heard to murmur: ‘He is such an odd fellow! Imagine his using these old stones just to build a nonsensical tower! Why did he not restore the old house? He had no sense of proportion.’ But from the top of that tower the man had been able to look out upon the sea.

An allegory, indeed.

In any case, The Beowulf was an early and life-long love of Tolkien, and now his literary estate is releasing his own translation of Beowulf. Beowulf: A Translation and Commentary is comprised of a translation of Beowulf constructed from three Tolkien translation-manuscripts, and the commentary is derived from Tolkien's lecture notes over Beowulf. Tolkien's translation, however, does not aim to be alliterative-poetic, it is only a modern/plain-prose translation. Recently I have been thumbing through Howell Chickering's dual-language translation, and very much looking forward to reading Tolkien's now that it is available.

Mental Map of World History: Maps, Globes, Literature, Art, Music, Architecture, Etc.

"A child needs to form an increasingly focused mental map of history and of the world in order to comprehend his place in space and time; physical maps aid this tremendously. In all his studies, use timelines of history, use maps and globes of the world, and use pictures (of art objects and architecture, etc.) from other places and times" (Wes Callihan, Preparing Younger Children for a Great Books Education, 13).

Modern Life and Football

"You might imagine sports being developed on farms or in country towns, but pro football was popular in big towns from the start, its field following the contours of two things that define modern life: the city block and the TV screen" (Rich Cohen, Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football, 295).

Education: History

"An absolutely critical role of classical education is teaching a student the relevance of the past. Knowing God depends on knowing history—what God has done for His people as recorded in the Scriptures, and what He has done for them in the last two millenia. And knowing oneself also depends on knowing history--where we came from and why we are who we are. The twentieth century has decided that the past is irrelevant, and in an excess of mind-boggling arrogance it considers our age to be the definition of reality, truth, and value. Education must oppose this in the strongest possible manner" (Wes Callihan, Preparing Children for a Great Books Education, 12).

The Economic Future

Three cheers for the division of labor.

Chicago is America

"New York has one foot in Europe. Los Angeles is a collection of suburbs. Miami is cafe con leche. New Orleans is drunk. Seattle wears flannel. San Francisco is beautiful vistas and empty streets. Boston is ancient. But Chicago is America. The '85 Bears seemed to symbolize the city in its resurgence, the reawakening of the beast after a funkadelic slumber. It was not the fifteen wins--it was how they were achieved, the smash-mouth style that seemed to capture the spirit of the town" (Rich Cohen, Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football, 227-228).

Poem: lost judgment

lost judgment 

verb | lose verb-past | lost & the participle | lost 

the Grammarians cried: “Adjectivally! Adjectivally! Not this man, but Barabbas!” such it was such was it such and shortly the days-darkness enveloped their land; weeks later the Stone of the Head of the Corner said: “Brethren, I wot that through ignorance ye did it.” such it was said was it said such and yet believed--the lost judgment ye did it, as did also your rulers. “Repent ye therefore, and be converted, when the times of refreshing come lose the lost judgment.” 

Imagination

"Follow this principle as your children grow: feed their imaginations as well as their rational minds, for the imagination is the fertile ground in which all other studies can grow best" (Wes Callihan, Preparing Younger Children for a Great Books Education, 8).

Ben Stein

Education: Learning for the Glory of God

"[D]isciplining the mind in rigorous, propositional, linear thought about certain core subjects, and learning to appreciate and glory in the beauties of language and words, must be at the heart of education. If it is not, then those other studies will be an incoherent collection of particulars with no overarching, coherent world-view into which to fit them and with which to find real meaning for them" (Wes Callihan, How to Prepare Younger Kids for a Great Books Education, 5).

Consider the quote above on the aim of education. Education first and foremost is about shaping a child-student's character. However, identifying and appreciating beauty and goodness is at "the heart of education." If an education curriculum is not beauty/goodness oriented, then its telos is broke. Like a compass with a needle that doesn't point to the magnetic North, such an education is plumb useless.

The world was created by a good God, and creation in its original form was good, good, very good. The child-student has a Creator. The "overarching, coherent world-view" that allows the child-student to make sense of the particulars of this world is derived from Biblical knowledge/revelation: a beautiful and good Triune Lord made a beautiful and good world to beautifully and goodly mirror and reflect the Creator's beauty and goodness. However, man, the chief image-bearer of creation, rebelled. Thus, the imago Dei was defaced, and now the world groans under the weight of sin and the effects of the Fall. And yet, the beautiful and good Triune Lord before the foundations of the world chose to elbow-drop Satan, sin, death, and the effects of the Fall, through the perfect obedience of the Life, Death, and Resurrection of the God-man Jesus Christ.

The beauty and goodness in the world was merely defaced, it was not obliterated. Hence, a child-student studies the flawed (fallen) world, studies creation, studies language, etc., in light of Biblical knowledge/revelation, and the child-student learns a bit more and more about the beauty and goodness of the Creator who preordained to restore this world. Education conducted in this fashion necessarily becomes a means for giving God glory; education conducted in this fashion fulfills man's chief aim of glorifying God and enjoying Him forever. So, an education curriculum with an unbroken and functioning telos will say things like, "Go and sin no more" and "Learn about this beautiful world" and "Glorify God and enjoy Him forever." And if you can check the box next to each of those three statements, then of course you'll be able to go find a job and get dominion for Jesus.

Luther on "Good Man" and "Good Works"

"Good works do not make a man good, but a good man does good works."
                -- Martin Luther

I Will Prepare for Worship by Thom S. Rainer

 "I Will Prepare for Worship" from Thom S. Rainer's blog.

This weekend I will attend my church’s worship service.
I will prepare for that corporate worship event;
I will not take the moments lightly.
I will see it as a precious time to gather with brothers and sisters in Christ. 

I will prepare for worship.
I will ask God to prepare my own heart.
I will ask Him to help me hear God’s Word clearly.
I will ask Him to speak to me that I might be changed. 

I will prepare for worship.
I pray that I will not be distracted by my own preferences:
By the style of music; the length of the sermon; the place where I sit;
Or anything that would cause me to focus on me instead of God. 

I will prepare for worship.
I will pray for my pastor that the sermon will be anointed.
I will pray for strength for my pastor,
And for encouragement in a world that often offers little. 

I will prepare for worship.
I will pray for other leaders in the church,
Leaders often unnoticed and unappreciated,
And specifically for those who sacrificially care for our children in the services. 

I will prepare for worship.
I will pray that I will hear God’s voice in the music, in the prayers,
And in every moment we gather as a body of believers,
United in heart, focus, and purpose. 

I will prepare for worship.
I will pray with my family before we leave to go the church service.
I will also pray alone for the services before we leave,
Even if it’s only for a few minutes. 

I will prepare for worship,
As I see fellow believers enter to worship together,
I will pray for them and their families,
And I will pray for their own hearts of worship. 

I will prepare for worship.
I understand I am blessed to be able to gather,
Because I know that many Christians around the world
Are being persecuted and banned from such times. 

I will prepare for worship.
I pray I will understand that it is a foretaste of heaven,
And that I will never take such times for granted,
I pray I will truly rejoice in the house of the Lord. 

I will prepare for worship.
Thank you, God, for your grace.
Thank you, God, for you goodness.
And for allowing me these precious moments to gather to worship You. 

"I was glad when they said unto me, Let us go into the house of the LORD."
—Psalm 122:1

Football

"More than any other sport, football is about the coach, the general with the god complex who wants to map every sequence, prepare for every contingency" (Rich Cohen, Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football, 17).

Team as Nation, Team as Destiny

"Your team is a nation and on game day your nation is at war. That's what my father understood when he tried to dissuade me from following the Cubs. He believed that a Cubs fan will come to accept defeat as the inevitable end of all earthly endeavors. A Cubs fan is fatalistic: he rends his garments and cries, Vanity of vanities, all is vanity! The ultimate implication of my father's words was left unstated: a Cubs fan has a greater likelihood of leading an unfulfilled life. Pick your team carefully, because your team is your destiny" (Rich Cohen, Monsters: The 1985 Chicago Bears and the Wild Heart of Football, 11-12).

"All is One" !?! - LOL - I Do Not Think So!

"The biblical faith holds steadfastly and unmistakably to the Creator-creature distinction. "Know ye that the Lord He is God: it is He that hath made us, and not we ourselves" (Ps. 100:3). If there is such a thing as truth and falsehood, there could be no wider disparity between Biblical theology and [Ralph Waldo] Emerson. Those who hold that "all is one" are not Christians. They have the wrong worldview and the wrong god. They have deceived themselves with a worldview incapable of maintaining the preconditions for all human thinking, coherent logic, and social interaction. From a Christian point of view, this is gross idolatry in its blatant denial of the true and living God and its incorporation of man into the godhead" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate, 101).

Supaman - 'Prayer Loop Song'

Teaching by Object Lessons

The Bible is largely a narrative of the first 4000 years of redemptive-history. Christians should care about history, study history, and spend time learning both Biblical and extra-biblical history. Christians should be familiar with key figures and events of history. Why? As Kevin Swanson says, "God has a way of teaching His truth by historical object lessons"  (Apostate, 67).

Internet

In 2008, R.C. Sproul, Jr. made a great observation:

The internet has been about as useful in encouraging thoughtful theological discourse, or even appropriate ecclesiastical judgments, as it has been in encouraging sexual fidelity.

Word-Derived Self-Image

To echo the sentiment from prior post, somewhere in The Baptized Body Peter Leithart says, "Christians are to have a self-image not based on our own perceptions or feelings but based on the Word and promise of God."

Matthew 4:4 - Self-Reliance is Self-Destruction

"From the beginning, man has always relied upon God's verbal revelation for his ethical behavior. Immediately upon creating Adam, God spoke to him concerning His ethical requirements (Genesis 2:16-19)" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate, 41).

Even Adam in his original righteousness relied upon the Word of God. Arguing by contrasting the greater to the lesser: in light of the sinful effects of the fall and the imputation of Adam's sin (cf. Romans 5:12-19), how much more are the sons of Adam behooved to rely upon the Word of God?

Pride. Human autonomy. Self reliance. Idolatry. These four are one in the same. Thus, self-reliance is self-destruction. We are creatures, so we need to have creaturely-reliance, i.e., man was created to be Word-reliant. Christ the God-man said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God (Matthew 4:4).

American Church

From the Pew Forum. I take statistics with a grain of salt, but these benchmarks ought to be alarming.

Key Findings and Statistics on Religion in America

More than one-quarter of American adults (28%) have left the faith in which they were raised in favor of another religion - or no religion at all. If change in affiliation from one type of Protestantism to another is included, 44% of adults have either switched religious affiliation, moved from being unaffiliated with any religion to being affiliated with a particular faith, or dropped any connection to a specific religious tradition altogether.

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The Landscape Survey confirms that the United States is on the verge of becoming a minority Protestant country; the number of Americans who report that they are members of Protestant denominations now stands at barely 51%. Moreover, the Protestant population is characterized by significant internal diversity and fragmentation, encompassing hundreds of different denominations loosely grouped around three fairly distinct religious traditions - evangelical Protestant churches (26.3% of the overall adult population), mainline Protestant churches (18.1%) and historically black Protestant churches (6.9%).

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Although there are about half as many Catholics in the U.S. as Protestants, the number of Catholics nearly rivals the number of members of evangelical Protestant churches and far exceeds the number of members of both mainline Protestant churches and historically black Protestant churches. The U.S. also includes a significant number of members of the third major branch of global Christianity - Orthodoxy - whose adherents now account for 0.6% of the U.S. adult population. American Christianity also includes sizeable numbers of Mormons (1.7% of the adult population), Jehovah's Witnesses (0.7%) and other Christian groups (0.3%).

 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Complete Happiness: Gravity of a Child at Play

G.K. Chesterton on fantasy writer and fairy-tale teller George MacDonald:

Dr. Macdonald, I fancy, has always known that melancholy is a frivolous thing compared with the seriousness of joy. Melancholy is negative and has to do with trivialities like death: joy is positive and has to answer for the renewal and perpetuation of being. Melancholy is irresponsible; it could watch the universe fall to pieces: joy is responsible and upholds the universe in the void of space. This conception of the vigilance of the universal Power fills all Dr. Macdonald's novels with the unfathomable gravity of complete happiness, the gravity of a child at play (Quoted by Daniel Gabelman in George MacDonald: Divine Carelessness and Fairytale Levity).

Book of Acts: Story of All that Jesus Began and Continues to Do and Teach

This article by Timothy George (the founding dean of Beeson Divinity School) is about new biblical-theological commentaries, i.e., "the Brazos Theological Commentary on the Bible (Brazos Press); The Church’s Bible (Eerdmans); and two series in sequence from InterVarsity Press: the Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture and the Reformation Commentary on Scripture," and reading The Book of Acts with the Reformers. From the conclusion to the article:

The Book of Acts is the only New Testament writing that ends with an adverb: akolutos, “unhindered.” Paul’s evangelical odyssey has led him from Jerusalem to Rome. He is under house arrest, still in chains, but able to proclaim the Good News of God’s kingdom, “no man forbidding him” (KJV), “with all boldness and without hindrance” (NIV). This is the end of Acts, but not its conclusion. For, as Eugene Peterson has written: "The story of Jesus doesn't end with Jesus. It continues in the lives of those who believe in him. The supernatural does not stop with Jesus. Luke makes it clear that these Christians he wrote about were no mere spectators of Jesus than Jesus was a spectator of God—they are in on the action of God, God acting in them, God living in them which also means, of course, in us."

The Proto-Creed of Christian Music

"We find the beating heart of Christian experience not in the church's creed but in its music" (Bruce L. Shelley, Church History In Plain English, 117).

Fellowship with the Divine

"Salvation for the early church was about more than going to heaven; it was about being united in communion with God. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit had to be divine to include us and make us ready to share in the already existing divine fellowship. We would not be made into God or equal to God, but we must be transformed to belong to the rich, eternal communion that awaits Christians. . . . Early Christians saw their destiny as being included into fellowship of the triune God" (Bruce L. Shelley, Church History In Plain English, 112).

Line Upon Line

"Thrift in thought will lead to the habit of writing, and any good man who writes a little every day will become a good writer. We grow by doing" (from Elbert Hubbard's Let Thrift Be Your Ruling Habit).

Bob Dylan

An interesting article by Stephen H. Webb on Bob Dylan, the Book of Acts, Dylan's 2012 interview for Rolling Stone, and Dylan's song "Rainy Day Women #12 & 35."

Education: "Sitting at the feet of . . . [who]?!?!"

"Should a family set their children at the feet of the wrong teachers, they will destroy the faith within a generation or two" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate: The Men Who Destroyed the Christian West, 6).

It sounds alarmist and hyperbolic, but it is true.

Education in the 21st Century: New Wine, New Wineskins

"We are on the cusp of the decentralization of information and media sources, and the gradual collapse of the brick-and-mortar university monopoly over Western thought and economics is already in process. The time has come to reform and rebuild the ideas and educational systems that make up the Western world" (Kevin Swanson, Apostate: The Men Who Destroyed the Christian West, 3).

Reform. Rebuild.

•  http://www.ronpaulcurriculum.com/
• https://www.khanacademy.org/
• On "College Finances"
• On "Not Paying Retail for College"
• Enjoy the parody video below for "EveRy University."

Communion and Community

"There must be communion and community among the people of God: not a false community, that is set up as though human community were an end in itself; but in the local church, in a mission, in a school, wherever it might be, there true fellowship must be evident as the outcome of original, individual salvation. This is the real Church of the Lord Jesus Christ--not merely organisation, but a group of people, individually the children of God, drawn together by the Holy Spirit for a particular task either in a local situation or over a wider area. The Church of the Lord Jesus should be a group of those who are redeemed and bound together on the basis of true doctrine. But subsequently they should show together a substantial 'sociological healing' of the breaches between men which have come about because of the results of man's sin" (Francis A. Schaeffer, The God Who Is There, 153).

Schaeffer is arguing for a "visible quality" to the invisible church, i.e., "The final apologetic, along with the rational, logical defence and presentation, is what the world sees in the individual Christian and in our corporate relationships together" (152).

Commentaries: Book of Acts

Ligonier recently ran a post with Dr. Keith Mathison's "top 5" commentaries for each book of the Bible. I've been preaching through Acts so I thought I would compare his recommendations against what I've been utilizing for sermon prep. Mathison's top 5 for Acts are:

• Darrell L. Bock — Acts (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 2007).
• F.F. Bruce — The Book of the Acts (New International Commentary on the New Testament, 1988).
• C.K. Barrett. — Acts 1-14, Acts 15-28 (International Critical Commentary, 2004).
• Ben Witherington — The Acts of the Apostles (1997).
• I. Howard Marshall — Acts (Tyndale New Testament Commentaries, 1980).

Mathison also gives some major kudos to Craig Keener's currently unfinished multi-volume commentary (he says when it is complete he will probably put it in his top 5), and also lists these other works as runners up: David Peterson, James Montgomery Boice, Dennis Johnson, J.A. Alexander, R. Kent Hughes, Ajith Fernando, Gordon Keddie, Richard N. Longenecker, William Larkin, John Polhill, and David Williams.

For sermon prep I have predominantly been leaning upon:

• Darrell L. Bock — Acts (Baker Exegetical Commentary on the New Testament, 2007).
• F.F. Bruce — The Book of the Acts (New International Commentary on the New Testament, 1954).
• F.F. Bruce — The Book of Acts (The Greek Text with Introduction and Commentary, 1973).
• Richard N. Longenecker — Acts (The Expositor's Bible Commentary, 1995).

Originally I was also using I. Howard Marshall's Acts, but eventually dropped it because in general he wasn't uncovering anything already addressed by Bock, Bruce, and Longenecker. And I did not find Fernando or Polhill to be helpful enough for frequent reference. In addition, I have referencing commentaries by Jaroslav Pelikan, John Calvin, Matthew Henry, William Willimon. In general, a good deal of overlap between my list and Dr. Mathison's recommendations. That is encouraging.