reputation

Austin enjoyed the time he spent with his grandfather, a tough old cowboy everyone knew as “Curly.” The hardened rancher showed his grandson how to ride, shoot, and mend fences. Along the way, Curly even shared little pieces of advice with Austin.

Julian had a problem: Christianity was taking over his empire. But dealing with that problem highlighted an even bigger one: his authority as Emperor wasn’t sufficient to rid his land of Christians.

His military might was simply no match for their humility and sacrificial nature.

When the gorgeous Kylie Bisutti won Victoria’s Secret Model Search in 2009, the young “angel” was fitted with a pair of the company’s iconic – and highly coveted – “wings.” She’d bested ten thousand other hopefuls in the competition and had become a professional model for the world’s most famous line of lingerie.

Then she stunned everyone by hanging up her wings and walking away from a very lucrative career.

In 2013, TIME Magazine listed Justin Timberlake as one of its 100 Most Influential People in the World. It’s true; JT is an international superstar known for his music, acting (film and television), and miscellaneous business ventures. But in the article, he was praised for doing God’s work, too.

God’s work, huh?

In Colossians 3:23, the Apostle Paul writes, “Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men.” How different would our world look if we actually took that advice to heart?

For starters, Abraham Lincoln would not have been assassinated by John Wilkes Booth.

Throughout his life, President Lincoln developed a reputation for compassion and forgiveness. Regardless of how grievous the offense, or how vile the offender, Lincoln was known to exercise his right of presidential pardon quite often.

Perhaps one of the best known examples was in the case of “the sleeping sentinel.”

Though quite wealthy, Ludvig’s life wasn’t particularly noteworthy, and on April 12, 1888, he died after a long bout with heart disease. But when his more famous brother Alfred read the obituary, he was struck to his core…for two reasons.

First, his name was listed as the deceased, and second, it didn’t read too kindly.

Plagues were fairly common in ancient times, and the microscopic germs that caused them could do more damage than an advancing army. In 260 AD, an outbreak of disease struck the Roman Empire with such severity that thousands were dying in the capital city each day!

The suffering was enormous and would reveal stark differences between Christians and non-believers.

On April 12, 1961, Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin climbed aboard a rocket and left Earth’s atmosphere, becoming the first human to ever fly through space. Upon landing, he infuriated Christians because he was quoted by Communist Party leaders as saying, “I looked and looked but I didn’t see God.”

The truth is, he said nothing of the sort.

For years, he served as a highly decorated law enforcement officer. President Clinton appointed him to the National Commission on Crime Prevention and Control in 1995 and he was honored as Sheriff of the Year in 2001. A jail in Colorado was even named after him!

But when former sheriff Pat Sullivan broke the law, he was sent to the very prison that bore his name!