MY STORY
becoming formidable
#1: I was eighteen. My best friend and I were the youngest in the crew at the landscaping company, assigned the odd job of powerwashing gas stations until two or three in the morning.
By the time we finished our third stop that night, it was pushing 3:30 a.m. We dragged back to the shop, exhausted, ready to unload the washers and head home. The place was tucked behind two massive steel gates that took forever to grind open. While they creaked, I caught the low sound of bass echoing from around the corner—a car idling in the dark, a deep throb emanating from the subwoofer at full volume.
bmm, bmm…
We slipped inside the yard unseen. My friend ducked into the office to finish paperwork while I unhooked the trailer. The bass grew louder, closer, until it was vibrating through the chain-link fence.
Then the car rolled to a stop just outside the open gates.
We’d left them open on purpose—just long enough to unload the trailers and get our personal trucks out. We were minutes, maybe seconds, from locking up. I turned toward the noise.
Two flashes.
Two gunshots.
ting, ting…
Metal sang beside me as the fence took the hits instead of me.
I didn’t think. I ran.
The garage door closed in what felt like slow motion. When it finally slammed shut, my friend and I locked ourselves inside a tiny office, crouched behind cubicle walls, listening.
We called the cops. Told them which door we were hiding behind. Even when the officers arrived, guns drawn and flashlights cutting across the yard, adrenaline still pulsed in my bloodstream.
They found two .45 caliber shells in the street.
I kept thinking how close I’d come to being nothing more than a random target, struck down by people who didn’t know me and never would. People who would’ve driven off without a thought.
I was at the whim of the enemy in that moment, but God spared me. He spared me for a purpose: to hone me into the man I was meant to be, one with the power to stand against evil and the conviction to do so, every time. Not perfectly, but increasingly.
#2: It was a warm spring afternoon when I pulled off the highway. My buddy and I were enjoying a leisurely drive and were just coming downtown to get lunch.
We were waiting at a red light when suddenly a man sprinted across the road in front of my car—eyes wild, steps frantic. Before I could make sense of what I was seeing, my gaze shifted to the sidewalk just over the bridge. Another man lay crumpled on the concrete, three dark holes punched into his chest, blood bubbling at his lips.
We had just witnessed a homicide.
No commotion, no chaos—just two men, one went in for a handshake, the other drew a handgun, and that was it. A fire chief, who happened to witness it all, was already on his knees beside the dying man, cutting away his shirt, starting CPR with desperate precision. But as I watched the chief’s hands press into the man’s chest, it was obvious that he was already too late.
Violence moves like a shadow: unannounced, uninvited, and closer than we want to believe. We walk through the world thinking ourselves distant from evil, when in reality we pass it on sidewalks, at intersections, in handshakes, whether we are aware of it or not.
These experiences led me to pursue tactical training, and stoked a new level of desire in me to become, and always be, a godly man. One who is no longer at the whim of evil, but who by the strength of God confronts evil on the physical, spiritual, and mental planes.
At the same time, God continued to press on me heavily about what it truly means to be a man. As it turns out, there are 3 main tenants.
Protection
Service
Leadership
Far from merely tactical, being a godly man means showing up for the people in your life in every way. It means setting a standard, making a commitment to hold that standard, and showing up and holding that standard every day, in every way, regardless of whether or not it’s seen or appreciated by those around you.
Godly masculinity is so much more important than that. Regardless of how the culture sees men, the truth is, we need good men, now more than ever- men who will hold the standard even when no one is watching.
Recently, I had the privilege of initiating two of my closest brothers into the ways of godly manhood, in real time, while on a camping trip in the heart of the rockie mountains. We all came away from the experience transformed and more committed than ever to showing up in truth, integrity, and formidability. This experience was the initiatory round of what is now my signature program, Strength & Honour.
Strength & Honour represents my commitment to the world, to set and hold a new standard and to build up every man I encounter to do the same.
I hope you’ll join me.
A picture from the camping trip where I took my boys through the first ever session of Strength & Honour.
To men: being formidable isn’t just about honour, it’s about being truly capable to protect our loved ones and our wives from all manner of evils in this world. From evil in the physical which can end up costing a life, to the mind games the devil brings daily, to the spiritual protection of choosing humility over pride. The journey is long and treacherous. Let’s walk it together.
I’ve created Strength & Honour because I’ve always been at the whim of someone else. Someone or something controlling my life. I was weak and shameful, and I wanted out.
More importantly, I’ve created it for you, to give you the tools to become the formidable man, because your wives, families, and everyone around you needs you to be this man. \
If you're a man who sees the need to grow to no longer be at the whim of evil again, to find the power within yourself, then join me in this movement of becoming the formidable men of God and protecting our loved ones from evil, serving them humbly, and leading them to victory.
Formidability is for everyone, and if you are reading these words, it is certainly for you.
Thank you.