John Smith:  

ects a man’s face, but what he is really like is shown by the kind of friends he chooses.” The simple but true fact of life is that you become like those with whom you closely associate – for the good and the bad. Note: Be not mistaken. This is applicable to family as well as friends. Yes…do love, appreciate and be thankful for your family, for they will always be your family no matter what. Just know that they are human first and though they are family to you, they may be a friend to someone else and will fit somewhere in the criteria above. “In Prosperity Our Friends Know Us. In Adversity We Know Our friends.” “Never make someone a priority when you are only an option for them.” “If you are going to achieve excellence in big things, you develop the habit in little matters. Excellence is not an exception, it is a prevailing attitude.”… Colin Powell". More about John:"I own The Defensive Shooting Academy. We're a world-class training organization that caters to Civilian, Military & Law Enforcement. We have the finest team of instructors in the business. Come learn how to shoot, fight and manage unknown contacts. I want to start out by saying I am a born again Christian. Yet, although I prefer living in peace, I am no pacifist. When I became a Christian I was prepared to sell all my guns and knives and adopt whatever life the Lord put in front of me. But HE did not lead me to cast away my sword, only to put it in its correct place…specifically as a tool of justice. If God puts me in the place of battle, facing men of evil, I will do so without hesitation. I firmly believe that Jesus does not teach pacifism, but rather He teaches us to seek peace. There is a difference there. True Pacifism (peace at any price) and Seeking Peace (but not at any price) are separated by a wide gulf. If I were put in a place where I had to kill men in combat to preserve freedom, religious beliefs, family or self I would do it and I would not regret it for a moment. We are to provide for those entrusted to us (family, church, etc.). To deny this cross is to deny the faith and be worse than an unbeliever. Provision includes food, shelter, spiritual guidance AND safety. Some may say that that is why they pay taxes…so the government will protect them. Sorry, that won’t do it completely. Just as we would not expect the United States Government (and would in fact resist it if it tried) to provide us with food, housing, and religious teaching, neither can we abrogate the right and duty to provide for our own protection, and that of our families. To cause others to deny their cross this way (via incorrect teachings) is even worse, and the future of such are filled with waiting millstones. A pacifist is a person who refuses to act in violence in any way, for any reason, or at any time. Such a person will die, and watch others die, before ever resorting to violent means to save himself or others. In contrast, one can love peace and seek it, but not at any price. A man can desire peace with a gun in his hand. There are people out there that would kill you for a $5 bill and wouldn't miss a step. My wife is the reason I train and prepare for what life may bring. I'm the owner of The Defensive Shooting Academy, a very well-respected firearms training company. We exist to serve God and specialize in teaching people how to stay alive. We teach people how to shoot rifles, shotguns and pistols but we offer plenty of other knowledge along the way. As the lead firearms instructor I have enjoyed seeing all the people we've helped over the years. We've been around since 2000 and really enjoy hearing about and seeing the difference we've made in people's lives. I have been married to a beautiful woman for 14 years now and we share a wonderful, blessed life together. We don't have children cause God never put that in our hearts. We stay plenty busy though with our hobbies, our 3 dogs, 2 horses, 5 cats and 6 Koi. We enjoy riding motorcycles with our friends, touring the country, spending time with friends and family and relaxing at home. We enjoy our animals, our family and worshiping our Lord at Church on the Move. If you'd ever like to join us all you have to do is ask. We'd be more than happy to have you visit COTM with us! We think you'd love it.".