License to Parent with Trace Embry

Enough is Enough 2 Last week we heard from an expert in making the internet safe for your family. She said, “Let me just share the story of John Doe who was a convicted sex offender in a high-security prison. I talked to him for three hours. He would look for kids online that he was interested in. He was talking to a 13-year-old girl. That 13-year-old girl liked boys who were around 15 and played...

Enough is Enough It is obvious that we are raising our kids in a nation that has veered from the Christian morals and moreens that helped make America a global superpower. Consequently, our children are now being abused as a logical outworking of this moral veering. So what is a wise and godly parent to do for today? We will be talking with Donna Rice Hughes about how we can bring a semblance of s...

Healing Families During the course of almost every mom and dad’s 18-year parenting journey, you will encounter conflict with your children. Guaranteed. But what happens when the conflicts become routine and magnify into combat in the teen years? How should parents proceed when you can no longer restrain your teenage wrecking ball from wrecking your home and the loved ones inside it? There are opti...

Entertainment in Today’s Culture First, we were able to teach our kids how to assimilate into the culture. This was due to the cultural norms of the day. These norms tended to line up with a biblical worldview, for the most part, and even unbelievers accepted them. Those who strayed from the norms still knew the difference between right and wrong. They simply chose to do wrong. Even hardened crimi...

Making a Change Today we engage in Part II of that conversation. If you missed  Part I  with Eric, you can listen to it online. Discussing a Changing America with Eric Holmberg Eric Holmberg is the Founder and President of Reel to Real Ministries. He’s also with the Apologetics Group, an ordained minister, an author, speaker, and video documentarian. The American Way & Our Role as Parents Epis...

The Divine Reset As children and teens, the world we experienced back then seemed to be much more straightforward. For the most part, our culture tended to agree on what was right and what was wrong; even if some chose not to follow the rules. Enter the worldwide web. Screens and keyboards have become a new alter of worship as our kids are learning and discovering the ways of thinking of the masse...

Never Knowing a Time Without Tech A generation ago, raising children was a totally different ballgame! Sure, technology has made our lives (and our parenting journeys) much easier in a lot of ways. But in other ways, technology has made our lives a whole lot more complicated. Some may argue that technology today is hindering parents and their ability to impart, maintain and preserve moral standard...

Leading the Christian Life Well, the Bible is clear that the Christian life will involve warfare. Metaphorically speaking, it refers to putting on the full armor of God. It also uses many other analogies of war that describe our role in advancing God’s kingdom. In fact, Jesus himself describes his kingdom as something to be entered rather forcefully. Some English translations even use the word “vi...

Suicidal Ideations in Teens Mental illness, addictions of all kinds, self-harm, and suicide are among the most prevalent. Sadly, suicide is now the second leading cause of death today among American teenagers. That is only surpassed by motor vehicle accidents. This is absolutely tragic. Today we speak with one of our friends at Focus on the Family about the topic of suicide and how to keep this ep...

God’s Perfect Parenting Plan Last time on License to Parent: “Our first obligation in the raising of a child is not to the child. Our first obligation is to God the father. Your second obligation is to your neighbor. Your third obligation is to your child.” That’s John Rosemond, author of The Bible Parenting Code: Revealing God’s Perfect Parenting Plan. You see, parenting is about more than just t...

Coaching the Fundamentals Now many coaches through the years have used a framework for success that includes focusing on the fundamentals. But Wooden takes that to the extreme. At the start of each season when he would meet with the new team, he would spend about half an hour giving step-by-step instructions on the correct way to put on your socks. “Because in order to play the game, you have to s...

The Devil's in the Details It’s really no different with our kids. Who they are, how they act, and what they think and do, could be rooted in or at least fueled by the things they see and hear. This includes the music they listen to. Could the be an inherent danger, or even evil, found in certain songs or types of music? Could there be a danger and evil that is profoundly impacting our kids in a n...

Raising Well-Adjusted Kids With respect to raising healthy, well-adjusted kids, every generation of parents down through the ages have had their own unique challenges during the times that they lived. This has been true whether the challenges be economic depression, sharp social changes, wars, plagues, natural disasters, technological advances, or other negative influences beyond our control. Now...

Peoples is Peoples But is that true? Within a certain culture, we may all be similar in our beliefs about right and wrong and normal. But what happens when you cross cultural lines, or when you move to another culture? People from one culture often find the practices of another to be backward, too morally progressive, too morally oppressive, even criminal. For example, most American’s would say th...

Finding Hope for Parents  Last time on License to Parent: “We always tell them that it’s not the parent’s choice. It’s the child’s choice that got them into the situation that they are in. All we can do is love them, parent them, model them, encourage them, and point them in the right direction. But ultimately it’s their decision to make and we try to reinforce that as much as we can.” Discussing...

The Family of the Prodigal Child These days just about every parent you talk to either has or knows someone who has a son or a daughter who has gone off the rails in terms of behavior, attitude, or both. Addiction, self-harm, and sadly even incidents of suicide are all growing at an alarming rate among America’s young people. Curiously, this is happening at a time when America’s standard of living...

Changing My Child's Behavior There’s a reason for this. Young people have been leaving the church in droves. This exodus, to use a biblical term, doesn’t seem to be slowing down. There are reasons for this also. So the question is why? Why are our young people leaving the church? What can we do as parents to keep our own kids in taking part in this rush for the door? Even more importantly, how can...

Changing My Child's Behavior Last time on License to Parent: “Hey, you just took that toy and pushed your brother. What does that say about how you view your brother? What’s going on inside of you is that you value yourself and what you want more than you value your brother. So what is that? That’s selfishness and it’s also pride. But the problem is that the Bible calls that a sin.” That’s Israel...

Parenting Today's Children Today Well before you answer, fixing a child usually also means fixing the parents, fixing the environment, and fixing the relationships. Perhaps a better question would be, “are you willing to invest the time, effort, and intentionality it will take to keep your child and your family from becoming damaged goods in the first place?” That’s going to require some self-refl...

The Perfect Father Whether it’s a biological father, an adopted father, or our heavenly father, there’s an incalculable value afforded any child who’s been blessed with a good father. Yet as our culture downplays the significance of the traditional family, so too goes the value placed on fatherhood. As a result, more and more American men are placing their value and significance in just about anyt...

There’s a Big Difference Last time on License to Parent: “I think sometimes people confusing walking with somebody with condoning or accepting or validating what they are doing. I can love anyone through any circumstance. But that doesn’t mean that I need to show them that I’m accepting that. I’ve got gay people that I minister to all the time and they know where I stand and we respect one another...

Answering the Big Questions Sadly, even many churches today are hard-pressed to do so. Many would say that this is the reason that the church is now so marginalized, discriminated against, and openly attacked. But this may actually be more accurately describing churchgoers adhering to a biblical worldview today. As parents, we are going to have to be more intentional about helping our kids adopt a...

God's Model for the Family In a real and abstract sense, not to understand the importance of the family is to come into life and then go through it crippled. When the family crumbles, or when it’s totally redefined by humankind, entire societies crumble. Yet even when societies do crumble, those people committed to God’s definition and plan for the family can still stand strong. The family also ac...

True Representation We are the only nation on the face of the earth that has an emancipation proclamation. We are the only nation that fought a war to end slavery. But the facts are not reported. The messages coming out that supposedly represent blacks today are false prophets. Discussing Rescuing American History with Bob Woodson That’s the voice of Bob Woodson, author of the book Red, White, and...

A Redemptive People I’m talking about obvious and fundamental things like am I a boy or am I really a girl? Am I inferior because of the color of my skin? Could I actually be a racist without realizing it? Is my country systemically racist? For a child, it can be a confusing time. It’s a time when our kids’ values, worldview, and brain matter are still being developed most. It’s when their securit...