License to Parent with Trace Embry

What’s the old saying? Too much of even a good thing is a bad thing, right? And, when it comes to the under-developed human brain, I think the internet has made a case for the idea that perhaps there’s a point when one can have too much knowledge. Isn’t that what got Adam and Eve kicked out of the Garden of Eden in the first place? They wanted something they weren’t supposed to be privy to (knowle...

We’ll be picking up a conversation we started last time with Dr. Quentin Van Meter concerning the physiological and psychological truths and myths relating to the LGBT community; particularly as they pertain to those struggling through transgender issues. Today, we’ll continue that conversation; but, we’re going to take a deeper look at the history, the key players and the politics that might put...

But today we are not living in a world of objective truth. We have found ourselves in a subjective universe where my truth is good for me. But what does that mean for our youth as they grow, learn and discover more about themselves? How do we help them understand and navigate the difficult period of life called adolescence? Today, Dr. Van Meter joins us to speak on some of the gender issues and to...

Could we actually be the financiers and the brokers between our own kids and the Silicon Valley iSlave masters who’ve marketed their wares to our children’s carnal appetites, habits and addictions? Have we mortgaged our kids’ childhood for a convenient digital babysitter that molests our kids with amusements that destroy brain matter, personal relationships, emotional health, and spiritual well-be...

Integrity is the evidence that one’s selfish interests are subordinate to the greater and more transcendent good of the masses. It’s what God wants within us to properly represent and serve Him. Integrity is also what we want in our kids to properly represent us as parents, along with our name’s sake. For the Christian, our integrity may be our greatest means of proving God’s authority in our live...

Of course, anything that one values to the point of occupying the lion’s share of his/her thoughts, time, talent, treasure, and energy can also be considered their idol. God will not compete with idols, nor can He bless a life that—for all intents and purposes—puts a greater value on the created than the Creator. Have our kids become the social animals that God never intended them to be? A graduat...

Media and entertainment are just two of these vehicles through which our kids interact and form ideas, while our government, the mental health industry, and education are just a few of the “institutions” that actually codify these interactions and ideas. Tina Marie Griffin went from baling hay and milking cows on a dairy farm in Wisconsin to working as an actress in Hollywood. At the age of 20, sh...

When these people of influence, whether they be doctors, lawyers, therapists, entertainers, athletes, educators, politicians, and even clergy, all accept and promote something as logically inconsistent as gender fluidity, who are we to say otherwise? Any prudent individual would conclude that we would be the wise parents that our kids need in a world of educated fools. Today, we’ll pick up where w...

As if adolescence wasn’t confusing and traumatic enough, what does it say to a pubescent young man or young woman when they’re now given the option—by supposedly educated professionals and parents who love them —to become the sex of their choosing? This, despite empirical evidence to the contrary. Dr. Michelle Cretella is the Executive Director of the American College of Pediatricians, as well as...

Though many of our kids appear to acclimate to what society throws at them, there are still many kids who haven't fared so well. They’re having a tougher time coping with things they were never designed to encounter at such a tender age. They have been called rebels, outcasts, troubled teenagers, latchkey kids, juvenile delinquents, and a whole host of other not-so-flattering monikers. Today we're...

Is it really that hard to find a church that glorifies God and makes genuine disciples? How do we really know what a healthy and well-balanced churches looks like? Further, of the myriad of churches to choose from in America today, how do we really determine which congregation is right for our family? Jeff Appling is in his 29th year of pastorship over The Grove Church in Maysville, GA. He and his...

If there is a silver lining, it might be that foreign missionaries have indeed come to evangelize, and right in our own backyard. What exactly is this evangelism “thing” anyway, and why is it so important that we not only learn to practice it, but also to teach our kids to do likewise? Ray Comfort is the founder and CEO of Living Waters. He is also a best-selling author of over 80 books, including...

Are American teens and young adults really that mentally ill, compared to the rest of the world, or could it be that we’ve needlessly medicated our kids for problems and behaviors that are largely caused by growing up in today’s toxic American culture? Tina Marie Griffin went from bailing hay and milking cows on a dairy farm in Wisconsin, to working as an actress in Hollywood. At the age of 20, sh...

Though our fathers, husbands, boyfriends, and sons are the largest market for exploited women, little is said about how these same fathers, husbands, boyfriends, and sons might also be the unapparent victims of the misogyny that’s so grossly promoted. Exactly what responsibilities do we have as parents to help stem the tides of these abhorrent double standards and gross hypocrisies? Allison Wallac...

Why is it so important to have not only parents, but also other positive influences around our daughters? Those influences being other authorities who will not just accept them, but be willing to help rescue them when they aren’t able to accept or rescue themselves. Your daughter is even more precious in God's eyes than in your own. All the more reason to be willing and equipped to fight for her....

Things can become absolutely cataclysmic for whole countries when fools, somehow, find their way into the ruling class—law enforcement, lawyers, law-makers, judges, presidents, governors, mayors—even school board members. Since fools have now sailed their ships into the influential waters of today’s American culture, as parents it’s time to identify, define, expose, and then help right the insanit...

Join us as we continue this discussion, and also how one starts the ball rolling on getting into a residential program, what to expect, and what changes may be needed beyond fixing your teen. What Does a Residential Program Look Like, and How to Enroll Your Teen If you missed last week’s episode, part I of this conversation, I would encourage you to listen to it. You can find it on www.licensetopa...

Some examples of these residual effects include: havoc in the home, the guilt that accompanies our feelings of inadequacy as parents, embarrassment and shame, friends, extended family, and our church community being made aware of our situation, the legal costs often incurred, property damage, time away from work to handle problems at home, marital problems, hospital stays, and more. These are all...

New technology has lead to a rise in digital bullying tactics. The human sin nature has, of course, taken full advantage of these new practices which allow them to bully those who were not-so-easy to be taken advantage of in the purely physical realm. Today we’ll examine the subject of bullying and how we can best keep our kids from being victims and/or perpetrators of this dark and abusive practi...

Yet the Bible contains things that are problematic for our increasingly secularized society such as a six-day creation, talking animals, a global flood, and an ark bigger than a football field built by folks without modern equipment. These are all tall tales or myths in the minds of a growing consensus of Americans today. So if we expect our kids to flourish and become spiritually mature by knowin...

But the outrage is that so many of these media outlets are vying for ratings as hard or harder than they are vying for the truth, making the truth much more tempting to twist, tweak, sensationalize, or lampoon for the sake of political gain and the bottom line. Consequently, it’s hard to really know what to believe anymore. When we don’t know what to believe, it makes it virtually impossible to pa...

As parents raise kids in our culture today, they should think about how spiritual problems can impede success. Maybe it’s time to consider how vices like greed or dishonestly can actually hurt our ability to truly succeed in many areas of life. Dani Johnson is a successful entrepreneur and an international speaker, a coach, and a media host. She is also a bestselling author and has written several...

While too many of us are unwittingly allowing our culture to be our kids’ “other parent,” largely via digital technology, that “other parent” has been doing a whale of a job sabotaging any success we may have otherwise hoped our kids would find. So instead of dooming the next generation for failure, today, we will focus on grooming the next generation for success. Dani Johnson has taught hundreds...

Arguably, Scripture’s greatest sticking point for the secular mind—and even for an ever-increasing contingent of Christians—has been the veracity of miracles. Many scientists fail to include miracles as even a possibility for things they can’t explain. But when one’s presuppositions about reality refuse to allow for the possibility of miracles, well, what becomes of one’s take on the veracity of S...

For Christian parents in American culture today, it can almost seem like we have found ourselves in a place where either we have gone stark-raving mad, or the entire world has. Because if our kids begin to rebel against all we have taught them at home, it now seems they have a rebellious and powerful ally in our entire culture. For today’s parents, this can be a lonely and helpless feeling. Does t...