Christian Parenting Podcast Archives - Trace Embry | License to Parent

Melanie Hempe, BSN, is an author, speaker and the founder of ScreenStrong and Families Managing Media (FMM).  She received her bachelors of Nursing from Emory University and has worked with technology experts and researchers on the impact of social media and video game use.  She helps families avoid problematic screen use, i.e., video games, pornography, social media, etc. in their kids’ lives.

Through ScreenStrong, she provides resources and education courses on brain development and the effects of screen use on kids, and solutions for parents who desire to free their kids from screen addictions. Melanie hosts the popular weekly ScreenStrong Families Podcast and has been featured in Psychology Today, The Wall Street Journal, A&E Network, CBS, CNN, NPR, “Screened Out” (the movie), and many other news and television outlets.

Melanie lives in North Carolina with her husband, Chris, and their four children.  As a family they enjoy reading good books, spending time with friends in their home and just good family fun without screens.

Trace Embry, Michelle Hill and guest Melanie Hempe, BSN discuss the dangers of screen time and digital addiction with our children, comparing its effects on the brain to that of cocaine and heroin. The conversation brings out passions how the constant exposure to screens can lead to mental health issues like depression, anxiety, and even suicidal thoughts.

Trace and Melanie also highlight the importance of parents taking responsibility for their children’s screen time and setting boundaries.  Then Melanie Hempe shares the personal experience she encountered with her own son’s gaming addiction and how she managed to help him overcome it.

Melanie emphasizes the importance of real-life social interactions for children and warns against the false sense of social fulfillment that social media provides.  She encourages parents to stick together with other like minded parents.  The three of them encourage parents to seek support and gather resources to help manage their children’s screen time effectively.

Episode Highlights:

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John Rosemond has worked with families, children, and parents since 1971 in the field of psychology. In 1971 he earned his masters in psychology from Western Illinois University, and is licensed in North Carolina.  During his career he has directed several mental health programs for children.

For the last 30 years or so, John devotes his time to speaking and writing. John is syndicated in well over 225 newspapers nationwide. He has written over eighteen best-selling parenting books, and travels to speak all over the country sharing his parenting experience and humor with so many others.

He resides in North Carolina with his wife of over 50 years, Wilma, a.k.a. “Willy.”  He is also the founder of ParentGuru, where he helps parents to raise responsible adults.

Trace Embry, Michelle Hill, and psychologist John Rosemond discuss John’s latest book, “The Bible Parenting Code: Revealing God’s Perfect Plan for Parenting.”  John shares an amusing personal experience of raising his son using modern psychological methods, which resulted in his son being the worst behaved child his teacher had seen in 20 years.

After this revelation, John and his wife Willy decided to raise their children the way they were raised, which led to a significant improvement in their son’s behavior and academic performance.

John Rosemond is a critic of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) and refers to it as a book of bogus diagnoses.  He emphasizes the importance of relying on God’s perfect parenting plan as outlined in the Bible. He also discusses the congruence between Scripture and recent astrophysical facts as a way to affirm the truthfulness of Scripture.

Episode Highlights:

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Holly Hunter is the founder of Hunter Investigations, LLC and Safe Passage Global.  It is her passion and calling to help families in crisis.  For more than twenty years she has been a private investigator helping parents with crisis management intervention.  Holly also helps families transport troubled teens to therapeutic programs via Safe Passage Global.  She is certified in crisis management, a mental health coach, first responder, a Christian life coach, and so much more!  On a more personal level, Holly cares deeply about people, loves to take pictures, writing books, and singing.

Trace Embry, Michelle Hill, and Holly Hunter share their experiences about the challenges parents face when dealing with troubled teenagers and the options available for help. They discuss the role of residential care programs like Shepherd’s Hill Academy, which offers therapeutic and educational support for teens in crisis.

They also discuss the importance of parents maintaining their relationship and not blaming each other for their child’s issues. Our guest, Holly Hunter, founder of Safe Passage Global, explains her organization’s role in transporting troubled teens to therapeutic schools and programs and their benefits. She emphasizes the importance of family unity and the need for professional help in extreme cases. They also touch on the legal aspects of involuntary treatment and the misconceptions surrounding it.

Episode Highlights:

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G. Craige Lewis has been ministering for over 30 years. He’s been pastoring Adamant Believers Council in North Richland Hills, Texas for over a decade, promoting the message of Christ and fighting against the secularization of God’s church.

Lewis also leads and is the founder of EX Ministries; established to share God’s Truth to the body of Christ and others, and to expose the deception of the enemy. He is often called on to speak about the hip-hop sub-culture, as he authored the “The Truth Behind Hip Hop” series. 

Trace Embry, Rich Roszel and G. Craige Lewis discuss the impact of music on children and teenagers. They share that the music young people listen to can shape their identities and influence their behavior!  To a higher degree, certain types of music, particularly rock, rap, and hip-hop, can have a negative impact on young people, potentially leading them to engage in harmful behaviors.  They all stress the importance of parents being intentional in their parenting and being aware of the music their children are listening to.

G. Craige shares his views on the spiritual nature of music and its effect on human behavior. He argues that music can bypass a person’s moral code and influence them in ways they may not be aware of.  He also emphasizes the importance of being filled with the Holy Spirit to discern the spiritual nature of music.  Rich expounds on this and shares a personal story about how music touched his soul.

Trace expresses this;  “I think we’ve got too many people claiming the name of Christ who want to live like hell and expect heaven for a reward.  It just doesn’t work that way.”

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ANNOUNCEMENT:  For a Season, production of New Radio programs of License to Parent is on “Pause” mode.  We Thank Our Radio Listeners!!  The Podcast will now showcase the Best performing, Most listened to programs at this Website and at your favorite Podcast platforms.  Click Here to Subscribe & Continue Listening!  The RSS Feed will be updated with the Classics of License to Parent so you can Stay Tuned!!

Keep Reading for the Reason for the Season as Trace shares his heart below.  His audio message is also at the 27:20 mark in this .mp3 file and in the last recorded program “Emotional Safety with Dr. Joshua Straub.”

For the last 15 or so years I have had the honor and a privilege to interview many of the best and the brightest in the fields of child and family relationships, cultural studies and insights that affect parent-child relationships. Hollywood film makers, scientists, theologians, authors, mental and medical health professionals, philosophers, and many of the giants in today’s broadcasting who have had their fingers on the pulse on many of the things affecting child-rearing for today’s parents, Christian, and secular like. And virtually every one of them, whether they realized it or not, would’ve understood and affirmed the biblical principles for child-rearing from their respective disciplines, whether they were actually Christians or not because the Bible and science don’t contradict one another. The Bible and objective truth do not contradict one another.

For all these years, I’ve left every License to Parent broadcast feeling very much affirmed about what our kids and families are learning and experiencing at Shepherd’s Hill Academy. Family healing and life transformations are the physical evidences that God and His Word through Jesus Christ is the Way the Truth and the Life and certainly the model for a parent’s best shot at raising healthy, well-adjusted kids in a society that’s imploded before our eyes.

When we first launched License to Parent, only a man and a woman could possibly make a marriage. Only man and woman could’ve possibly birthed and raised a healthy child. Virtually all Americans would have agreed with that. Today, in the eyes of more and more people, our systemically mentally and spiritually ill society doesn’t even know what a man or a woman is! This and much more is just an example of how quickly and how drastically reality itself is being redefined and how science is being ignored.

One of the highest compliments that has been paid to this broadcast, as far as I’m concerned, is the idea that we have not been giving parents answers to the most common questions, but rather License to Parent has been giving parents answers to questions they should be asking but aren’t. Just like our goal at Shepherd’s Hill Academy, our goal here at License to Parent has always been to help build better parents by helping them to become change agents to our culture rather than helping them to become more microcosms of it. Today’s church has produced too many of those already and now it seems we’ve had hell to pay for it.

But in the course of being a beacon of light in a dark world with respect to raising kids, I’ve also had the privilege of working with consummate production professionals who helped make this broadcast what is, people like Rich Rozel, Carl Peetz and my co host Michelle Hill. I want to thank you guys big time, this too has been an honor and a privilege.

There are many reasons for this decision, first and foremost for health reasons. So I would ask you to please pray for my wife, Beth who’s dealing with health issues right now. She’s been given a serious cancer diagnosis. Therefore I’ll be doing my best to make her my first ministry right now. Again, until prayer and circumstances dictate otherwise.

In the meantime, if you like to continue listening to our License to Parent Podcast, just go to our License to Parent website: LicenseToParent.org and click the button to “Subscribe to Podcast.” As prayer, time and circumstances dictate, I’ll look forward to providing you the same kind of information our radio broadcast has provided these past several years.

Thank you so much for the love and support you’ve given us.   I love you!

And we do hope to see you (for new production) another time, Lord willing.

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Dr. Joshua Straub is the Co-Founder and President of Famous at Home, a company that equips others with relational connections and emotional intelligence.  He is also an author and speaker.  He is passionate about helping others lead; he is a marriage and leadership coach, and is a Fellow at the Townsend Institute for Leadership and Counseling.  He takes most pride in his role as husband and dad.  He and his wife Christi host the Famous at Home podcast.

Michelle Hill, Trace Embry and Dr. Joshua Straub discuss the importance of emotional safety in raising children.

Together, they also highlight the importance of showing up for children, both physically and emotionally, and the role of a biblical community in child-rearing.  Dr. Straub suggests that parents should regularly check in with their children to understand their needs and feelings and to show them grace and wisdom.

Both Trace and Joshua share stories about their own fathers.  Joshua also gives pointers how he parents his own children as he and his wife homeschool and have family weekly meetings.

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Our guest, Brad M. Griffin, is the Senior Director of Content & Research for the Fuller Youth Institute.  Brad develops research-based resources for youth ministry leaders & families.  Brad is the coauthor of over fifteen books, including Faith Beyond Youth Group, 3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager & 3 Big Questions That Shape Your Future, Growing Young, and Sticky Faith.  He is also a speaker, writer, and volunteer pastor.  Brad and his wife, Missy, live in Southern California with their three teenage and young adult kids.

Together, Michelle Hill, Trace Embry and Brad Griffin discuss the role of youth groups in the church and how they can and should impact a child’s faith.

The ideal church youth group knows how to express and live out the importance of trust, consistency, and communication with its members. They also highlight the need for youth leaders to model Christ-like behavior and promote conversations about faith outside of the youth group.

It is suggested that parents should expect youth leaders to provide information about the content of the group’s discussions and activities.  Parents should be given an outline of the youth group discussion topics to facilitate effective discipleship and transparency.

Youth groups shouldn’t try to compete by trying to keep kids entertained.  They already get enough of that!  There should be an emphasis on the importance of fun in youth groups, but be cautious on relying too heavily on entertainment.

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Our guest, Jordan Whitmer, age 25, is the Founder of the evangelism and missions organization reaching Generation Z youth called the HowToLife Movement.  He also hosts the podcast called “Gen Z Today.”   He is a graduate of Liberty University, with a Bachelor’s in Religion: Biblical and Theological Studies, and is an ordained reverend.  Jordan’s heart is that Gen Z find Christ and live and lead boldly for Him.

Together, Michelle Hill, Trace Embry and Jordan Whitmer discuss discipling to Gen Z.

The Gen Z generation, those aged between 11 and 26, are reportedly leaving the church at a higher rate than previous generations. The reasons for this are complex, but some suggest it may be due to a lack of discipleship and the influence of secular agendas.

However, Jordan Whitmer believes that many Gen Z individuals are open to faith conversations and can be reached through peer-led evangelism events.   Learn more how to get involved and see how Jordan is making a difference.

Whitmer’s movement has organized over 155 student-led evangelism events across 29 U.S. states and 11 countries. Despite the challenges, Jordan remains hopeful for the spiritual future of Gen Z!

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Our guest, Dr. Frank Turek is an Author and President of Crossexamined.org, a Christian Apologetics ministry helping young people defend the Christian faith. Frank hosts an hour-long TV program each week called “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to Be an Atheist.” He hosts a podcast with the same name.  He also writes for Townhall.com.

Together, Michelle Hill, Trace Embry and Dr. Frank Turk discuss the challenges of raising Christian children in a secularized culture.  Dr. Turek  emphasizes the importance of Christian apologetics in defending the faith and addressing tough questions sparked by secular standards.

Dr. Turek also highlights the role of the digital age in spreading distorted information and lies about God and His word. He encourages parents to equip themselves with cogent answers to these questions and to guide their children in navigating the digital world.

There is also discussion on the concept of miracles, arguing that the universe itself is a miracle and that natural laws require a lawgiver.  Frank shares that the fundamental essence of the story of Christ is sacrifice.  People sacrifice themselves to save others, and that’s what all the top movie blockbusters of the past 50 years have heroes that sacrifice.  Jesus sacrificed Himself to save His friends.  Jesus said ‘There’s no greater love than to lay down your life to save your friends.”

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In this episode of License to Parent, Trace and Michelle continue their discussion on the impact of sexual perversion and the LGBTQ+ movement on society and the church. They mention how the normalization of these issues are causing a moral decline and confusion among young people.

They also discuss the importance of parents having open and honest conversations at a young age with their children about sexuality, and setting clear boundaries. They emphasize the need for parents to guide their children based on biblical principles and to always affirm their love for them, even when they make choices that go against these principles.

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