License to Parent with Trace Embry

I've heard it said that Character is "who you are and what you do when nobody is looking." When it comes to our kids, I think character-building has a lot to do with the quality of people that they're surrounded with. I also believe that who and what our kids are regularly being entertained by can affect their character as well. But of course, there's no better model and teacher of character than parents. But that door swings both ways. Your kids are gonna learn from you, for good or for ill, or a little bit of both.

Today we talk more on character with Mr. Pat Williams. Pat Williams is senior vice president of the NBA's Orlando Magic. He has more than 50 years of professional sports experience, has written more than 100 books, including the popular Coach Wooden, Coach Wooden's Greatest Secret, and Character Carved in Stone.

The 12 Words of Character Building

Mr. Pat William’s book, Character Carved in Stone, was inspired by his trip to West Point. Here he discovered 12 benches, each with a word inscribed on the end of the bench. These benches were a gift from a graduating class on their 50th anniversary. They wished to leave and instill these important words into the lives of those at West Point. Each word had been found to be critical in their lives in WWII or Korea as military leaders.

These 12 character traits transition to every one of us, regardless of our field. Whether we are leading in our homes, churches, schools, places of business, etc. these 12 principles are absolutely mandatory if we are going to be fully effective.

Many believe that if you discipline your child you don’t love your child. But really that’s simply not true. They are not polar opposites. Discipline is a component of love. We use the analogy quite often that love is like a car battery. You have the positive (warm and fuzzy) and the negative (tough love) and without both poles, it does not work.

As parents, we need to set the expectations for character and for our child’s future. When a child turns 18, will they go into the workforce? To college? To the military? Building character also includes helping your child develop into a responsible and capable adult. Have the conversation early about their coming of age and what that looks like. No, they won’t sit at home and play video games. They will be a legal adult and be required to start their own lives. Don’t wait until they’re 18 to spring that on them!

One of the words on the benches was integrity. Can we teach our kids integrity without the moral component described in Scripture? Integrity comes from the root word integer which means 1. A leader or a person of integrity is consistent in their life. The walk and the talk match.

Episode Highlights:

How is discipline a component of character building?

How can we set our children up to be successful independent adults?

Can we teach integrity outside of Scripture?

Picture via: Pixabay

I’ve heard it said that Character is “who you are and what you do when nobody is looking.” When it comes to our kids, I think character-building has a lot to do with the quality of people that they’re surrounded with. I also believe that who and what our kids are regularly being entertained by […]

It's up to us, as godly parents, to make sure we're equipping our children with the tools that help give our kids the best start in life possible. But, some would argue that the toolboxes from which white parents equip their kids are better tool boxes and are stocked deeper with better tools necessary for success than the toolboxes of most black parents. And, therefore, the playing field needs to be leveled somehow for the black population. Today we speak with Reverend CL Bryant on this relevant topic.

Reverend Bryant is a Senior Fellow at FreedomWorks and the founder of One Nation Back to God and has frequented many mainstream channels such as Fox News. The Blaze. CNN. MSNBC. Syndicated Radio. He is also a columnist and author and the former two-term President of NAACP Garland, Texas. On June 4, 2014, C.L. became Host of soon syndicated radio program The CL Bryant Show. C.L. Bryant is recognized as one of America's most Dynamic Orators and he is a highly sought after Speaker, Motivator, Activist, Organizer, Gospel Preacher. He is married to his wife, Jane C. Pruitt Bryant and a father of four; grandfather of 12.

The Story of Success in America

It takes parents to raise children. In today’s world, we have a broken and fragmented society, so it is increasingly imperative for those of us who have been blessed with a solid family foundation to come alongside those who are perhaps less fortunate than we are; white or black. We can show them the principles of the American dream. The American dream is the ability to keep your family safe, fed, warm and dry. It is up to the individual to take responsibility for who they are and where they are and what they will do with their lives.

Reverend Bryant mentioned that he became a conservative because he was asked to speak at a Pro-Choice rally about 30 years ago as the President of the NAACP. When he refused, he learned that they didn’t just want to control him, but the agenda as well to control this group of people. That is when his odyssey truly began.

The playing field has never level throughout the history of mankind. The history of mankind is a story of struggle and suffering and only Jesus offers us a victory. Surely we cannot expect the playing field to ever be level, no matter where you live. Judeo-Christian ethics has created the greatest nation on the planet and the greatest success story the world has ever known. That must not go away.

What should black and white parents be teaching their parents? Start by telling the stories of victory in this nation! Many times we start by pointing to the areas of darkness in our nation. Each of us has lived our lives and each of us has dark places. If we dwell on those dark places it hinders our progress forward. That’s what is happening in America today. We are spending so much time dwelling on the darkness, and yes it exists, rather than focusing on the victories that our nation represents as a light to this world.

Episode Highlights:

How can parents talk to their kids about race in America?

What truths can we instill into our children?

What are the victories

Picture via: Pixabay

It’s up to us, as godly parents, to make sure we’re equipping our children with the tools that help give our kids the best start in life possible. But, some would argue that the toolboxes from which white parents equip their kids are better tool boxes and are stocked deeper with better tools necessary for […]

Objective truth is the only thing that reveals things as they really are. This includes politics, religion, science, gender, logic or race. Fortunately, there are those who understand the truth when it comes to the importance of traditional, moral and family values as it appears in scripture and how these values can improve our lives, families lives and the relationships needed to bring the unity needed to our society.

Today we talk about the truth with Pastor Bill Owens of the Coalition of African American Pastors, founded in 2003. Reverend William (Bill) Owens is a native of Memphis, Tennessee. Rev. Owens is a graduate of Tennessee State University where he received a degree in Education. After teaching at elementary schools in Memphis and Nashville, he then moved to Los Angeles to continue his career in education. Soon, however, his relentless drive and entrepreneurial skills led him to leave the classroom behind and enter the ministry and business fields.

Rev. Owens is known for taking unpopular stands, no matter the consequences. Reverend Owens travels extensively speaking about his core values: choices in education, the sanctity of life, the protection of marriage, and the free expression of faith. He also serves as a consultant to many political campaigns, candidates, and organizations. He is married to Dr. Deborah De Sousa Owens who heads CAAP’s education department and CAAP’s Women’s Ministry. Rev. Owens has eight children and thirteen grandchildren.

How Objective Truth Makes an Impact on Race in Society

We need to get our kids to understand the importance of objective truth and living out this truth in every aspect of life. It’s the truth required to do science, required in the court of law, and it makes the facts fact. However, today we find that individuals are relying on feelings rather than truth. This is where political correctness takes its stand. If parents of all races and ethnicities can get together on the objective truth train and teach our kids to love our neighbors as ourselves as Christ taught us to do, then I believe we help simplify a problem that I believe we’ve overcomplicated for way too long now.

Reverend William (Bill Owens) explains “What Happened”. He wrote about this topic to discuss the media, politics and the black community at large. Rev. Bill Owens marched with Martin Luther King and explains the stark differences and contrasts in American society then vs. now.

What can parents do to teach children about truth and race? We need to educate our parents as to the history of what did happen. Everything is not racist. We need to understand why. The media has played a large role in defining communities. This country is not racist like it was. A lot of changes have been made. The civil rights movement has been used to fulfill an agenda, rather than to promote truth.

What should parents be teaching their children about those of other races? We need to go out of our way to ensure that we see all races as people. Talk to people. Have dialogue. Be honest. Talk on your child’s level and share with them the truth of Scripture. Integrate them with other people. We make the difference. By sharing the truth with our children, we help to combat the lies that are told in the name of scripture but are actually false doctrine.

Episode Highlights:

How can parents, regardless of race, teach their children about truth and race?

Is America more racist today?

What is the result of political correctness and political decisions?

Picture via: Pixabay

Objective truth is the only thing that reveals things as they really are. This includes politics, religion, science, gender, logic or race. Fortunately, there are those who understand the truth when it comes to the importance of traditional, moral and family values as it appears in scripture and how these values can improve our lives, […]

So, when trying to explain all this to our kids, how do we make sense of a world that makes no sense? Do we have a right to teach our children anything, if we can’t even determine whether they are truly male or female—or perhaps both at the same time. Have we created an Orwellian dystopian society that makes it impossible to raise our children to become what used to be called normal? And, is even the word “normal” a bad word anymore? Is the word “bad” a bad word?

Today we speak with Ryan T. Anderson of the Heritage Foundation. He is the author of When Harry Became Sally: Responding to the Transgender Moment and Truth Overruled: The Future of Marriage and Religious Freedom, and he is the co-author of What Is Marriage? Man and Woman: A Defense and Debating Religious Liberty and Discrimination.

Anderson’s research has been cited by two U.S. Supreme Court justices, Justice Samuel Alito and Justice Clarence Thomas, in two Supreme Court cases. He received his bachelor of arts degree from Princeton University and his doctoral degree in political philosophy from the University of Notre Dame. Anderson has made appearances on ABC, CNN, CNBC, MSNBC, and Fox News. His work has been published by the New York Times, the Washington Post, the Wall Street Journal, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, the Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy and many others.

Responding to the Transgender Movement

There seems to be a whole new approach to science with LGBTQ issues, but particularly with Transgender. Why are scientists, doctors and others just rolling right along with this stuff? This is the most recent outgrowth of the sexual revolution. It’s the 1950s working out its logic. We’ve seen a cultural redefinition of marriage and now we’re seeing a cultural redefinition of sex and gender. All of this is a logical outworking of postmodern thought.

There is also new technology. We have always had people who felt uncomfortable in their own body. Historically we responded with love and attempted to help them feel comfortable in the body they were given. Synthetic hormones didn’t exist 100 years ago. It wasn’t a technological possibility until recently. Hormone therapy and blockers are new. A perfect storm is created by poor theology and new technology. Coupling this with a political party backing the T in LGBTQ, we now see this as a more prevalent issue.

Sexual reassignment surgeries have consequences. They do not resolve the underlying struggles, tension and psycho-social problems. We need to create a platform for physicians, therapist and endocrinologists to feel comfortable and confident that they can speak out.

What kind of discussion should parents be having with their children? First, growing up is hard. Going through the maturation process is difficult. People have struggles and we need to be compassionate. Just because you have a gender identity conflict does not mean you are the opposite sex. Secondly, Just because you feel uncomfortable as a boy or girl doesn’t mean you’re trapped in the wrong body. Frequently it means you need to develop a more authentic understanding of your gender. Typically it’s because of inaccurate stereotypes. Sex cannot be assigned later in life. The problem is with thoughts and feelings, and you can get help aligning those with your body.

Episode Highlights:

How can parents raise young children in our culture today?

What caused the rise in the transgender movement?

What is our role in this discussion?

Picture via: Pixabay

So, when trying to explain all this to our kids, how do we make sense of a world that makes no sense? Do we have a right to teach our children anything, if we can’t even determine whether they are truly male or female—or perhaps both at the same time. Have we created an Orwellian […]

I asked a group of our SHA kids how many had armed guards in their schools. About 75%—80% of their hands went up. Several more knew a school near them where a shooting had happened; and, one student had a shooting take place in the very school she attended. I can jog to a school from where we sit right now that had a shooting just a couple of years ago. And, in the late 90s, I went to church with a family, who’s kid would play all kinds of crazy music in our church parking lot after almost every service. About a year later this kid went on a shooting rampage in our small town, killing at least one person, shooting it out with police and then leading a police-chase all the way to the Florida line--about a 300-mile trek. And, when they caught him, I was watching him being arrested by Florida police on my TV screen in little Martin, GA.

Col. Dave Grossman is a US Army Ranger, a paratrooper, and a former West Point Psychology Professor. He has a Black Belt in Hojutsu, the martial art of the firearm, and has been inducted into the USA Martial Arts Hall of Fame. Col. Grossman’s research was cited by the President of the United States in a national address, and he has testified before the U.S. Senate, the U.S. Congress, and numerous state legislatures. Since his retirement from the US Army in 1998, he has been on the road almost 300 days a year, for over 19 years, as one of our nation’s leading trainers for military, law enforcement, mental health providers, and school safety organizations.

The Missing Link in Teen Violence

Col. Dave Grossman recently released a book entitled Assassination Generation, which he presented to the President and Senators during a meeting following the Parkland shooting. He also has several other books, including New York Best Sellers that have yet to have a single review. So why is that? The media certainly filters out the information that doesn’t match with their own agenda. One thing they are all invested in is that anything harmful can come through media. The violent stories, imagery and video games are said to have no impact on our society. The commercials are worth billions of dollars!

But Psalms 11 says God hates lovers of violence. Very rarely does the Bible discuss God hating. We need to take that very seriously. If we as parents love violent tv shows and movies, how do we train our children to love the things that God loves? Who do we really worship and who have we given our children to?

Another adverse effect that we aren’t discussing as a culture is sleep deprivation. It’s an epidemic across our entire civilization. In fact, one of the results of sleep deprivation can include schizophrenic episodes. Hallucinations can also occur after three days without sleep. Sleep deprivation appears to be the greatest predictor of suicide in our kids. In the military, suicides occur due to sleep deprivation, not combat. A non-combat vet is just as likely to commit suicide as a combat vet. Sleep deprivation is the missing link. In fact, a sleep-deprived person can be up to 5 times more likely to take their life. 18 hours without sleep and your impaired judgment are equal to .08 legally drunk. 24 hours your impaired judgment is equal to .10 legally drunk. Two nights without sleep and you are psychotic.

When you send your kid to bed at night, take their cell phones! No laptop in their room. When they go to their bedroom they need to sleep. The texts and the images that are sent to your child’s phone at all hours can’t just be “turned off” in their minds if the phone is in the room. They will be up all hours of the night trying to defend themselves, finding someone to stand with them. If we as parents can’t ignore that text message in the middle of the night, how do we expect our kids to?

I spoke to a parent who had a daughter, straight-A student and very smart who told him “you can trust me to have my phone.” So he did. Not long after, his daughter committed suicide.

I asked a group of our SHA kids how many had armed guards in their schools. About 75%—80% of their hands went up. Several more knew a school near them where a shooting had happened; and, one student had a shooting take place in the very school she attended. I can jog to a school […]