The MAVEN Parent Podcast

Most Christians know a few things about Islam—the Quran, Allah, whatever they've picked up from the news—but not enough to put the pieces together. So when someone says "Muslims and Christians worship the same God," they're not sure how to answer.

In this episode, Brett and Erin sit down with Alan Shlemon of Stand to Reason, a longtime friend and colleague, for a ground-level introduction to Islam. Alan walks through the three things that matter most in any conversation with a Muslim—who God is, who Jesus is, and how salvation works—and explains why the Islamic doctrine of tawhid makes the Trinity not just wrong but blasphemous, why the Quran actually says more about Jesus than about Muhammad, and how the five pillars fit into a system where your good deeds are weighed against your bad ones.

Get Alan's booklet The Ambassador's Guide to Islam and more resources at Stand to Reason: https://www.str.org/

Register for the C.S. Lewis Symposium: https://www.mavenconferences.com/cslewissymposium

MAVEN...is donor-supported...DONATE HERE: https://maventruth.com/donation/

Abdu Murray grew up in a devout Shia Muslim home where faith wasn't one activity among many—it was identity, family, and daily life woven together. He was confident enough in it to spend years challenging Christians on their own beliefs, and winning. Then came a nine-year investigation into Islam and Christianity that led him to Christ, at real cost to the family and community that raised him.

In this episode, Brett and Erin sit down with Abdu, president of Embrace the Truth and author of Fake ID, to hear that story from the beginning: the home that formed him, the objections he pressed against Christians, the evidence that eventually broke through, and what it cost him to walk away.

They pull out what Christian parents can learn from it—why Muslim families are often better at forming identity than we are, the two questions our kids are least prepared to answer (Who is God? and Why trust the Bible?), why conversion asks far more of a person than we usually admit, and how to teach our kids about Islam in a way that treats Muslims as image-bearers rather than opponents.

Listen to our first conversation with Abdu on AI and identity: https://linktw.in/rKcxDZ

Learn more about Abdu's ministry Embrace the Truth here: https://embracethetruth.org/

Register for the C.S. Lewis Symposium: https://www.mavenconferences.com/cslewissymposium

MAVEN...is donor-supported...DONATE HERE: https://maventruth.com/donation/

AI is changing the world and developing faster than we can track. But what if the biggest danger isn't what AI can do, but what it reveals about what we believe about reality and what it means to be human?

In this episode, Brett and Erin sit down with Abdu Murray, president of Embrace Truth and author of Fake ID, to unpack the convergence of artificial intelligence and identity ideology, why he argues that both are accelerating a reality collapse in our culture, and what this means for Christian parents who are trying to disciple the next generation.

Purchase Abdu's book here: https://embracethetruth.org/fake-id/

Get the parent reader guide for Abdu's book here: https://embracethetruth.org/fake-id-resources-sign-up-form/

Learn more about Abdu's ministry Embrace the Truth here: https://embracethetruth.org/

Register for the C.S. Lewis Symposium: https://www.mavenconferences.com/cslewissymposium

MAVEN...is donor-supported...DONATE HERE: https://maventruth.com/donation/

What do you actually do when your kids don’t listen? We talk a lot on this podcast about setting boundaries, holding kids accountable, and discipline but what do those strategies actually look like in the nitty gritty of real life with real kids? What do you do when your child ignores you, hits a sibling, speaks disrespectfully, or refuses to do their chores? In this episode, Brett and Erin get incredibly practical by walking you through real-life discipline scenarios and explaining how Christian parents can move from biblical principles to concrete action.

Learn more about why Gentle Parenting isn't an effective way to parent: https://equip.maventruth.com/gentle-parenting-ebook

Register for the C.S. Lewis Symposium: https://www.mavenconferences.com/cslewissymposium

MAVEN...is donor-supported...DONATE HERE: https://maventruth.com/donation/

What does it mean to be male or female? And why does it matter? Our culture is notoriously confused about sex, gender, and identity. How can Christians cut through the confusion to communicate the truth with both Biblical clarity and compassion? In this episode, Erin exposes three lies shaping culture's conversation about gender and explores how the beauty and goodness of God's design for men and women goes beyond stereotypes.

Register for the C.S. Lewis Symposium: https://www.mavenconferences.com/cslewissymposium

MAVEN...is donor-supported...DONATE HERE: https://maventruth.com/donation/