Featured Article | Recovering Grace

We will be focusing on Sexual Abuse Awareness in the month of April. If you have a personal story to share, please message us: support@recoveringgrace.org.

Personal testimonies of finding true freedom through God's matchless grace.

Living and thriving through the grace of God.

A closer look at the teachings of Bill Gothard by the Elders of Calvary Bible Church in Fort Worth, TX

Articles about how Bill Gothard mishandles the Bible to support his legalistic viewpoint.

The truth about what happens behind the scenes in IBLP.

Our response to Bill Gothard's November 2011 letter addressed to "all past and present ATI students."

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Out of the Ashes

23 May 2013, 06:00

Anastasia

Wandering the streets, looking for a place to sleep at 19 years old, trying to avoid the parts of town I was never allowed to go was not easy. I used to spend the night in my car, but circumstances (namely my father) had taken that from me. Over the years, I had been deemed [...]

Book Review: “He Still Moves Stones”

20 May 2013, 06:00

Diana Hall

“Legalism is a dark world” (Lucado 118). In his book, “He Still Moves Stones,” Max Lucado speaks to circumstances of loss and pain in order to address the question of “Where is God when I hurt?” I was shocked to find that one of these chapters was about pain caused by legalism. I’m not sure [...]

From Clear Conscience to Clear Thinking: Journey from Guilt to Grace!

16 May 2013, 06:00

Administrator

While many entered the world of ATI (the Advanced Training Institute) as teenagers or young adults, I was one of those who began my journey quite young. Even though I didn’t understand my parents’ new found zeal for “Wisdom Booklets” on my first day of school, I gradually came to accept them as a regular part of [...]

When We Criticize The Church

13 May 2013, 06:00

Micah J. Murray

We were sold a package deal. Truth and lies, hope and despair, real and fake — all tied up in a neat package with a bow and sold to us with the label of “Christianity.” The men in the suits with all the words told us that what they taught was true. They said it [...]

The Gospel of Pragmatism

9 May 2013, 06:00

Administrator

Pragmatism is basically the idea that positive results are sufficient criteria for determining value, even truth. In other words: if it works, use it. One of the most famous pragmatists was a man known as Nicollo Machiavelli. For Machiavelli, the goal of a strong and controlled kingdom was worth whatever it would take to get [...]

We Were The Normal Ones

6 May 2013, 06:00

Administrator

I have heard many people talk about how they still want to be involved in ATI (the Advanced Training Institute), but be “normal” families and just “filter out the bad stuff.” I’ve seen some of those responses in the Recovering Grace comments. If that’s your premise, then this post is for you, because that’s my [...]

When the Courtship Crashes

2 May 2013, 06:00

Lindsey B

“Lindsey? Do you miss them?” The swing creaked as I pushed a blonde boy who attended our church.We came from different families, backgrounds, and were far apart in age, but today I’d been drawn to play with him by one thing in common. Our friends were gone. “Yeah.” “Did you tell them not to come [...]

What Forgiveness Isn’t

29 April 2013, 06:00

Administrator

6 myths that may be keeping you from letting go by Denise George I listened quietly as my friend Jamie told me the frank details of the sexual abuse she’d suffered as a child. “I hate my father!” she blurted out. “He abused me for more than a decade!” Jamie cried. “But my pastor said [...]

Set Free by Grace

26 April 2013, 06:00

Administrator

It was around 6 a.m. on a Sunday morning in June 2011. I was home for the weekend from the eating disorder hospital where I was in treatment. Asleep in bed, I woke up when my phone beeped for a text message. The name on the screen put fear in my heart. Terrified, I opened [...]

The Danger and Damage of Gothard’s Principles

24 April 2013, 06:00

Administrator

Though I left my family’s home three years ago, Bill Gothard’s twisting of Scripture still haunts me as a young adult today. The way the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) and its secondary programs are set up, they might work in a perfect world, but in the broken reality of this world, they operate with many [...]