Perspectives | Recovering Grace

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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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Category Archives: Perspectives

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 [...]

How “Lessons From Moral Failures in a Family” Blames Victims

11 April 2013, 06:00

Administrator

An Institute publication entitled “Lessons From Moral Failures in a Family” [Click here for the full pdf document] was first mailed to Advanced Training Institute (ATI) families in the late 1990s, and it has been periodically distributed at conferences since. Recovering Grace does not know the identity of the family members who shared their story [...]

We Had Hoped

31 March 2013, 05:00

Micah J. Murray

Silence. Then suddenly, a breath. Cold air rushing into empty lungs. Grave clothes abandoned on a stone slab. An explosion of earth—shaking light. Hardened soldiers’ knees buckling. Trumpet blasts and angels singing and sunrise. Silence. Then the creaking of a boulder shifting. A cave opening. A dead man walking out of his grave more alive [...]

God is Dead

30 March 2013, 06:00

Micah J. Murray

This is the second part of a Holy Week trilogy. Find part one here: “The God Who Bleeds.” Find part three here: “We Had Hoped.” God is dead, and we killed him. This is the terrifying reality of what we so cruelly call “Good Friday.” This is the sudden, dark twist in the story that [...]

The God Who Bleeds

29 March 2013, 08:00

Micah J. Murray

“In Revelation, Jesus is a pride fighter with a tattoo down His leg, a sword in His hand and the commitment to make someone bleed. That is a guy I can worship… I cannot worship a guy I can beat up.” -Mark Driscoll I’m haunted by the mystery that Jesus was God in human form. [...]

Why Be a World Changer?

28 March 2013, 06:00

Administrator

Am I the only one who gets triggered by the idea of being a world changer? My news feed is full of calls to be a world changer — all from different camps. One is from the “Truth Project,” another from IHOP (the ministry, not the restaurant), another from YWAM, another from…. well, I could [...]

Commitments, Vows, and Promises of Greatness: The Art of the Spiritual Con

25 March 2013, 06:00

Eliza

…The above memory (albeit a bit foggy with the years) is a typical example of how Mr. Gothard spoke to apprenticeship students at various IBLP and ATI (Institute in Basic Life Principles and Advanced Training Institute) functions I attended. One of the effects of this type of spiritual manipulation was that I began to have unrealistic [...]

Safety or Superstition?

17 March 2013, 14:50

WendyA

The deeper I move into traditional realms of theological thought, the more I am convinced that one of the biggest dangers in the teachings of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) is that it teaches a subtle form of superstitious determinism. Rather than being free to live our lives without fear, we are taught [...]

Stolen Treasures

11 March 2013, 05:00

Administrator

143

A recent article on Recovering Grace, entitled “Moving On,” prompted me to think about the reason it is so difficult to move forward after being victimized by legalism. As I have worked with those hurt by legalism over the years, I have often heard stories about what happened five, ten, maybe thirty years ago. These [...]