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Category Archives: Perspectives

They Will Know You Are Christians… By Your Standards?

29 October 2011, 05:00

Julie Terrell

41

There is an abundance of teaching within the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) and the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) about “high places”–about the danger of putting things in the place of God and our relationship with Him. But isn’t this exactly what has happened with our “standards” and “character”? In a recent conversation with […]

Barbwired Heart

15 October 2011, 04:10

Moderator

7

I was reading the “Living as God Designed” post on Recovering Grace and started crying (something I almost never do). Here’s the part where the dam burst: “Just as the deer glorifies God by being swift and agile, the elephant glorifies God by being strong and loyal, the flower glorifies God by being beautiful and […]

Disney vs. IBLP

1 October 2011, 01:00

RyanR

17

Growing up in Southern California while most of my extended family lived in the Midwest resulted in my family making a number of trips to Disneyland.  Plus, my mother liked Disneyland quite a bit; we made plenty of trips without extended family too. There were also the Disney movies Snow White, Cinderella, Lady and the […]

Story of a Destiny

29 September 2011, 06:03

Moderator

6

A little star was forming, developing, reaching to become all that the Biggest Star in the solar system meant for it to be. A Mentor star came alongside the little star, and offered to help. The little star shared its secrets and its struggles, and waited to be told how to become the great star […]

A Christian “Utopia”?

24 September 2011, 06:00

Moderator

3

I have a vivid memory of a certain walk I took near the end of my four-year stay at the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) Headquarters campus. I was walking up the sidewalk, taking in the fresh air, and the most revolutionary thought crossed my mind: IBLP is just a small corner of the […]

Who Is God? . . . a Follow-Up

17 September 2011, 01:00

Moderator

3

I hadn’t planned to do a “follow-up” on this topic. But over the past few days, my thoughts keep returning to it. Through the years as I’ve interacted with other former students of the Advanced Training Institute, I’ve seen most of them go through a phase of what would seem to be spiritual shutdown. We […]

Who Is God to You? (Part 2 of 2)

10 September 2011, 01:00

Moderator

3

Former ATI Students Answer, “Who Is God to You?” (2 of 2) Previously we introduced the topic: Who Is God to You? This week will continue with the responses we received from former students of the Advanced Training Institute (ATI). Before we delve in, I’d like to reiterate that you may not agree with or […]

Who Is God to You? (Part 1 of 2)

3 September 2011, 00:01

Moderator

7

Former ATI Students answer, “Who Is God to You?” (part 1 of 2) Recently, as I pick up my Bible, or just turn my thoughts toward God in a casual prayer, the questions “Who are you God?” and “What are you all about?” come to mind. Almost immediately, I feel the question “who am I […]

Grace and Culture

27 August 2011, 06:00

Beth C

18

I have recently made a number of new friends who, like me, grew up in the Advanced Training Institute (ATI). The discussions that have ensued have given me much to think about and shown me glaring truths about my past that I had never before been able to see. The logical fallacies quite apparent in […]

Is This for Real?

20 August 2011, 06:00

curtisd

9

Sometimes I wonder if I’m really living my life Or if I’m just living what I’m supposed to be. Am I really even a person? Is any of this true? I lie awake at night and wonder who I am. Are you just dying to know that You’re not pretending, Wondering if any of this […]