Have you Shiny Happy People? Looking for more info? Start here.

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

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

Living and thriving through the grace of God.

Stories and accounts of the destruction caused by the teachings of Bill Gothard.

Tag Archives: law

A Call for Discernment

4 March 2014, 06:00

Moderator

40

Recovering Grace in many ways is a result of the efforts of other Christian leaders who throughout the 80’s and 90’s tried to warn of the dangers inherent in the teachings of Bill Gothard, the Advanced Training Institute, and the Institute in Basic Life Principles. Although many people involved with Gothardism did not listen, some of us […]

Anti-Law

7 October 2013, 06:00

Moderator

12

Grace 101 Over the past several Grace 101 posts I have focused on the parable of the sower from Matthew 13 to give us a structure for looking at enemies of grace.  I started with the trampled or trodden path, the hard ground that would not let the seed take root.  But other enemies take […]

“Rocky” Arguments and a Double Standard

3 October 2013, 06:00

admin

29

  Many people over the years have expressed concern with the way Bill Gothard misuses Scripture—not to mention basic logic—in his attempts to validate his dogmatic pseudo-spiritual requirements for “successful” living. A friend of mine recently shared a document (pictured) obtained while attending an IBLP (Institute in Basic Life Principles) conference on effective communication. In […]

Life Isn’t a Role-Playing Game: Part Three

22 August 2013, 06:00

Moderator

7

This is Part Three of a three-part personal story. Click here to read Part One; Click here to read Part Two. After much thought and prayer, I settled on pursuing a marketing degree at a local, small Christian engineering and flight school called LeTourneau University. Most of my first two years were spent obsessed with […]

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

11 April 2013, 06:00

Moderator

56

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 […]

Les Miserables: The Struggle between Grace and Legalism – Part 2

21 February 2013, 06:00

Kathleen Reynolds

24

Continued from Part One… {Spoiler Alert! This article gives a detailed analysis of the movie Les Miserables} Because Javert was so bent on seeing justice served, he was disturbed by Valjean’s successful escape. In the musical, he then sings “Stars” — an absolutely gorgeous piece, majestic and determined. I still remember the very first time […]

Les Miserables: The Struggle between Legalism and Grace – Part 1

18 February 2013, 06:00

Kathleen Reynolds

9

{Spoiler Alert! This article gives a detailed analysis of the movie Les Miserables} I have long loved the story of Jean Valjean’s redemption. I grew up watching a little-known movie version of the story, and read the book when I was 12 or 13. The fact that Valjean served 19 years hard labor for stealing […]

Sowing to the Flesh–More thoughts on Mr. Gothard’s Sexual Rules

15 June 2012, 06:00

DavidM

24

This article is a continuation of “Mr. Gothard’s Sexual Rules,” a three-part series we ran last December. Mr. Gothard’s teachings on sex within marriage are not among the Institute in Basic Life Principles’ (IBLP) central doctrines. However, this section of the Advanced Seminar is an excellent example of how Mr. Gothard both views the Law and […]

A Call for Discernment

7 October 2011, 11:02

Moderator

58

Recovering Grace in many ways is a result of the efforts of other Christian leaders who throughout the 80’s and 90’s tried to warn of the dangers inherent in the teachings of Bill Gothard, the Advanced Training Institute, and the Institute in Basic Life Principles. Although many people involved with Gothardism did not listen, some of us […]

When the Gospel Becomes No Gospel At All

5 August 2011, 06:00

Beverly

52

The word “gospel” means “good news.” But at some point, the Apostle Paul says, this good news can be turned on its head to become worthless, bad news. When Paul wrote to the church of Galatia, he was angered by the fact that some false teachers (often referred to by biblical scholars as “Judaizers”[1]) were […]