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

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

Tag Archives: parents

2013 Year in Review

6 January 2014, 06:00

Moderator

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Dear Recovering Grace Reader, We hope and pray that you have had a blessed holiday season. As we move into 2014, we’d like to take this opportunity to share with you how God is continuing to use our website to help others, as well as to look back at our top 10 posts of 2013. […]

What My Parents Did Right

19 December 2013, 06:00

Moderator

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You know the old saying as well as I do about hindsight being 20/20. This is because it’s really very easy to look back on the past and criticize others’ actions. I’m pretty sure people have been doing this from time immemorial. In fact, it’s quite likely that either Eve or Adam turned to the […]

Letter from a Survivor of Spiritual Abuse

25 November 2013, 06:00

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To all those who are a part of my life in some way: Please don’t tell me that my parents loved me and “only wanted what was best” for me. When I hear you say that, I hear you telling me that all the spiritual abuse, oppression, and deep pain I have felt and experienced […]

Life Focus: A Sister’s Perspective

18 November 2013, 06:00

Carolynn

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I was 13 when my parents chose to send my brother to Life Focus. Josh was the first in our family—at age 16—to experience an apprenticeship program, and the whole family was both excited and apprehensive. What would the Indianapolis Training Center (ITC) be like? (My parents attended a short admissions seminar there several years […]

Finding My “No”!

9 September 2013, 06:00

Moderator

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As a teen growing up in the Advanced Training Institute (ATI), my parents would not have said I was compliant. But I was. My parents decided to homeschool me the summer before I entered seventh grade. Four years later, I ascertained it was most certainly not in my best interest to continue. I fussed, argued […]

The Pressure of Perfection

4 July 2013, 06:00

Moderator

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“If you would just do it right!” This was the oft-repeated mantra in my family. It usually happened when something went wrong and my dad was angered by it: simple things like a broken dish, a dirty room, or sibling squabble, or more complex things like a broken window or childhood injury. If we had […]

Remember Your Brethren in Bonds

13 June 2013, 06:00

Moderator

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In 2 Timothy 3:12, it is written, “Yea, and all who live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” I don’t remember much persecution, at least not the kind that the Bible talks about. Sure we were ultra conservative and occasionally got some strange looks from people who had no idea what we were talking […]

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

16 May 2013, 06:00

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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 the Courtship Crashes

2 May 2013, 06:00

LB

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“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 […]

A Life Defined By Externals

15 April 2013, 06:00

Moderator

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My story is an interesting one. Until I found Recovering Grace I did not know there were many others like me. When I was eight years old my mom and biological father divorced. Even as a child I understood why their divorce was necessary. People say I was born an adult. Within a year my mom re-married a […]