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.

This year we published 102 articles covering a wide range of topics, including another very powerful series on sexual abuse in April. We continue to receive a steady stream of emails from those who have found healing through our website, as well as from those seeking help and solutions to problems caused by the teachings of Bill Gothard and the Institute in Basic Life Principles.

TOP 10 of 2013

As we’ve  closed the book on 2013, we thought it would be interesting to take a look back at ten of the most read articles of the year. We’d encourage you to read any articles you missed or re-read any that you found particularly helpful.

1: The Danger and Damage of Gothard’s Principles

• A former Advanced Training Institute (ATI) student looks at how adopting Gothard’s principles damaged her family, particularly his teaching on handling sexual abuse in the home.

2: How Counseling Sexual Abuse Blames and Shames Survivors

• A critical evaluation sheds light on Gothard’s teaching regarding counseling those who experience sexual abuse.

3: Dear Mr. Gothard: One Student’s Letter

• Sara Roberts Jones, ATI student from 1991-1997, shares her 2012 letter responding to Bill Gothard’s mass letter of 2011.

4: We Were the Normal Ones

• Jennifer was raised in a “normal” Christian homeschooling family, yet Gothard’s teachings through the ATI curriculum still led her into a religion of legalism instead of the gospel of grace.

5: Dear Grace: Overbearing Parents

• Recovering Grace responds to a reader’s letter seeking counsel in having a God-honoring relationship with parents while in the midst of a courtship.

6: Why Not Confront Him Personally?

• Wendy addresses this question by sharing some of her experiences in attempting to personally confront Bill Gothard over his actions and teachings.

7: Christian Women Should Not Eat Chocolate

• Recovering Grace shares a former ATI student’s humorous take on the issue of modesty.

8: Finding My “No”!

• A former student describes the freedom she discovered when she learned to say “no” instead of blindly following those who asserted authority in her life.

9: Wisdom Books and the Beatitudes: Post-It Notes On A Work of Art

• A pastor examines the Wisdom Books, which serve as the core of the ATI curriculum, in light of the actual beauty of the Sermon on the Mount.

10: Toxic People: Narcissists in Ministry

• Recovering Grace republishes an article covering the dangers of narcissists holding positions of leadership in ministry.