2014 | Recovering Grace

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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.

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2014

Yearly Archives: 2014

Living by Principles

26 September 2014, 06:00

Ileata

137

If you died with the Messiah to the elemental forces of this world, why do you live as if you still belonged to the world? Why do you submit to regulations: “Don’t handle, don’t taste, don’t touch”? All these regulations refer to what is destroyed by being used up; they are commands and doctrines of […]

Me and My Red Notebook

23 September 2014, 12:01

Moderator

Years ago, right out of college and newly married, I took a position as an associate/youth pastor at a small, very fine church in Houston, Texas. At the time I had not heard of Bill Gothard, but at our senior pastor’s suggestion, that first week in May found my wife and me sitting for half a […]

Four Tools of Spiritual Manipulators

19 September 2014, 11:33

Moderator

I grew up in the homeschool subculture of Bill Gothard and his Advanced Training Institute (ATI). I participated in Children’s Institutes, worked at Training Centers stateside and in Russia, and attended Oak Brook College of Law, Young Men’s Conferences, and too many seminars to count. Though I learned much from these experiences and am grateful […]

“Just Get Over It”

16 September 2014, 14:44

Moderator

Imagine that you and I are in a horrific car accident. Our car is “T-boned” on the driver’s side. We roll down an embankment and land topside down. Our vehicle is in the ditch, making it hard for other drivers to see that we are in trouble. Finally, a police officer sees the wreck, stops, […]

Thoughts on “Tangled”

8 September 2014, 06:00

admin

My wife and I watched the movie Tangled last night. For months now, we’d heard from other former ATI students that the movie was a great analogy for spiritual abuse and the journey out of a legalistic system of thought. It’s even been referenced a number of times here on Recovering Grace. (see last Thursday’s […]

Breaking Free

4 September 2014, 06:00

Moderator

They were raised in a normal America. They had children and then, in reaction to the symptoms of societal misdeeds, they were drawn to an organization (the Institute in Basic Life Principles) that held a checklist of answers to life’s every question. (clothing, hair style, vocabulary, music, activities, toys, pets,education, culture, friendships, dating, marriage, raising children, […]

Standards that Divide Believers

28 August 2014, 10:08

Beverly

Ask any church leader who has come into contact with Gothard followers, and far too often you will hear about stories of divisions caused within churches, rather than people who are known for their love or unity. Many instances of division can be traced directly back to the teachings of Bill Gothard through the […]

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

20 August 2014, 14:19

Kevin

Sometime last year I told my wife that the pastoral staff of our church were preparing a series on the Sermon on the Mount. Having not grown up in the ATI world (in the Advanced Training Institute), I had not anticipated her less-than-enthusiastic response: “Yeah, I’ve had enough teaching on THAT to last me my […]

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse: Overview

16 August 2014, 18:29

MatthewS

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Concluding Thoughts The first post in the series is here. We come to the end of this road together. This has been rewarding for me, and I hope it has been for others as well. All the way back in the introduction, the authors asked us to handle […]

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Chapter 5: Identifying the Abusive System

12 August 2014, 10:50

MatthewS

The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse, Chapter 5: Identifying the Abusive System We continue our series blogging through “The Subtle Power of Spiritual Abuse.” The first post in the series is here. What are the common characteristics of spiritually abusive systems? This chapter looks at the unhealthy dynamics that commonly dictate how people function […]