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

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My Life in ATI, part two

5 December 2011, 06:00

DavidA

Life Focus Advanced. Soon after I turned 15, I received a letter about a new program called Life Focus Advanced. The concept of the program was this: two Life Focus graduates would room with a leader in training (LIT) for three months and try to counsel and help him out. I was like, “It’s the […]

My Life in ATI, part one

29 November 2011, 06:00

DavidA

Beginnings. I was raised in a normal home until we joined the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) in 2000. Up until then we did normal family things and went to church. I had friends and held normal expectations of myself — as did my parents. Our family attended the annual conference in Knoxville and quickly afterwards […]

A Real-Life Lesson

15 November 2011, 05:52

lizs

Candles are an essential part in making rooms homey. A room that is going to be your home for a year (or more) needs atmosphere and ambiance, and candles can help to fulfill that need. Some time ago, two girls shared a room in a certain tall building in the central part of the Mitten […]

A Look at Life at the Riverfront Character Inn

8 November 2011, 05:30

lizs

Life at the Riverfront Character Inn (RCI) was not exactly like life at the other training centers run by the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) and its home school branch, the Advanced Training Institute (ATI). But there were many similarities. One of the things that set the RCI apart from other training centers was […]

My Heart’s Cry ~ Part Two

25 October 2011, 06:00

Moderator

Then, through a bizarre series of events my closest friend and co-worker left the training center. This left me with extra work to do and completely alone. I went to my “authorities” and let them know that I could not continue to be on staff the next year. I was asked to have a meeting […]

My Heart’s Cry ~ Part One

24 October 2011, 06:00

Moderator

I was born into a family with parents who sought to please and honor God. When I was 3 months old we were on the mission field! Love for people has always been a particular characteristic of my family. I can’t think of a time when my family was not involved in some kind of […]

Breeding Relational Immaturity

18 October 2011, 06:00

admin

It is no secret that Bill Gothard and the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) have a bizarre outlook on male/female relationships. In a world where falling in love means losing a piece of your heart forever, relationships are a spiritual distraction, and in a place where marriage is a last resort, it is no […]

A Jonah Tale

11 October 2011, 06:05

admin

In the latter part of the 1990s, I spent the better part of two years working at the Oklahoma City Training Center (OTC). I worked primarily with Character First! Education (CFE), specifically going into the local schools and teaching the curriculum to mostly low-income children. While I now see some of the flawed philosophy behind […]

Spanking the Orphans: A Brief History

4 October 2011, 05:45

RobertM

The following is meant to share some of the history of the disciplinary philosophy of spanking used by the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) in their orphan ministry. Spanking at the Moscow Training Center (MTC) was used too often for offenses that were only minor and as a cure-all and spirit-breaker. The lack of a coherent, […]

Sweeping the Stairs: An Exercise in Will-Breaking

27 September 2011, 06:15

Moderator

It was 1995. I was 20 years old. I had recently arrived at the Moscow Training Center in Moscow, Russia, and was eager to begin my first day of “ministry.” I was assigned to the housekeeping detail. The woman in charge was giving me instructions for sweeping a flight of stairs at the training center, […]