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

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Tag Archives: iblp

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

15 August 2013, 06:00

Moderator

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“Your face…I don’t know what it is, but it’s like it’s glowing!” That comment was made by a character in one of my favorite role-playing games (RPGs). For those who don’t know, RPGs are a fascinating video game genre in which the game player must create a character and develop his or her skills, abilities, […]

Anniversary Milestones

25 July 2013, 06:00

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Dear Recovering Grace Reader, This week marks the second anniversary of the launching of Recovering Grace. It hardly seems possible that a little over two years ago, our website was only a germ of an idea being shared among a large number of former students of Bill Gothard and his Advanced Training Institute and Institute […]

A True Shepherd’s Heart

11 July 2013, 06:00

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My family joined the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) when I was 13 years old. My dad was a pastor and my parents had been familiar with the Institute of Basic Life Principles (IBLP), the Basic Seminar, and the Advanced Seminar for many years, so when their homeschooling friends told them about ATI and its “new […]

The Tree of Knowledge

27 June 2013, 06:00

JoannaV

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The principles of IBLP [the Institute in Basic Life Principles] teach parents that they are responsible to make sure their children make good choices. This places a lot of pressure on the parents to control their children. But I have begun to ask, “Does God control us? Does he force us to make good choices?” […]

Why Not Confront Him Personally?

24 June 2013, 06:57

WendyA

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So many people keep asking why those who have issues with Bill Gothard don’t talk to him about the problems. Those of us who tried have pretty much given up trying to explain. How do you explain, to a rational person, the dangers and frustrations of discussion with an irrational person? And I am sorry […]

Remember Your Brethren in Bonds

13 June 2013, 06:00

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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 […]

A Call to Repentance

6 June 2013, 06:00

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Dear Recovering Grace Reader, Many of you are aware that we have run a number of articles in which young ladies have chronicled an unusual form of emotional and sexual harassment experienced while working for Bill Gothard at the IBLP [Institute in Basic Life Principles] Headquarters [HQ] in Oak Brook, IL. In addition to these […]

How “Counseling Sexual Abuse” Blames and Shames Survivors

18 April 2013, 06:00

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Versions of the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP) document “Counseling Sexual Abuse” were distributed at Advanced Training Institute (ATI) Counseling Seminars for over a decade. The document speaks for itself, but Recovering Grace would like to point out how victim-blaming and/or callous dismissal of abuse survivors’ pain is built into almost every one of […]

A Life Defined By Externals

15 April 2013, 06:00

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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 […]

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

11 April 2013, 06:00

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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 […]