Have you Shiny Happy People? Looking for more info? Start here.

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.

Tag Archives: recovering-grace

Why Subtle Differences Matter

24 February 2012, 06:00

Jay Rowland

6

Looking at Recovering Grace’s recent “Response to Bill Gothard,” I wonder how many readers will brush over the handful of paragraphs that try to explain the seemingly small differences between Gothard’s definition of grace and the definition used by almost all scholars. At least two times, the authors alert the reader that the difference in […]

Spiritual Abuse Recovery

17 February 2012, 06:00

BrandonS

8

When I was approached by Recovering Grace to write articles related to recovery and healing, they referred to the analogy of “ripping the scabs off.”  The idea is that people who are trying to get back on their feet–emotionally and spiritually speaking–open up old wounds, but then have no place to go to get help […]

Freedom from Strongholds

16 January 2012, 06:00

Seth S

29

I grew up in your typical ATI family. My Dad was a pastor, and my Mom stayed at home and home-schooled all ten of us kids.  Bless their hearts, their intentions were noble. Trying to keep us un-spotted and free from worldly influences, they simply had no clue they were raising a son like me! […]

Training Center Christmas Memories

27 December 2011, 06:48

Moderator

13

Recovering Grace asked former Advanced Training Institute (ATI) students what they remembered about the Christmas holidays — and the preparations for them — at the various training centers at which they served. While some of the students had pleasant memories, others remembered stress-filled weeks of onerous, highly-detailed work, culminating in large events that they were […]

In The Hands Of Jesus

14 December 2011, 06:00

Moderator

4

Isaiah 49:16 See, I have inscribed you on the palms of My hands; Your walls are continually before Me. With Christmas just ahead of me and the teachings of the Institute of Basic Life Principles behind me, one reoccurring thought whirling around in my head lately comes straight from the book of Isaiah: I’ve been […]

Tragic Misguidance: Gothard’s View on Mental Health Treatment and the Petit Family Murders

17 November 2011, 06:00

JoyS

35

Benedict, Joshua, Naomi and Jude Komisarjevsky

On November 6, 2011, Recovering Grace blogged about a news article on Joshua Komisarjevsky’s family and their involvement with Bill Gothard’s Advanced Training Institute (ATI). This is my take on that sad story.  Jennifer, Michaela, and Hayley Petit. Three lives cut tragically short in a brutal robbery, rape, and murder. William Petit, sole survivor of […]

Failing Formulas

2 November 2011, 06:30

Moderator

11

For 23 years I lived with the understanding that there is a formula for everything: “If you do A-B-C, the result will be X-Y-Z.” If I followed the steps of 1-2-3, I’d have a successful education. If I do exactly these things, my marriage will be perfect. If I operate by a specific code of […]

A Letter From My Heart

5 October 2011, 06:00

Ed B

5

“My view of myself was so big when I felt I had to keep all the codes that my Savior was small in my thinking.”

Dear Friends, I’m 32 years old and married to my beautiful wife of 3 years. We have a 2-year-old boy and a 10-month-old girl and I love being their dad. In fact, baby #3 is in the oven and we are excited about our growing family! We don’t feel an obligation to fulfill God’s command […]

Spanking the Orphans: A Brief History

4 October 2011, 05:45

RobertM

10

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, […]

Living as God Designed

26 September 2011, 06:00

KylarD

10

“One, I am One of a Kind”… Even by simple observation of nature we see that every created thing does just what it was created to do. Trees, animals, stars, tides. Everything follows its design. Only the rebel creatures do things that are “against nature” such as cancer cells. It is not right. But then […]