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

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Stories and accounts of the destruction caused by the teachings of Bill Gothard.

Tag Archives: rock-music

Confident Statements Do Not a Solid Argument Make

6 November 2014, 09:00

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330

A former Advanced Training Institute (ATI) student and Life Focus veteran has tackled both the form and the substance of the IBLP booklet What the Bible Has to Say About “Contemporary Christian” Music: Ten Scriptural Reasons Why the “Rock Beat” is Evil in Any Form at his blog, Throwing Out The Bath Water. “Is there a […]

Living by Principles

26 September 2014, 06:00

Ileata

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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 […]

“Rocky” Arguments and a Double Standard

3 October 2013, 06:00

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  Many people over the years have expressed concern with the way Bill Gothard misuses Scripture—not to mention basic logic—in his attempts to validate his dogmatic pseudo-spiritual requirements for “successful” living. A friend of mine recently shared a document (pictured) obtained while attending an IBLP (Institute in Basic Life Principles) conference on effective communication. In […]

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

19 August 2013, 06:00

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This is Part Two of a three-part story. Click here to read Part One. During my early high school years, I was very blessed to find an incredible youth group with leaders who valued relationships over rules and encouraged guys and girls to know each other more intimately as friends instead of remaining isolated from […]

The Gospel of Pragmatism

9 May 2013, 06:00

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Pragmatism is basically the idea that positive results are sufficient criteria for determining value, even truth. In other words: if it works, use it. One of the most famous pragmatists was a man known as Nicollo Machiavelli. For Machiavelli, the goal of a strong and controlled kingdom was worth whatever it would take to get […]

We Were The Normal Ones

6 May 2013, 06:00

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I have heard many people talk about how they still want to be involved in ATI (the Advanced Training Institute), but be “normal” families and just “filter out the bad stuff.” I’ve seen some of those responses in the Recovering Grace comments. If that’s your premise, then this post is for you, because that’s my […]

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 […]

The Ravages of Guilt

8 October 2012, 06:00

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“If you say anything, I will tie up your family, just like I tie you up. Then I will make you sit there and watch as I kill each one of them in front of you. Will I kill you? No! You I will leave alive, so that you can spend every day of your […]

Recovering from the Most Subtle of Lies

27 September 2012, 06:00

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Over the last few weeks, I’ve felt compelled to write down my experience with the Advanced Training Institute (ATI) and the Institute in Basic Life Principles (IBLP). I think this desire comes from the fact that I want to show that the effects of Gothardism are not always as drastic as one may be led […]

Free to Worship!

3 September 2012, 09:30

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Listening to a CD of praise and worship songs as I worked in my kitchen one morning, I found my heart rejoicing in Jesus and my body dancing in joy and worship to Him. The CD I was listening to was an old one that a friend recently gave me with popular worship songs from […]